HEARTS, HEARTS, AND MORE HEARTS

 

You see them all over the place this time of year . . . lots and lots of hearts.  Pink hearts sprinkled with glitter.  Red hearts edged with lace.  Big hearts that say "Be My Valentine," and candy hearts that say simply "I Love You."

 

The Word of God - the Bible - talks a lot about hearts.  Let's look at a few of those verses:

 

I Samuel 16:7: "The Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance (how you look on the outside), but the Lord looks on the HEART."

 

Does that mean God looks at your heart organ that pumps blood to the rest of your body?  No.  The heart God is talking about is the "real you."  It's the part of you that thinks and feels and loves.  It's the part of you that lives forever.  THAT "heart" is what God looks at and sees.

 

Jeremiah 17:9: "The HEART is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

 

I think you already know the answer to the question that verse asks.  Who knows our hearts?  GOD alone knows our hearts.  God knows that our hearts are very wicked.  We are born that way.  We are born with wicked, sinful hearts.  Every person who has ever lived (except for Jesus) was born with a want-to to do wrong things.  Sometimes our hearts will try to trick us into thinking that we're pretty good.  Sometimes our hearts will try to trick us into thinking that our sins really aren't that bad.  God knows our hearts are wrong and sinful.  Because we have such sinful hearts, we need the Lord Jesus.

 

Matthew 22:37: "You should love the Lord your God with all your HEART, and with all your soul, and with all your mind."

 

Jesus tells us this is the greatest commandment.  God commands us (tells us) to love God more than anyone or anything else.  We should love Him completely, with all our hearts.  God loves you and me in that way.  Even when we sin and do wrong things, God loves you and me.  He loved us so much that He was willing to give up His Son Jesus to be punished for our sins.  Jesus' death on the cross and His rising from the dead made it possible for us to have our sins forgiven.

 

Romans 10:9: "If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your HEART that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved."

 

Receiving Jesus as your Savior (being "saved" from your sin) begins in the heart.  You must believe in your heart that Jesus is God's Son who loves you completely.  You must believe that He died on the cross and gave His precious blood to pay for your sins.  You must also believe in your heart that Jesus didn't stay dead.  He came back to life and is still living today.  Once the believing takes place in your heart, then you can tell God (confess with your mouth) that is what you believe.  Once you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, then this next thing takes place . . .

 

Ephesians 3:17: "That Christ may dwell in your HEARTS by faith."

 

When you receive Christ Jesus as your Savior from sin, He comes to live in your heart by His Spirit.  He is always with you and will never leave you.  He helps you to live in a way that pleases God.

 

Have you asked Jesus be your Savior and to come into your heart?  If not, why not make that important decision today.

 

THERE WILL BE NO MOUSETALES BIBLE STORY NEXT WEEK WHILE MISS MISSY IS OUT OF THE OFFICE.  LOOK FOR THE NEXT MOUSETALES STORY ON FEBRUARY 24TH. 

 

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