Monday, September 12, 2011

Prada Body Bags and Heart to Hearts

I was greatly privileged last Saturday morning with the honour of spending almost an entire day with a lady of amazing depth and soul. The privilege was threatened by the morning drizzle and cool temperatures but the two of us insisted that this meeting must go ahead. We were not to meet in a building, however, we were to take a walk and enjoy one of the higher heights of the city.

It amazes me how unique people can be but at the same time, how similar we all are. One of the things that unites us as people is the heart. It is interesting to note that when referring to a central and important part of anything, the word heart is used.

Heart is core.

During the time I spent with this gem of a woman, I discovered a great deal about the heart: the heart having a mind of its own separate from the brain. It is queer since I have already heard of statements like "Follow your heart, not your head". It seems that the heart disagrees with the brain on many things and the few times when the two agree, it is bliss!

In the decision making process, the war between the two can be easily seen. A man who wants to cut weight should take the necessary steps; gym, diet, etc. However, why is that hard to do? The aspect of appetite comes in. Whereas the ideal thing is fore-go another plate of rice,chicken,matooke and peas, something else appeals to the taste buds and the stomach and a problem arises.

When offered a job that earns you three times your former salary, the decision to take it should be easy, only if you did not have to cross two oceans away from your loved ones and entire history.

The heart and mind disagree on major things.

The heart is a core of the human, affecting every decision he makes. When a heart is raw, unused, tender and pliable, it is capable of everything and anything that it is taught. Proverbs 22:6 highlights that whatever is taught a pliable heart will make the final mould.

At the end of the day, will the heart resemble a statue or remain beating with life. If you read "Don't Let it Get Hard" you will know what I mean.

The heart to heart with this woman opened my "heart", if I can say that. The two hearts connected on key levels and revealed things that may have been there but ignored or forgotten. The problem with the human heart is that it is dark and twisted. Jeremiah 17:9. The propensity of evil that a human heart has is unimaginable and only needs "activating" with the right head knowledge.

A child can easily turn terrorist because of the things his heart is being fed. At the same time, a child can become the very opposite, depending on how their heart is being moulded. Note this: information moulds the heart. Information changes the mind of the heart or approves what is already there.

Lately, people's hearts are hard. Everyone is becoming more insensitive and "open minded". What was strange to the heart is now commonplace. Information is changing our hearts.

At the core, we want what is bad for us. And go out of our way to even fight for it. We become broke because of it, lose sleep to it, fall sick by it, lose our very lives because of the bad. Our hearts wicked already become more wicked.

Thankfully, Ezekiel 36:26 provides a solution. Transplants are possible.

You can exchange your old heart for a new one. With freshness, purity, goodness. This heart can be maintained with a proper mind system. Right thinking!

When the writer in Romans 12 verse 2 writes "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. " He shows us that you prove the will of God placed in your new heart by renewing your mind. What I am saying is, your new heart has all the files, updates, patches, fixes, needed. Your mind is now the only thing that needs convincing.

How does the renewing occur? Do not conform to the world. Conform to the Word. Many focus so much on the external, you would think they were going to eternity with it. Prada is just a body bag, Ray Ban suglasses your double eye patch, Revlon- the spice that removes the stench of the rotting corpse, Dolce Vita the anesthetic on the thorn filled path to destruction. "Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. " Hosea 4:11

So much focus on the external blinds us to the reality of eternity, the reality of righteousness, the reality of God. Jesus notes "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses" Luke 12: 15.

Mind the heart. For out of it flow the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

Having heard such a hearty exchange with the lovely lady, I am convinced, if half of the hearts in the world were in the right place, half of the vices would not exist. So, what are you feeding your heart? Is it the old dead one or the new one? Are you priding yourself in dead things, or awakening to the living?

I am pondering on these words of Jude

"12 These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about[c] by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. " Jude 1:12-13.
I do not want to be twice dead. Period. I am going to mind my heart. It would be well you too, do.

Further study:
Hosea 4. Romans 1. Romans 12. Titus. Jude.

Enjoy.








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