Finding the Spiritual Heart

To become a successful surgeon, or lawyer requires years of study, practice, and  passing exams...

It begins by realizing that they know "nothing" and each day spent learning allows them to begin to build a huge deposit of information, that must be studied, memorized, to be tested on...and to be successful, they must be teachable!

After the academics, they go into practical training. This lets them come to grips with the information they pulled out of the "textbooks" and begin the application process. How do they do what the text book and professors have taught them in the classroom, under all different scenarios and circumstances...

It doesn't stop there. Doctors have to pass rigorous exams and have background checks before they receive the licenses necessary to get down to the "on-site" nitty-gritty phase of learning to work within medical teams,  under supervision. And that's not fun either as nerves have to be conquered, and knowledge has to be pin-pointed into effective solutions...

But, as a result, aren't we glad that they took the time to study, and qualify themselves! We trust doctors because of the specific knowledge they have and their ability to use that knowledge correctly to discern problems and fix them..

It's the same with lawyers, or attorney's at law. They study hard, pass exams, then associate themselves with a team of professionals that allows the processing of specific information to evaluate, and solve problems of law, and be authorized to stand before a judge in the courtroom...

Once again, aren't we glad these attorneys have the knowledge and expertise to help us with all kinds of legal issues...

They sacrificed years of study and paid the financial freight to qualify themselves that we may have the benefit of their years of study and expert experience.

Not bad! These professionals are worth their weight in gold when we encounter a problem. Few of us realize the price they all have paid, ultimately for our benefit.

What have doctors and lawyers to do with the Bible Study 1 website?

Actually, they have plenty to do with this website...

Doctors and Attorneys and other professionals we trust, at some point made the decision to go to college and have access to specific knowledge. After cramming their head with relevant information, they were then required to learn how to apply that information with precision and accuracy. Only then does it become useful and of great value...

On a "spiritual" level we are required to do "no less".

• How could the "physical heart" that doctors study be any more important than the "spiritual heart" that we are required to study...
  
• How could the principles of law and freedom that attorneys study be any more important than each of us learning about the "laws of the Kingdom of GOD" which influences this present life and eternity?
  

, and then apply that knowledge in very practical and personal ways, so that our "spiritual heart" becomes healthy [doctor] and obedient [lawyer] to the "ways of the LORD".

Finding the spiritual heart is a great journey in answer to the amazing question, "Where is my spiritual heart?" 

Good questions demand good answers, and this is one of the most critical questions in life. It requires us to focus in the right direction to arrive at the correct answer!

When I was asked this question, I assumed my spiritual heart was in my spirit.

I had received a call from a pastor friend who asked me, "Ken, where is the spiritual heart?" The pastor told me about an individual in his fellowship who was to receive a new heart.

Because hearts are not taken off the shelf, the only way to get a new heart is to have a used heart from another person put in your body...and it is not a refurbished one either.

The reasoning of John was based on a Bible verse "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Proverbs 23.7 - then what happens if the heart donor had a very "wicked or evil" heart?

Of course, all of us would quickly respond to that question by saying, "It's not the physical heart that the Bible is talking about!

Right.

But what heart is the Bible talking about?

We are told to "guard" our heart. How can we guard something if we have no idea of where it is located?

I did not know. But I was determined to find out!

The Search Begins...

I started to search the scriptures. The study began at the "Law of First Mention." This is a unique principle that allows a word to be seen in its first setting.

Here the initial idea or seed thought of that word can be discovered.

The First Mention of the Word "Heart"

Where is the first Bible mention of the word heart?

Good question. It led to an exciting answer.

Genesis 6.5 KJV "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

In this "word picture" I saw the following:

1. The heart is where the thoughts are.
2. The heart is where the imaginations are.
3. GOD sees those thoughts.
4. The evil thoughts produce wickedness.

Only one part of the human body is the storehouse for the thoughts and the imagination. The heart is somehow connected to the thought-life.

I then went to Jeremiah 13.10 "...who follow the stubbornness of their hearts..." and Matthew 12.34..."out of the overflow of the heart [thought-life] the mouth speaks."

Matthew 12.35 "The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things"

Next Good Question:

1. If the heart is a storehouse...
2. If the storehouse can be full of evil thoughts...
3. If the storehouse can be full of good thoughts...
4. Whatever is in there comes out.
   

Why a Storehouse?

I searched and found out these facts:

1. Storehouses were common
2. Storehouses contained grain, oil, or weapons
3. Treasures were stored in storehouses
4. In 1 Kings 9.19 storehouses are called "cities of store."

Isn't that a marvelous expression of our thought-life:

"a city of stored information!"

2 Chronicles 32.28 reveal compartments or "stalls."

How, then, is it that when preachers and teachers refer to the heart, they point to the chest or stomach area?

Is the "spiritual heart" in the stomach area?

No, it is not!

It is not where most preachers point to...

Jesus Himself answered this question in Mark 7:14-23  Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” 

After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Where is the ONLY part of the human body that "thoughts" come from?

Jesus nails it! Jesus said, ..."out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come of: sexual immorality theft murder adultery greed malice deceit lewdness envy slander arrogance folly The spiritual heart is the thought-life, imagination, the  "movie theater" of our mind

These attitudes, ideas, mental pictures, and reactions are all the result of the wisdom material (information) we have been feeding on.

"What are you looking at, dude?"

Evil is manufactured by stored thoughts and mental pictures called "imaginations" Jesus confirmed this in Matthew 5.28 "But I say unto you, that whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart."

What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” Mark 7.14-23 above

Jesus reveals some important insights for us to consider: Men lust in their imagination. The imagination is a personal "movie theater" we all have. Pornography creates destructive images and movies. Adultery first takes place in the thought-life, then acts out... Evil thoughts flow out of the thought-life from corrupt information. Murder is created through  thoughts of hatred. Thefts come out from the thought-life. Pride is manufactured in the thoughts.

If the thoughts are wrong - everything is wrong!

But the reverse is also true. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see GOD" Matthew 5.8  These are those with a pure thought-life. This can be you and I!

Proverbs 23.7 "As a man thinks in his [spiritual] heart, so is he"

The Next Good Question...

Now we have found that the "spiritual heart" is the thought-life and the storehouse of thoughts and imaginations, how can I find the way to get rid of the mental "junk" and have a thought-life that will serve my life with blessing, honor, and distinction?

GOD promises us an pliable "spiritual heart", softened by the presence of the Holy Spirit of GOD.

Romans 12.2 holds the key: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Ezekiel 11.19 And I will give them a new heart and I will put a new [teachable] spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God,

20 That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

21 But as for those whose heart [imagination] yearns for and goes after their detestable things and their loathsome abominations [associated with idolatry], I will repay their deeds upon their own heads, says the Lord God.

The spiritual heart is where Thoughts are Stored!

GOD searches the "heart" Jeremiah 17.10. So we now know that GOD reads our thoughts. Satan cannot.

David said, "You perceive my thoughts from afar" Psalms 139.2

It does not take too long to figure this out - GOD and the Holy Spirit has access to the "movie theater" of our mind.

GOD knows every thought and motive. GOD watches as we process information. GOD also knows that our actions reflect our imagination.  If we are bitter in our thoughts towards anyone - GOD sees that "unforgiveness."

GOD judges what is in the storehouse of the imagination. Jeremiah 13.10 says, "These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my Words, who follow the stubbornness [imagination] of their hearts and go after other gods to serve them and worship them.." We all act out what is in the inner movie theater of our thought-life.

Thoughts Have Power!

GOD reads every thought. The "fear of the Lord" is when we realize that the Holy Spirit of GOD sits in the movie theater of our mind 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Satan cannot read your thoughts! Only GOD and YOU can...No-one else.

1 Kings 8.39 "Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knows the hearts of all the children of men"

Satan can only attack.

Satan will know if he is successful by our actions, and by what comes out of our mouth. Solomon said, "...if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth" Proverbs 30.32

Do not speak unbelief. We are to get our thinking right before we open our mouth and reveal what is going on in our heart.

Luke 1.20 Zechariah had a problem with his thoughts in believing the birth of John the Baptist, so much so that the angel Gabriel smote him dumb until the child was born.

Satan throws out contaminated seed-thoughts and, because the wisdom of GOD is not working in the lives of the people, they believe the lies. GOD has a message for those who want to listen.

GOD is saying,  "I have a 'wisdom package' available. It is not free. It may cost you friends and other temporary discomforts, but in the end I will deliver into your life blessing, honor, riches, friends, and guidance, and you shall prosper and have My approval in all that you do and say."

Let us visit Ezekiel 8.12. The Lord had been showing some conditions of the house of GOD, where ministers were worshiping idols. Verses 8-11 show graphic pictures of the 70 men in the house of Israel...

Ezekiel 8.12 KJV "Then said He unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord sees us not; the Lord has forsaken the earth"

They were behind closed doors. The word "dark" means "hidden from view." The imagery was in secret. Every man was functioning in the chambers of his own imaginations...

This connects with Proverbs 24.4 "Though knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures" The word imagery has root meanings of "observatory, the mind, and the heart." They were walking in self-deception.

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17.9 KJV