'Where their treasure wasn't, it's for sure their heart wasn't there either.' "

Matt. 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


'Where their treasure wasn't, it's for sure their heart wasn't there either.' "

But the Lord Looks at the Heart

1 Sam 16:7
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

This is a tremendous piece of information about how the Lord deals with us. It's our heart's attitudes that are important to God. Most people see only the outward appearance, how skinny, or fat, how tall or how small, what kind of clothes, or even what color your skin is. Maybe because of how much education one has or not, or what kind of jobs that you have had, those are all outward appearances.

When most hear this, it strikes fear into some people. They feel they are better in their actions than they are in their hearts. But for the true believers in Jesus, we have been given new hearts that are perfect. Our born-again spirit is as righteous and holy as Jesus is (1Jo 4:17).

Therefore, this is a tremendous comfort to those who are true Christians. God sees us in Christ, in our born-again spirit, and what He sees is perfect, even though our actions aren't.

2Co 5:17 says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Our spirits are the only part of us that is exactly like Jesus IN THIS WORLD. What a powerful truth. Since God is a Spirit (Joh 4:24), and we have to approach Him in spirit and in truth, then God can freely fellowship with us because our born-again spirits are just like Him. What a deal!

Don’t Let Your Heart be Troubled

John 14:1-4

Jesus made this statement to His disciples the night before His crucifixion. Even in circumstances like they would experience, Jesus was telling them not to let their hearts be troubled. That's amazing. And that reveals the authority we have over our emotions. The Lord would have been unjust to command His disciples to do something they were powerless to do. Therefore, we can control our emotions regardless of how things are going.

It's up to us to control our heart. It's God's power that makes that possible, but we have to make the choice and draw on God's ability. How do we do that? This verse goes on to say, "believe in God..." Faith is how we conquer our emotions.

The fact that Jesus mentions controlling our emotions first in this list of all the things we should do is also significant. If we let our emotions run away with us, then it's nearly impossible to reign them in. It's easier to hold them at bay than it is to stop them once we have let them go. Harnessing our emotions is the first thing to do in a crisis situation. Most battles are won or lost in the first few moments according to the way we allow our emotions to go.

Now Jesus begins to speak about heaven. What does heaven have to do with us keeping our hearts at peace? Well, even if everything in this life looks terrible, the Christian always has the promises of total victory in heaven. If every time we think we see light at the end of the tunnel but it turns out to be another train, then we can know that our great reward is heaven. That will keep our hearts from being troubled.

It only took the Lord seven days to create the heavens and the earth. He has been working on our mansions for 2,000 years. These mansions must be something great.

Jesus was saying these things about heaven to keep the disciples' hearts from being troubled as they were about to enter the darkest periods of their lives. Jesus was also revealing how He kept from being discouraged during the darkest period of His life. It all centered on thinking about eternity. He had His attention focused on the joy that was set before Him (Heb 12:2-3). It can only be done when we put things into their proper perspective in light of eternity.

This world is not all there is. There is eternity and the time we spend in eternity; the benefits we receive there will far outweigh all concerns that happen here on earth. If we only have hope in this world, then we would be the most miserable of all men (1Co 15:19) To have the positive faith that Jesus exhibited and which He is commanding us to have here, we have to be heavenly minded.

May this New Year be a time of Preparation?

Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

How many times has your heart deceived you. Your brain was saying something else, your brain knew the facts but you followed through on something your heart told you to do and it was wrong. Relatively few people are determined to do evil. They don't wake up in the morning seeking ways to transgress. Rather, they fall into sin because they have not prepared their hearts to seek the Lord.

During the time I have been in ministry, I have known many people who genuinely loved the Lord at one time and were excited about the things of God, yet they grew cold and, in many cases, completely abandoned the Lord and the things that were once so dear to them. How can this be? Why does this happen? It's because they didn't prepare their hearts to seek the Lord.

The word "prepare" means "to establish, fix, prepare, or apply." It conveys the idea of deliberate effort over a prolonged period of time. The same Hebrew word that was translated "prepare" was also translated "fixed" four times in the Old Testament.

The word "fixed" means: "1. firmly, in position; stationary 2. Not subject to change or variation; constant 3. Firmly held in the mind; a fixed notion" (American Heritage Dictionary). One of the keys to preparing our hearts is to fix our hearts on what we will and will not do before we encounter the temptation. You can settle what you would do so that there are no options left when the temptation comes. Far too often, Christians have not made strong enough commitments and, therefore, succumb to temptation.

Of course, no one can accomplish preparing their heart on their own. This is not a matter of sheer "will power." God must be involved in preparing our hearts. Psalm 10:17 says, "LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart." Only when we trust in the Lord and depend on Him can we find the strength to make our hearts not subject to change or variation. Humility is an essential ingredient in the preparation of our hearts.

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Anytime anyone falls from their steadfast position in the Lord, you can bet that they got out of humbly depending on the Lord. Humility has to be forsaken, or at least neglected, before we fall. A humble heart makes a soft, sensitive heart.

The power of memory is a vital part of preparing our own hearts. The Lord warned the children of Israel not to forget the mighty works He had performed for them lest they turn away from following Him. He linked memory to staying true to the Lord.

No one who was dominated with thoughts of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord would turn their back on the Lord. To turn from the Lord, Satan has to divert our attention from the Lord and block the memories of God's goodness to us. Keeping our positive memories alive will keep our hearts knit to the Lord.