a girl of surpassing beauty: part 2 {a matter of the heart}

CLICK HERE FOR

PART 1

"Perception is reality."

If you know me, you will hear me saying this a lot.

But is it true?

Is your perception true reality?

No.

Perception is your reality.  That's what it really means.  It's not necessarily an understanding of absolute truth.

And from this is born the self-image.

There are about 830 verses in the bible that contain the word "heart".  Now, I'm not a biblical scholar.  And I'm not God.  So I don't know the real reason for this.  But I'm going to put myself out there and assume it's because the "heart" is severely unstable as a result of our fallen nature (aka. sin).  And for this reason, we need much guidance on how to tame that sucker to bend/conform it to the will of God.  

It says in Proverbs 4:23,

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

A better name for "heart" {in relation to this post, not necessarily in general} would be your MIND.  Your thought-life.  It's very true that the things that are important to you live inside your heart, inside your inner-most being, inside that place where your creed is birthed from your soul.  But the next destination for such understandings, is your mind and your thoughts.  The hub of all decision-making.  So whatever your heart is saturated with, will in turn, directly affect your thoughts.  And your thoughts determine your behavior.  Are you starting to get where I'm going with this?

God explains to us in Jeremiah 17:9 that,

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

This is why David pleaded in Psalm 51:10,

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Because only God....{let me say that again}....only God can give you a clean heart.  If you don't have any idea what that means and cannot confidently say that you belong to God and are curious CLICK HERE.   However, if you have made such an important and life changing decision, and you are a child of God, then PRAISE THE LORD.  Rejoice!  Rejoice in the fact that you were bought with the precious blood of Jesus!  Rejoice that you can live by the power of His glorious resurrection while serving a living God in this present age through His strength!  Rejoice that you have hope of heaven and of His glorious return as a result of His ascension.  Rejoice!  You HAVE a clean heart.  God is not surprised by your sin because He already died for ALL of it.  Rejoice!  Unfortunately though, despite our perfect POSITION through Christ, our PERSON is still a fallen creature.  We will still struggle with sin.

Ephesians 4:17, 20-24 says [emphasis mine],

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles {aka. those who do not know Christ} do, in the futility of their minds...But that is not the way you learned in Christ! - assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life {before salvation} and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self {after salvation}, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

If sin were not a struggle, then why would Paul, who is speaking to Christians, suggest we would have to make an actual effort to PUT OFF the old self and then to PUT ON the new self?  Because it IS a struggle! A struggle we can have victory over with the help and strength of Christ.  Jesus, Himself, tells us in Matthew 11:28-30,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

God will carry us.  He will walk beside us.  In a sense {and I know all illustrations will eventually break down...but...}, He carries our groceries into the house for us.  And He even helps us organize it and put it all away.  He then gives us the menu plan for the week, recipes, and proceeds to teach us how to cook them all!  {IF we let Him.}  He gives us all and teaches us all we need to be successful in this present Christian life!  What great news!  What relief!  He not only saves us from the punishment of hell {which would have been enough}, but He also instructs us and helps us to LIVE OUR LIVES with Christian success!  What an amazing truth!  Rejoice in Him with me and praise Him!

Ok.  So.  Now that we know all this.  What does this have to do with our perception?

Everything.

And tomorrow, I will talk more about that.
But for now, I leave you with this...
If you are a daughter of the King, you are a girl of surpassing beauty...no matter what the story books say!


80° Sunny with some clouds.
Dentist appointment this morning.
And high hopes of some outside play-time to enjoy the warm weather!
The chores will have to wait!


Writing with love to an audience of One,
Michelle