Tuesday, November 26, 2013

When Our Heart Speaks



"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45

We spend our entire lives without personally seeing inside our own physical heart.  We know our heart is there and it is critical to our survival but we have a hard time knowing how our physical heart really is doing.  Our heart, however, has a way of letting us know when it is really sick.  Usually the message the sick heart sends stops our world and makes us pay attention to our heart.

Most people also know they have a spiritual heart, but they do not know how it tells them when it is sick.  They do not know the spiritual heart speaks.

To know the condition of our spiritual heart, we simply have to listen to what comes out of our mouth.  If evil comes out of our mouth we know our inner, hidden spiritual heart is very sick.  If good comes out of our mouth we know our spiritual heart is filled with God’s love.

Evil is anything that I think, feel or do that gives me permission to stop loving others.  When I hear words coming from my mouth that give me permission to hate, ignore, condemn or criticize others, I can know my spiritual heart is having a heart attack.

When our physical heart speaks through weakness, pain or a heart attack,  we must stop and pay complete attention because our life is at stake.  When something evil comes out of our mouths we must stop and pay complete attention because love is at stake.

Learn to listen to the voice of your body to know your physical heart and live.
Learn to listen to the words of your mouth to know your spiritual heart and love


Bud McCord
Abide International

Monday, November 18, 2013

"Like the Dew..."

 “Like the dew…”

God says, "I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily." Hosea 14:5 

”Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.” Luke 12:27


It is amazing how gentle God is willing to be in our lives!  Meditate on how the Lord wants to gently  influence you on a daily basis.  Think of the kind of power one must have to be so gentle!

As you try to influence other people are you able to be as gentle as the “dew” and simply believe your continous and daily kindness and gentleness will make the difference?  Are you so convinced of the power of love that you do not need to force yourself into view to influence?

The next time you are tempted to say  “Where is God?”, be sure to check for the gentleness of God which is like the dew.

 

Bud McCord
Abide International