Heart Knowledge part 4
Here's what I want to say today: You have to be a little bit careful about defining things (yourself, especially) by your experiences. And I know that's such an easy thing to do. Because once you experience something... it's real to you. I've even said that experience is the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. But here's the tricky part--a bad experience CAN define you, but it doesn't HAVE to. There are always two choices. Two voices. The still, small voice of truth that comes from the heart... and the voice of the world shouting at the top of it's lungs. One will try to bury you. The other comes from deep within. So if we listen to the world's report, that's using the carnal mind. But if we listen to our hearts... that's how we let the mind of Christ (that's already in us) BE in us! We can stay on the surface, or we can dig a little deeper. We can take what the world gives us, or we can live out of the abundance of the Kingdom. We can let our past define us... or we can learn from it. Grow because of it. I've heard it said a Christian is like a teabag. It's not until you put them in hot water that you find out what they're really made of. And here's the key--remember, the tricky part was that sometimes we have "bad" expriences and we let those experiences define us. The key is to stand on the rock. That way you will not be shaken. That way you'll make it THROUGH whatever it is instead of getting stuck there. That way you can stay open to NEW experiences instead of letting one "bad" experience be your entire frame of reference. And I keep putting "bad" in quotation marks for a reason. Because we aren't supposed to judge things according to appearance. We aren't supposed to discern BETWEEN good and evil. We are supposed to discern BOTH good and evil. Understand that they are both part of the same tree. The tree of death. Something that might feel like the worst thing in the world--at the time--might be necessary in order to get you to the best thing in the world. And from that point of view it might not be a "bad" thing at all. It might be just part of the everlasting life-long journey into the heart of the matter. And the heart of the matter is the heart. God's heart beating with love in our chests. Sometimes we cling so hard to something that we miss out on something even better. We let what has come before dictate what will come next. We close ourselves down instead of opening ourselves up. Guarding your heart is not about closing it down. It's about using it properly. Letting love in so you can fill yourself to overflowing with what you've been filled with. Receiving it and releasing it. Knowing the truth and letting the truth set you free and make you free. THAT'S the experience we need to cling to. Saul being knocked off his donkey and blinded by the light and becoming Paul. Peter stepping out on the Word of God and walking on water. The love of a heavenly Father to His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That's what the HEART knows. And that's what defines our reality. That's what makes this everlasting life worth living. That's what makes it POSSIBLE to live. Because to live is to love... and to love is to live!