Daily Diary January 9th, 2019

What’s In Your Heart?

The old saying “you are what you eat” is true from a spiritual sense the same way as from a physical perspective.

Luke 6:43-45 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

If we desire to improve who we are we need to fill ourselves with spiritual food that makes us "full" of Godly truth. 

Revelation:  If we look at our day as if we are sitting at the dinner table and we are being offered “spiritual” food that is either good or evil.  What are the options we have to choose from?

Which of these 2 categories found in the book of Galatians are being displayed for us to choose from?

Category A:

Galatians 5:19-26  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Category B:

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Category A is what is paraded in front of us all day long.  Will we eat of the works of the flesh today or choose to consume from the fruit of the spirit?

This list found in Galatians is an outline of “Right” and “Wrong” from the Word.  If we give into the fleshly things presented to us in Category A, our heart will be full of this fleshly junk and it will spill out to the world around us.  The same is true for category B. 

I believe they are listed in this order because we are not only fed the things from category A first as a choice in life, but its also our flesh nature to automatically indulge in this list.

Question:  How much of our society is full of jealousy, hatred, envy and sexual discord?

Category “B” is the fruit of the spirit and is a conscience choice on our part.  We must turn down the consumption of Category A to eat of the good fruit found in God’s kingdom.  It’s our "choice" to select what goes into our heart.

To grow as Christians we must first recognize what we are being offered to consume.  We must also be patient and examine such things and not act out of our emotions.

We may need to change our environment and friends so we can have better options offered to us from the goodness of God. 

We need to be aware of our surroundings and what we put into our heart so we can have peace, while helping others along the way.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴ Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.

Father God, We pray for your wisdom to make great choices on what we bring into our heart.  We thank you for your truth and your spirit that fills us up with good things to make a difference in this world in Jesus name. Amen

Philippians 4:6-8 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.