A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45 (KJV).

REFLECT:
The heart and the issue of the heart is one area of study that never ceases to fascinate man all through the years. Out of such studies have come tons of scientific theories, hypotheses, and proven evidence.

Yet there is still a vast dimension of the realm of the heart man has not yet ventured into; here is a word that proves this statement, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”Jeremiah 17: 9-10. (KJV). Here we are told of how deeply deceitful the heart is, the depths of which nobody knows, but only God.

Now when we talk about the heart, we may not necessarily be referring to the physical heart which, as we all know, resides in the physical plane, even though it may also have a part to play in this respect, because it has a connection to the non-physical plane. The non-physical plane is what we are concerned with today. This plane houses three core aspects of our being and they are:

(i) our conscious mind—this is our soul, in which our mind, emotions and will dwell.

(ii). Our subconscious mind—which is the real heart of man.

(iii). Our unconscious mind—which is the Spirit of man.

All three aspects within the non-physical plane mentioned above are very much connected one to another especially as it concerns the transformation of the heart. The heart acts as a receiver and transmitter. It also acts as storage, it stores information. Such information may be good or bad.

However, the heart is only able to play the roles just mentioned above by feeding off from both the Spirit (of man) on one hand, and the soul on the other hand and vice versa.

Now our Bible verse for today describes the heart as a treasure storehouse. Usually, when we hear the word treasure everyone pays attention because we always associate treasures with good things. However, our Bible verse tells us differently, that treasures can also stand for bad things, we just have to learn to label them correctly.

As we examine our Bible verse even more closely, we notice something new, which is that the heart holds a place of accountability in the sense that the heart is the place in man that can make or break a man. Our hearts announce who we are, revealing our true identity, if we are good or if we are bad, all this will depend on the state of our hearts.

Another very interesting realization is that the heart has the power to control our physical plane, and this is by what it feeds to our conscious mind (soul). It is what it feeds our soul with that eventually will come out of our physical mouth.

Furthermore, what comes out of our mouths will determine who we are or become in life, the things we can achieve, how far we go in this life, and every other aspect of our lives, in general, gets affected by what our heart feeds our mouth with. Simply put the words we speak issue out of our hearts and these words create or re-create our destinies.

Now from all we have said, some questions have come up to the surface which we may wish to address here:

1. What kind of treasures do we have stored up in our hearts, are they good or are they bad?

2. How do we know the kind of treasures we have stored up in our hearts?

3. What is the remedy for a deformed and wicked heart?

An important fact to note here in respect of the questions asked above is that we can never justify ourselves in this matter, this is because man’s heart is flawed with wickedness because of sin “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:9 KJV).

Therefore, the only justifier, deliverer, redeemer, and savior is God through Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sin on the cross. Jesus is the only answer to a deformed and wicked heart. This means that if we accept Jesus into our hearts He immediately comes into our hearts by His Holy Spirit also known as God’s Spirit.

The Holy Spirit works with our own Spirit to give our hearts a complete make-over, transforming us according to the goodwill and purpose of God. The Holy Spirit does this by employing the Word of God, prayer, and other spiritual tools to clean up our hearts and restore good treasures in it from the storehouses of Heaven.

So, friends all we have to do if we must solve the situation of our hearts is to accept Jesus into our hearts. Let us allow Him to work in us to bring our hearts in alignment with the will and purposes of God for us by filling our hearts with the good treasures of the Kingdom of God.

The realization of what the state of our hearts is, will only come from us fully acknowledging how far gone our heart is in sin. Also, our deliverance from this state will only come from how surrendered we are to God in Christ Jesus to enable Him to do a perfect work of redemption and restoration.

Ebimobo W. Obasi

PLEASE PRAY ALONG:

A Prayer to Store Up Good Treasures In My Heart.

FATHER GOD, You know my heart better than anyone. There is nothing that I can hide from You. Come into my heart and give me a perfect heart makeover. I want to be able to store up good treasures in my heart so that I can produce good fruit in my life, but I can’t do it without You. Please renew and restore my heart so that I might produce fruit for Your kingdom. In JESUS MIGHTY NAME AMEN.