THE HEART – PROVERBS 4:20-27
In these next few letters, I want to concentrate on what the Bible calls THE HEART.
Since my wife’s brain aneurysm and consequent stroke, I have been doing some study about the brain and heart, and looking at it from a biblical point of view.
Another definition for the heart is the word ‘mind.’ Often ‘soul’ and ‘spirit’ as well as heart can be translated as the mind. The mind is not part of the brain, but it controls the brain and the brain controls the body. The tree is often an outward expression of what the root is like. This is the same with the brain and mind. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
A man who makes the head the center – will become an intellectual, but will not estimate things at all from the biblical view. For example, sin for the intellectual is a mere defect in which to over-look or grow out of.
Regarding the heart or mind, there are several things we can take under consideration.
THE POWER TO TURN FROM ONE THING TO ANOTHER RESIDES IN THE HEART (MIND)
We can turn from deep anguish to deep joy in the midst of a trial.
“My soul (mind) is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon — from Mount Mizar.” Psalm 42:6
In other words, if circumstances are trying now then we remember when they were not.
We turn from deep anguish to joy through the process of remembering and memory resides in the heart (mind). Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”
Acts 7:23 “Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart(mind) to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart(mind) of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Our brain is a physical thing and will recall what the mind (heart) remembers. Memory is a spiritual thing. We read in Luke 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘son remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.’”
The problem that we face is not the memory but the recalling, and this depends upon the state of the physical brain. Paul went on and said in Philippians 3:13 “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.”
We know from 1 Timothy 1:13 that Paul never forgot what he had been, and we too will remember our past life, but, like Paul, also remember God’s mercy. 1 Timothy 1:13-14 “Although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
PERCEPTION LIES IN THE HEART (MIND)
Deuteronomy 29:4 “Yet the Lord has not given you a heart (mind) to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this very day.”
Proverbs 14:10 “The heart (mind) knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.”
What this means is that the ability to discern what I see, hear and read resides in my mind (heart). The more my mind is stayed on the WORD OF GOD the greater we can discern correctly what is happening around us.
We need to be able to discern the arm of the Lord working on our behalf. Jesus said that He saw His Father working so He did likewise. What do we see or discern the Father doing in our midst, family, community, city, town, village or nation?
In John 12:28-29 Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’ Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to Him.’”
In Acts 9:5-7 “’Who are You, Lord?’ Then the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So he, trembling and astonished, said, ‘Lord, what do You want me to do?’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.’ And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one.”
God is speaking, but are we able to hear and discern what He is saying and doing in the world. What is He saying about the pandemic that we are now in, or the suffering that we go through, tribulations that we encounter, etc. It is important that we discern what God is doing and we discern through the heart (mind). How we need to be saturated with the Word of God.
FOR RIGHT ESTIMATION THE POWER RESIDES IN THE MIND (HEART)
Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart (mind) plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”
In other words, we need to be able to reckon the value of what we have, or of life itself. We need God’s estimation. We read 2 Corinthians 4:18 “While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
What do we see? My wife, because of her stroke, has lost some of her attributes that she had before. She looked into the mirror and what she saw was a shell of herself. I shared with her that what she was looking at was temporary and we need to see what is eternal. Looking in the mirror again she saw a young lady, with a new body and with far greater capacity than she had before.
Like I said, we need God’s estimation; we need to see that which is invisible but is eternal. This ability resides in the mind (heart).