Mirror, Manual, Power, Life

That is why the Lord says,
    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
    Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
 Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
    but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
    He is eager to relent and not punish.

-Joel 2:12-13 NLT

How do I tear my heart?  

What does that mean?

When I read this scripture yesterday, it gave me pause.  It made me stop and take a look at my heart.  What is the condition of my heart?  The heart is deceitful and will lead me to places that I don't really want to go.  It needs to be watched closely and reigned in.   

The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse 

and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! 

Who can know it 

[perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?

I the Lord search the mind, 

I try the heart, 

even to give to every man according to his ways, 

according to the fruit of his doings.

-Jeremiah 17:9-10 AMP

As I read about the deceitfulness of my heart, how my heart needs to be torn in order to return to the LORD, I think of David.  How is heart was broken because of his sin when he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and then had Uriah killed so as to not be found out.  I can still hear in my mind the cries of David, his cries of repentance.  David got a glimpse of the wickedness of his heart...it was not a pleasant sight. (Psalm 51) 

Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of my own heart.  It's a scary place.  The heart is sometimes like an unruly child in a store.  It's not sure what it wants, it just knows it wants something.  It could have every need met and every desire fulfilled but it just wants something new.  I mean, you can't go into a store and come out empty-handed.  Parents will sometimes have to say NO.  Oh how I hate that word.  I hate to be told no and I truly hate to tell people no.  And then if the child insists on throwing a fit, causing a scene, being disrespectful and unkind...well then he/she must endure the discipline.  TA DA...sometimes, we have to discipline our heart until we change our ways.  

The condition of my heart isn't always about lust or sexual desires (this is what usually comes to our minds when we talk about the heart).  It can be subtle things like un-forgiveness, bitterness, strife, glory seeking, fear, insecurities...the list is extensive.  

What resource do we have to discipline our own hearts.  What is scale?  How do we know?  

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power 

[making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; 

it is sharper than any two-edged sword, 

penetrating to the dividing line of 

the ^[a]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, 

and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging 

the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

-Hebrews 4:12 AMP

The Word of God is our mirror...it shows us the condition of our hearts.

The Word of God is our manual...it tells us how to rid our hearts of sin.

The Word of God is our power source...it keeps us safe from future attacks of our unruly hearts, if we turn it on.  

The Word of God is our Life Line... Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear. -Mark 13:31 NLT

How do I tear my heart?  Turn it towards God!!!  Guard it. Be mindful of it's wickedness.  Be ready to repent...turn from your way of doing things.  Open the WORD and learn from it, do what it says, stand on it, write it on your heart, write it on the walls of your home, speak it, rehearse it, sing it, live it.

I have hidden your word in my heart,

    that I might not sin against you.

-Psalm 119:11 NLT

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link here