{"id":696,"date":"2012-02-11T06:00:01","date_gmt":"2012-02-11T06:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/02\/living-from-the-heart\/"},"modified":"2012-02-11T06:00:01","modified_gmt":"2012-02-11T06:00:01","slug":"living-from-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/first15\/2012\/02\/living-from-the-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"Living from the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Weekly Overview:<\/h2>\n<p>So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. But those perceptions aren\u2019t the truth of Scripture. Those beliefs are founded on misguided notions of God\u2019s character. God is after the heart. More than he wants us to do right, he wants us to see him rightly. He wants going to church, reading the Bible, worshipping, serving the poor, and living righteously to come from a heart filled with a true revelation of his loving-kindness. May your heart be wholly God\u2019s this week.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Scripture:<\/h2>\n<p><em>\u201cTrust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.&#8221;<\/em> Psalm 62:8<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"worship\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Worship:<\/h2>\n<h3>Yield My Heart by Kim Walker-Smith<\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"display: block; margin: auto auto 30px auto; width: 100%; float:left;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: block; margin: auto; float: left; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #484846; padding: 2px; -moz-border-radius: 3px; -khtml-border-radius: 3px; -webkit-border-radius: 3px; border-radius: 3px;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0qn9F3HVgng?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<h2>Devotional:<\/h2>\n<p>God has formed us to be creatures of the heart. He made us to live from a place of communion with him\u2014an eternal relationship with our hearts deeply connected. And in response to the communion you have with God you can choose to live from your heart. You can choose with confidence to think, feel, act, and believe not just with what\u2019s logical, but with what God\u2019s Spirit is speaking to you.<\/p>\n<p>Oftentimes we disclude our hearts as if they are unfounded and fickle. We stop paying attention to our emotions because we doubt their validity and value. But God formed you with emotions. And it\u2019s oftentimes your emotions that best reveal your beliefs. You don\u2019t feel stress, worry, doubt, or anger without cause. You don\u2019t experience joy, peace, passion, and purpose for no reason. Your heart is the window to your beliefs. It reveals where you\u2019ve placed your trust and hope. It reveals what truly matters to you.<\/p>\n<p>Psalm 62:8 says, <em>\u201cTrust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.&#8221;<\/em> God longs to hear your heart. He longs for you to so trust him that you honestly and truthfully assess your heart and pour it out before him. He cares about the way you feel. He\u2019s not all right with you going through life stressed, angry, doubtful, worried, or unconfident. He wants your heart to be filled with the fruit of communion with him that you might live an expressive, passionate, and satisfied life.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging your emotions isn\u2019t weakness. Rather, it\u2019s a sign of confidence and security that you can take an honest look at your life and assess how you\u2019re doing. Living from the heart is a crucial aspect to authentic, abundant Christianity. God doesn\u2019t want robots. He doesn\u2019t just want to influence our minds or just make us work for him. He wants all of us. He wants your mind to be renewed and your hands to be set to good work from a place of wonderful, life-giving communion with him.<\/p>\n<p>Take time as you enter into guided prayer to value your heart. Assess how you\u2019ve been feeling. Pour out your heart to your loving, patient, and understanding heavenly Father. And go out today in confidence that you might live openly, receptively, and passionately.<\/p>\n<h2>Guided Prayer:<\/h2>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">\n<p><strong>1. Meditate on the importance of living from the heart. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cTrust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.&#8221;<\/em> Psalm 62:8<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Assess how you\u2019ve been feeling.<\/strong> What\u2019s been bringing you life? What\u2019s been causing you stress, anger, or frustration. What do your emotions tell you?<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Pour out your heart to God on paper.<\/strong> Ask the Holy Spirit for revelation about anything you don\u2019t understand. Write down his responses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Oftentimes, if we will begin our quiet time by assessing our emotions we\u2019ll be able to go deeper with God quicker. God longs for our time spent with him to be open, vulnerable, and honest. He longs to help us with those things that are truly robbing us of abundant life. And because emotions are often windows into our beliefs they are a great way to assess where we need a fresh revelation of what\u2019s true. May your life be filled with the fruit of the Spirit today as you choose to live from the heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Extended Reading:<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=psalm+62&#038;version=ESV\" rel=\"alternate\">Psalm 62<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Weekly Overview: So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. But those perceptions aren&#8217;t the truth of Scripture. Those beliefs are founded on misguided notions of God&#8217;s character. God is after the heart.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":636,"featured_media":699,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-first15"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Living from the Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Weekly Overview: So often we view God as an enforcer of religious rules. We see the commands of Scripture as a list of to-dos rather than a path leading to abundant life. 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