Notes:
Unchain My Heart
- The word ‘heart’ in the Hebrew is the word leb i.e. the inner, centre or middle of a thing.
- Jesus described the heart as a ‘storehouse’.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil” (Lk.6:45)
The heart is the place where we store the significant experiences in life which we encounter through the faculties of the soul. The most significant experiences of life are:
- Those which have brought us the greatest pleasure
- And those which have brought us the greatest pain
Every day our hearts are being programmed by what we choose to retain from that which happens in our lives. This storehouse greatly influences the way we live our lives.
This is illustrated by a parable Jesus told, the parable of the sower. As the man in this story sowed his seed it fell into four different kinds of soil. These represent 4 different types of heart condition.
Life works from the inside out. Yet we often try to get things to work from the outside. Here are three examples of this principle:
- Behaviour is an outworking of that which is in the heart. Jesus said: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matt.15:19). The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.
- Sickness and health are influenced from within. Up to 70% of sickness is psychosomatic, i.e. the state of the mind affects the health of the body (Prov. 4:20-22; 12:25; & Prov. 14:30; 17:22).
- The power for Christian living is within us. We have all the power we need for the Christian life. (2 Pet.1:3). This power is not imparted from outside, but is sourced within (Eph.3:20)
The three most powerful influences that have helped shape our hearts are:
- The environment we have been brought up in
- What we have been taught
- Traumatic experiences from the past
At the end of the parable of the sower, according to Mark, Jesus said: “Take heed what you hear” (Mk.4:24). According to Luke, He said: “Take heed how you hear” (Lk.8:18).
Since everything we do passes through the filter of the heart, two people can be in the same situation and each respond differently. Their response is largely determined by the condition of their heart. That’s why in the Book of Proverbs we read:
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov.4:23)
The Bible teaches these 3 things about God and your heart:
- At salvation we received a new heart. Our heart is now a sphere of divine influence
- God searches our hearts and causes us to know them
- He will establish our hearts in grace
# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70% correct is required to advance to the next session.