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“What the heart speaks”
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
Matthew 12:33-35 NKJV
I invite you to read Matthew chapter 12 along with this study.
How do I know I am producing good fruits?
Are the fruits of my heart good? How do I know? I remember learning as a child that, what goes up must come down. My heart is the same. What goes in, is what comes out. I’m imagining my heart as a clean white cotton glove, if I brush it along a clean counter it will come away clean, but if I brush it along a dirty or dusty counter it will come away with dirt or dust on it.
Whatever you put in your heart will also come out in your life. If I am filling my day with things that don’t bring glory to God, such as, movies, books, music, or habits that promote bad language like violence or sinful actions, those things will gather in my heart and eventually come back out in my words and actions. These are the bad fruits I want to avoid in my life.
When I instead focus on God’s word and fill my heart with his promises, those things will flow out of me and encourage others. These are my good fruits.
Start with a good foundation.
“For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”
I Corinthians 3:9-17 NKJV
These verses talk about what we build our foundations on. Gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw are all mentioned. If a fire were to come in and burn down the foundations of my heart, what would remain? Am I building it with gold silver and precious stones; words and actions that are pleasing to and bring glory to God? Or, am I building it with flammable things that will count for nothing and become consumed by fire in the end?
What goes in my heart is most definitely what comes out, and I want my life to reflect the love of Jesus in all that I do. So, how can I be sure that I am not feeding my heart the useless flammable stuff of this world? I can start by beginning each day with God and allowing his word to set the mood and prepare me for my day.
Plant the seeds for good fruit.
A few years ago, when I was struggling with something in my life tearing me down, a friend mentioned that she used study notes and a journal to help keep her mind off of the bad things and help focus our thoughts on the promises of God. I had to try it. I’ve always been a lover of reading and writing so it was pretty easy to get started. I’ll admit, along the way I’ve had some dry spells. There were days when I don’t want to get up and read my Bible first thing. Other days, I would read and have nothing to write. On some of the worst days, I simply wrote that I had nothing to say but I was doing my best to stay faithful.
Overtime, this daily habit of reading the scripture and putting my thoughts on paper became a passion. Thus, the birth of scripturesparrow.com and my ability to share these devotions with you. Remember… what goes in, must come out. When you were filled with the Holy Spirit, the joy that’s in you must come out and be shared with others. My prayer is that you will choose this day to start filling your life with the words of God and spreading them around to others.
“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”
I John 3:18-20 NKJV
Don't be discouraged.
Remember that the enemy is tricky and sometimes the heart is as well. You may not always feel that you are doing a good job or producing any good fruits, but God knows your heart better than you do. Focus on his promises, fill your thoughts with the fruits of the spirit, and find peace in knowing that He is working in you. I encourage you today, if you are not already doing so, to start each morning with God’s word and watch how it changes your perspective throughout the rest of the day.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
For today’s craft, I chose a heart shaped fruit to remind us to fill our hearts with good fruits that we may be able to share them with others.
Heart Shaped Fruits
For your free cricut link to my project click here
What you need:
1. 3 different colors of cardstock paper
2. Fine point pen 0.4 (if using Cricut)
3. Hole punch if ribbon is desired
4. 1 10-inch piece of ribbon or hemp rope
5. Elmers Glue stick
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