apathy

Whatever You Do

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Whatever you do, don’t let your heart become hard. The hardening of the heart is the most natural thing to have happen in our lives. The world we live in is a hard world that takes us through difficult times and hard places. We often get jerked around by unforeseen events. I would be one to say that if your heart has not become hard, it’s a miracle of God. The hardening of the heart is a built-in defense mechanism used to protect us from getting hurt again. I remember as a young boy playing games and getting hurt but would say, “That didn’t hurt,” when in reality, it did! Granted there are people who have a high tolerance for pain, and then there are some who have just let their hearts get hard and numb. Sinning against God and denying the truth are hardening agents of the heart. The symptoms of a hard heart are apathy and not much sympathy for this hurting around you. Shallow relationships, keeping people at a distance, and refusing to listen are all signs of a hard heart. If you never feel anything, you may have a hard heart. No one ever wants to have one, but many do. God’s word says in Proverbs 4:23 “Keep (guard) your heart with all diligence, For out of it [spring] the issues of life.”

The fullness and blessings of life will pass you by if you have a hard heart and you don’t address it with intentional actions. Ask God to help you make your heart tender again, because that is what He wants for all of us. Add some heart softener to your heart everyday by reading God’s word. Then keep a monitor on your heart to reflect on how you interact with others, especially strangers.

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Stir it Up

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You do know that the good stuff always goes to the bottom, right?  It’s kind of like the pulp in the orange juice.  Before you pour a glass full of vitamin C, you need to take a moment and shake the carton.  Over time the heavy pulp particles in the juice naturally settle. What happens with our orange juice happens in the Christian’s life.  God has put good stuff inside of you like love, grace and mercy, all of which are heavy spiritual gifts from the Lord that tend to settle over time.  Not only do those things settle, but oftentimes our prayer life and desire for God’s Word. Even our desire to be used by God can settle, and before you know it, we settle down with an attitude of apathy. I can only wonder how much spiritual pulp is sitting in the pews every week somehow believing this is the abundant life.  The truth is, we need a shaking and a stirring in our spiritual lives so that all that has settled can spring back up like a fountain of everlasting life.  

Hebrews 10:24-25 tells us that we have a responsibility towards each other to stir each other up.  It says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as [is] the manner of some, but exhorting [one another,] and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”  

Let me ask you, are you considering someone right now?  Do you have a ministry of stirring others? It says, “consider one another” and that means to live with the knowledge that your very life will cause a stirring or a settling in the life of others. Some people are always stirring things up, but it’s not love and good works.  So, would the way you live for God right now stir someone up to love and good works?  Do other people want to join you in what you’re doing, or do they just watch and turn into settlers?  I don’t know about you, but I need a revival to stir up the spiritual pulp in my life. What about you?

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