What's your heart full of?

Even though I’m a coffee freak I like the occasional cup of tea. My favorites are Lemon Zinger and Green Tea. If you were to look at a tea bag, it might be hard to tell what type of tea it is, but when you put it in hot, boiling water you can quickly tell what’s inside. So it is in when we’re put in stressful situations which are the “hot water” of our lives.

You see, it not the “hot water’s” fault or the cup you’re steeped in that causes you to speak or act in certain ways. It starts in your heart. Jesus said, For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come--sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person." (Mark 7:21-23 NIV). Truth is, we need a new “tea bag.” We need a new heart… the heart of Jesus.

Here’s the Good News. When we turn from our sin and turn to God and believe on Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, God gives us a brand new heart. The Bible says, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NIV).

Our desires change because we received a new heart… a soft heart that desires God’s ways and not our ways. When that happens, Jesus’ life begins to be lived through us. That’s the Good News.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you’re still having trouble living for him, maybe there’s something you’re holding on to that’s keeping you from living out of the heart He gave you. This is a daily choice. Daily we are to surrender our will and way to Him and live from the heart He has given us through Jesus Christ.

So what’s keeping you from living the life God has given to you through His Son? Are you willing to give up your old heart for a new heart that only God can give? When you do, get ready to see what comes out of your life. You will find that you will begin to speak and act like Jesus. His life will come seeping through, especially in the hot water situations in your life. It’s tea time.