A Cup of Tea

for You & Me

January 2004

Behold, I make all things new. Revelation 21:5

And yet another brand new year has come. The bustle and great to-do of the holiday season is gone. The decorations that we couldn’t wait to bring out are once again put away. For some the close of 2003 leaves behind treasured memories of love and laughter, of family and friends. And for others, there lingers the melancholy of something missing. But isn’t it funny that the human heart works in such a way that in both of these scenarios, and all the ones that lie between them, there is a hope that the New Year will hold good and better things, and that somehow we will make a difference for living it. Isn’t that where all New Year’s Resolutions come from?

Two years ago I made a resolution that I have kept thus far. It began when a friend shared with me the example of one of her mentors. This dear 92-year old woman has read the Bible through, cover to cover, every year since she was 20. I marveled at that commitment, and then I was shocked to realize that I would never be able to say that. I have no real hope of living another 70 years! But God spoke to me in His still, small voice, and said, "Let Me restore the years the locusts have eaten. Start now to do likewise and see what I will do." This week I began reading the Bible through, cover to cover, for the third year. That is not said in pride, but in awe that God has proven Himself faithful, providing me with both time and resolve to do it. Oh that there were space on this page and time in your life to hear all the things I have learned in this exercise! But relax, I won’t try! I’ll share just three major revelations with the promise that your tea will not be cold by the time you finish reading this.

The first is most obvious and foundational. The reading of Genesis through Revelation enlarges the reader’s vision, powerfully revealing the Big Picture with progressive clarity, which resets our daily priorities and perspective. In other words, it increases faith. As Romans 10:17 says, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The message of the Bible is both mind-boggling and simple; fearfully awesome and totally winsome; heart-breaking and hope-giving. It strips us of self, and then gives us life beyond measure. The whole Book is a study in contrasts. It is the story of the battle of Good vs. Evil. Let me tell you how it ends: God wins, His goodness prevails! His purpose in telling the story is that we, the reader, might believe it and receive His goodness, sharing in His victory.

The second major truth is that in order for us to fully share in His victory, we need healing and restoration in our soul, for the soul is the core of our being. Remember, our soul is comprised of our heart, mind and will. If we read carefully through Scripture, we see that these three items, when listed together, are listed in that order – for good reason. God always orders all things intentionally. Now here comes a thought that is sure to ruffle some feathers: the heart is equally as important as the mind for wholeness in our lives. If that is not true,  we cannot live a life that is fully alive and absolutely satisfying. But somewhere along the line many of us have bought into the notion that our hearts are not to be trusted. Yes, I know that Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked… And for most of my believing life, that verse has been taught to mean that my heart is thus to be kept in check, not to be trusted, even ignored or always overruled by logic, that is, the mind. Precious one, that notion is not of God. Yes, the heart is the place of deception when He is not there, but then so is the mind! The key to restoration and wholeness is that when we believe in Jesus, He moves in! With salvation comes a new heart and mind. Behold, He makes all things new!  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. 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 The new heart that He gives to us is not wicked, but good and pure and holy. It has to be, for that is where He lives within us! ...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:17

Where I have been in trouble with knowing what to do with and about my heart in the past is that I have equated my heart only with my feelings. Emotions are only a part of my heart, just as processing knowledge is only part of my mind’s work. The task of the mind is to deal with the abstract; to receive and order the information coming in to us through our senses. That is only the beginning of the work of the soul. Until we receive that information into our hearts, it remains abstract and detached from our lives. It is in our hearts that information affects us and becomes our reality. It is in our hearts that truth becomes an integral part of us! It is in our hearts that effect begins. Our minds determine cause, our hearts determine effect, and together they determine our will. 

People who have been terribly wounded by trauma or neglect shut down their hearts out of self defense. But that "protection" prevents them from being fully alive! They live in the abstract realm of their minds, never able to experience intimacy with themselves or others. God cares passionately about our hearts. Do you know that He speaks of the heart over 900 times in Scripture? There are only about 130 verses that speak of the mind. At the heart of every problem is a problem of the heart. I wish I could remember who said or wrote that! Suffice to say, it’s not my quote. But this is mine: The heart of the matter is that the heart matters! And that leads right into the third revelation of our time together.

The third truth that has come to me is that story of the Bible is very clear and simple. But what God makes simple, humans will do their best to complicate:

 #1 we want it to make sense to our human way of thinking before we will try it to see if it works, so it stays in our heads.

 #2 we determine to perfectly follow all the "Thou shalt’s" to prove to ourselves and others that we are good.

 #3 we are so fearful of breaking the "Thou shalt not’s" that we make the rules of living harder and more confining than God does.

Why do we do these things? It’s because we have learned to live in our heads and exclude our hearts in determining the path of our wills. The Bible then becomes a text book to be studied, and we seek "correct" doctrine and formulas for living instead of seeking God. I have seen in my own life, and observed in the lives of others, that when any or all of these fallacies are at work, the result is a life void of joy and humility, one of dogma, legalism, and a critical spirit but not much of the fruit of the Spirit. The outward appearance may look good, but the inner self isn't really changed. Keeping God and His Word cerebral produces either a sense of failure (no joy) or a sense of arrogance (no humility). 

The Bible is a true love letter from our Creator-Father, intended to engage both the mind and the heart of the reader. It is story after story of what happens in the lives of people when they believe in their hearts and trust God with their whole soul and what happens when they do not. It is a testimony of Truth that will one day be made obvious to all. But why wait for "one day?" God wants to speak to our heart today. He wants our hearts fully alive to Him today.

So these are three of the things the Lord has taught me in the last two years. I wonder where He'll go from here? Wherever it is, it will be exciting and very, very good. How about it?  Will you join me? Will you invite our Lord to begin and to daily continue to make all things new for you? Will you sit down with Him every day and let Him talk to you, let Him tell you the truth about Him and about you? Will you lay aside all those books about the Bible until you’ve read the Bible itself? It’s the one resolution that will ensure that the New Year will hold good and better things, and that somehow we will make a difference for living it.

My prayer for all of us this New Year is that our souls will be fully alive in 2004!

With love,

Sue

You will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29

Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. I Samuel 16: 7

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? I Corinthians 3:16

...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Ephesians 3:17

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23

Your word have I hidden in my heart...Your word has given me life. Psalm 119:11, 50

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