Mirror, Mirror…

“Just as water mirrors your face, so your face mirrors your heart.” – Proverbs 27:19 (MSG)

Peer into water and what do you see? You see a reflection of your true likeness. In the same way, your heart reflects your true character. Several times, in this blog, Bethel at Balata, I’ve written that your heart is that place deep within you beyond your conscious thoughts, your inner-most being and it possesses the power to motivate and compel you – if it is evil, you will tend to do evil but if it is good, you will tend to do good. In Luke 6:45 Jesus says,

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (NIV)

Although outside influences affect you, your true character traits come from deep within. “For out of the heart come evil thoughts--murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Matthew 15:19 (NIV). Clearly, it is what’s in your fallen heart that corrupts your whole being. That is why David, after committing adultery and murder, pleaded with God to create in him a pure heart (Psalm 51:10) – he understood that it was in the heart that sin is devised (see Genesis 6:5; Proverbs 6:18), but even more importantly, he recognized that it was not within his own power to overcome and sought the help of the only One with real power to restore, God Almighty.

So too you must be honest with yourself, come clean with God about what’s really in your heart. Yes, it’s true, He already knows but this confession is not for God’s sake, it is for your sake. As 1 John 1:9 assures, 

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (NIV)

This verse gives credence to the familiar old Scottish proverb: “Open confession is good for the soul.”

The “open” is usually left out but it is indeed open confession that is the prerequisite to repentance, and forgiveness from a God who delights in forgiving and forgetting.

Allow me to leave you with a few verses from the Bible upon which you can meditate:

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment…Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 1 Peter 3:3,4 (NIV)

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

“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)

“Explore me, O God, and know the real me. Dig deeply and discover who I am. Put me to the test and watch how I handle the strain. Examine me to see if there is an evil bone in me, and guide me down Your path forever.” Psalm 139:23-24 (The Voice)

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Amen†

Mirror, Mirror… Shelley Johnson 25-Nov-2016/29-Nov-2016