Few weeks ago, we had a discussion about the "heart" in our Women's Fellowship group and I'd have to say that it's one of the topics that really struck my heart. If you wonder why, I'll give you the reasons. First, because I was assigned to facilitate, I had the chance to choose which topic to discuss. I prayed to God that He would reveal to us what He thinks about the hearts of His children. Second, it may seem to be a biased choice because I was really having personal issues of the heart at that time. And so I thought it would be nice to have a heart check up together with the ladies. I thought it was the perfect time to learn what God really says about our hearts by studying His Word. Praise God for He provided everything for us that night. It was indeed a blessing to come across online resources for the topic. I was so glad to have met Ms. Julia Bettencourt of Creative Ladies Ministry and Carlos of Off the Page - YouTube channel. Of course, big thanks also to Jon Bloom of www.desiringgod.org. Without the help of these online servants of God, we would really have a hard time discussing on our own. Definitely grateful for all that God has given us - food, fellowship and faith. Allow me to share to you how our fellowship went. We normally eat together first and catch up on each other's lives while enjoying our food. On that particular night, it was only KC who showed up. So there were only 4 of us - KC, 2 of my sisters (Atsi & Apong) and me. At first I thought, should I feel sad that we were the only ones present to discuss? Should I allow myself to feel discouraged because it seemed that no one else was interested to learn with us? To tell you honestly, I didn't let those thoughts stay on my mind or bother me. I knew that I prepared well and prayed to God as I studied His Word. So we didn't waste any time waiting for others to come since it was already around 8pm when we started. The first thing we did was to share our thoughts on the worldly advice in making major or minor decisions in life, which is to "follow your heart." We hear it all the time, don't we? This piece of advice is just everywhere. From the books we read, to the songs that we listen to or even in the movies. Everything seems to point us to this advice - to follow our hearts, to listen to our inner voice because it will lead us to happiness or peace or anything great. But if we really come to think of it, can we really trust our hearts? Most of us in the group agreed that we cannot trust our hearts in every situation. So we all took a heart test. I encourage you to take the test too! Just download the file below:
As we shared the results of our tests, each of us admitted that our hearts cannot be trusted. Most of the time, our hearts cause us to sin against God and against others. The heart only wants what is good and pleasing to oneself, even when it is not aligned to will of the One who created it. And so, after our short discussion and sharing time, we watched this video below: We also discussed an article by Jon Bloom - http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/don-t-follow-your-heart - You may notice that both were from different sites but they point us to the same message because they have the same reliable source - the Word of God. As human beings, the bible teaches us not to depend on what our heart tells us. It was made to be led, not by the world but by the One True God. We are to lay it before our shepherd Jesus and allow Him to change it, shape it, test it and turn it to become like His heart. And so, we ended our discussion with Proverbs 4:23 as our memory verse - "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." If you happen to read this post, let me know your thoughts! You can leave a comment below and I'm more than willing to discuss this topic with you. =) Grace and blessings, Angelica
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Nothing really fancy here, the lack of eloquence is very evident. Just sharing my thoughts - straight from the heart. Archives
September 2017
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