What are you allowing to fill your heart?‘out of the abundance of the heart that our mouth speaks.’ – Luke 6:45What are we allowing to dominate our thought life? Solomon in Proverbs 23:7 wrote: “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” We choose what we allow our lives to be filled with. Luke 2:40 – Jesus (as a child) was filled with wisdomMatthew 9:8 – The crowds were filled with awe at the healing the paralyticLuke 13:10-17On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. 14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath." 15 The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?" 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. The ruler was indignantThe people were filled with delightLuke 15:30, the prodigal son’s father was filled with compassion upon seeing his son return. Romans 1:29 “filled with every kind of wickedness.”Gen 6:5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time . Anger, bitterness, malice, hatred, jealousy, fear Filled with JOY and the Holy Spirit - Acts 13:52They didn’t allow their circumstances to dictate what would fill their hearts. They chose to be filled with joy. They chose to let the Holy Spirit fill them and work through them.“they were filled with grief” – John 16:6We must also do our part. Proverbs 4:23, Guard your hearts for it is the wellspring of life. We need to be careful what we allow to reside in our hearts. Philippians 4:8-9Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. We need to meditate on God’s Word day and night. We need to dwell on the promises of God’s Word. The hope of God’s Word. The assurance of God’s Word. The enemy wants to tear us down. Jesus comes to build us upThe enemy wants to destroy our lives. Jesus came to give us life to the fullThe enemy wants to rob us of our hope. Jesus came to give us hope and a peace that will endure through the storms of life.We choose what we will allow to fill our lives. You choose what you allow in your life through the things you meditate on. What is filling your life at this moment in time? Faith or fear? Hope or despair? Jesus or this world?Philippians 1:9-11And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.
