NTC Day 23 - It's all a matter of the heart...

My memory verse this week:
"Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart." 2 Corinthians 4:1

NTC Day 23
Luke 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 1-3

Our hearts are miraculous things. In the body, the heart is the pump that keeps everything running. Without it, nothing in the body would be able to work. While the brain sends signals to our muscles and nerves and enables us to speak, move and live, without the heart, the brain wouldn't get the blood and oxygen it needs to work. It is also in the heart that seems to house our spirit...or someplace deep inside us. My heart goes out to someone...my heart is filled with love, my heart is broken...

The heart is mentioned several times in both the Luke and 2 Corinthians readings for today. 

* "And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." - Luke 1:17 (Zechariah speaking of his son John the Baptist)
* "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." -- Luke 2:19 (After the birth of Jesus and the visit from the shepherds.)
* "The he (Jesus) went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart." -- Luke 2:51 (After Jesus had been missing and was found in "his Father's house")
* "...set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."--2 Corinthians 1:22 (Speaking of Jesus)
* "For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you." --2 Corinthians 2:4 (Paul, speaking to the people of Corinth)
* "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. -- 2 Corinthians 3:3 

From all of these verses we see that it is in our hearts that we feel joy, anguish, memories, but more importantly, it is where the Spirit comes to live.

Like Mary, there are many things I treasure up and ponder in my heart. I want my heart to be open to allow Christ to write on the tablet of my heart so I can pass those lovely words on to those I meet.

I don't always feel like my heart is full of love...lately, I have felt a little anguish, worry and hurt in my heart, and that can stand in the way of what God wants to do in my heart and through my heart. Today, I pray that my spirit is lifted and my heart is opened to the love and power of the Holy Spirit within me! I pray the same for you, my friends!