It’s the Heart That Matters
Amy Troyer | Director, Special Needs Ministry
I have recently found an app on my phone called BIOY (Bible In One Year). I know there are a lot of different reading plans out there, but I really like this one. Each day, I choose to have the daily passages read to me, along with the commentary. I love opening my Bible in the morning, sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee, birds singing, and following along with the passages for the day.
“Your Face Reflects Your Heart:” This was the title of a recent daily reading. The pastor’s commentary started with, ‘Some people’s faces radiate love and joy. Their smile puts us at ease and cheers us up.’ If we think about it, I am sure we can all call to mind someone like this that we know.
He then went on to say that ‘others may have a rather sour expression on their face that can make you feel very uncomfortable.’ Again, I think we could bring someone to mind that has these characteristics.
A happy heart makes the face cheerful.
Proverbs 15:13, NIV
I want always to be someone who radiates love and joy.
What about the times when we aren’t happy, and our face looks less than cheerful? We have all, at some point, put on that fake smile and kept moving through our life and responsibilities, when what we really felt like doing was maybe just going back to bed and pulling the covers over our head and pretending like no one knows us or sees us. Even when we manage to hide our hearts from those around us, God can still see it:
Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord.
Proverbs 15:11, NLT
How much more does he know the human heart!
God is interested in our hearts, and He takes notice of the things that weigh us down. He cares deeply about our lives.
Can your heart be full of joy despite your outward circumstances?
Yes, because joy comes from the heart and is not necessarily connected to outward circumstances. [1] We cannot acquire this on our own or by gaining what the world’s standards of joy would be. Real joy originates with God’s presence in our life. We can achieve this by staying close to the Father who gives us a faith-filled heart and His joy.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John 15:4, ESV
We will still have hard days and outward circumstances that want to take the joy from our hearts and faces, but if we remember Jesus’ words in John 15:11, then our faces will reflect more of the biblical joy that is in our hearts:
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
John 15:11, ESV
[1] Betts, Shelley. “My Heart Is Full of Joy: Immune from Negative Stress.” Wake Up America Seminars, 24 Nov. 2017, wake-up.org/worship/my-heart-is-full-of-joy.html.
Thank you Amy. AMEN AMEN. THIS WAS A TREMENDOUS BLESSING TO ME! What is the App. I would love to do this every morning! Love and hugs.
Amen. Thank you!
How true this is . I recently have gone thru some health problems and they have drawn me closer to God. We are sent things in our life for a reason that only He knows. It’s so easy to get down on ourselves and walk around with a sour look on our face. But if we remember that God is with us it can change us thru and thru.