Scripture Challenge {Week 33}

As I was opening my mail one day, a 6-inch plastic ruler fell out of the envelope. On the ruler it said “God measures the heart!” The verse it referenced was 1 Samuel 16:7 “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So, I am sure God was telling me that we need to look at that word this week.

Week 33 Challenge Word: Heart

Do you ever just cry because your heart is so full of love and joy for our precious Lord? I know I do. I think I do it almost weekly as I do these studies. As I search scripture using our keyword each week on Bible Gateway, I am overcome when I read each scripture associated with each weekly word. It is amazing, and I thank Him for filling my heart with such love and joy for Him. It is an amazing feeling. I pray you have been feeling that way too as you study each week. A scripture I used for my card this week goes right along with that feeling I have:

Psalm 119:111 "Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart."

Then God so clearly brought this hymn to my mind as I was creating my card:

Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joy, O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O ruler of all.

Yes, He should be the Lord of our hearts; He should be the first in our hearts and the ruler of our hearts. What a perfect hymn for this week.

Have you ever tried to act happy or paste a smile on your face when you really were grumpy or sad inside? It doesn’t work very well though you may fool some. Just as anyone can “look” like they belong to God on the outside by going to church each week or quoting scripture but their hearts may not believe and be full of the Lord. Those with genuine faith open their hearts to God and to others for inspection. We can’t fake that. Your heart will show what you value the most. What do you value most? The TV, the computer, your children, your husband? How about God?

When I studied Matthew this year, we looked at the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23). Look at that passage. What do you learn from that about your heart condition? I learned that the soil equals the condition of our heart. The hard soil equals those that have a hard heart and mind. They have a heart that is in pursuit of their own happiness while the good soil equals the believer with a softened heart that will last through eternity. Our actions reveal our hearts, and God judges hearts. He is interested in your heart more than any activity or work that you do. God notices your heart.

For my card this week, I again used the August Create My Keepsake kit but I added the twill and the chipboard heart. I am so glad this kit had red in it too. I definitely needed red for the word ‘heart.' I am beginning to think that God definitely had a hand in putting this particular kit together because for the past 3 weeks, everything has gone so well with each word. Anyway, here is my card:
And the scriptures I used were:
1 Samuel 16:7 “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart.”
Psalm 119:111 “Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.”
Proverbs 23:12 “Apply your heart to instruction.”

I hope you will look at the condition of your heart this week. And please join us at Create My Keepsake, The Scrapping Spot, Scrapjazz, and Faith Sisters for discussions and links to your cards and pages. Blessings to each of you,