Seasons of the Heart
I’ve been blogging about seasons of life, different stages encountered by women as the journey of life continues. Throughout all different stages, or seasons, there are concurrently conditions of our hearts during the various seasons. (I’m calling the heart that inner person in us that either serves God or self, that invisible part of us that no one but God really sees and knows.)
I’ve been blogging about seasons of life, different stages encountered by women as the journey of life continues. Throughout all different stages, or seasons, there are concurrently conditions of our hearts during the various seasons. (I’m calling the heart that inner person in us that either serves God or self, that invisible part of us that no one but God really sees and knows.)
Jesus stated the great commandment to be “Loving God with all your heart” and in various places in scripture the heart is described as hard, cold, hot or lukewarm. Proverbs admonishes us to guard our hearts, for they are the wellspring of life. Hard-hearted, soft-hearted,warm-hearted, these words describe the seasons or conditions of our inner relationship with God.
In Isaiah 29:13KJV the Lord says, “"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” Isn’t it interesting that when our hearts grow distant from the Lord we revert to the refuge of legalism? I’m asking myself where I’m leaning on rules rather than relationship today. How about you?
Gwynne Johnson
Gwynne Johnson currently serves on the Board of Entrust, Inc., an international education and training mission where she authored the Entrust curriculum, Developing a Discerning Heart. She recently served as Co-Chair of the training project, Christian Women in Partnership, Russia and as Senior Director of Women's Ministry at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. Gwynne has a M.A. in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. She currently lives in Huntsville, Texas with her husband of 58 years, Don. She works part-time in her daughter and granddaughter's bakery "The Best Box Ever," where she gets paid in cookies.
2 Comments
Nicole
Loved how you wrote about
Loved how you wrote about our hearts experiencing seasons of their own…just like our lives.
While immersed in Bible studies, I’ve been asking myself lately if all of this knowledge is REALLY transforming my life? How am I different because of what I learn? And when the evidence is little, I know that I’m being “puffed up” instead of walking hand-in-hand with Christ.
Gwynne Johnson
Thanks for your good warning..
Isn’t it interesting that Bible studies intended to transform us have the danger of puffing us up!