You are what your heart says you are!

As a man thinketh, the heart speaketh!

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. 
Proverbs 23:6-8

A few weeks ago, I taught a lesson that dealt with our thought life. I went to a familiar passage of scripture but with a little research, I discovered that the quote we have extracted is part of a deeper lesson. Solomon is telling his son and the reader not to fellowship with a person that has an "evil eye." He says not to because though he invites you to fellowship, he really ain't rockin' with you! I keep telling you that I'm going to write a translation of the bible for the homies. That's my translation of Proverbs 23:7 (LOL). 

There it is plainly spelled out for our consideration and it reads like parental advice, doesn't it? I know I've heard my mama say something similar to that over the years and I'm so thankful that I listened. That pericope of scriptures goes deeper than revealing hidden issues of the heart, he even goes on to say that you will vomit what you ate (the dainty meats in verse six) and lose your good words! 

So, spare yourself the trouble because the eyes don't lie. The heart doesn't either! In fact, the heart is the engine powering the evil eyes you see! How many times have we seen and heard warnings that we discarded because of a smile or a good deed? The news is filled with people who have been assaulted and even murdered by their "friends" who only lured them to a remote place to harm them and not the party, ride home or event as promised. 

Yep, this thing is sinister! Solomon says stay away and this time says watch of the evil eye but in Acts 8, Simon a sorcerer was part of a bunch who heard the gospel and the Holy Ghost fell on them. Philip preached to them in Samaria but called for Peter and John to come, uniting the Samaritans to the move in Jerusalem. 

18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.
24 Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

Acts 8:18-24

They laid their hands on the people and the Holy Ghost fell. Simon saw this and offered to pay for the kind of power he'd seen. Immediately, Peter sharply rebuked him because though he was in the crowd that heard the gospel and was in the presence of the Holy Ghost falling, his heart remain unchanged! 

Some people are close enough to only see what you're doing and not become a part of it! Watch them! But, the bigger lesson here is for believers to fully surrender to God. Simon was a sorcerer and only saw the power of the Holy Ghost as his next feat or next act. He was in the presence of the group that heard the gospel yet he had no intention of surrendering. He gained notoriety and was quite popular. Can you imagine how high his stock would've risen with Holy Ghost power?  

Simon the Magnificent...that's what his first century business cards may have read. Perhaps he would've even gotten a new purple robe with it inscribed on his lapel. God doesn't give us His power for personal gain. In fact, this is why many of us struggle with what has been placed in our hands! 

This rebuke from Peter was sharp and cut directly at Simon's shortcomings. Because he had every intention to misuse the power of God, he was judged harshly. Even in his prayer, his focus was only that he didn't receive the condemnation Peter spoke on him, not that his heart be changed. Theologian and scholar Matthew Henry said about Simon, ​

We are as our hearts are; if they be not right, we are wrong; and they are open in the sight of God, who knows them, judges them, and judges of us by them. Our hearts are that which they are in the sight of God, who cannot be deceived; and if they be not right in his sight, whatever our pretensions be, our religion is vain, and will stand us in no stead: our great concern is to approve ourselves to him in our integrity, for otherwise we cheat ourselves into our own ruin.
​-Matthew Henry

In other words, our hearts will eventually tell on us! Whether we're truly in love or not, whether we like our "friends", whether we love God, whether we're committed to the things, people, places and projects depending on our commitment. It will come out in ways you can't even predict! 

I had to correct a horrible habit I picked up in my 20's of running late to everything. Truthfully, your timeliness will reveal how you feel about the event organizer and/or the people also involved. I didn't want to be there so I would show up late as opposed to not coming. I corrected that by not committing to coming and if I were coming to be on time (for my friends who start on time). I also read somewhere that running late is a sign of disrespect. Because I didn't want to be unintentionally disrespectful, I made sure that I was on time. As close to on time as possible, anyway. 

So there you have it! The point of this post is NOT to find creative ways to hide what's in your heart. It's for us to be true with and about what's in our hearts! In Psalm 51:6, David tells the Lord, "you desire truth in my inward parts..." meaning that God desires us to walk in His truth in our heart. Not walking in the truth of God manifests confusion and we do things we say we wouldn't do. Was adultery in David's heart? Sure it was. Was murder in his heart? Yep, hiding somewhere...it was there, otherwise he wouldn't have thought to kill Uriah upon finding out that Bathsheba was pregnant. 

Friends, let's take time to ask God to shine a light on our heart and not only show us but let's let Him do the fixing necessary to get us right! Sometimes, the heart can speak so loud. We are what are heart says we are...what does your heart say you are? 

43 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.
45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
​
Luke 6:43-45