A mother and her four year old daughter are out grocery shopping. The mother runs into her old schoolteacher. After chatting about what has been going on since schooldays, the elderly teacher asks, “And who is this beautiful little girl?” The mother replies; “This beautiful little girl is my daughter, Kimberly.” The teacher then fully turning to the little girl, kneels down and says, “Hi Kimberly; you are a beautiful little girl.” The little girl’s response was; “Thank you and you are old.” Taken back, the old schoolteacher laughed and said, “There’s nothing like the truth of a child.”

OUR HEART”S

       Unlike children, grownups are not known for telling people and showing people what is really on their hearts. We give a phony façade, an illusory portrait of what we would like for people to think about us. Similar to the house in the above illustration, we like to dress up the outward appearance of ourselves while hiding the true us far from the scrutiny of the public’s eye. Nothing brings the real us to the surface like the heat of a trial. A wicked man can seem good when everything in life is going well. But when the heat of the trial’s of life are turned up, what really dwells in that person’s heart is revealed. During his earthly ministry, Jesus speaking about humanity’s terrible heart condition said,

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Mathew 15:19

       The word “heart” comes from the Greek word “kardia,” and is defined as “thoughts of feelings; (mind).” This Greek word “kardia” is where we get our English word “cardiac” and English term “cardiac arrest,” which means “heart stop.” Humanity has a terrible heart condition that is resulting from our first parent’s actions in the Garden of Eden. As will be mentioned in chapter three, because Adam and Eve leaned towards disobedience during their trial of obedience, all humanity is born leaning towards disobedience. It has much to do with our DNA pastedown from the mindset of our first parents. With the exception of Noah and his family, in biblical times, God destroyed the human race because of this heart condition. The book of Genesis speaking about humanity’s heart condition in the days of Noah states:

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5

THE TRIAL OF DISPLAY

       Although humanity doesn’t like to recognize it, and would rather keep it concealed from the public’s eye, we as a whole have a serious heart problem. God uses what I term “the trial of display” to bring the blemishes found in the heart of believers to the surface. The trials of display are trials that come into your life to reveal to you the blemishes in your heart. God uses the same procedure found in the refining process of gold to purify the heart. The gold refiner melts the gold down and adds a substance called flux that will draw the impurities from the gold when both are heated together. Because the gold is a heavy metal, during the heating process, the gold will remain at the bottom while the impurities found in the gold will rise to the top; clinging to the flux. In the same way, “the trial of display’s” purpose is to bring the blemishes found in the heart of believers to the surface. Some trials are exclusively in our lives to transmit to us our heart-flaws in hopes that we would recognize the flaws and work on them. The word of God proclaims;

The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord tries the heart. Proverb 17:3

       When “the trial of display” falls upon us, our reaction to the trial tells it all; and the true motives of our heart is displayed. Nothing defines a person like hard times. In rough times we will find out how weak or strong we really are, and what kind of person we really are. There’s an ancient oriental proverb, “You don’t know a man until you fight a man.”

CLOSED HEART SURGERY

       Concerning our heart condition, as mentioned above in so many words, God didn’t create us with this sinful heart; that it became when our first parents thrust us into the world of sin. It is through Christ Spirit dwelling in us that brings about a change in the heart (mind). It is through God’s grace, God’s favor, what God has done for us through His Son, and belief in this great act of kindness that teaches us to do right (be righteous) from the hea.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness, worldly lust, we should live soberly and righteously, and godly in this present world; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a special people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:11-13

       The reason God bestowed His grace upon us is because this grace of His, when truly received wholeheartedly, produce “a new creature” who’s heart begins a process of being purified from iniquity; “a new creature” who denies ungodliness, and is “zealous of good works.”

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2Corinthians 5:17

       This “new creature” God fashions is a portrait of His Son Jesus. And the surgery performed on your heart to bring about Christ in you is found in the variety of trials you go through.

DISPLAYING FRUIT

       The character and disposition God is looking for every believing heart to display is found in His Son Jesus. Thus, “the trial of display” is to show the believer how he or she measures up to the character of Christ. The character of Christ is given to the believers in nine fruit called “the fruit of the Spirit” found in the book of Galatians.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, against such there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

      I heard it said; the nine fruit of the Spirit should be used as a measuring rod for the soul as becoming a Christian. The Christian who wants to know how they are to act, react and feel in and out of a trial have these fruit to measure themselves by.




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