Jesus Stuck in the Heart

What happens when, after I genuinely invite Jesus to live in my heart, I fail to practice daily living from my heart? It looks to me like I would be trapping Jesus into a box that was never designed to contain Him. I would be starving the life of Jesus in me, because His life would not be able to receive nourishment from doing the things Jesus does for nourishment.

Where does Jesus get nourishment? He stated that clearly several times when he was here on earth. He told Satan in the wilderness that 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' He also explained to His disciples His source of nourishment after thrilling the heart of the woman in Samaria. “His disciples urged Him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.' But He said to them, 'I have food to eat of which you do not know.'” When they seemed confused Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

The apostles John and Paul both go to great lengths to explain and emphasize the importance of having Jesus dwell within us. Our heart is where Jesus dwells when He comes into our life. But religion has all but annihilated our experience of living from our heart, and this puts tremendous constraint on the ability of Jesus to express His life through us.

If, after we have received Jesus as our Saviour, we continue to insist on only living from our head and reject God's calls for us to open our hearts to each other so that Jesus can be seen in us, at some point in time that life that was placed within us will be crowded out and we will discover too late that we are again in a lost condition. Eternal life is entered into when we accept Christ. But it is not irrevocable on our part. It is like the seed in the parable of the sower. If we harden our hearts by living from our heads in religious activities and formal routines we do not allow the seed to take root and the enemy of our souls will steal it away.

Of course, there are other ways we can shut out the life of Jesus from surviving within us. The parable explains that a heart that is too shallow, that refuses the life of Jesus to go deeper into the heart can eventually starve out the life of Jesus within our heart and cause it to perish. Also allowing other emotions and pressures to take priority over nurturing the life and growth of Jesus' desires in our heart and life can have a similar effect. While the seed will do everything it can to survive and take root, it is ultimately our choices to live from our heart in openness and honesty that will allow Jesus to continue to grow His eternal life within us.

So it is apparent that living from the heart is a very important practice if we want to fully experience eternal life. It is not enough to just accept Jesus as our Saviour and do nothing more. However important that is, it must be followed up by a willingness and honesty to bare our hearts both to ourselves and to others in the body of Christ is He is to incorporate us into the dynamic community of saints, the living organism of the great mystery of redemption.

If Jesus is living in my heart, and I know He does because of the confirmation of His Spirit, I need to allow Him access to all my equipment so He can produce fruit that will testify to His power to transform. It's His specialty and He is faithful.

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor. 1:9

Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass. 1 Thess. 5:24