Everything God does in and through us comes from the heart. The heart is our core, our personal headquarters. It’s the place in us that God contacts. Our heart, or spirit, is “it.” All the issues of life flow from this place.
So…the question is: How do you locate your heart?
How do you quiet down all the clutter, separate out all the voices, wade through the distraction, personal desires, emotional desires, self-directed opinions and will? How do you ever get the path cleared enough to listen to, follow and trust your heart?
Great question! God has a great answer in Hebrews:
For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(Heb. 4:12 NKJV)
The only thing that can penetrate all the clutter and divide between what God is saying to our spirit (heart) rather than our soul (mind, emotions, will) is God’s Word. The only thing that can divide between our own thoughts and the intents God puts in our hearts is the Word. The Bible is the great divider!
What does that mean in real life? It means that the more time we spend in the Word the better we’ll be able to divide between our own rationalizations, imaginations, self-deception, fleshly desires, carnal thoughts and great ideas and God’s thoughts, will and plans.
The Word will divide between our soul and spirit. The Word will tell us if the thought or idea we have is our own thought or God’s intention.
For example, this scenario has been played out by thousands of Christians around the world. A beautiful Christian woman meets Mr. Charming Christian. Both are married, but unhappily. They find that they have feelings for one another. They both share a love for God. They start to desire one another, but this little red flag goes up in their spirit and God’s intention in their heart says, “Flee from immorality. Avoid the appearance of evil.”
Their soul and their own thinking say, “Yeah, but I am so unhappy in my marriage and this person loves God and they make me feel things I haven’t felt and surely God must have brought us together, right?”
This is the point where it’s vital that you locate your heart. Locate your heart, not your feelings; locate your spirit, not your soul.
At this point it’s a big challenge to locate the heart because feelings and desires and personal will are leaning heavily in one direction. This is where the Word comes in to divide and this is where we are wise to side in with the Word, regardless of our personal desires or emotions.
In this case, Proverbs is loaded with warnings on adultery, flirtatious relationships and marital affairs. There are plenty of other verses as well. When we read the scriptures on this topic our heart is pierced and our soul and spirit are divided. The difference between our thoughts and God’s thoughts becomes clear and now it’s decision time.
Our heart has been located. God’s thoughts have been identified. Now…what will we choose? This same scenario and struggle between soul and spirit can be played out in a million different ways—career choices, temptations to get offended, ethical questions, business practices, church involvement and relationships of all types.
You name an issue in life and it’s a guarantee that we will have to locate our heart in order to find and follow God’s will. God’s Word is the only thing that can help us locate our hearts by dividing between soul and spirit.
God’s Word is always a safe choice. It’s always the right choice. Let’s allow God’s Word to locate our hearts, divide our hearts and let’s choose to follow His intentions from our heart.
For the Word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.
(Heb. 4:12 NLT)
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As a young couple, fresh out of Bible School with Two daughters and a third child on the way, Jeff and Beth Jones felt God's call to pioneer Valley Family Church in 1991 with a vision to make an eternal difference in Southwest Michigan. As a husband and wife team, they have always led together as visionary pastors and have shared the pulpit as Bible teachers. They are passionate about building the local church in greater Kalamazoo and the global church around the world.
Their message has always been focused on the basics of the Bible and has remained consistent since VFC's beginning. Throughout VFC's history, the goal of their teaching has been to help people live an abundant life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and through faith in God's Word. In short, it's our mission statement: we exist to help people become devoted followers of Jesus who get the Bible basics, live the life and do the stuff.
Jeff and Beth have four kids and four grandchildren. Meghan is married to Brodie Hock. Annie is married to Zack Spangler. Luke is married to Kelsey Jones. Eric is married to Alexa Jones. All of their kids and in-laws have served with them in the church for many years and each sense their own unique calling to ministry.