Quitter or Conquorer? What is Your Heart's Health?

It is no coincidence that today is Valentine's Day and the subject is Heart Health. That is just the way God works to orchistrate his message. Enjoy and examine your heart today.

Read Acts 9:32-35
Title in NIV: A paralytic, Aeneas, is healed at Lydda.

Peter traveled around the country to visit the saints. When he arrived at Lydda, he met a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years. Peter said, "Jesus Christ heals you." Aeneas was healed immediatly and got up. Those that saw him turned to the Lord. All those who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord.

Saint in the dictionary had many different meanings. I saw influences of several denominations in the text. However, one definition said, "In the New Testament, any Christian." Ephesians 1:1 says, "To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus." Simply put, if you are following Jesus Christ and he is your personal Savior, you are a saint. Saint does not mean perfect! We will mess up, but we strive to stay in step with the Spirit of God, we make changes to our character if necessary and we pray and confess.

God knows the heart. Some may seem like saints but are out for their own satisfaction. We cannot judge other's hearts, so don't even try. That is God's job. However, we will judge actions. We can't see the heart, but we can see actions that are a manifestation of the heart. In other words, how we act: if we bind love and forgiveness to our character, it shows our heart's health. How we act: if we bind discord, disharmony and denial to our character, it shows our heart's morbidity. Webster says morbidity is a result of a person's diseased state of mind and shows unwholesome tendencies. (To read more about sin as a disease, read the side bar.)

This leads me to my point: This life has many woes: death, back stabbing, broken promises in marriages and businesses etc. How will you react and be viewed by others? Will you allow your heart to become diseased and be viewed as a quitter in faith. Will you rise above Satan's attacks and be a conqueror? How will this unfriendly world affect your heart?

Peter turned a man with a problem into proof that the Lord Christ Jesus was loving and powerful and many turned to the Lord. Help people turn to the Lord just by the example you set daily and how you react to trials. Your attitude says so much about your character and the health of your heart.