Proverbs 15:13-14

¹³A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. ¹⁴The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

Emoticon vs. Emoji

How do you identify Emoticon from Emoji? Emoticons are pictorial icons made of punctuation marks, letters and numbers to display emotion or sentiment. For example: Use semicolon and close parenthesis to make smile emoticons. And Emojis are pictures or icons that represent feeling, object or concept. For example: Touch or click on icon or emoticon heart if you want to express love.

Many people may click an emoji with heart shape eyes, to express their love and admiration of an article, picture or video published on Social Media.

Anyway, when you come across the term “heart” in the Scripture, what comes to your mind? The heart is the spiritual part of us where our emotions and desires dwell, unless heart is literally specified as vital organ of the body that pumps blood. Actually, God has emotions; he has desires, and he has “heart.”

God declared in Acts 13:22, ²²I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

David prioritized whatever God wanted him to do. The Holy Spirit must have inspired him. The Holy Spirit must have inspired us to follow him when deep within us, we sense a desire to prioritize the Lord. Truly, on our own human volition, we will never desire to follow the Lord. Genesis 6:5 says,⁵The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

The natural condition of the human heart is inclined to do evil. The human heart is deceitful that can affect our decision. Therefore, we should be prayerful in our decisions or else our emotions and decision can be tainted by sin, and we won’t be blessed by the Lord. Now, it is important to familiarize the Scripture and know how we may align our life and behavior to everything that pleases the Lord.

When God is pleased with us, we’ve got delighted heart. Can you agree?

1.  Delighted Heart

¹³A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.

         Certainly, everyone wants to have a happy heart. We want to be delighted.

It is very relaxing moment to have a cheerful heart. What do you normally do to have cheerful heart? Rich people travel to beautiful places just to feel happy.

If you have money, it’s good option. But it’s not very feasible for poorer people. During the pandemic, everyone wears musk. When your face is covered, people won’t know if you are happy or sad. If you do not want others to see your facial emotion, you can hide behind your mask. Nevertheless, reflect on what it says in

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ¹⁶Rejoice always, ¹⁷pray continually, ¹⁸give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Our rejoicing should not depend on circumstances. Rejoicing is fruit of the Holy Spirit of God. Have you discovered it? When we believe in Christ, our old life is gone, and new life in Christ has come. God created a new heart within us. And if we’re troubled by difficult circumstances, God can revive our heart. Agree?

King David

Actually, King David discovered the subsequent result of sin is challenging.

Reflect on what it said in 2 Samuel 11:1-3, ¹In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. ²One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, ³and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 

Kings should be going to war in spring. But David relaxed and then, he committed adultery and murder. His child got sick, and David fasted and spent the night lying on sackcloth on the ground. His child died. Did God let his child to die to test if David has contrite and remorseful heart? David repented of his sin.

And, David declared in Psalm 51:16-17, ¹⁶You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. ¹⁷My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart  you, God, will not despise.

David regretted and repented of his sin, and pleaded that God restores the joy of his salvation. Have you been treated unfairly at work? Don’t be too quick to quit. Oppressive people must have personal struggle too. To understand why God allowed people to oppress you, pray for wisdom and discerning heart.

2.  Discerning Heart

¹⁴The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.

         Struggles and difficult problems should remind us that we don’t know all things. God created us. Therefore, we should depend on him and not on human faculties. Pray for wisdom and discerning heart to know how you should behave as children of God during difficult times. Let’s reflect on what Christ pointed out about the sinful nature of human hearts in Mark 7:21-23, ²¹For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder ²²adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and defile a person.

         Activities and behavior that cannot please God are considered sin against him. A discerning heart understands that reality. If on our own volition or initiative we help others, is it acceptable to God or not? Sometimes, helping others can be ridiculous or foolish. Really? Will a discerning heart agree with it or reject it?

Let’s reflect on what it says in John 12:4-8, ⁴Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

         Helping the poor is good idea, right? Yet, Christ rejected the good idea of Judas because at that time, the expensive perfume was intended for the day of his burial. How does that apply in our life practically. All resources that belongs to God should be returned to him and should not be allocated somewhere else.

We need inspiration of the Holy Spirit to discern resources that belong to God and allocate our resources accordingly. Our natural mind prioritizes our personal benefit, but to prioritize the Lord is practical proof of transformed heart.

But when the Holy Spirit transformed us into new life in Christ, our heart is focused on obeying God, why? It makes our heart cheerful to obey God. Agree?

Seriously reflect what it declares in Isaiah 57:15, ¹⁵For this is what the high and exalted One says—he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

If Christ dwells in our heart, we sense joy and peace and we cheerfully obey his instruction. So, we prayerfully seek inspiration of his holy Spirit always.

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