I Have Jesus in My Heart

By Glen Young

We shy away from using the jar­gon of the denominational world. This is a good practice because it keeps those who hear us from getting the wrong impression about our beliefs and teachings. There is, however, a down side to the practice. It may leave the im­pression that we do not believe or teach a biblical truth.

Take for example the phrase; I have Jesus in my heart. The denominational con­cept of Jesus abiding in the heart does in­deed have some false be­liefs attached to it. Aside from the false ideas some have about having Jesus in the heart, the Bible teaches us that Jesus must dwell in the heart of the Christian. It is this fact that is addressed in this article.

Life is filled with blessings. My work as a preacher has allowed me to share in more blessings than I deserve. In September of nineteen hundred ninety six, a wonderful blessing came into my life. It began as a way to help a young mother who had two children in diapers. Her birth came only seventeen months after her sister, so Nila and I volunteered to baby sit as often as needed. It became a weekend event that we relished. This remarkable bundle of joy came to grace us on a regular basis. Her visits were a joyous occasion for the Young’s house. As she grew, these times became to be known as ‘sleepovers’, which is what she called them.

This precious little house guest became a harsh bedfellow as she grew to toddler­hood. Although our bed was king size, it wasn’t quit big enough. It is amazing how active a ten month old can be even while sleeping. The end result of her sleepovers was a lack of sleep for Nila and I.

An example of this is seen in the follow­ing account which I wrote when she was sixteen months old. “We had our house guest sleep over again last night. We went to bed at eleven. At one fifteen, I sug­gested to Nila that she might settle down if her dia­per was changed. At three, she and I went to the dining room to share a glass of juice. We retired after refreshing our­selves with Hawaiian Punch and some stimulating con­versation with fuzzy bear. This morning we arose to the smiles and giggles of a special little visitor.”

You may be wondering why I would de­sire to have someone over who would dis­rupt my sleep. The answer is simple.  This little bundle of joy had crawled inside my heart and had set up residence there. I could not bear the thought that she might never come back for a sleepover. You see, when some­one gets in our heart, the crosses we bear to be with them become minor annoyances.

It didn’t matter how bad my day was go­ing when our special little visitor came over everything became wonderful. When she was five years old, this bundle of joy would come over and all my cares vanished away. We would sit and talk about everything. We would cook scrambled eggs (her favorite thing to do at my house). We would tell stories (her favorite was the “Headless Horseman”) and color pictures. It mat­tered little what we did. Everything was fun. Sometimes we would just sit on the couch. She would either be on my knee or reclined against me. I would have my arm around her as we sat without speaking. Special mo­ments like this brought joy to this old heart. It was most certainly a fore­taste of Heaven.

Please permit me to use my memories as a means to illustrate the kind of rela­tionship we should have with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Mathew 16:24. There is no doubt that fol­lowing Jesus is going to place some bur­dens upon the follower. How the follower reacts to those burdens gives us insight as to whether or not they have Jesus in their heart. When it becomes more impor­tant to rest than it is to attend Bible class on Sun­day morning or Wednesday eve­ning, it is a good sign that Jesus is not in the heart (Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25). When it is more important to spend time with the family than to make Sunday evening ser­vices, it is a good sign that Jesus is not in the heart (Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not wor­thy of me. Matthew 10:37).

When Jesus has set up residence in our heart, our love for Him will cause us to en­dure any unpleasantness just to have the opportunity to be with Him. The words, ‘too hard’, or ‘I can’t’ will not be uttered by the one who truly loves Jesus when asked to obey a command of the Lord (If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15). No annoyance is so great that it will keep the true believer from his Lord. When the Lord Jesus lives in our heart, it is joy un­speakable!

One last point: Because of some unfor­tunate events, we no longer have this precious child in our lives. There is a hole in my heart that will never heal. At times, the pain is overwhelming. I would do al­most anything to make things as they once were. I mention this to illustrate that those who have Jesus in their heart will do any­thing to keep Him there. We often question why it is that some Christians will forsake the Way of Christ for the world. Could the answer be that they have not kept Him in their heart? Do you have Jesus in your heart?

I pray that you will feel the pain and lone­liness of not having Jesus in your heart. If that is your condition, please let Him in by obeying His gospel or as a child of God by repenting of your sin. [The Pound Proclaimer, Vol. III, No. 3] &

Dear reader, do you have Jesus in your heart?

The Various Ways God Answers Prayer

A.  Direct granting (Matt. 7:7-11)

B.  Different granting (2 Kings 5:11)

C.  Delayed granting (1 Sam. 1:7-11)

D.  Denial (There may be times when God will deny us our petitions.  There are at least seven reasons why this might hap­pen.)

1.   Something could be hindering our prayers. (1 Pet. 3:7)

2.   He does not want us to become proud. (2 Cor. 12:7-8)

3.   Our prayers are self-centered. (James 4:3)

4.   We are inconsiderate of others in our prayers. (Phil. 1:21-26)

5.   He wants to build our character through deprivation. (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

6.   Granting the petition would de­mand an intervention into the natural or­der of things (a miracle). (Heb. 9:27; Gal 6:7)

7.   We have a deeper need that would not be met other than through dep­rivation. (Dan. 3:17-18)

To illustrate the above, it is said that the following was found in the pocket of a Confederate soldier after a bat­tle during our Civil War.

He was a Christian and he prayed.

He asked for strength that he might do greater things, but he was given infirmity that he might do better things.

He asked for riches that he might be happy; but he was given poverty that he might be wise.

He asked for power that he might have the praise of men; he was given weak­ness that he might feel the need of God.

He asked for all things that he might en­joy life; he was given life that he might have all things.

He had received nothing that he asked for; all that he hoped for.

His prayer is answered; he is most blessed. &

[From What the Bible Says About Prayer, by Mitch Simpson]