Who is the strength of your heart?

My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever (Psalm 73:26).

The older I get, the more I become aware of my own frailties. When we’re young, particularly if we’ve been blessed with good health and strength, we fall into the trap of thinking we’re invincible: someone else may step into the street and get mowed down by a truck; someone else might get cancer and die before their thirtieth birthday; someone else may drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of shooting hoops with friends. But not us.
If the One who numbers our days also grants us a long life on earth, all that faulty thinking and phony bravado will change. At some stage in our aging process, we come face to face with the fact that we most definitely are not invincible after all. The Scriptures make that perfectly clear in Hebrews 9:27, declaring that each of us has an appointment with death—and after that, the judgment. Of course, for those of us who have received Jesus as Savior, we don’t have to fear that judgment because Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and washed away our much deserved guilty verdict. As a result, when the appointed time comes that our flesh and heart fail, we need not fear, for “God is the strength of [our] heart and [our] portion forever.” What an encouraging and eternal promise!
A bonus to that promise is that we don’t have to wait until the moment of our death to rely on God’s strength; it is ours for the taking now, today, moment by moment, as we continue our homeward pilgrimage on earth. When we are physically weak or sick, we can depend on God to hold us in the palm of His nail-scarred hand as we rest in Him. When we are challenged beyond our physical or mental or emotional endurance, He stands ready to step in the moment we call on His Name.
Whether you’re facing challenges in your finances, your relationships, your health, or anything else, let the promise that “God is the strength of [your] heart” carry you through today…and always…until at last we pass from this life into His glorious, sweet presence.

Where is your heart?

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matthew 6:21, NKJV).

Jesus’ words about treasure ring especially true and relevant in this pre-Christmas season, don’t they? It is a time when we who claim to worship and follow the King of Kings, whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas Day, are often put to the test during these weeks of frenzied shopping and spending. That test is summed up in this question: Where is our treasure? As Jesus said, the answer to that question reveals where our heart is.
I once attended a church service where the pastor was teaching on this verse, and early on in his sermon he asked a lady in the front row if he could borrow her purse. She hesitated a moment before agreeing. The pastor then set her purse on the pulpit and proceeded with his teaching. Throughout the remainder of the service, we in the congregation couldn’t help but notice that the woman’s eyes never left the pulpit, even when the pastor walked around the stage as he spoke. It was a powerful illustration of his message.
And not one that didn’t speak loudly and clearly to my heart, I might add. I certainly couldn’t think ill of the woman for wanting to keep her purse in sight, as we women don’t like being separated from our purses, do we? We keep not only our checkbooks, cash, and credit cards in there, but so much else that seemingly identifies us, such as family pictures and other mementoes. But ultimately, what does that say about our hearts? Is it possible that as believers we still have a lot of growing and maturing to do when it comes to understanding our true treasures?
In the two verses preceding Jesus’ statement that “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” He cautioned us against focusing on amassing temporal treasures here on earth rather than eternal ones in heaven. Then, in verse 33, He summed it up like this: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
Jesus wanted us to understand that the Father knows our needs, and we can trust Him to meet them. What the Father desires from us is a heart that truly seeks Him, first and always. May we actively do so today, throughout the Christmas season, and all year long, as we add to our treasures in heaven and experience the joys of a caring and faithful Father who faithfully meets all our needs “according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).