What's In Your Heart?

Rev. Michele Owes: [00:00:00] Welcome. Welcome back to the Teachable Woman Podcast. We are so excited to be back with you again today. I am Reverend Michele Owes. I am with Diana P. Cherry, and together we are Teachers of Good Things. Mrs. Cherry say, hello.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Hello to our podcast family. I like to remind us ever so often that this is the day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in it regardless of, in spite of the foolishness that might be going on around us. We're in Jesus, so we're protected from it. Be

Rev. Michele Owes: Amen. Amen. Amen. And foolishness is a good word. I, it's so accurate and apropos for this situation. Well, in our podcast, our [00:01:00] last podcast we have been teaching you about righteousness. And we, you know, we started the series on sin and we didn't wanna leave you as sin. So we began to share with you about righteousness, meaning that we are just in right standing with God.

Rev. Michele Owes: That which we know of his word, that which we know of his instructions. We take them into our hearts and we do them. And so. We want you to understand that self is not in front of that word, which is self-righteousness, which is where whatever we think, whatever we want, whatever is on our minds, we believe is the way things must be done because the Bible tells us that our thoughts are not his thoughts and our ways are not his ways.

Rev. Michele Owes: And so I gave you a natural example of a situation where all facts were on my side. I had everything lined up. And I knew I was right and but when the Lord presented his side, [00:02:00] it was very clear that my thoughts were not, his thoughts and my ways were not his ways. And so the bonus was I was able to keep silent while I was thinking all of these things.

Rev. Michele Owes: So when the Lord came through to reveal himself, I could just myself, well now.

Rev. Michele Owes: But God is good and we are so excited about that. Today. We wanna talk about what's in our hearts, what's in our hearts. The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. And there are so many scriptures that God uses to talk about our heart there. It's the word heart is used 833 times in the Bible in 765 verses, and that means it's extremely important to God because [00:03:00] everything, as you read, the scripture leads back to our hearts and oftentimes we want to share our mind with God.

Rev. Michele Owes: I. But we keep him away from our heart, and that means that we don't have a deep and personal and abiding relationship because maybe we've been hurt in this earthly life and we are shielding our heart from others. We can also be shielding it from God and trying to reserve some things for ourselves. But a true relationship with God actually begins in the heart.

Rev. Michele Owes: I wanna read a few verses of scripture. In Proverbs, the third chapter, verse number one, the scripture says, my son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: And in verse number three, it says, let not mercy and truth. Foran thee. Bind them about thy neck. Write them on the tables [00:04:00] of thine heart First number four says, so shall thou find favor.

Rev. Michele Owes: Good understanding in the sight of men of God, excuse me, and men trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to thine own understanding. God wants our heart. We often want to give God our mind, but he wants our heart. And what can happen to us over time is based on our experiences and challenges in life, our hearts can become cluttered.

Rev. Michele Owes: And if we're not very, if we're not careful, it can be like a place where a hoarder stores all of the issues. The collections of life. We don't forget, we don't forgive, we don't move [00:05:00] on. And so we become a mosaic of just collections of the things that have happened to us in this lifetime. And our hearts can become bitter.

Rev. Michele Owes: Our hearts can become like a fortress. We're not letting anything in or letting anything out. We are gonna talk today about what's in our hearts. All right, miss C, take us away.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Oh, of course this. Reminds me you, you quoted the scripture that is the theme scripture for my book. You know, trust in the Lord with all your heartley, not to your own understanding. All your ways. Acknowledge him and he shall direct your

Rev. Michele Owes: yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: So the name of my book is A Woman Directed by God. And it's amazing because I started to quote that scripture after I had done this is the day that the Lord has made.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: But I wanna share, what's in our heart? I taught a [00:06:00] message back in 1992, and the title of that message was What's On the Inside? And that message was all about examining the heart. And in that message I took a look at the

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It is the seat of all of our spiritual life. It comes from the Greek word cardia, and the heart refers to the thoughts, the mind, reasonings, the feelings. is. the Born again experience is the headquarters of sin. So it's not it's not [00:07:00] surprising

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: look at the heart because we've just been teaching about getting rid of the sin. And if we're gonna get rid of the sin, we need to have pure hearts, clean hands, and pure hearts. It was Sins headquarters and before we were born again, it just, sin just flowed freely. Just like the blood in the natural flowed every part of our bodies in the natural and brings life before we were born again. heart on the inside of us is where sin flowed freely

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: every, and we did what we wanted to do. We said what we wanted to say, God was nowhere in those thoughts. So the heart is the center of the thought process, and we have to remember something that we taught a long time ago that the heart, all of our battles are fought. [00:08:00] And either one, loss in the mind, in the heart, in the inner most part.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: In, in that teaching, I made a statement. I said, you think you know who I am,

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: I know that you don't. Because of the hidden parts, because of the heart.

Rev. Michele Owes: Right.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: is deceitful above all.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Why we have to get that baby born again.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: We gotta get born again in the spirit and then born again, righteousness and truth and Holy Ghost and, mercy and graciousness and all those good things will flow out of us. the heart is the seat. If we're born again, it's the seat of all good things. If we're not born again, it's the seat where sin has a ball. And so this is a perfect tie in to [00:09:00] what we were talking about prior in the prior teachings on sin and Righteousness. So you look like you have something that you wanna interject.

Rev. Michele Owes: Well, you know, it's interesting you're saying that I look like Mrs. Cherry and I can see each other. We do record video, we just only release audio, so we are able to see each other and laugh and chat. But we only release audio for the podcast. Proverbs, the fourth chapter, verse number 23, says, to keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.

Rev. Michele Owes: Keep meaning to maintain our heart and to protect our heart, and to preserve our heart

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: out of it are the issues of life. So whatever is stored in our heart. Affects our outlook on life.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: And so our hope as Christians is that we are storing the word of God. [00:10:00] Because as we learned in Proverbs chapter three, he said, to keep our his commandments in our heart.

Rev. Michele Owes: And now we're learning that what's in our heart is in accordance with the issues of our lives. It affects how we see everything. And so if we'll store the word of God in our heart, then it will allow us to begin to see the issues of our lives according to the will of God. It will cause us to allow the word of God to be a framework for how we respond, for what we will do, for where we will go.

Rev. Michele Owes: Because we understand that we are a representative for God and not a representative for ourselves. In Deuteronomy chapter number six, verse number five, it says, and thou shalt love the Lord with all thine heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might. So in other [00:11:00] words, with everything that we have, God wants us to love him.

Rev. Michele Owes: And when you love someone, you want to know how they think, what they think. What pleases them and God has left all of that in his word so that we might know how to please him. There is a man in the Bible named Enoch and his one. The one line about him was that he pleased God and you and I have an opportunity to please God.

Rev. Michele Owes: I know in your lifetime you may have had an experience where your parents smiled brightly, cheered happily over something that you did, said or achieved. At that moment, you saw the outcome of their pleasure, and we want God to be equally as excited about our life in him, and so we wanna make sure that we love him.

Rev. Michele Owes: With [00:12:00] our whole heart, our whole mind, and our soul, and all of our might. Mr. Chair, what do you have to say about that?

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Well, the heart is the most important thing that we can deal with because if we can have our hearts clean,

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: then our thoughts will be clean. The things that we do and say and think will be clean if we can get that heart, because that heart the core. the heart is where we decide to sin or not to sin. The heart is where, it is where life and the natural realm flows. I had an aortic valve replacement a couple years ago, and had I not had that valve replacement, I probably would by now. I've had a heart attack and my husband used to say, your heart ain't gonna attack you. That's, you know, they should name something else. But anyway, the heart, [00:13:00] had I not done that, which is natural and had that surgery. heart would probably have eventually been gotten tired and just given up because, and then I would have no more life flowing through. And then when that happens, things start to die because there's a death, you know, in the flow of the blood. And so in the spiritual realm. It's the same thing. We have to get the inner part cl because the thought, the heart of man is like the core.

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: And the core is where defilement takes place.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: And something can be filed on the inside way before it manifested on the outside.

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: And you ever see a apple and it's so good looking, you just know it's gonna be crunchy you cut into it and [00:14:00] instead of being crunchy, it's munchy.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It's just a

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It is just

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah. Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: that's where Defilement takes place.

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: the deeper meaning of this. Heart is the very core of our being. It's where all of our emotions flow through. It's where our thoughts flow through. It's where good and bad take place right in the heart, and defilement starts in the heart. But you know when our hearts are bad. Our thoughts are bad. have rot, but the thing about rot, like that apple, we look good on the outside,

Rev. Michele Owes: Oh my.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: but we can't see that we're rotten on the inside, and that rot on the inside is what defiles us, and so we might allow a thought to be planted. And we'll start thinking bad things about somebody who really has our best interest at heart. [00:15:00] I'm tired of this church. I'm tired of how they doing this. I'm tired of this ministry. I'm tired. You have better watch out because you are developing some defilement on the inside. It cannot be seen, but when def when rot is seen, the damage is done. But that rot that was in that delicious looking apple gets so bad that it's seen on the outside. The apple is a total waste. You're gonna have to put it down the garbage disposal and the

Rev. Michele Owes: Right, right.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: recycle. So it's so important to examine our hearts and to know what we're thinking about. That's why we gave you that assignment months ago about you're thinking about because that's, that's in your heart. is out of the heart that flows the thoughts and. It's out of the heart where evil devices [00:16:00] formed. We are seeing the results in this country now of some evil being manifested. It didn't just haul off and happen. It had been festering. There had to have been plans. It had to have been cognitive efforts to get somebody so corrupt that they. the, some of the decisions that are being made. So the subject of heart is very important and it's a subject that love to talk about because as women, oftentimes are masterful deceivers. We know how to cover up things. We know how to hide hurts. We know how to hide our emotions. one of the biggest blessings that we can have is just have a pure heart just clinging.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: thought is not right, punish that baby. Punish it with the word of

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: allow [00:17:00] anything to cause you to become rotten in the core. By the time it's manifested, you really might be beyond help or hope. So don't let it happen to you. Do not think your thoughts are idle. There are no idle thoughts. Something else that my husband taught is a thought is a device.

Rev. Michele Owes: Device. Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: designed to manipulate your intellect. It'll either loosen something or it will tighten something. So once again, I think it might be good to give that assignment, think about what you're thinking about. I have a little great grand with me right now.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: And they're at that age that they never pick up anything, especially if they happen to be a male, child. They pick up nothing. They do nothing. They don't even see it. And so I'm trying to share while I have this [00:18:00] opportunity cause them to think, think about everything you have in your hand.

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It's going somewhere. Did you put

Rev. Michele Owes: Right,

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: belonged? So

Rev. Michele Owes: right.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: it's a process. It's not easy to control thinking, and honey, you are hearing the voice of the master thinker. me, nobody's thoughts could have ever been as bad as mine I know that I have changed. I know that I'm a better person because I cleaned up a lot of that rot that was on the inside before it.

Rev. Michele Owes: A. Huh? Of what the word of God can do.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: I didn't want that stuff to fester and my husband go to hug me and get a handful of mush,

Rev. Michele Owes: You know, the scriptures tell us that. Man's heart is desperately wicked, and who can know it?

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: [00:19:00] That's

Rev. Michele Owes: And, and that scripture alone lets us know that we can look good, but we don't know what's in a person's heart because God said, who can know it. Sometimes we elect people and we have a, a thought of who they're going to be, but, but what's in their heart?

Rev. Michele Owes: And you know, we say, well, you know, that's not exactly what I voted for because who can know it other than God, right? So if we are going to have a clean heart. David said when he had, after he had sinned with Bathsheba and had her husband killed on the battlefield, you know, he asked the Lord to create in him a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within him and to restore unto him the joy of his salvation.

Rev. Michele Owes: You and I can ask God to create in us a clean heart and to [00:20:00] renew a right spirit within us.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: then we have to work to keep that right spirit. If we find that we are constantly agitated by what other people say and do, and everybody on the outside can cause our emotions to be like an emotional rollercoaster, then we know that we're focusing on the wrong thing because our relationship with the Lord, it's a complete inside jaw.

Rev. Michele Owes: And we work a lot on the outside. Mrs. Cherry and I have taught about this before. We will invest on the outside in all sorts of ways. But God's investment with us is on the inside. He wants us to think correctly. He wants us to do right, according to His will and according to his word. And so this is going to be an inside job.

Rev. Michele Owes: So our question about what's on the inside of your heart first is will you allow God to get on the inside and [00:21:00] do the work with you?

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: out the work to you. You will have to do the day to day, but God is not shy in showing us what's wrong with us if we ask.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: That's right.

Rev. Michele Owes: So look gracious self when you ask the question, but know that what God tells us is because he loves us and he has a purpose and a plan for us.

Rev. Michele Owes: And if our hearts are condemning us. Where can he send us? Can we really be the witness that he created us to be? Because you and I were created to be witnesses unto him, and is the the fruit of God's spirit when it's on the inside of us that draws people to Christ? And if it's not present because we're hoarding.

Rev. Michele Owes: All of the hurts and the pains and the disappointment, and they talked about me and they lied on me and they didn't call my name and I never get a chance and nobody gave me [00:22:00] the promotion. They passed over me and mama left, and Daddy left too. And then everybody left me. And now if, if all of that is in there, then our heart is the resident of a hoarder.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Yes.

Rev. Michele Owes: We are just holding on to the hurts and the pains and the disappointments and the, and everybody overlooked me and, and can God get in there

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Right.

Rev. Michele Owes: and help us clean that out? That's the question. Can we let God in our hearts to be our Lord, to be our savior, to cause us to clean up the issues that have us found.

Rev. Michele Owes: What's in your heart?

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: the Proverbs 23 verse seven says four. As a man in his heart. So is he. That's just part [00:23:00] A of that verse, but that's a powerful verse as we think in our hearts. So are we. So, you know, it's a good question to ask what are we thinking about? Because as we think so, are we, if we think that everybody's against us. Everybody's always picking on us,

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: we're gonna have, you know, we're gonna be laden with that

Rev. Michele Owes: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: gonna be able to see evil intents that are not evil intents. You know, how many times have you thought somebody was your friend and they end up being your worst enemy? And how many times more, more likely this thought a person didn't like you? You found out that they were one of the best people you could have in your life, you know, so we have to really, really be careful what we think about.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yeah.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: did you wanna add to that? 'cause I, [00:24:00] I wanna share scripture to end, to end the podcast tonight.

Rev. Michele Owes: I, I was going to say that Paul said that the more I love you, the less you love me. And one of the ways that we love people is not only to share the truth of God's word, but it's also to look out for their best interest.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Mm-hmm.

Rev. Michele Owes: And sometimes when we're looking out for someone else's best interest, there is a misunderstanding of our motive.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Yes.

Rev. Michele Owes: People think that you're trying to keep them from something or don't want them to do or have or be, when what you're really sharing is the wisdom that God has allowed you to live through and experience. And so you are sharing out of love, but the interpretation is based on what's in their heart.

Rev. Michele Owes: Because of what's crowded and you know, I wanna do this, I wanna do [00:25:00] that. I, you know, and somebody is saying, Hey, slow down. Think about what you're thinking about, what are, what are the steps that you're going to take? Let's have a plan that God is in agreement with and move on the plan. But when we wanna move, we just wanna move and we think others are in our way, but so then the more we love people, there's the misinterpretation of how we love, but it's all based on what's.

Rev. Michele Owes: Someone's heart, someone sharing with you outta love. But the interpretation is they just don't want me to have no fun.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Right. It is, it is amazing how much can want to help people and how much we can be misjudged.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: You know,

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes,

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: comes with the territory.

Rev. Michele Owes: it does. It does.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It's, it's amazing.

Rev. Michele Owes: Alright. What's scripture for tonight?

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Well the scripture that I use as a foundational scripture for what's on the inside [00:26:00] was out of mark chapter seven, and this is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: And he says, are you so without understanding? Also, not perceive that whatsoever thing from without inner earth into the man? It cannot defile him. Because it eth not into his heart, but into the belly, and it goes out into the draft purging all meats. And sometimes I have fun with scriptures. You know how sometimes your sinuses will drain? I. A big drain at the most inopportune time, and we always want to try to expect it, get it out of there, but we can't. So every time that happens to me, this is another one of the funny things that I do with the scripture. Every time it happens to me and I have to let that stuff go down, I say, well, Jesus, it's not gonna cause me any danger because you said it goes into the belly and it's gonna [00:27:00] come on out.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: So love that. But anyway, Jesus says that it eth not into his heart, but into his belly and goes out. And then in verse 20 it says that which cometh out of the man. That is what def Falleth the man from within out of the heart

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries. Fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, preach.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Jesus wickedness, deceit, and evil. Eye pride, All these things come from within and defile the man. So Jesus laid it out. talking about it, but Jesus [00:28:00] laid it out. Everything that defiles us comes from within, not from without. So a person might offend you, might hurt your little feelings, but they can't defile you.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: It's a matter of your choice. And so once again, I, I just wanna encourage us, we can do this.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: We can be God would have us to be. We can do what God would have us to do and we can learn to say and speak what God would have us to say and to speak. We love you so much.

Rev. Michele Owes: Yes, we do, and we look forward to seeing you July 17 through 19 here in H Town for the Teachable Woman Retreat. We are so excited about the things that are going to take place there. We actually have a podcast about the retreat, and then we have five minutes for your day about the retreat. So listen to both of those.

Rev. Michele Owes: Make your [00:29:00] reservations, make sure that you, do your registration and we will see you in Houston July 17th through 19th. God bless you. We love you.

Rev. Diana P. Cherry: Come, celebrate my birthday with me.

Rev. Michele Owes: All right, well, there's an invitation, right? All right. We'll see you next time on our podcast.