What's That Written on Your Heart?

In the 1969 film, The Illustrated Man, is about a man who is tattooed over His entire body. Each set of tattoos tells a different story and the movie unfolds one character after another with one story after another. One of the tales in the movie is The Highway which centers on a husband and wife living by a highway in rural Mexico. Their normal, idyllic lives don’t change even as the highway fills with people fleeing a nuclear war. The story ends with some young travelers they help telling them about the nuclear war, and how the world is ending. After the travelers leave, the residents briefly wonder what "the world" is, and then continue on with their lives.

 

Although I watched that movie as a teen, I don’t remember ever knowing exactly what it was about. To think that vignettes of stories were written in the character’s tattoos is pretty amazing. His body carried the evidence. The movie protrayed the tattoos.

 

While Jesus had no tattoos there was evidence of the Greatest Story ever told written on His body. Two ragged horrendous nail holes through the palms of His hands and the bones of His feet along with the sword wound in His side tell an amazing tale of love, intrigue and death.  Although His story on earth was a mere 33 years, it does not end with death. His story is ongoing because of the resurrection and the life. It is a never ending tale that began before the foundation of the world and continues to this day and will go on throughout eternity. What a wonderful story to tell, what a wonderful message to hear, what a magnificent gift to receive.

 

As a believer you have a wonderful story to tell as well. Your story begins before you were ever born. God says He knew you before you were even formed in your mother’s womb.  God says that He has plans for your life to give you a future and a hope. God says that you were predestined to give your heart to Jesus – that it was His plan that you belong to Him and that you be sealed by the Holy Spirit and kept in the love of God forever.

While we don’t get tattoos to prove we belong to Christ or to tell our story, we do have something more wonderful for the movie of our lives. The Word tells us that we are Christ’s letter and that the proof is written on our hearts. He goes on to tell us to write His Word on the tablet of our hearts. These words are not mere tattoos but rather the hand of God writing on our hearts, right in the center of all that we are, so that we will remember who we are in Christ and what He did for us always.

Oh beloved, God sees your heart. He sees where man wrote castoff, diseased, unworthy, worthless, imperfect, done for and more. For many, the finger of man points to every mistake, every problem, every trial and every storm. The finger of man may have written you off, but behold beloved! God Himself has written your name on the Palm of His hand! No mere pencil print this is –you are engraved on His hand! You may have been erased from someone else’s heart, but you will never be erased from God’s heart. He says you are My beloved and I will never leave you or forsake you. Others may taunt you, dismay you, reject you and walk away, but I AM your sure foundation. I AM your rock of ages. I AM the One who will always stay with you . My Word is my bond and your bond as well. I have written on your heart: redeemed, renewed, regenerated, reborn, reconciled. There are other words as well. As you pick up My love story, the Word of God, and learn of Me you will find that you are beloved, beautiful, destined, cared for, watched over and more.

Your life and mine, as believers in Christ, are beautiful illustrations of the One Who gave it all for us! Rejoice beloved, as the King is calling you and writing the most amazing story of your life all on your heart and for the world to see! He loves you and He’s for you and that’s the most beautiful story of your life!

2 Corinthians 3:3 being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (NAS)

Psalm 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands…

Psalm 40:8 I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart.

Jeremiah 31:33 But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD. I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people.

All God's Promises Are True About You!

My mother went to the beauty shop just about every week when I was a teenager.  She enjoyed getting her hair washed and curled, set and fixed by the beautician. There were always magazines laying around that showed new hairdos and hair color. My mother had very little gray hair, even when she got older, so she never did have color put on.  Both she and my aunt went to the same lady.  It was comforting to know the routine and know the beautician well. She always did a good job for mother and my aunt. 

When you go to a beauty shop, you usually have some say so in how things will go.  The hairdresser needs to know the length you want, the kind of cut you want, maybe even the color or a perm. The overall outcome you’d like to have is important to her. But other than that, she does the thing she does because she’s knowledgeable about all that goes with hairstyles. You wouldn’t say for instance, hey don’t use those curlers, use this kind. You don’t walk around the store telling her what to do, you trust your hair to the one who knows what they’re doing.

You also don’t come into the shop and just sit there wishing you could get your hair done like everyone else is doing. You come to the beauty salon for a specific purpose, to take advantage of all the knowledge and expertise that’s there.  You want to look better, which usually makes you feel better. I know, you may have had a less than stellar experience once in your life, but really you go to the beauty shop to have something done for you that you can’t do on your own.

God’s Word is our beauty shop.  Inside the pages are contained everything we need to possess loveliness of heart and mind.   We can’t perform the needed changes on our own. We can’t fix our own messes, mend our own hearts or cleanse our own minds.  Without God’s touch, we are destined to go around trying to fix things ourselves, which always turns out to be worse than we could imagine.

But with God’s touch on our lives, we find true beauty, true peace and the rich and radiant blessings that are there for our taking. Unlike the beauty shop trip, which can cost a boatload of money, God never charges us for His work in our lives. He just performs His incredible makeover and we bask in what He does. As we leave the presence of His work, we radiate His truth for others to see.

We need to go to God’s shop at least once a day to get refreshed and renewed.   We need to stay close to the One Who has given us an extreme makeover. We need to stay within the reach of His loving care and incredible talent. No one else can make us over. No one else can hide our faults, fix our errant ways and create true beauty that will last forever. No one else can make us feel the way God does. Others may say you aren’t beautiful, you are a cast off, you are unworthy. But God always speaks love to you and His Word is your key to true beauty inside and out.

Oh beloved, take time to sit in the shop of God’s Word this morning, and let Him have time with you.  With His touch, you will feel more beautiful and see yourself as you really are – beloved, cared for, redeemed, made new, and set free. Redeemed to live in the light of His love.  Made new to bask in His presence forever. Set free to show forth the praises of your Savior.  He’s calling you ever so gently to come and sit a while as He pours His truth into your mind and heart.  What He says about you is true. You don’t have to wonder if things will turn out the way you want for He promises that just one touch from Him changes everything!  He loves you and He’s for you and that’s the only makeover you’ll ever need.

Psalm 40:5 O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list.  You have no equal.  If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

I Peter 3:4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.

Ephesians 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.

Psalm 92:4 For You have made me glad by what You have done, O Lord. I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

God Wants to Make All Things New!

One of my new favorite home remodel shows is Rehab Addict, where host takes a house that was ready for the wrecking ball and restores it to its former glory.  She sees in an old delapidated shell what could be.  Hundreds of people drive by old abandoned homes and wonder about them. She buys them and doesn’t remodel them – she restores them!  Her desire is to see a home as it was, before time and the elements did such a number on them. 

Maybe you’re feeling the effects of neglect. You just don’t fit in anymore, if ever. You’re tired and worn out from the trials, the concerns, the worries, the fears and more. You made mistake after mistake and now you’re in a hovel and a heap.  You’d like to start all over again, but how is it possible? You’ve gone too far and you feel like the disrepair shows to everyone around you. You may have been knocked down physically, spiritually or emotionally. All you want to do is walk away and give up. But in your heart of hearts, you keep thinking that maybe, just maybe there’s hope – that somehow life could be new again. You’ve tried changing things – from jobs to cars to makeup, but still you feel done in and hopeless. Someone may have hung a demolition sign on you – declaring you insufficient and unredeemable.

Oh beloved, hold on! God says you are so prized and so loved that He will give you more than a fresh coat of paint.  He wants to do more for you than just make things better. He wants to make all things new! He loves you so much that He left heaven just to rescue you from satan’s demolition crew. He cares about you so much that He knew you before you were even formed in your mother’s womb. He’s always on your side, even when it feels like no one is for you. He’s always working things out for your good, even when you feel downhearted.  He’s always going to watch over you and protect you all the days of your life. Neither the beating of the sun nor the drenching of floods will destroy you for God Himself is your foundation! He is the architect and the builder of your entire life! You can be assured that any discussion of your worthlessness is simply the enemy speaking lies. You are worth it, you are loved and there is something yet for you to do, so rejoice and let God continue to remake your life all the way to heaven!

Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne. Unfailing love and truth walk before You as attendants.

Proverbs 10:25 When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.

Exodus 15:13 With Your unfailing love You lead the people You have redeemed. In Your might, You guide them to Your sacred home.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Psalm 40:5 O LORD my God, you have performed many wonders for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. You have no equal. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.

Let God's Home be In Your Heart!

Some friends added a bedroom onto their house.  It’s coming together nicely.  But the wife wanted her husband to finish the interior first. He kept concentrating on the exterior and got it completely done before he began work inside.  It looked great on the outside as though it was perfect, but inside was still just a shell.  It was unlivable and held no real charm or beauty. 

Often we are like that.  We work so hard to make the outside look presentable. We want everyone to see that we have it all together.  We may even find ourselves talking more about the makeup, the hair, the clothes, the weight, the body, etc.  All along we may be totally neglecting what really matters – what’s inside.  That’s what really counts.  I’ve discovered that when the heart condition is right before God, the exterior is even more beautiful.  It all falls into place.

Oh beloved! You are beautiful  to the Lord! He calls you beloved and He has called you out of darkness into His light! He says to you this morning, do not weap for the outer person who may not be perfect, but rejoice for the inner person who is being perfected daily! My love for you is the inner love that abides no matter what.  Let Me help you work on the inside so that My Home in your heart may be more accessible to Me.  Don’t fear the work on the inside – it’s the best place to start!

God loves you just the way you are! God is for you and He’s working out everything for your good and His Glory! Let Him do whatever He wants to do with your life for that’s where True Beauty lies!

 

Ephesians 3:16 I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit.

2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.

1 Peter 3:4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.1 Peter 3:4 but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.