Preaching From The Porch

 


Sometimes, when in therapy with an individual with a hole in their heart, I sometimes thought that perhaps that emptiness was there from birth, the hole was so deep.  It seemed that nothing could fill the space.  My client would go layer by layer into their heart until they could dig down in that empty hole and bring up so many painful, destructive wounds.  We would have to deal with them layer by layer.  But in the end, once the hole has been completely dug out, we could begin to fill the hole again with good things.

When we love a child, or a spouse that has injured us emotionally,  or there is a wound that comes from a friend,  the hole in our heart becomes deeper.  We begin to layer protection around the heart until there is a cold,  frigid wall around our heart and we refuse to let anyone or anything in.  This can happen without our awareness and over a period of time.  As a result,  it seems there are many of us who seemingly are removed from emotion.  No matter what we experience, we are not able to be peaceful, joyful, laugh, or play.  Often times, people who don't have walls around their heart think that we just don't want to be around them, or they may think that we just have something else on our mind because they we are so unresponsive, but actually, we have built impenetrable walls around our heart.  

We must have someone who is objective to help us dig out the hole, layer by layer.  That is the beauty of therapy.  The preacher would say, " setting the captive free, hallelujah"! ( Isaiah 42:7) to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness".

Once the well is dug out, what can we possibly fill it with?  Some people have been miserable and comfortable with the misery so long, they have a lot of difficulty allowing the good stuff into their well.

Just preaching from the porch here, but I ran across a whole heap of porch scripture that confirms that there are a slew of good things that the Holy Spirit wants to fill us with.  Hope you stay around in this read long enough to really look at them!

Psalm 107:9  God fills the hungry soul with goodness

Psalm 126:2 Our mouths are filled with laughter.

Habakkuk 2:14  The earth will be filled with knowledge.

Matthew 5:6 Those who hunger and thirst for it will be filled with righteousness.

John 15:11  Jesus assures us that we can be filled with joy.

Acts 14:17  God fills our hearts with gladness.

Romans 15:13 The God of hope fills us with peace.

Romans 15:14 We are full of goodness.

James 3:17 The wisdom we gain from God is full of mercy.

Whew!  That leaves no room for holes in the heart!


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