Enlarge our Hearts

2 Peter 1:3

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.”

Everything we need to live our lives for Christ has been given to us, when we were saved and became a new creation in Christ. ”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 Our dead spirit became new, alive, so like a newborn baby must be nourished and fed to grow and develop into a mature adult. We must also nourish and feed our new spirits with the Bread of Life, the word of GOD. We were created in God’s own image (see Genesis 1:26-27), our spirit (God’s own image, not my physical body) has the capacity and ability to love as Christ loved us, our spirit or hearts can be enlarged and increased to love all!

“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

I love the Amplified version of this scripture, read this and let it really sink in:

“May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” What an awesome prayer we can pray over ourselves!

God wants our hearts to be enlarged so that we can receive the outpouring of blessings he has for us, if our hearts are hardened and narrowed, we are unable to receive and grow, thus unable to share our hearts with others. A narrow rigid heart has fear and selfishness, where as an enlarged heart is fearless and selfless. When you live in fear, you are not having faith, but the greater your faith, the larger your heart! "But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4

We are to read the word of God, feed on it, not just read a verse or chapter, but read it, study it, think about it, seek and pray for understanding. We are to pray, talk to God have communion with him and not just when we need something. Share your heart with Him and get to know him intimately, pray that he will enlarge your heart, soften your heart and keep your heart tender to God, His word, and others. He loves you and longs to spend time with you. Give him praises of thanksgiving, thankful for all that we do have and have been given, every day is a new day to serve God and to share God’s love with others. 

“When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Mark 10:14-15

A child believes and receives without difficulty, because they are open, as we age, we harden our hearts, our thoughts, and we adapt to the world around us, by reasoning and rationalizing. But we can receive so much more than we could ever imagine with our spirit than our minds even know to ask.“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 A child doesn’t think about “what if’s” they just accept what they are told. While our minds try to reason with the promises that God has given us, we try to make things impossible by what we know, instead of imagining GOD's limitless abilities. How beautiful it is to have childlike faith, pray for that kind of faith.