The Fragmented Heart Part II

     Let's continue now with part II of "The Fragmented Heart". 

 

                                     

     Our old (natural) brain is formed step by step, into four different sections.  Although you get a whole new heart once you receive the Lord into your life, the mind must be transformed in stages and in levels.  Going back to conception, the heart forms and beats before the brain is created.  Then it grows from the bottom up, starting with the Medulla, Amygdala, Cerebral Cortex and finally the frontal lobes. 

     Within the front/forehead area lies a part of our brain know as: The Frontal Lobes - where decision making takes place that determines appropriate emotional responses. Below the frontal lobes is the:  Amygdala - which is our emotional memory center that compares emotionally familiar experiences with new information.  Next is our Cerebral Cortex that is at the upper top center of the brain is our thinking center that strategies, plans, reflects, inspires and imagines.  The fourth area is the stem that lies deep inside our Medulla - that contains our nerve centers that regulate breathing, heart rate and other bodily functions.

       In our brain lies what are know as Synaptic Pathways.  These pathways are built and formed by repeated behavior either good or bad.  Everything we do and think is governed by impulses firing across these Synapses that guide communication in the brain.  When any behavior or pattern is repeated enough, the Synaptic Pathways associated with that pattern get used to being accessed and as a result, it becomes easier for impulses to travel along those pathways, and the behavior seems natural and one action triggers the next. Some scientists say that it takes 21 to 30 days to hard wire new information(habits) into the neural pathways of our brains and to unwire a negative behavior, habit or response could take even longer. 

     The bible tells us in Romans 12:2 - Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by it's new ideals and it's new attitude) so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
                                                                                                                

     And how do we do that?  By "reading and meditating" on God's Word.  By allow it to penetrate the depths of our heart, mind (the brain) so it can begin to heal the emotional hurts and memories. When we meditate on Gods Word, we are concentrating our mind on one thing and that is the Word of God, in order to aid our mental and spiritual development and healing.   This is God's prescription for us, "His Word" and His Word has everything we need, so all we have to do is apply it.  It acts the same way as an antibiotic does that the doctor has prescribed for you that heal an infection or an open wound.  It has all the ingredients necessary for a complete recovery and healing of your heart and mind. 

 

     In Hebrews 4:12 it says:  For the Word of God is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and the immortal spirit, and of joints and marrow (of the deepest parts of our nature) exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

 

     God's word penetrates with it's healing power to the very depths of your mind and like a laser beam cutes to the very core of the wound so healing and wholeness can come.  It energizes your heart and mind as it accomplishes God's will.  It can never be stagnated.  It goes down into the intricate parts of the soul (that makes up the mind, the will and the emotions) and dissects everything it finds there. 

 

     When the Word takes up residence in your mind, it operates with divine power and produces good fruit.  Your mind will embrace the Word as it receives it and will act upon it as it identifies with its truths.  And as we continue to apply those truths we will then be able to stop responding negatively. Those old thought pattern that trigger the memory, that triggers the hurt, will begin to fade and we will no long act or think through hurt emotions.  The tormented mind will be at peace and those who felt stuck in unforgiveness will be able to forgive. No longer will you be a victim, but a victor. 

     Psalms 34:18 tells us: The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent. 

     If we don't forgive and act upon His Word, we won't receive the "Increase" He wants to give us.  let's look at this word "Increase" so we can better understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.  The dictionary says that it means:  To become larger or greater....to expand to make more substantial by adding more details, extend, to cover a wider area....To intensify to cause something such as an emotion or reaction to be stronger or more extreme and to amplify for a greater effect. 

     This is what the Word of God does, it brings "INCREASE" into every area of our lives.  It heals, restores, renews, convicts, saves, sanctifies, washes, teaches, instructs, directs, discerns, judges, exposes, delivers, builds, unveils, speaks, prospers, supplies, active, powerful, effective, sharp, cuts, it's life, love, breath, our food and so much more.

     He will bring the "Increase" as you allow Him to heal your broken heart and renew your mind with His Word.  He is watching and waiting for you to act.   Will you trust Him?

Blessings,

Elma Garlock



The Fragmented Heart Part I

     At the beginning of this year 2012, the word that the Lord gave me for the body of Christ was "Increase" and that this year would be the beginning of new "Kairos" (seasons, timing and the opportune time) for His people and that one of the areas to be revealed in this season would be the condition of our "hearts".  So as I began to seek the Lord, the word that came was "fractured". 

     You might be thinking, what in the world does the word "fractured" have to do with "increase" and "kairos"?  Well, I'm glad you asked.  Let's first look at the word "kairos" and what it means.  The dictionary says:  It's opportunity that implies that it is not the convenience of the season, but it is the necessity of the task at hand whether the time provides a good, convenient opportunity or not. 

     OK, so what does this have to do with the message?  If we go back to the last part of the meaning "kairos", the key words that I want you to take notice of are the words "season" and "necessity".

     Here is what the Lord showed me.  That in seasons passed all of us have experienced a "fracturing of the heart" and that it is of the utmost "necessity" in this "season" of God's "timing"  weather we think the opportunity (which is a set of circumstances that presents itself and can either be grasped or lost) will ever come.....but that the Lord has set in motion precise circumstances, specific situations and Divine appointments in our lives that will bring about healing, restoration, deliverance and prosperity for His people. 

     And so He says; seasons have come and gone and you've not seen change and you've felt no strength, yet He says; I HAVE NOT CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT YOU.  I am coming in a new way for this season of your lives and the times you thought.....this must be the time....but it wasn't.... and so you built wall of resentment towards me and I tried to come in, but you shut me out....and I say to you that the Son of Righteousness shall arise within you that will transform you and bring healing to your heart and you will soor with ME and I will take you upon MY healing wings and I will bring about the change. For I am taking MY people from last season into today's season....a season of change....for some a season of new beginning....for others a season of advancement and development.  Receive the new and leave behind the old, for I have kept the best for last.... so look farther beyond the natural rising of the sun and see the SON as He arises in your midst with greater anticipation and expectation for I will come....I will not delay ,because this is the season I have chosen and this is the timing I have planned....for I say; My plans and purposes shall be established in your hearts and that, that was once broken shall be mended and made new.  My people, discern the times that your living in and stand at your post and above all else, guard your heart.... be alert and consider the matters of the heart, says the Spirit of God.

     Beloved, there is so much in the heart of the Father that He wants to say to us, things He wants to do for us and things He wants to show His people.

     Now let's look at this word "fragmented".  This word comes from the word "fragile" which means:  Something that is easily broken, damaged, easily destroyed, something that is not strong, sound or secure and unlikely to withstand any severe stress or strain that may be put on it.

     So if something has been "fragmented" what do you think happens?  That, that has been fragmented becomes disconnected parts that are lacking coherence which is the substance or source that keep's them connected to the whole.

     Coherence is:  The quality of being logically consistent, with all separate parts fitting together to form a harmonious whole.

     ***A good example that will help you to understand what I am talking about is a bone that has been broken.  We know that there are different degrees of fractures that can happen to a bone and the degree of the fracture is determined by the severity of the blow and trauma that has taken place.

     And so what can happen to us in the natural with the fragmenting of a bone, can and does happen to our heart; which is the seat of our emotions and affects our thoughts, our judgment and our understanding of situations, circumstances and life as a whole.

     All of us at one time or another in our life has had our heart broken by someone, but for some of us it's been broken many times.  What the Lord has shown me is that some of us are still walking around with "fractured hearts" like the one at the top of the page. 

     I want to talk for a minute about our physical heart and give you some general information of it's functions.  The encyclopedia says that the normally the heart will last for seventy to eighty years without maintenance or replacement.  During this time, it beats around one hundred thousand times a day, roughly forty million times a year; almost three billion beats in a lifetime.  The heart pumps two gallons of blood per minute adding up to more than one hundred gallons per hour through a vascular system that is long enough to wrap around the earth two times - over sixty thousand miles. That blows my mind! 

     The heart is like a nuclear power plant generating five thousand times more energy than the brain and why the heart has been called the "center" of our being. Even more amazing, it has it's own nervous system that is called the "brain of the heart".  This heart brain has more than forty thousand nerve cells.  The natural heart is also able to feel, sense, learn and remember, and how do we know that?  Through science.

     Scientists have observed that the heart sends emotional and intuitive signals to the brain and body that help to govern our lives, but how does it do that?  Through a chemical called "Atrial Peptide", nicknamed "The balance hormone".  And how it works is it regulates our brains functions and keeps it balanced and also motivates our behavior.

     In Proverbs 14:30 confirms this, and this is what it says: A tranquil heart(one that is free from agitation and is peaceful) is life to the body, but passion (anger, indignation) is rottenness to the bones.

     Proverbs 15:13b tells us:  By sorrow(grief, sadness, distress, disappointment, worry, torment) of heart the spirit is broken.

     Proverbs 14:20 says:  The heart knows(distinguishes, sees, recognize, discerns, identifies, understands, comprehends and experiences) its own bitterness. 

     So you can see that when our hearts have been "fractured" and we have anger, bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts, our emotions are out of balance.  Our thoughts are not aligned to receive understanding and truth, and the way we perceive things gets distorted.

     In Psalms 147:3 it tells us:  He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows)

     Proverbs 17:22 says:  A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing.

Next week part II

Blessings,

Elma Garlock