Take Heart!

John 16:33

New International Version "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

When you study interlinear translation of this verse, you come to find out that "..take heart.." means "to take courage". It refers to God bolstering the believer, empowering them with a bold inner-attitude. For the believer to show courage, he must have the Lord infusing His strength by His "inner working" of faith, it comes into unflinching, bold courage, living out the inner confidence, which is produced by the Spirit.

How do you come to the point of having inner working power, which enables you to overcome.

The other words spoken by Jesus come to my mind.

Matthew 15:18

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them.

Our heart is not a blood pumping organ. This is not what Bible means. Heart, that Jesus talked about is our inner man, who is inner filled by the Holy Spirit. This is the hidden man of the heart, us at our core.

This is how we dream, how we see things. What we feed our inner man will result in what exactly will come out. Would it be patience or jealousy, joy or evil thoughts, love or hate?

So, how exactly do you "take heart"?

You take yourself, your inner man and you bring him or her to Jesus. You stretch your hand and you say: "Jesus, here is my man. I took my inner man into my hands and I place my inner man into Your hands. Not my will, but your will be done. Conform my will to your will. Let Your thoughts be my thoughts. Let the desires of Your heart become mine. Let me experience Your Love and give Your Love to others."

When you take your heart in such a way Jesus, His responsibility is to fill it up. God never leaves a thirsty or hungry soul without satisfaction.

As we read His words "take heart", we see it is not an offer, it is not an invitation. It is a command. Why does God commands us? It is because He knows first hand, what will happen if we don't. There is an enemy out there and if we don't take our hearts and fill them with Jesus, the enemy will fill our hearts with his presence.

You think, that you can wait a while, or you think that this is just another message. No, it is not. It is a calling to your inner man to come all in all to God. Time is short. I was just 21, seems like a few years ago. Now, I am almost 40. Years passed!

I encourage you today to take your heart. Boldly come to God with your heart. He will fill you with courage and love, so you can too say: "I am an overcomer, just like Jesus!"