Heart of Stone
HEART: Emotional center
I have a heart of stone. I am hard and inflexible some days. Being a parent, especially a solo parent during deployment has its trying times. I hate those moments when I don’t sound “nice” to my little children.
It seems human that anyone’s brain could explode when being surrounded by persistent screaming, fussing, fighting, or crying. It’s hard to play the hero all the time. When conversing with my girl friend about this, she lovingly pointed out that while we thought marriage was a sanctifying season, parenting is all the more so revealing of our true character!
That is when I need to remember, I am more than human. Indeed, I am part divine. In these moments I need to remember my divine nature, there is a new spirit within me, just as Christ promised.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ”
I have had a heart transplant. It’s better than a perfect match, it’s better than a mechanized replacement part, it’s the heavenly heart of Jesus.
This heavenly heart and new spirit DOES give me superhero powers. It does allow me to rise above the humanness of losing my cool when most people would say, that’s very understandable. Although, that’s the way of the world, and I want the Way of Jesus.
It’s true that heart disease affects nearly half of the American population. Heart disease is in fact the leading cause of death. Coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke, heart failure, high blood pressure, vascular disease, it’s rampant…. it’s bad.
The real heart disease that’s truly killing us is SIN. Sin is the Black Plague of the heart. Sin makes our heart a heart of stone - immovable and dead. But it’s not your fault, it’s congenital. Yes, you were born with it. Our human, fleshly, fallen nature was born into a world of sin. It’s genetic, we inherited it from our parents Adam and Eve; thanks for the good genes. Our sinful DNA gave birth to heart of stone.
But Praise God, our story doesn’t have to end in death. The Great Physician has come. Jesus Christ performed the ultimate procedure of sacrifice to give His life for ours. He has redeemed our hearts. He gives us a chance at eternal life by freely donating His heart to save you. Will you receive it? Will you sign the medical waiver and undergo the procedure to accept a new heart?
If you say yes, will you nourish this new heart? Will you go to cardiac rehab to monitor and train this chance at a new life? Or will you continue to slowly kill yourself with bad lifestyle choices filled with filthy nutrition, poisonous smoke inhalation, and negative sedentary activities? We’re all born with the plague of sin in our hearts, and sometimes our lifestyle choices really make us sick.
Friends, patients, let us receive the heart transplant. Let us nourish the new flexible, tender, sensitive heart of flesh that Jesus donates. Learn His way of a healthy life.
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT).
Although I’ve been walking with Jesus for many years now, sometimes I still act with a hard heart. The procedure has been done: once and for all, but this new heart of Jesus is still within my body of human flesh.
Interestingly, in a physical heart transplant, there can be a complication after surgery called a Sinus Node Dysfunction. The sinus node is the heart’s innate pacemaker, it tells the heart to beat and pump blood throughout the body. After heart transplant, heart rhythm monitors (echocardiograms, ECGs) may detect TWO sinus node activations (called P waves on the ECG). The native recipient heart and the new donor heart.
Strey G. Second look diagnosis: dual sinus nodes rhythm in heart transplant patient. Med J Aust. 2023;219(4):152. doi:10.5694/mja2.52045
It’s fascinating that the original heart can no longer make the new heart beat, only the new donor heart can make it pump. This dysfunction reminds me of our human condition post-heart transplant with Jesus. He is the one giving life to my soul, but my innate sinful nature can still show up when monitored.
Oh, that I would live on every beat initiated from the heart of Jesus!
“Inhale: Your heart within
Exhale: Walking in Your ways”
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV).
Remember, it is through the Word of God, prayer, and Christian community that we train our hearts and minds after we receive our heart transplant.
“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Hebrews 10:8 NIV).
We are in that time!
Breath Beads is here to support your journey in training this new heart with breath prayers! For more information how resonant positive breathing improves heart health by optimizing heart rate variability (HRV), check out my article, “A Key to Health."
P.S. This post is dedicated to my Doctor of Physical Therapy students at the University of Saint Mary in Fort Leavenworth, KS in 2021 who graciously sat through my teachings as an Adjunct Professor for their Cardiopulmonary course. Only God could have orchestrated that I taught that class and later start a business with a very practical tool for improving heart health.
