You can always tell what is in a person’s heart when they are provoked or under pressure—because it will come out.
Think about these words that Jesus said from Matthew 12:33–35…
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”
Some people bring forth good things in their marriage. They bring forth good things in the lives of their children. They bring forth good things in their careers.
Other people bring forth bad things in their marriages, bad things in their families, their life, and their careers.
I had a friend years ago who, every time I got around him, just spewed out negative things about everything…about the world, about the church, about people, about life.
Every time I was with him, I felt like I was pulling him up out of a well, and it was exhausting.
When I would leave, he would run right back to that bitter spring—and it would refill his heart with poison and bitterness and negativity.
It would have been one thing if he was trying to change, if he would drink from a different well, but he did not. Whatever that source was, he would just run right back to it.
Here is my point: What we put in is going to come out.
If you have a heart full of sweet honey, honey is going to come out. If you have a heart full of bitter vinegar, vinegar is going to come out.
And if you put God’s Word into your heart, it will bless you, it will increase you. And it will bless and increase those around you. The question is, how do you do that?
One way is to look to the Holy Spirit for illumination. Look at Psalm 119:12, where David writes…
Blessed are You, O Lord! Teach me Your statutes.
How does the Lord teach us? Through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said when the Holy Spirit comes, “He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). In fact, when Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the comforter, that Greek word also means counselor (or someone who instructs and teaches).
If you will unhurriedly spend time in the Word and say, “Holy Spirit, teach me, give me illumination,” He will.
