“A good tree doesn’t bear bad fruit. And a bad tree doesn’t bear good fruit. You can tell each tree by the kind of fruit it bears. People do not pick figs from thorns. And they don’t pick grapes from bushes.
A good man says good things. These come from the good that is stored up in his heart. An evil man says evil things. These come from the evil that is stored up in his heart. A person’s mouth says everything that is in their heart.”
From the heart….. these are words from one of our Master Teachers, Jesus. From his heart to those he taught….to their heart. Something we should try to understand when we deal with Jesus’ words…. he did not come to form another religion…. another system…. He came to open hearts of the people… something that would come from the heart…. something that would be directed by the heart by the inner spirit …. that inner presence that is available to every human being.
We need to be aware his teachings have changed over the centuries. What we hear on the radio or see on TV is not the teachings that Jesus brought into the world.
Although it is credited to Jesus, it is the 18th and 19th century changes of Christianity and it is what was formulated to be his word. That is not the Gospel. The Gospel means a joyful message…. what Jesus taught…. not what people talk about in mainstream religion. His message was direct, simple, from the heart…. to the heart… and an expression of the heart.
This was what was his aim….this was what he was after…. This is why when he spoke people were attracted to him…. because he didn’t sound like the regular institutionalize teachers, Rabbis and the zealots who were presenting their particular notions, doctrines, dogma, or ideas of how God is…… and how we should be obedient …. He came much more simply….
When he approached people, he blessed peacemakers…. he blessed those who were hungering and thirsting for righteous… for justice…. the meek. This is what he was doing…. he was always going after the heart….. expressing what there was in the heart and bringing out what was in the heart of the people…
Some people feel very secure today because of “right doctrine” …. Jesus never taught right doctrine…. in fact, Jesus had no theology….
We study piles of books and media to get these teachings and Jesus taught it to a group of itinerate fishermen who could not read or write. And they got it. These are the men and women who changed the world. Not the rulers, not the politicians…not the rich influential men. How…Why???
Jesus never wrote a book… He just wrote in their heart. And that is how the movement spread…from heart to heart. This is how it worked…it went from heart to heart. They didn’t walk with the Bible…or with the Torah or with the Quran… they walked with Creator.
We have difficulty differencing in our systems of religion between a religious cultural tradition and a religious spiritual truth….. we have mixed it… and made the cultural tradition the word of Creator.
Jesus abandoned the religious cultural tradition and went for the heart! He didn’t care how people dressed, how they should appear….or the rules and regulations of religion. Jesus didn’t care about that… what he taught and cared about was from the heart.
What people want to make war about is religious cultural tradition…. not spiritual truths and Divine principles… they are totally different. And this is why Jesus was so revolutionary and such a spiritual warrior …. because he didn’t bother to go into those things… He was interested only in the heart. This is why he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart because they will see God”.
What is a pure heart????…someone who doesn’t make a mistake?? There is not that person….. A pure heart means clear, clean… like clean clear water….a clear mind…. something that can reflect… a pure heart/mind sees what God truly is.
How do we see God??? How do we perceive God?? It means going back to your original state….. Means seeing God’s love, God’s peace, and…. that only comes through human beings! From your heart, from my heart….one person to another person. Jesus knew there was only one way for this religion to spread…and that was heart to heart.
The heart… what are we talking about when we say our heart? There has been much study into the area of the heart in the last 10 years and it’s not only about the mechanics of an organ in the human body.
For centuries, the heart has been considered the source of emotion, courage and wisdom. The Institute of HeartMath Research Center is exploring the physiological mechanism by which the heart communicates with the brain, thereby influencing information processing, perceptions, emotions and health.
Questions are asked such as: Why do people experience the feeling or sensation of love and other positive emotional states in the area of the heart and what are the ramifications of these emotions?
Heart rhythms or variability stood out as the most dynamic and reflective of inner emotional states. They also observed that the heart was acting as though it had a mind of its own and was profoundly influencing the way we perceive and respond to the world. In essence, it appeared that the heart was affecting intelligence and awareness.
Also, electromagnetic fields generated by the heart permeate every cell and may act as a synchronizing signal for the body in a manner analogous to information carried by radio waves. This energy is not only transmitted internally to the brain but is also detectable by others… outside of the body…. within its range of communication.
The heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body. This field is around 100 times stronger that produced by the brain, is not impeded by tissues and can be measured several feet away from the body. Clear rhythmic patterns in beat to beat heart rate variability are distinctly altered when different emotions are experienced…. and which are “felt” by every cell in the body…. further supporting the heart’s role as a global internal synchronizing signal.
HeartMath researchers sought to augment science’s understanding of intuition, the process by which we become aware of, or perceive information outside our normal consciousness. {Mediums, pay attention….} They wanted to expand previous research showing the body could respond to emotionally arousing stimuli seconds before experiencing it.
They showed participants experienced a significantly greater heart-rate deceleration before future emotional stimuli compared to calm stimuli, indicating that their hearts appeared to receive and respond to intuitive information.
This is a quote from Doc Childre, Founder of the Institute of HeartMath….
“Since emotional processes can work faster than the mind, it takes a power stronger than the mind to bend perception, override emotional circuitry, and provide us with intuitive feeling instead, it takes the power of the heart.”
Jesus knew the power of the heart…. and that is said very clearly in this morning’s quote. I’ll read it again…..
“A good tree doesn’t bear bad fruit. And a bad tree doesn’t bear good fruit. You can tell each tree by the kind of fruit it bears. People do not pick figs from thorns. And they don’t pick grapes from bushes.
A good man says good things. These come from the good that is stored up in his heart. An evil man says evil things. These come from the evil that is stored up in his heart. A person’s mouth says everything that is in their heart.”
What kind of things are in your heart?? What kind of fruit are you bearing?? What is coming out of your mouth….. Your life is a print out of what you hold in your heart. Are you happy with your life?? Do you feel fulfilled and loved?? Is there chaos around you or are you at peace with your life. Do you have and give joy??
There is a very direct correlation to the life you live and your level of happiness & peace…. that is what is held in your heart. It is fast becoming a scientific fact.
Are we closing down our hearts with our wants and needs and desires…the “what about me questions” and stopping the flow of spiritual truths and divine principle to each other?? Do we deal with others from the heart?? Do we make decisions from our heart???
We have the power from our heart…. we have the emotional power, the physical power, the spiritual power…. to stop any form of violence or unjust treatment, wrong thinking and so called wicked acts that people can put upon us. We are not helpless, awful, terrible, beings… we are children of our Creator that sometime make mistakes and we can learn from those mistakes and keep on going.
Jesus spoke to our hearts…. that why he said bless the peace makers. He didn’t say we are born to do wicked acts and die from our bad behaviors and suffer eternally. He didn’t die for anyone’s perceived wrong doings… He was put to death because he knew the way to end violence, to end bigotry, to end lies and mistreatment…. to end the systems that keep us from growing and living from the heart. He gave the way to rise above this and become closer to the spiritual realm …. and that’s why they killed him. He was different!!!
Because this man brought a whole new revolution, a spiritual revolution…. that rose above all church doctrine and all dogma and old systems…old worn out systems… and the old systems are wearing out because they didn’t bring peace.
It is the same thing today… our religions have become religious cultural traditions… and not religious spiritual principles …and teach the truths that open the human heart. Religions as a club separates. Because it says, I’m in and you’re out. I belong and you don’t.
Jesus’ religion comes from the heart. Pure and simple. He went to the heart and he came from the heart to bring out what was in the heart. He did not come to empower us… this doesn’t mean you don’t have any power…that you need Jesus to empower you….he came to potentiate…. which means to bring forward what is already within you… what is already there to come out. This is why people gathered to him… He didn’t tell people they were sinners…. that they were wrong or bad. He came to bring out the goodness and love that was in us already. He came to wake us up!
The love of God…. the harmony of God… the peace of God… the joy of God is in the heart of every human being.
Do you feel it???
Are you awake??? What is coming from your heart out of your mouth today????……