Fields United Methodist Church

Side by Side with Jesus.                                                                 Pastor Tom Joyce

November 5, 2020

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

What do you focus on more than anything else in the world? What thoughts driven by your heart go through your mind that may even keep you up at night? Answer those questions honestly, and there you will find what you value the most in life.  Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” In other words, what you put in your heart will control your mind. So what is in your heart? If you spend all day absorbed in the 24-hour news cycle, those things you see and hear will dominate your life. If you spend time judging others or thinking about how much you dislike someone, you will become bitter in heart towards all people. If you gossip, you will become the gossip. Your “heart” absorbs what you feed yourself whether in thought, word, or deed. Jesus reminds you that there is a more excellent way to live; when you turn back to Jesus and accept him as your Lord and Savior, you fill your heart with the pure love of God, you will become of the “same mind as Christ.” (Philippians 2:5) So if your “treasure” is Jesus Christ, you begin to make decisions based on the Word of God and not on your own desires, social whims, or academic theory. When you place Jesus Christ number one in everything you do, think, or say, you share grace as it has been offered to you by Jesus; you share hope as you have been offered hope; you share joy as joy has been received from Jesus. When your treasure is Jesus Christ, your world changes, your attitudes change, and what you may have once felt important loses impact on your life. As your heart fills with the grace of Jesus Christ, you begin to experience peace in your life because true peace can only come from Jesus.  Today is the day to refocus on Jesus and to fill your life with the incredible of love of God through Jesus Christ. Refocus. Renew. Rejoice!

Rev. Tom Joyce