{"id":6162,"date":"2018-02-27T11:41:40","date_gmt":"2018-02-27T17:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=6162"},"modified":"2018-02-27T11:41:40","modified_gmt":"2018-02-27T17:41:40","slug":"create-in-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Create in Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brad\u00a0Harrub, Ph.D.\u00a0<\/strong>
\nWhen I turned seven I decided I wanted to be a heart surgeon more than anything else in the world. I found an anatomical picture of a human heart\u00a0in an old textbook, traced it on notebook paper, and put that drawing on my bedroom door as a constant reminder\u2014I still have that sketch today. I\u2019ll never forget spending literally hours in the cadaver lab studying, memorizing, and marveling at such a phenomenal creation. Over the years my career choices changed, but I still retain a deep passion for the human heart. While man has tried to create a substitute or an artificial heart\u2014our efforts have truly paled in comparison to God\u2019s original model.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe\u00a0word\u00a0heart\u00a0<\/i>appears in the Bible hundreds of times in both the Old and New Testaments.\u00a0However, in the English language the word\u00a0heart\u00a0<\/i>rarely means the cardiovascular pump within your chest cavity. Instead, it\u00a0is almost always referring to the essence of man\u2014your inner being.\u00a0When someone says, \u201cFollow your heart\u201d they are not talking literally about following the organ that pumps blood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhile your anatomical heart is vital to your earthly existence, your inner heart reveals who you really are, and who you have chosen to follow\u2014and gives a good indication of where you will spend eternity.\u00a0The world is quick to toss around the word\u00a0heart\u00a0<\/i>in phrases like:\u00a0<\/span>
\nTrust your heart.\u00a0<\/span>
\nBelieve with all your heart.\u00a0<\/span>
\nYou hold a special place in my heart.\u00a0<\/span>
\nFollow your heart.\u00a0<\/span>
\nIn other words, trust in yourself.\u00a0But the Bible says\u00a0\u201cThe heart\u00a0is<\/i>\u00a0deceitful above all\u00a0things<\/i>,\u00a0<\/i>and desperately wicked;\u2028Who can know it?\u201d (Jeremiah 17:9). The Son of God said, \u201cFor out of the heart\u00a0proceed\u00a0evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies\u201d (Matthew 15:19).\u00a0If this organ is so wicked, what is a Christian to do?\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe answer should be obvious. A serious examination of your heart will reveal it is sick and needs to be transplanted.\u00a0We read,\u00a0\u201c<\/b>I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh,\u201d\u00a0(Ezekiel 36:26).\u00a0God stands ready to give you a new heart if you are willing to give up the old one.\u00a0This is a part of putting on the \u201cnew man\u201d (Colossians 3) in an effort to cleanse the inner man.\u00a0<\/span>
\nMany people have bought into the humanistic teaching that man is not so bad, and thus,\u00a0they bristle at the thought of needing to cleanse their heart. Rather than embracing a heart transplant and the desire for a new heart, they would rather allow their hearts to become calloused and hardened like the Pharaoh in Egypt (Exodus). The Apostle Paul warned, \u201cBut in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are\u00a0treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,\u201d (Romans 2:5)\u00a0<\/span>
\nSolomon delivered this fitting piece of wisdom regarding the heart: \u201cKeep your heart with all diligence,\u2028for out of it\u00a0spring<\/i>\u00a0the issues of life,\u201d (Proverbs 4:23). The inspired Psalmist declared, \u201cCreate in me a clean heart, O God,\u2028and renew a steadfast spirit within me,\u201d (Psalm 51:10). This should be the cry of every human on the planet, because only then can we truly, \u201cTrust in\u00a0the Lord with all your heart,\u2028and lean not on your own understanding;\u00a0<\/b>In\u00a0all your ways acknowledge Him,\u2028and He shall direct your paths\u201d (Proverbs 3:5-6).\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhat does your heart look like? What shape is it in? Our society has trained most people\u00a0to look primarily upon external features. Many young people idolize reality stars\u00a0that\u00a0\u201clook\u201d good but are living ungodly lives. Christians should always remember, \u201cBut the Lord said to Samuel, \u2018Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For\u00a0the Lord does<\/i>\u00a0not\u00a0see<\/i>\u00a0as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart\u2019\u201d (1 Samuel 16:7).\u00a0<\/span>
\nWhen God looks into your heart does He see a servant who desperately wants to serve Him, or does He see someone who is wanting to be in control of his or her own life, giving God the leftovers of time and money? Does He see words and thoughts of kindness and compassion, or does He see harsh words and a mean spirit?\u00a0The Bible says, \u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God\u201d (Matthew 5:8).\u00a0If you haven\u2019t had a heart transplant let me strongly encourage you to schedule your surgery immediately. Isn\u2019t it time you\u00a0got rid of that old diseased heart and received a new heart\u00a0that is pure and ready to serve Him?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brad\u00a0Harrub, Ph.D.\u00a0 When I turned seven I decided I wanted to be a heart surgeon more than anything else in the world. I found an anatomical picture of a human heart\u00a0in an old textbook, traced it on notebook paper, and put that drawing on my bedroom door as a constant reminder\u2014I still have that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,66],"tags":[904,1051,412,1390],"class_list":["post-6162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-think-excerpts","tag-brad-harrub","tag-feature","tag-heart","tag-july-2013","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nCreate in Me - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Create in Me - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brad\u00a0Harrub, Ph.D.\u00a0 When I turned seven I decided I wanted to be a heart surgeon more than anything else in the world. I found an anatomical picture of a human heart\u00a0in an old textbook, traced it on notebook paper, and put that drawing on my bedroom door as a constant reminder\u2014I still have that […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"focus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"focus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"focus\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\"},\"headline\":\"Create in Me\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":804,\"keywords\":[\"Brad Harrub\",\"feature\",\"Heart\",\"July 2013\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Christian Living\",\"Think Excerpts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/\",\"name\":\"Create in Me - Focus Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/27\\\/create-in-me\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Create in Me\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/\",\"name\":\"Focus Press\",\"description\":\"Renew Your Mind\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13\",\"name\":\"focus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"focus\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tampaseo.expert\\\/focus\\\/author\\\/focus\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Create in Me - Focus Press","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Create in Me - Focus Press","og_description":"By Brad\u00a0Harrub, Ph.D.\u00a0 When I turned seven I decided I wanted to be a heart surgeon more than anything else in the world. I found an anatomical picture of a human heart\u00a0in an old textbook, traced it on notebook paper, and put that drawing on my bedroom door as a constant reminder\u2014I still have that […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/","og_site_name":"Focus Press","article_published_time":"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00","author":"focus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"focus","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/"},"author":{"name":"focus","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13"},"headline":"Create in Me","datePublished":"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/"},"wordCount":804,"keywords":["Brad Harrub","feature","Heart","July 2013"],"articleSection":["Christian Living","Think Excerpts"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/","url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/","name":"Create in Me - Focus Press","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-27T17:41:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/02\/27\/create-in-me\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Create in Me"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/","name":"Focus Press","description":"Renew Your Mind","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/#\/schema\/person\/410e95ca4492328087bb414318cdbf13","name":"focus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4e5532d3006379364a1bcb0a0f8e1b7d691f4349940d94d5b41a4267b04ead18?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"focus"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus"],"url":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/author\/focus\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}