Hearts and Minds

Hearts and minds is the phrase they use about what the troops are trying to accomplish in Afghanistan. Sometimes winning minds is easy, winning hearts is a very different thing.

Jeremiah 17:9 (The Message)

^9-10"The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
not as they pretend to be."

When Jesus was moved with compassion he was not just moved intellectually but with compassion through his heart, the core of his being. Will we allow God to transform our heart nature?

Hebrews 4:12 (New American Standard Bible)

¹²For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

If you feel hard hearted don't worry God is the best heart surgeon around in Ezekiel 36 God says this

^24-28 "'For here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I'll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I'll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that's God-willed, not self-willed. I'll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You'll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!