Influencers Devotionals

My Heart Christ's Home by Rocky Fleming

May 24, 2022

In 1954 Robert Boyd Munger wrote My Heart Christ’s Home.   It is a beloved, powerful little book about Christ living at the center of our life, which is our heart.  It is an allegory and delivers a beautiful message.  I recommend that you buy it and read it.  It meant a lot to me in my Christian journey back in my 30s.  When I decided to send my first blog out following my heart attack and open-heart surgery, I felt that I needed to share the condition of my heart.  Though you may think that I’m speaking of the muscle in my chest that pumps my blood through the circulation system, I am not.  I’m speaking of a deeper more important heart, which is my inner man … my soul.  The question you should ask, as I do all the time is, “How is your soul?”

My consistent exhortation to men and women is to protect their hearts.  No, it is not their organic pump that I speak of, although I’ve recently discovered that I could have done a better job of it.  It is their soul that I speak of, for you see our soul and our heart spiritually are the same.  For example, when Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, He was in essence was saying with everything we have.  It is our best effort.  Our soul and our heart are who we really are, and it is worship from this place that God cherishes the most.  Why is this?  It is because our heart, soul and spirit are eternal.  When our body dies, that temporary part of our life is over.  But as a Christian, that which is eternal is released from the dying to claim our salvation.  Get this:  As a Christian we live in the land of the dying to go to the land of the living.  Learning to live with this thought and even find comfort in it causes us to not fear the death of our earthly body, for it means we are released to the best life that is ahead.

When they discovered that I had two almost completely closed arteries, the doctor was astounded that I was alive, especially after my twelve-mile bike ride that day.  I showed very little symptoms except some fatigue and shortness of breath, which hid the serious nature of the blockage.  He said this sometimes happens.  Based on the blockage I should have been laying on the ground with pain giving me necessary warning signals.  But the serious nature was no less there.  I could have been taken to glory any moment.  When I found this out, I felt the Lord had sustained me until the surgery and for a continued purpose to serve His purposes.

As they rolled me into surgery, I felt a great calm.  I felt that I couldn’t lose.  If I lived through it, then I have more life to live with my family, friends and for God’s purposes.  However, if I died, then my time in this life had been fulfilled and that which I’ve longed for most of my life was about to happen.  I’ve often said that the best way to live with this temporary life with an “expiration date” somewhere in the future, is to have the most important question answered that all of mankind will one day will ask which is, “What happens now?”  I know what happens now.  My heart and soul tell me this, for the assurance is at the center of my life, where God’s Spirit lives within me.

When I began a ministry using written words over twenty years ago, I felt that I was simply a messenger sharing his challenges and victories with Jesus.  It began there and it is at the heart of why I write today.  It is to be a messenger of hope that comes out of real-life circumstances, fears, and personal experience.  I don’t believe my struggles are mine alone.  I believe they are common with many people.  But speaking out to tell someone that they are not alone is rare.  For those who have been entrusted with a gift to write, then we must embrace that we are messengers that God has raised up for a greater purpose than our self.  It is not about book sales or celebrity or notoriety.  In fact, if that is our purpose then I feel God will not honor our words.  It is about a message from God to those in need of words spoken to their hearts.  For that reason, when I write I ask God, “Will You let this message from You drill deep within a reader’s heart and that they know it is from You.”   This is what God’s messenger does. He shares God’s words and he or she simply take dictation.

How do we know when a book such as My Heart Christ’s Home are words from God?  It speaks to our heart, that deep inner part of us.  When it does, we know we’ve heard from God.  So, learn to keep your heart and soul healthy, and listen for the whispers that God gives you.  You will know that they are from Him, if your soul is healthy.