Let's Make a Deal

Elmer Kelen turned to leave the studio of a young Hungarian artist, Arpad Sebesy. He was angry and his parting words were, "That's a rotten portrait and I refuse to pay for it."

The artist was crushed. He had wasted weeks on this painting and now the 500 pengos that he was going to lose on the deal flashed through his mind. Bitterly he recalled that the millionaire had only posed three times, so that the painting had to be done virtually from memory. Still, he didn't think it was a bad likeness. Before the millionaire left his studio the artist called out, "One minute. Will you give me a letter saying you refused the portrait because it didn't resemble you?"

Glad to get off the hook so easily, Kelen agreed and wrote the letter. A few months later the Society of Hungarian Artists opened its exhibition at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Budapest. Soon afterwards Kelen's phone began to ring. Within a half an hour he appeared at the gallery and headed for the wing where a Sebesy painting was on display. It was the one he had rejected. He glanced at the title and his face turned purple. Storming into the office of the gallery manager, he demanded that the portrait be removed at once.

The manager explained quietly that all of the paintings were under contract to remain in the gallery the full six weeks of the exhibit. But Kelen raged, "But it will make me the laughing stock of Budapest. It's libelous. I'll sue!"

The manager turned to his desk, drew out the letter Kelen had written at Sebesy's request and said coolly, "Just a moment. Since you yourself admit that the painting does not resemble you, you have no jurisdiction over its fate."

In desperation Kelen offered to buy the painting, only to find the price now ten times that of the original figure. With his reputation at stake, Kelen immediately wrote out a check for 5000 pengos. Not only did the artist sell the rejected portrait to the man who had originally commissioned it, and get far more than the original price, but he achieved his revenge simply by exhibiting it with the title: Portrait of a Thief.

The Hollow Fruit

The tree looked strong and sturdy. The blossoms that spring were bright, beautiful and smelled wonderful. As the season progressed and the fruit began to grow, things changed. The fruit was small, shriveled and discolored. There were huge blemishes on it and the skin was wrinkled. It seemed that even the worms refused to eat the fruit. Finally the gardener was forced to chop the tree down and use it for firewood. When the tree finally fell, it was discovered that its heart was empty and rotten. Some type of disease had been eating the heart out of the tree. It was the fruit that exposed the hollowness of the tree.

Jesus said: “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” NIV Matthew 7:17-20

What kind of fruit is my heart producing? Is the fruit of my life sweet to all or only to myself. Does the fruit nourish the lives of those who sample it or does it make them sick to their stomach? Our hearts are trees producing fruit. If our fruit is only sweet to ourselves and makes us selfish, harsh, impatient and severe to our neighbors, while we think we are little saints…then we are bearing false, pernicious and rotten fruit. (adapted from Francis DeSales; An Introduction to the Devout Life) If you want to know what a person believes, where their heart is and what they are deep inside, do not listen to what they say, watch what they do. Observing the fruit of their lives reveals the contents of their hearts.

Jesus again reminds us in John 15:1-4 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." NIV

Where do I abide? What am I producing? Where is God pruning me?

“O Lord, help me to remain in You. Let me bear heavenly fruit that nourishes life in your Kingdom!”

Praying Through the Heart

After the many years of prayer and seeking God, I discovered that there are many things that clutter our hearts. I am beginning to recognize that following Jesus means dealing with this clutter.

Prayer is seeing God in our heart. It is a careful attentiveness to the One who dwells in the center of our being and allowing Him to take total possession of us. We allow God to enter every heartbeat and every breath. God enters our thoughts, emotions, seeing and hearing. (adapted, Henri Nouwen; The Only Necessary Thing)

When we look for God in our hearts we discover the clutter that stands between Him and us. What we realize is that when we are fearful we are looking at the clutter and not at God. We lose touch with Him and lose touch with our hearts. There are fears that lie hidden and waiting in the depths of our hearts: fears of failing and letting God down or letting people down. There are fears of people, fears of the dark and fears of me {that if people knew me, they will not like me}. So we think we need to be outgoing, happy, always up, giving an apt answer and strong. The anxiety from all of this spreads over our lives like Noah’s flood.

When we decide to truly seek God in prayer, He pulls back the coverings of our hearts. We will not believe all that still hides there that is not of Him. The black spots dot the landscape as far as our eyes can see. These are the places, incidents, and emotions that I am afraid to trust God with. They are dark spots within my heart that God cannot fill without my permission.

Prayer is returning to our hearts and allowing God to take control of these fears. In prayer we find that God looks longingly into our eyes and holds out his hand for us to take. Grasping it, we know, means we will journey together through the dark blotches in our hearts. This journey through our hearts will be scary but also healing.

Will you in faith in Him, stretch out your hand, take His and allow this journey to begin? There is God’s divine life on the other side.

LIving out of the Heart of God

The Scripture says: "He (The Lord) tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11 NIV

God carriers us close to His heart. Have you ever heard the heartbeat of God? If I listen closely for the heartbeat of God I am seeking to understand Him, His ways and His burdens better so that I might live out of his heart.

God made his pierced heart a home for ever sinner. He longs for reconciliation and forgiveness. He seeks the lost and lonely sheep that have wandered away. His heart laughs with the child in us all. His heart weeps in our suffering. Every beat we hear pounds in rhythm to his longing for each of us to draw nearer and experience his life.

God’s heart is a heart of joy and of justice. His heart aches to hold the prodigal close. He gathers us all close to his heart so its beat might soothe our lives and bring us peace.

Knowing the heart of God allows his love to melt the ice in mine and seek to be reconciled to all. We love the one who has hurt us. We are sacrificial. God’s heart brings death to our lives that we might be raised to His life.

If I understand the heart of God then I understand the wounds of God. The wound of Jesus are becoming mine. I realize that “wounds are necessary. The soul has to be wounded as well as the body…The unwounded life bears no resemblance to Jesus.” (Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child, page 158)

We are called to live our lives out of the heart of God. What wonders could happen in our world when we do so!