Most of Gods children desire to walk in intimacy with the Lord but very few understand that the level of intimacy that you desire also demands the same level of commitment.
There are four levels of intimacy that is demonstrated in the lives of those who follow Jesus
1st Level
Luke 10:1
After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
Christ appointed at least seventy people to go forth and to announce to the entire nation of Israel that He was coming
2nd Level
Matt 10:1
And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Out of these seventy he would chose 12 who would have a deeper level of intimacy with him
3rd Level
Matt 17:1-2
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Peter, James and John would be taken by Jesus into places and situations that none of the others would be allowed to share.
4th Level
John 13:23
Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
But out of those three only John would enter into a place where he would be comfortable enough to rest his head upon the breast of Jesus as he listened to the Lord speak and teach concerning the kingdom of God.
Jesus had seventy acquaintances, twelve disciples, three close friends and one who loved him like a brother.
Jesus loved them all and they all loved Jesus but not every one was willing to make that commitment to enter into that personable and intimate relationship with him.
YOU ARE AS CLOSE TO GOD AS YOU WANT TO BE
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
WINNING THE BATTLE OVER YOUR EMOTIONS
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Allow me to ask you a question,
Why do people leave a church?
Why do people leave a marriage?
Why do people abandon babies?
Why do people have road rage and anger problems?
Why do people give up and call it quits?
There is only one answer and that is because of emotions.
One more question
Why would you or I ever consider counseling?
The only reason that we would ever consider counseling would be because we feel that things are out of control and what is out of control when things are out of control, our emotions.
So let’s deal with the reality of our emotions for a moment,
Every single one of us has emotions and the emotions that we have are directly tied to our five senses.
The good news is this,
When God created us he created us with emotions and emotions have a purpose in our lives and I am constantly amazed as I speak to people because the best and the worst that people speak about concerning there life is directly tied to there emotions.
Every individual has and is tied to emotional experiences that completely dominate there lives whether they be positive or whether they be negative and these emotional experiences have a direct effect as to the quality of life that each individual is living.
I believe that the key to successful living in the Lord Jesus Christ is winning the battle over those emotions.
Emotions are a fact of life that we can not live without but we as children of God need to learn how to direct and how to win the battle over these emotions,
In the world that we live in today every thing and I mean every thing is tied to and linked to our emotions, we have elevated our emotions to a place of importance above morality, above accountability, above responsibility, above integrity, above truthfulness and honesty.
Forty years ago when a woman became pregnant it did not matter what feelings she felt, she became a mother in spite of her feelings and the man married the woman in spite of his feelings,
All feelings were put aside to do the right thing
Abortion was not an issue and an orphanage was not an issue
Forty years ago when a young man reached the age of 13 he worked at a job to help the family make ends meet, it did not matter how much school work that he had, it did not matter how tired that he was or how far he had to walk home from school, his feelings were shelved to help in whatever manner he could.
Our emotions are involved with saving the whales and killing our children, our emotions are involved with doing what feels good and then they are involved with not paying the consequences for our actions that feel good
And we now are at the place in our society where our emotions dictate to us instead of us dictating to our emotions
Instead of people having there emotions under control for the most part peoples emotions are out of control
Let me give you truth that will make you free,
The temptation that you are dealing with is limited to what you think
You are not what you eat you are what you think
If you do not think about the temptation you will not be tempted by it because you will never be tempted beyond what you are thinking and emotions are controlled by what you think as well.
One of the major problems that I have with physiology and psychiatry is that they do not make you accountable and responsible for your thinking, they do not teach you how to control your emotions instead they give you drugs and anti depressants to get you through but your condition never changes and they just keep you holding on as your emotions go on a roller coaster ride.
I wonder how many of you have understanding that God has made you accountable and responsible for your emotions.
Deut 28:47-48
Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
Hear the word of God,
Because you do not have joy when you served me, because you do not have gladness, because you did not rejoice concerning all the blessings and abundance that I have given you, I am going to bring you into bondage to be punished for your negative thinking.
There it is
Negative thinking brings forth bondage
God brought forth judgment on his people because they had negative thinking and negative emotions.
Most churches do not want to hear this in fact most of Gods people do not want to hear this and yet this is the truth of Gods word that brings the captive to revelation and makes them free.
YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR EMOTIONS
Turn once again to our opening scripture
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Here we find the Lord speaking to His disciples concerning the things that are going to be taking place in a few short days and He is telling them that He is going to be given into the hands of those who desire to destroy him and He will be crucified, scourged, beaten and tortured.
And then He makes this incredible statement
Do not let your hearts be troubled
Why would He tell them not to let their hearts be troubled if it was not possible for them to come to that place of peace and rest?
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Jesus told His disciples, you are going to see and hear things in the next couple of days that are going to rip your heart out, things that are going to overwhelm you and frighten you but
Let not your heart be troubled.
Be in peace.
So let’s have understanding,
He is telling them not to be troubled in the midst of tremendous trouble because they can have perfect peace.
Isa 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
What is perfect peace?
It is the place where your emotions are at perfect rest because your mind is stayed on Him instead of on your troubles.
It is not a place where you are emotionless or hardened to the place where no emotion comes through
It is a place where your emotions are at perfect rest and in that perfect rest your emotions are producing fruit that are positive and productive.
Look at this scripture and understand the implications
Deut 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
You chose
The Lord has set before us this day life and death, blessing and cursing,
Heaven and earth have recorded it and then the word of God tells you to chose life that you and your seed may live.
What are emotions?
Emotions are the spice of life and the Lord has given us emotions for the purpose of those emotions having a positive effect on us and not a negative effect.
What is the purpose of negative emotions?
The purpose is to rob you of your peace.
The word of God is very clear in outlining to us that the reason that our emotions get out of control is because our emotions are not in control,
Paul and Silas in Macedonia is a very clear indication of what I am speaking about
Paul receives a vision from the Lord and in that vision Paul sees some one telling him to come to Macedonia because they need his help
Paul obeys
When they reach Macedonia, they are beaten with rods, placed in stocks and bonds and cast into the deepest part of the prison.
This is a place where emotions are going to bring forth life or they are going to bring forth death and Duet 30:19 proclaims that you chose the one that will be manifested,
Heaven and earth have recorded it
You choose
What will it be life or death?
The word of the Lord proclaims it
Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your emotions get out of control
So what did Paul and Silas do
They chose life, they sang praises, and they sang hymns and they exalted the Lord and the prison became a place of life in the midst of death.
What is it that is going to keep Paul and Silas from singing and praising the Lord in the worst of conditions?
Emotions
You see I believe that emotions are one of the major things in the body of Christ that keep us from going through and going over and I also believe that emotions are at the top of the list in the four area’s that Satan has access to you and I
What are those four areas?
#1 thoughts
#2 responses
#3 actions and
#4 emotions
Thoughts plant a seed but they do not immediately motivate us like emotions do,
Emotions spur our actions, emotions spur our responses and emotions even accelerate our thoughts and I do not believe that the church has effectively dealt with this issue in depth so that the child of God is able to walk in victory,
One of the reasons that the child of God is not able to walk in victory over their emotions is because they have not been brought to the place of accountability concerning their emotions and victory only comes by becoming responsible for your emotions.
The word of God is very clear
We are responsible
James 1:13-14
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Let no man say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God
For God can not be tempted with evil and God tempts no man
But every man, every woman, every single person who has ever been tempted was tempted because of there own lust and in that lust they are enticed.
The word lust means any overwhelming desire
Most people want to take that word lust and use in an immoral issue, they want to use in a sexual connotation but the true meaning of lust is an overwhelming desire.
I wonder how many of you have revelation that the spirit lusts as well
Gal 5:16-17
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
What this is speaking about is a strong emotional desire, the flesh has a strong emotional desire to fight against the spirit and the spirit has a strong emotional desire that fights against the flesh.
And some one might ask that if emotions are such trouble why do we have them,
The reason that you have emotions is because God has emotions
The scripture tells us that God is a jealous God
Exod 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Jealousy is an emotion.
The word of God tells us that God is love and certainly love is more than emotions but it certainly involves emotions
God has emotions and God created us in his image and likeness and that is why that we have emotions
James 1:13-14 again
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
What this scripture is saying is that temptations come through your emotions and the reason that most people do not feel responsible for there actions is because they do not feel responsible for there emotions.
Most people feel that their emotions are the cause of a chemical reaction or imbalance and because it is a chemical reaction they need a chemical to control the chemical reaction, so they take medication, they go to therapy, they go to a psychiatrist or a Christian counselor, they go every where but where they need to go and that is to themselves to bring there emotions under control through the word of God
Hear the scripture,
You are drawn away because of your own lust or desires
Now look at,
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Have understanding because this is what the scripture is revealing to you,
Sin is conceived in your emotions.
What a radical truth and here is truth concerning that which is radical?
If you can stop the conception of sin, then you can stop the action of sin and if you can stop the action of sin then you can limit the devil being able to use you and you will begin winning the battle over your emotions and walking in victory.
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Allow me to ask you a question,
Why do people leave a church?
Why do people leave a marriage?
Why do people abandon babies?
Why do people have road rage and anger problems?
Why do people give up and call it quits?
There is only one answer and that is because of emotions.
One more question
Why would you or I ever consider counseling?
The only reason that we would ever consider counseling would be because we feel that things are out of control and what is out of control when things are out of control, our emotions.
So let’s deal with the reality of our emotions for a moment,
Every single one of us has emotions and the emotions that we have are directly tied to our five senses.
The good news is this,
When God created us he created us with emotions and emotions have a purpose in our lives and I am constantly amazed as I speak to people because the best and the worst that people speak about concerning there life is directly tied to there emotions.
Every individual has and is tied to emotional experiences that completely dominate there lives whether they be positive or whether they be negative and these emotional experiences have a direct effect as to the quality of life that each individual is living.
I believe that the key to successful living in the Lord Jesus Christ is winning the battle over those emotions.
Emotions are a fact of life that we can not live without but we as children of God need to learn how to direct and how to win the battle over these emotions,
In the world that we live in today every thing and I mean every thing is tied to and linked to our emotions, we have elevated our emotions to a place of importance above morality, above accountability, above responsibility, above integrity, above truthfulness and honesty.
Forty years ago when a woman became pregnant it did not matter what feelings she felt, she became a mother in spite of her feelings and the man married the woman in spite of his feelings,
All feelings were put aside to do the right thing
Abortion was not an issue and an orphanage was not an issue
Forty years ago when a young man reached the age of 13 he worked at a job to help the family make ends meet, it did not matter how much school work that he had, it did not matter how tired that he was or how far he had to walk home from school, his feelings were shelved to help in whatever manner he could.
Our emotions are involved with saving the whales and killing our children, our emotions are involved with doing what feels good and then they are involved with not paying the consequences for our actions that feel good
And we now are at the place in our society where our emotions dictate to us instead of us dictating to our emotions
Instead of people having there emotions under control for the most part peoples emotions are out of control
Let me give you truth that will make you free,
The temptation that you are dealing with is limited to what you think
You are not what you eat you are what you think
If you do not think about the temptation you will not be tempted by it because you will never be tempted beyond what you are thinking and emotions are controlled by what you think as well.
One of the major problems that I have with physiology and psychiatry is that they do not make you accountable and responsible for your thinking, they do not teach you how to control your emotions instead they give you drugs and anti depressants to get you through but your condition never changes and they just keep you holding on as your emotions go on a roller coaster ride.
I wonder how many of you have understanding that God has made you accountable and responsible for your emotions.
Deut 28:47-48
Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;
Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.
Hear the word of God,
Because you do not have joy when you served me, because you do not have gladness, because you did not rejoice concerning all the blessings and abundance that I have given you, I am going to bring you into bondage to be punished for your negative thinking.
There it is
Negative thinking brings forth bondage
God brought forth judgment on his people because they had negative thinking and negative emotions.
Most churches do not want to hear this in fact most of Gods people do not want to hear this and yet this is the truth of Gods word that brings the captive to revelation and makes them free.
YOU ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR EMOTIONS
Turn once again to our opening scripture
John 14:1
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Here we find the Lord speaking to His disciples concerning the things that are going to be taking place in a few short days and He is telling them that He is going to be given into the hands of those who desire to destroy him and He will be crucified, scourged, beaten and tortured.
And then He makes this incredible statement
Do not let your hearts be troubled
Why would He tell them not to let their hearts be troubled if it was not possible for them to come to that place of peace and rest?
John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Jesus told His disciples, you are going to see and hear things in the next couple of days that are going to rip your heart out, things that are going to overwhelm you and frighten you but
Let not your heart be troubled.
Be in peace.
So let’s have understanding,
He is telling them not to be troubled in the midst of tremendous trouble because they can have perfect peace.
Isa 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
What is perfect peace?
It is the place where your emotions are at perfect rest because your mind is stayed on Him instead of on your troubles.
It is not a place where you are emotionless or hardened to the place where no emotion comes through
It is a place where your emotions are at perfect rest and in that perfect rest your emotions are producing fruit that are positive and productive.
Look at this scripture and understand the implications
Deut 30:19
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
You chose
The Lord has set before us this day life and death, blessing and cursing,
Heaven and earth have recorded it and then the word of God tells you to chose life that you and your seed may live.
What are emotions?
Emotions are the spice of life and the Lord has given us emotions for the purpose of those emotions having a positive effect on us and not a negative effect.
What is the purpose of negative emotions?
The purpose is to rob you of your peace.
The word of God is very clear in outlining to us that the reason that our emotions get out of control is because our emotions are not in control,
Paul and Silas in Macedonia is a very clear indication of what I am speaking about
Paul receives a vision from the Lord and in that vision Paul sees some one telling him to come to Macedonia because they need his help
Paul obeys
When they reach Macedonia, they are beaten with rods, placed in stocks and bonds and cast into the deepest part of the prison.
This is a place where emotions are going to bring forth life or they are going to bring forth death and Duet 30:19 proclaims that you chose the one that will be manifested,
Heaven and earth have recorded it
You choose
What will it be life or death?
The word of the Lord proclaims it
Let not your heart be troubled
Let not your emotions get out of control
So what did Paul and Silas do
They chose life, they sang praises, and they sang hymns and they exalted the Lord and the prison became a place of life in the midst of death.
What is it that is going to keep Paul and Silas from singing and praising the Lord in the worst of conditions?
Emotions
You see I believe that emotions are one of the major things in the body of Christ that keep us from going through and going over and I also believe that emotions are at the top of the list in the four area’s that Satan has access to you and I
What are those four areas?
#1 thoughts
#2 responses
#3 actions and
#4 emotions
Thoughts plant a seed but they do not immediately motivate us like emotions do,
Emotions spur our actions, emotions spur our responses and emotions even accelerate our thoughts and I do not believe that the church has effectively dealt with this issue in depth so that the child of God is able to walk in victory,
One of the reasons that the child of God is not able to walk in victory over their emotions is because they have not been brought to the place of accountability concerning their emotions and victory only comes by becoming responsible for your emotions.
The word of God is very clear
We are responsible
James 1:13-14
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Let no man say when he is tempted that he is tempted of God
For God can not be tempted with evil and God tempts no man
But every man, every woman, every single person who has ever been tempted was tempted because of there own lust and in that lust they are enticed.
The word lust means any overwhelming desire
Most people want to take that word lust and use in an immoral issue, they want to use in a sexual connotation but the true meaning of lust is an overwhelming desire.
I wonder how many of you have revelation that the spirit lusts as well
Gal 5:16-17
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
What this is speaking about is a strong emotional desire, the flesh has a strong emotional desire to fight against the spirit and the spirit has a strong emotional desire that fights against the flesh.
And some one might ask that if emotions are such trouble why do we have them,
The reason that you have emotions is because God has emotions
The scripture tells us that God is a jealous God
Exod 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Jealousy is an emotion.
The word of God tells us that God is love and certainly love is more than emotions but it certainly involves emotions
God has emotions and God created us in his image and likeness and that is why that we have emotions
James 1:13-14 again
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
What this scripture is saying is that temptations come through your emotions and the reason that most people do not feel responsible for there actions is because they do not feel responsible for there emotions.
Most people feel that their emotions are the cause of a chemical reaction or imbalance and because it is a chemical reaction they need a chemical to control the chemical reaction, so they take medication, they go to therapy, they go to a psychiatrist or a Christian counselor, they go every where but where they need to go and that is to themselves to bring there emotions under control through the word of God
Hear the scripture,
You are drawn away because of your own lust or desires
Now look at,
James 1:15
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Have understanding because this is what the scripture is revealing to you,
Sin is conceived in your emotions.
What a radical truth and here is truth concerning that which is radical?
If you can stop the conception of sin, then you can stop the action of sin and if you can stop the action of sin then you can limit the devil being able to use you and you will begin winning the battle over your emotions and walking in victory.
YOU CAN’T BE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT IN YOUR HEART
People are constantly desiring and wanting change. It’s the universal cry of virtually every one of us. You may hear your friends or acquaintances say they want to change this or that behavior, maybe a bad attitude that they’ve developed, or some characteristic action they find undesirable. But the change everyone seems to want so desperately never takes place, or at least long term. Why not? The reason that it does not work for most is because change is really all about the heart. A person’s heart needs changing before real, or permanent change can take place in the physical. Try all you want, but you’ll come up empty handed every time, or at least until your heart has been changed.
Write this down. . .
Actions always follow the things, or conditions, of the heart of men. Man thinks he’s in control of himself and his actions (that is his flesh nature), doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. The truth tells quite a different story. Be patient and watch. In a very short time you’ll discover exactly what this person may not want the world to know – the real them. His or her heart always gives them away, good or bad, revealing exactly who and what they are.
We use many ways to hide what’s inside, in as much as the limits of the human will power will allow, but these changes are never long term, or permanent. The conditions of the hearts of men cannot be easily changed simply by their thoughts and desires.
Man, in his greatest effort cannot do the changing for himself! The conditions of the heart are therefore a spiritual issue and not fleshly as men would suppose or even like. The nature of mankind is to think more highly of themselves than they ought, believing that they’re in complete control.
What you say that you want and what you actually do reveals whether or not your heart is changed. No one can act differently from what‘s inside of their heart. It simply is not possible.
This is one of the major reasons for mental health problems in our world today. Medication, therapy sessions, psychological counseling cannot resolve the problems that are within your heart.
Medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and variety of other counselors and therapists, with all their wisdom and knowledge of modern human thinking and medical technology, have tried for decades and even centuries to solve mankind’s problems. But peace and comfort never come to those who only want to deal with their actions rather than dealing with the condition of their hearts. And man is perplexed. No wonder!
The heart of the spirit man is never changed by human means, or understanding. In fact, scripture tells us that spiritual matters are foolishness to the unbeliever. When was the last time any of these ‘professional’s ever directed a person to seek the Lord for the conditions of their heart? Even the ‘Christian psychologists’ attempt those things which are God’s alone to do. In fact they greatly hinder or thwart the work of God in the lives of countless individuals, thinking that their humanness is somehow equal to the works of Almighty God. They don’t get it either.
Listen to the Lord as he speaks to you in these verses. . .
Matt 12:33-35
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
So the question is simple. Why is Jesus Christ able to minister to all groups and classes of people? Jesus never deals with their human actions, behavior or attitudes. He
only deals with the matters of their heart.
The reason that Jesus could effectively deal with the prostitute, the tax collector, the thief, leper and religious leaders is because their hearts are all the same. Scripture tells us that our hearts are evil.
The only difference between them is that the prostitute and the thief knew that their hearts were evil. Christ confronted their condition with truth. The message of life (truth) convicting them of their condition. Humbling themselves, they admitted that they did indeed have an evil heart and needed deliverance from it. Truth always brings healing and deliverance to the humble; those willing to be transformed by it. Newness of life always results.
The Pharisees of old and even religious people of today will hardly ever humble themselves and admit the condition of their evil hearts. Self righteousness is very destructive to the lives of people who claim to love God, but whose hearts are far from him. They are not in oneness with God, nor can they be until their heart condition is allowed to be changed.
A thing to ponder. . .
The actions of the Pharisee or the religious person seem to us to be much better than those of the prostitute, the thief, or the adulterer. But Christ does not see as men see. In his eyes, they all have the same deplorable heart condition.
Man might argue that there is a vast distinction between the two. To them, a religious person looks good, so they must be good. Outward appearance to these people is the ultimate test of goodness or holiness. While man looks on the stature and actions of a person, God does not. This next scripture proves the point.
1 Sam 16:7
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
The people that can most easily be touched by God, to bring them to saving grace, is the person who is not trying to be something that is not in their heart. This person does not wear a mask or have a false display of righteousness. They understand that they are not ok, but need help from God to resolve the issues confronting them.
This is a person whom God does not have to go through layers of hypocrisy and lies to deal with a heart that will not humble itself.
Have you ever looked at the word hypocrisy? It means to wear a mask, have a pretense, or a falseness to something which isn’t true. A hypocrite is a person who’s trying to portray one thing through their actions, but their heart is quite different. The heart of a man is ultimately revealed.
The key to character, integrity and honesty is to get your actions and your heart to agree so that they are in one mind and one accord. This person can be touched by God
Check out this excellent scriptural illustration. . .
2 Chr 12:13-14
So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
How do you argue with this? Here’s a ruler who prepared not his heart and missed out on the best that God had for him.
Have you ever wondered why is it that the friends and relatives that we’ve witnessed being lead to the Lord; people who came to an altar of prayer, desiring and seeking a change in their lives from God, ultimately turn away and no longer follow after the Lord? It’s like King Rehoboam - Because he (they) prepared not his (their) heart to seek the lord.
What does it mean, ‘because he prepared not his heart?’
Anyone who has ever done bad or evil things never intended to do what they did. It just seems to have happened!
Examples you can easily identify with. . .
1) People who get married never intend to get a divorce on their wedding day.
2) People who take that first drink of alcohol or smoke that first joint never intended to become hooked on drugs.
3) People who bought their first pack of cigarettes never intended to become addicted to smoking.
4) Teenagers who submitted to that first kiss never ever intended to have a baby out of wedlock.
5) The individual who submitted to anger never intended to be hurtful and cruel.
The list goes on and on and on.
No one ever intends to do evil. The reason that we do is because we’ve not prepared our heart to seek the Lord.
A warning to all believers. . .
When you don’t make preparations to seek the Lord, it’s because our minds are not on the spiritual condition of our hearts, but on the things which please the flesh or carnal man. In time, if we’re not diligent, we too will reject Christ in favor of the lust of the flesh.
Before I close, let me to ask you one more question. And it’s a big one. Did Rehaboam ever follow after the Lord?
Read this!
2 Chr 11:16-17
And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.
So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
For three years Rehoboam walked in the way of David and Solomon, seeking the face of the Lord.
So who was this ruler - REHOBOAM?
He was the grandson of King David; the son of Solomon.
You see, at one time Rehoboam had a sensitive heart towards God and followed diligently after him. But it all changed.
I wonder how many have this same testimony.
1) At one time I was on fire for the Lord, desiring and loving him above all else.
2) At one time I sought the face of the Lord constantly.
3) At one time my family worshipped and praised God together.
4) At one time my life was in complete harmony with the God of my salvation.
At one time. . .
At one time. . .
How tragic to not prepare our hearts to seek the Lord and then miss out on all the benefits he desires to bestow on his children.
What most people don’t understand, especially children of God, is that it is a natural human tendency for your heart to grow distant and hardened towards the Lord. It’s a natural thing because of the curse of sin and the influences of a sinful society. It’s more unnatural to seek the Lord than it is to live sinful lives. Just look around you!
It takes effort to remain sensitive to the Lord, and to be sensitive towards other people. It takes effort to keep your heart from becoming hardened. But it can be done!
Rehobaom had a sensitive heart towards God, but because he did not take the effort to prepare his heart he did evil and forsook the Lord.
Closing thought. . .
When you prepare your heart, you’ll never have to be concerned about your actions.
Like the title says, “YOU CAN’T BE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT IN YOUR HEART”
Write this down. . .
Actions always follow the things, or conditions, of the heart of men. Man thinks he’s in control of himself and his actions (that is his flesh nature), doing whatever he wants, whenever he wants. The truth tells quite a different story. Be patient and watch. In a very short time you’ll discover exactly what this person may not want the world to know – the real them. His or her heart always gives them away, good or bad, revealing exactly who and what they are.
We use many ways to hide what’s inside, in as much as the limits of the human will power will allow, but these changes are never long term, or permanent. The conditions of the hearts of men cannot be easily changed simply by their thoughts and desires.
Man, in his greatest effort cannot do the changing for himself! The conditions of the heart are therefore a spiritual issue and not fleshly as men would suppose or even like. The nature of mankind is to think more highly of themselves than they ought, believing that they’re in complete control.
What you say that you want and what you actually do reveals whether or not your heart is changed. No one can act differently from what‘s inside of their heart. It simply is not possible.
This is one of the major reasons for mental health problems in our world today. Medication, therapy sessions, psychological counseling cannot resolve the problems that are within your heart.
Medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and variety of other counselors and therapists, with all their wisdom and knowledge of modern human thinking and medical technology, have tried for decades and even centuries to solve mankind’s problems. But peace and comfort never come to those who only want to deal with their actions rather than dealing with the condition of their hearts. And man is perplexed. No wonder!
The heart of the spirit man is never changed by human means, or understanding. In fact, scripture tells us that spiritual matters are foolishness to the unbeliever. When was the last time any of these ‘professional’s ever directed a person to seek the Lord for the conditions of their heart? Even the ‘Christian psychologists’ attempt those things which are God’s alone to do. In fact they greatly hinder or thwart the work of God in the lives of countless individuals, thinking that their humanness is somehow equal to the works of Almighty God. They don’t get it either.
Listen to the Lord as he speaks to you in these verses. . .
Matt 12:33-35
Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
So the question is simple. Why is Jesus Christ able to minister to all groups and classes of people? Jesus never deals with their human actions, behavior or attitudes. He
only deals with the matters of their heart.
The reason that Jesus could effectively deal with the prostitute, the tax collector, the thief, leper and religious leaders is because their hearts are all the same. Scripture tells us that our hearts are evil.
The only difference between them is that the prostitute and the thief knew that their hearts were evil. Christ confronted their condition with truth. The message of life (truth) convicting them of their condition. Humbling themselves, they admitted that they did indeed have an evil heart and needed deliverance from it. Truth always brings healing and deliverance to the humble; those willing to be transformed by it. Newness of life always results.
The Pharisees of old and even religious people of today will hardly ever humble themselves and admit the condition of their evil hearts. Self righteousness is very destructive to the lives of people who claim to love God, but whose hearts are far from him. They are not in oneness with God, nor can they be until their heart condition is allowed to be changed.
A thing to ponder. . .
The actions of the Pharisee or the religious person seem to us to be much better than those of the prostitute, the thief, or the adulterer. But Christ does not see as men see. In his eyes, they all have the same deplorable heart condition.
Man might argue that there is a vast distinction between the two. To them, a religious person looks good, so they must be good. Outward appearance to these people is the ultimate test of goodness or holiness. While man looks on the stature and actions of a person, God does not. This next scripture proves the point.
1 Sam 16:7
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
The people that can most easily be touched by God, to bring them to saving grace, is the person who is not trying to be something that is not in their heart. This person does not wear a mask or have a false display of righteousness. They understand that they are not ok, but need help from God to resolve the issues confronting them.
This is a person whom God does not have to go through layers of hypocrisy and lies to deal with a heart that will not humble itself.
Have you ever looked at the word hypocrisy? It means to wear a mask, have a pretense, or a falseness to something which isn’t true. A hypocrite is a person who’s trying to portray one thing through their actions, but their heart is quite different. The heart of a man is ultimately revealed.
The key to character, integrity and honesty is to get your actions and your heart to agree so that they are in one mind and one accord. This person can be touched by God
Check out this excellent scriptural illustration. . .
2 Chr 12:13-14
So king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem, and reigned: for Rehoboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.
How do you argue with this? Here’s a ruler who prepared not his heart and missed out on the best that God had for him.
Have you ever wondered why is it that the friends and relatives that we’ve witnessed being lead to the Lord; people who came to an altar of prayer, desiring and seeking a change in their lives from God, ultimately turn away and no longer follow after the Lord? It’s like King Rehoboam - Because he (they) prepared not his (their) heart to seek the lord.
What does it mean, ‘because he prepared not his heart?’
Anyone who has ever done bad or evil things never intended to do what they did. It just seems to have happened!
Examples you can easily identify with. . .
1) People who get married never intend to get a divorce on their wedding day.
2) People who take that first drink of alcohol or smoke that first joint never intended to become hooked on drugs.
3) People who bought their first pack of cigarettes never intended to become addicted to smoking.
4) Teenagers who submitted to that first kiss never ever intended to have a baby out of wedlock.
5) The individual who submitted to anger never intended to be hurtful and cruel.
The list goes on and on and on.
No one ever intends to do evil. The reason that we do is because we’ve not prepared our heart to seek the Lord.
A warning to all believers. . .
When you don’t make preparations to seek the Lord, it’s because our minds are not on the spiritual condition of our hearts, but on the things which please the flesh or carnal man. In time, if we’re not diligent, we too will reject Christ in favor of the lust of the flesh.
Before I close, let me to ask you one more question. And it’s a big one. Did Rehaboam ever follow after the Lord?
Read this!
2 Chr 11:16-17
And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.
So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon.
For three years Rehoboam walked in the way of David and Solomon, seeking the face of the Lord.
So who was this ruler - REHOBOAM?
He was the grandson of King David; the son of Solomon.
You see, at one time Rehoboam had a sensitive heart towards God and followed diligently after him. But it all changed.
I wonder how many have this same testimony.
1) At one time I was on fire for the Lord, desiring and loving him above all else.
2) At one time I sought the face of the Lord constantly.
3) At one time my family worshipped and praised God together.
4) At one time my life was in complete harmony with the God of my salvation.
At one time. . .
At one time. . .
How tragic to not prepare our hearts to seek the Lord and then miss out on all the benefits he desires to bestow on his children.
What most people don’t understand, especially children of God, is that it is a natural human tendency for your heart to grow distant and hardened towards the Lord. It’s a natural thing because of the curse of sin and the influences of a sinful society. It’s more unnatural to seek the Lord than it is to live sinful lives. Just look around you!
It takes effort to remain sensitive to the Lord, and to be sensitive towards other people. It takes effort to keep your heart from becoming hardened. But it can be done!
Rehobaom had a sensitive heart towards God, but because he did not take the effort to prepare his heart he did evil and forsook the Lord.
Closing thought. . .
When you prepare your heart, you’ll never have to be concerned about your actions.
Like the title says, “YOU CAN’T BE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT IN YOUR HEART”
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