Where's your Heart at?
Bruce Chant
generation-j - Pulse
09/05/2003
I am moving on with God. Who
wants to come? Seriously.
Why do you come to gen-j?
What do you want to get out of it?
- Worship
God (because that is not happening),
- God
to move in my life,
- Instruction
in His word, which applied to your life will bring God glory and you joy
(Fruit says this is not being embraced)
Acts 13
36"David had served God's purpose in his own generation
22'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart;
he will do everything I want him to do.'
David served his generation. We are here to do the same. God says that David was a man after His own heart. He wanted, he desired God’s heart – because of this He would do anything God wanted Him to do. That is what I want to be able to say – God I will do anything and God say back “Well Done Good Faithful Servant.”
Change starts with the HEART
– seat of all understanding.
There are over 900 references to the heart in the bible. IF the bible makes mention of something over 900 times it must be important.
It is the navigation system to
your life – where it is pointed is where you will go.
Ie God, self, sex, money, career,
friends etc
“turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,”
“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look
for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
“He did evil because he had not set his
heart on seeking the LORD .” (reign
of Rehoboam was characterised by continual warfare).
“The LORD saw how great man's wickedness
on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil all the time.”
Why was the inclination of their
hearts important? Because out of it comes the issues of life – actions will
flow from heart your heart is directed.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it
is the wellspring of life.”
It is out of the overflow of what
is in our heart that leads to how we live our life. We like to blame other
factors – other people leading us to sin, others sinning against us, opportunities
to sin we find ourself in, we were set up, we were tired and depressed and we
couldn’t help it.
It is none of these things – it is
what is already within that simply springs out; from the heart – these things
come; good or bad.
Matthew 12:34b “For out of the
overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Proverbs 27:19 “As water
reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.”
Proverbs 21:2 “All a man's ways seem
right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.”
Everyone thinks he is right – but the fact is we are deceived.
Why are you being sexually immoral – I can’t help it; why
are you disrespecting your parents – their mean; why are you stealing from your
boss – he’s a jerk.
We think we’re right – but God weighs our heart. We need God to weigh our hearts.
Lust.
Matthew 5:28 But I tell you that
anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery
with her in his heart.
– Not porno, or what girls wear – it is a heart problem.
Money/Treasure
Matthew 6:21 For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
- Money is a great idol. Your heart is followed by your wallet. Show me your
bank statement and I’ll tell you your idol.
Environment.
Mark 7:21-23 For from
within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft,
murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance,
and folly. All these come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’
- It is not the environment that makes us unclean – that is just the
opportunity to sin. The sin is already in us. Don’t blame.
Words.
Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
- the words you use indicate the condition of your heart.
Depression.
Luke 21:34 "Be careful, or
your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and
the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a
trap.
- Drunkeness is an indicator of
what is going on in your heart. Depression is a trap – but it is not because of
what you have or don’t have – it’s the heart that needs fixing.
Proverbs 20:9 Who
can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without
sin"?
Because of this the Problem is
the Heart. And the Solution is the Heart
too.
We are broken. Psychologist and Psychiatrists have their theories about how to fix humans. But the answer is the heart.
God’s command is for a heart
set on Him.
This is His command. We can not be blessed if our hearts are not
turned towards God. It starts with the heart.
Love the LORD your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and
lean not on your own understanding;
Joel 2:12 "Even now," declares the LORD
, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning."
1 Chronicles 28:8-9 Be careful
to follow all the commands of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good
land and pass it on as an inheritance to your descendants forever. "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge
the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a
willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive
behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you
forsake him, he will reject you forever.
God is not looking for robotic followers of rules – He is looking for followers of him – his children to have WHOLE HEARTED DEVOTION.
It is not enough to do the right
things – legalism. You need to do the right things for the right reasons.
Don’t say well to stop sinning I
need to stop this and cut this out and build a new years resolution 10 km long.
It never works! Why? It’s rules and rules will never hit the problem which is
the heart.
Rules will never get you closer to
God. Rules will never produce the fruit of the spirit. Rules will never lead
anyone to eternal life. Because the problem is our heart.
God’s promise is that if you do set your heart
on God you will be blessed
Blessed are they who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart.
Deuteronomy 5:29 Oh,
that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always,
so that it might go well with them and their children forever!
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout
the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
There is a consequence for where your heart is at and whether you obey the word of God. Just as a broken, malfunctioning heart deceives us and leads us from God, a repentant heart and heart that is turned towards God will be blessed by God.
Assessment of our heart
condition is our responsibility.
- The
desire to change is our responsibility.
- But
God will change it if we so desire.
God will speak to our hearts – he
is right now. God’s heart for us is to give us His heart. To change. To renew.
To transform our hearts and lives.
Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart
of flesh.
And we will be changed and
blessed.
And God will be honoured and
glorified.
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