Monday, February 3, 2014

Lesson 1 The Condition of the Heart

     We read in John 14:15-17 (Amplified) that, "If you (really) Love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands."  Verse 16 goes on, "And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, strengthener and standby) that He may remain with you forever."  Verse 17 says, "The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart) because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him, for He lives with you (constantly) and will be with you."
     The world is only moved by what they can identify in the natural (five senses) realm.  We, the Church, are supposed to be led by the Holy Spirit of God.  We don't throw away the five senses, but we walk in a higher realm.  The Holy Spirit will use us in the natural to walk in the supernatural.  We still have hands to lay on the sick.  We still have eyes to see the needs of others.  We still have legs to carry us into all the world.  We can still feel who and what we touch.  All of these natural things are now incorporated into the supernatural man.
     We're supposed to be moved by faith in God's Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said in John 14:27 (Amplified), "Peace I leave with you; My (Own) peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you, Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid (stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; Do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled)."  Jesus is talking here, not to the world, but to His Own disciples.  He had to tell them not to allow their hearts to be troubled.
     Trouble is all around us (both saved and unsaved alike).  As we look around us and see what's happening in the world around us, it would be very easy to allow our hearts to be troubled.  As Christian people, we must have more faith in the Word than in the world.  I continually remind people that they must stay in the Word.  You cannot live on sermons or church services or church activities.  You must read and stay in the Word for yourself; not as a religious duty to God, but for the life it brings into your heart (or spirit).
     Jesus said in John 15:7 (Amplified) that, "If you live and Me (abide vitally united to Me) and My Words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you."  In John 16:8-10 (Amplified), Jesus said, speaking of the Holy Spirit that, "When He comes, He will convict and convince the world and bring demonstration to it about sin and about righteousness (uprightness of heart) and right standing with God about sin, because they do not believe in Me (trust in, rely on, and adhere to Me) about righteousness (uprightness of heart and right standing with God) because I go to My Father, and you will see Me no more."
     The Holy Spirit deals with the human heart (or spirit) in two ways.  He deals with the unsaved by conviction of the heart because they don't believe in Jesus, the sin bearer.  And, He deals with the saved in their spirit about right standing with God (or righteousness).  If we're saved, then the Holy Spirit will convince and convict us of righteousness because we're believed and have been declared righteous by God Himself.  He never deals with the believer as a sinner, but as a child of the Heavenly Father through Jesus.
     Jesus instructed His follower to "not let your heart be troubled, don't allow your heart to be agitated and disturbed or fearful and intimidated."  If He said not to let these things happen, then there must be a way to stop these things from happening.  Jesus told us how to prevent them from happening in John 13:7 (Amplified) which says, "We must continue in Him and let His Words continue to live in our hearts."
     Sometimes as Christians, we get so caught up in the world and in just life in general (not necessarily bad or sinful things), but just life itself.  We don't continue in the Word like we should.  We have a tendency to not let the Word bring life like it should.  We're tired after work, we need more time with our family, there are always things that need our attention, and we don't have time for the Word.
     Jesus spoke of this in the parable of the sower from Mark 4:14-19 (Amplified).  In Verse 14 "the sower sows the Word."  In Verse 15, "the ones along the path are those who have the Word sown (in their hearts), but after they hear, satan comes at once and by force takes away the message which has been sown in them."  In Verse 15, Jesus identifies the heart (or spirit) as the soil in which the Word is sown.  Then, in Verses 18-19, Jesus identifies those who were sown among thorns who hear the Word.  "The Word is sown in their spirits or heart, but the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamor and deceitfulness of riches, and the the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in  and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless."
     Jesus didn't say that all of these things are sinful and evil, He simply said the things of everyday life can suffocate the Word and it becomes fruitless.  The deceitfulness of riches can take away time in the Word.  This can be something as simple as working a lot of overtime or working two jobs to provide the extra things we want.  We always say we'll stop working the second job and get back into the Word once we pay off the car or we get ahead or have enough money.  We want such things as a cottage at the lake so we can't get away and relax.  Or, we want a second car to have more freedom to take the kids to school or soccer games.
     These aren't bad things, but they take up all of our time and our prayer time or time in the Word is eaten up and we don't have time left for God the way we should have.  This doesn't make you a bad person or a sinner.  It simply means your heart (or spirit) has become troubled and disturbed and agitated like Jesus said not to let happen.  He said not to allow your heart to become this way.
     Don't try fitting God into your schedule; build your schedule around Him.  Don't wait until the very end of your busy day to spend time in the Word.  If you're like me, then you'll fall asleep with your Bible open.  Maybe you can try reading the Word while drinking your morning cup of coffee.  You could try playing and listening to the Word of God on C.D.s instead of the radio during your morning commute.
     Set time aside and use it for God's Word.  Proverbs 3:1-2 (Amplified) instructs, "My son, forget not My Word or teaching, but let your heart keep My commandments."  Verse 2 says, "For length of days and years of life (worth living) and tranquility (inward and outward and continuing through old age until death) these shall add to you."  The Word of God sown into your heart, is the peace of God bearing fruit in your life.
     If you're to have a heart condition, then let it be this kind of condition.  Proverbs 3:8 (Amplified) says that, "It shall be health to your nerves and sinews, and marrow and moistening to your cones."             

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