Lesson 13 The Condition of the Heart

     1John 4:18 (Amplified) says that, "There is no fear in love (dread does not exist), but full grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! for fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and (so) he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love (is not yet grown into love's complete perfection)."
     2Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) says, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing fawning fear) but (He has given us a Spirit) of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control."
     A fearful heart is a heart that will bring paralysis to the Christian person.  This fear comes in many ways to stop the believer from ever reaching out to the fullness of the things of God.  The Father has so many things laid up for His family to enjoy, but fear in our hearts holds us back from entering into them.  We've been in fear of God (I don't mean the reverent and worshipful fear), but the cringing and cowardly kind of fear 2Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) speaks of.  We were afraid to trust Him, we have been afraid we'd offend Him and we're afraid of displeasing Him.  All these fears stem from not knowing Him.
     God has seemed like an absent father to many Christians.  We knew He was our Father, but we never really knew Him.  And, because we never knew Him, we had no father to pattern our lives from and to build from.  Children are supposed to have a father to look up to and want to emulate.  As Christians, we've mostly kept our relationship with Him in the realm of being our God (which He is) more than as being our Father.  We pray, "Our Father," but we still approach Him in an uncertain way.  1John 4:18 (Amplified) says that, "The thought of fear has torment and a thought of punishment."  The thought of punishment brings a fear and uncertainty (fear) into the heart.  In a few short words, it shows we don't know God as Father and we don't really trust His Word when He said that "old things have passed away" and we are declared righteous in Jesus.
     Fear in our hearts holds us back from really becoming what our Father desires for us.  The fear of having nothing happen keeps us from laying hands on the sick.  That means we're afraid God won't hold up His end of the covenant.  Even the fear of not being good enough enters our hearts.  If you are in Christ Jesus and He is in you, then you were made righteous through Him.  Fear keeps us looking at ourselves instead of Him.  It's not you who has to do the healing.  Jesus said that, "It's not Me, but the Father in Me Who does the works."
     Fear causes us to look as though we have to do the works and we know our own failures.  Fellowship with the Father is the greatest part of our new birth.  Through Jesus, we now have access to God in prayer and our Father in intimate fellowship.  Fellowship isn't prayer or petition or intercession; it's simply fellowship.  Fellowship is an opportunity to be with Him and learn as we walk and talk together.  It's seeking out things from the scriptures and receiving wisdom from on high.  It's being in His presence, not needing or asking for anything.  Fear keeps us from the intimacy the Father wanted when He created man.  When was the last time you just came to Him and said, "Lord, I don't need anything nor want anything. I just came today to ask if there's anything I can do for you."
     Psalm 25:14 (Amplified) says that, "The secret (of the sweet, satisfying companionship) of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its (deep, inner-meaning)."  We read in Numbers 13:27-33 (Amplified) where God gave the Hebrew people a land flowing with milk and honey; a promised Land.  As scouts went to look over the land, they came back with this report from Verse 27, "They told Moses, we came to the land to which you sent us; surely it flows with milk and honey, this is its fruit. (this was a reference to Verse 23). They came to the valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two (of them) they brought also some pomegranates and figs."
     God had given them the land and the scouts brought back the fruit and the very truth of His promise for everyone to see.  But, then in Verse 28, comes the fear, "But, the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak (of great stature and courage)."  Verse 33 goes on, "There we saw the Nephilim (or giants), the sons os Anak, who come from he giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
     The spirit of fear entered their hearts and kept them from entering the blessing of God's promise for another forty years.  This is the fear that brings torment and keeps us in bondage to the things we are already free from.  The Holy Spirit speaks of this account in Hebrews 4:1-16 (Amplified) concerning the promise of rest and provision being now offered to the new covenant people.  Verse 6 says, "Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered (today) let us be afraid (to distrust it) lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of (reaching) it."  Verse 6 says, "Seeing then that the promise remains over (from past times) for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience."
     God goes on to say in Verse 9,"So then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath rest reserved for the (true) people of God."  This same spirit of fear in the hearts of God's covenant people from Numbers 13, is the same spirit of fear that holds back the new covenant people and keeps them from walking in rest (grace) today.  Fear in the believer's heart has a crippling effect on the believer.  Just like fear kept the people from seeing God's provision instead of seeing the giants.  It was fear that caused Peter to see the waves and begin to sink instead of keeping his heart strong and seeing Jesus.
     2Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) tells us that this spirit of fear never came from God and that the Spirit that comes from Him is One of power and love and a calm, well-balanced mind and discipline and self control.
     Now, when we see the promises of God and when we see the giants the world and the enemy place around us, we're faced with the same things they were.  God said that His promise of rest and Good News is being offered to us.  Will a fear-full heart keep us outside the blessings being offered or will we stand on God's Word in Hebrews 4;16 (Amplified) which says, "Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners) that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need (appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it)."
     When we were sinners, we came into covenant through faith in Jesus just like the Israelites came out of Egypt.  It's not that we haven't come out of our sin into His sacrifice.  But, now we have come out of our sin through faith in the Blood of our Passover Lamb, Jesus.  It's not a matter of coming out, but of coming in.
     They came out of Egypt, but fear kept them from entering into the Promised Land.  Many have come out of the world and have been born again and part of the new covenant.  Now, we have God's promise of rest and provision (GRACE) to help in our time of need.  The land of milk and honey is offered to us today.  All we can ever need is found in Psalm 23;1 (Amplified) which says, "The Lord is my Shepherd (to feed, guide, and shield me) I shall not lack."
     God asked Joshua in Joshua 1:9 (Amplified), "Have not I commanded you? Be strong, vigorous and very courageous; Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."   Do not be deceived! There are still giants trying to frighten you and keeping you from walking in the fullness of God's promise.  Like Joshua, we were commanded to "Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might."  Our faith in God must be stronger than our fear of the giants.  A heart full of fear of going too far, of things not working, the powers of darkness of perhaps the greatest fear of all...the opinions of people saying you can't do these things.  It took only ten men in Numbers 14:1-4 (Amplified) to keep all of the Hebrew people in the wilderness for forty additional years.  Fear spread among the hearts of the people in Verse 1, "And all the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and (they) wept that night."  Verse 2 goes on, "All the Israelites grumbled and deplored their situation, accusing Moses and Aaron, to whom the whole congregation said, Would that we died in Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness."  Verse 3-4 says, "Why does the Lord bring us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and little ones will be a prey. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? And they said one to another, Let us choose a captain and return to Egypt."
     They saw the fruit, they heard the promise, they saw the return of the scouts who didn't perish, but they heard about the giants.  They didn't see the giants, they only heard about the giants and just hearing about the giants kept them from entering the Promised Land.  Romans 10:17 (Amplified) tells us that, "Faith comes by hearing."  In this scripture, faith in God comes by hearing the Word of God.  The same is true of the enemy.  Fear comes by hearing and hearing comes from the lies of the enemy.  This is a spiritual Law and principle that works either way.
     How many of us have been frightened out receiving tongues, healing, prosperity, gifts of the Spirit, peace, love, acceptance by the Father, freedom from condemnation, joy, grace and the power of God in our lives because of a message of fear?  Some have even said that all the things aforementioned are of the devil and that kept people from entering into God's promises.  Some are still walking in fear of punishment for their past sins and old life.  Some people started the journey (like those who left Egypt with Moses),saw God's power and still longed to return (like the Israelites) because they were afraid to go into the promise.
     Did you ever notice how even though God had given them the land, they still had to possess it?  It's like all of the things satan had before Jesus stripped him of his armour. He isn't going to give them up if you don't go in and possess the land.  He will do as he always has in the past and cause fear to turn you back.  He'll lie and tell you that you should just stay in the wilderness, build yourself a little place to stay out of the line of fire and wait for Joshua and Caleb to take the land for you and give you your share without battling.
     I don't just want to go to heaven when I died.  I want to walk with God here in this life.  I want to enter into the promise and the rest (grace) and everything Jesus provided me through faith in Him.  I won't need tongues, healing, deliverance, peace, prosperity, joy or even my Bible in heaven.  I'll be in the presence of the Author Himself.  These are the things I need to,by faith, not fear and possess while I'm here.  Fear in your heart will keep you in the wilderness if you don't dare step into the water.

Lesson 12 The Condition of the Heart

     Many things can happen to the heart of a man.  Some things are good and some, not so much.  The Word says that wickedness and evil are devised in the heart of man.  Reverence and respect for God also come from the heart of man.  Faith in the heart of man is a spiritual force or God-given ability to operate in the spiritual realm.  Since man is essentially a spirit being, this faith realm is used to contact and fellowship with the Father.  Fear is also a spiritual force or ability that operates in the heart of man to destroy or neutralize faith.
     The word "fear" in the Bible, doesn't always have the same meaning or the same outcome.  In Psalm 86:11 (Amplified) we read, "Teach me Your way O Lord, that I may walk and live in Your truth; direct and unite my heart (solely, reverently) to fear and honor Your name."
     The word "fear" here is used in the form of reverence and honor in the heart of a man.  The psalmist asks for a united heart; a heart, soul and will united as one, to praise and honor God.  This fear is built from love and respect and faith in and for God and not fear of terror or cowardly trembling.
     Isaiah spoke about those coming into the new covenant through Jesus' sacrifice in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified) saying, "You shall establish yourself in righteousness (rightness in conformity with God's will and order) You shall be far from even the thought of oppression, or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it shall not come near you."
     The Lord says in this scripture that we shall not fear, be afraid, be frightened, or be in dread.  He also said that the dismissal of fear from our hearts would remove even the thought of oppression or destruction by not allowing fear to enter into our heart by establishing in righteousness.
     Because we are spirit beings and all of us are open to fear or faith, we must make choices of which we will allow in our hearts.  Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified) said that we are to establish ourselves in righteousness.  By so doing, we can remove the fear and can unite our hearts in faith in God and His Word.  We learned that a divided heart is one of the fatal heart conditions in the Body of Christ today.  The reason for a divided heart is lack of a revelation of righteousness in Christ through faith.
     Fear, dread and terror that comes into a heart is a spiritual force of the enemy.  It always tries to remove faith in God and His Word so it can work its devilish work in the heart.  The prime personality of fear is satan himself.  He is fear and the most fearing creature in all of creation.  His entire character is fear.  He tries to get us to move in fear and mostly the fear that God's Word isn't going to work.  This fear in the Christan's heart, holds us down into a merely human existence instead of the mighty power of God in our spirit.  "Greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world."
     2Timothy1:7 (Amplified) says, "For God did not give us a spirit of fear (timidity, of cowardice of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but (He has given us a spirit) of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control."
     Since fear is a spirit and it's not God given, we are to resist it by the Spirit of Love, power and a sound mind.  The Spirit that God gave us is the Holy Spirit as well as a born again spirit in His likeness and image.
     This spirit, or this new heart He has place in us, is to be guarded by faith in His Word.  A fearful heart is something that has no place in the Christian life.  When people talk about being a "God fearing Christian," it doesn't mean someone who's afraid of God, but someone who reverances and honors God.  Luke 21:26 (Amplified) says, "Men swooning away or expiring in fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the (very) powers of the heavens will be shaken and caused to totter."  He isn't necessarily speaking about the heart as the blood pumping organ, although that heart can and will be seized up by fear as well as the spirit man.
     The apathy and futility that's already come upon the earth, is claiming lives by fear today.  People fear the loss of a job or the lack of funds needed to pay the mortgage and household bills.  Without the faith in your heart to trust God, these things will cause the stress and strain of everyday to make a person just give up.  This fear is probably the greatest fear allowed into a man's heart.  We have more fear of the world than we do in the Word today.  This brings a divided heart and fear that God's promises won't come to pass.  We confess to believe in God's Word, but only have faith in what we can see.  Fear has crowded out faith and we only walk in what we can see.
     The Lord said in  Isaiah 54:15 (Amplified), that terror, fear, oppression or destruction may gather against you, but not by Him.  He said that, "if we will establish ourselves in righteousness, whoever (or whatever) stirs up strife again us shall fall and surrender to us."  Proverbs 4:23 (Amplified) tells us, "Keep and guard your heart (your spirit) with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it (your spirit) flows the springs of life."
     God is our life and the length of our days.  The life that flows out of our spirit is the very life of God Himself.  The fear that we allow in our hearts by not guarding our hearts, will choke off the power of the Spirit.  Fear will negate faith and leave us in a place of total futility and apathy.  This leads to the oppression spoken about in Isaiah 54:14 (Amplified).  That's why God says we must be established in righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.  2Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified) says that if this is established in our heart, then fear has no place to enter in.  That's why we must guard our hearts.
     All the enemy has to do is to get our minds focused on the things around us instead of God's Word and fear can enter in.  Does this mean that you're not saved or to be lost?  No, of course not.  But, it will rob you of your peace, your strength and your faith.  2Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) says that, "[God] gave us a spirit (a new heart) of power, and of love (love for Him, the fear of the Lord) and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control."
     This self control if the ability to take the Word of God and make the mind and flesh obey what the Word says instead of what the world is trying to tell us.  And, it's the ability that doesn't allow the things going on around us to determine our lives.  The Lord told Joshua in Joshua 1:9 (Amplified), "Have I not commanded you? Be strong, vigorous and very courageous. Be not afraid, neither be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
     There were certainly more than enough things going on around Joshua to bring fear into his heart.  He was to lead all of God's people.  He'd seen their disobedience before.  He knew of the giants in the land.  He knew of the walled cities before him.  Only Caleb was in agreement with him about what God called them to do.  Notice how God didn't say that there was nothing out there to be afraid of.  There were many things that Joshua could have feared.  God told him to "be strong, vigorous and of good courage."  This was something that Joshua had to do for himself.
     God said that "He has given us a spirit of love, power and of a sound mind."  Now, it's up to us to be strong in Him and the power of His might.  The choice is ours.  God has give us provision for all that we need to stand.  We have to decide to not allow the things around us to numb our hearts with fear and make them inactive or to be strong and courageous in faith in the Blood, by faith in the Word and by faith in the Spirit of God.
     Fear will try entering your heart and choke off your faith if you will allow it.  Some find if easier not to teach the Word to God's people and let them think everything that occurs in their lives is God's plan for them.  Ephesians 2:10 (Amplified) tells me that God's plan for my life is different than what some would tell me.  It says, "For we are God's (Own) handiwork (His workmanship) recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time) that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live)."
     You must be strong and of good courage to do this and to walk by faith in your heart.  A fear filled heart, according to 1Timothy 1:7 (Amplified), is "A spirit of timidity, of cowardice of craven and cringing and fawning fear."  This spirit comes from the enemy to turn the Supermen of God back into Clark Kent and to keep us from walking boldly in faith and become cowards in the face of the world.
     We see those who once denied Jesus and fled from Him during His trial and execution, in the Upper Room in the entire chapter of Acts 2.  Fear had ruled in their hearts and even though they knew Who Jesus was, fear was stronger than faith in their hearts.  When God gave them the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love, power and a sound mind, these men (including Peter) who had been cowards, became like lions.  There was no timidity, cowardice or craven or cringing fear in them.  Acts 2:41 (Amplified) says that, "Because of faith instead of fear, Peter stood and delivered a message that brought 3,000 people unto the Lord, in one sermon."  He was no longer ruled by fear, but by faith.  A fearful heart caused Peter to even deny knowing Jesus.  But, faith cast out fear and delivered those who were lost.
     We are intimidated by the world, by those in our own congregations, by those in politics and even by those in our own household.  We let the fear of rejection stop us from preaching the power of God.  We've let fear of people leaving our church for another control how much of the actual Word we will preach.  Fear filled hearts have watered down the Word in our churches until there's very little left to say.  It's almost like saying to the people, "Just don't believe God for anything and that way you will never be disappointed."  Probably the worst of all fears to enter our hearts is the fear of not having the Word be true. 

Lesson 11 The Condition of the Heart

     Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One.  Verse 2 goes on, "Through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand; And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God."
     Notice how all the things the scripture talks about in verses 1&2, are appropriated by faith.  Verse 2 says , "Let us rejoice in (exalt in our) hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God."  Romans 1:17 (Amplified) says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith (disclosed through the way of faith that grouses to more faith) as it is written. The man who through faith is just and upright shall live by faith."
     So many of God's children live with the heart condition spoken of in 1John 3:21(Amplified) which says, "Beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us (if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us) we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God."  The condemning heart is perhaps the most lethal heart condition in the Body of Christ.  This condition holds the believer in a state of limbo nearly constantly.
     This condition develops when the Christian doesn't have his mind renewed by the Word of God.  This believer, even thought he is saved, never enjoys the liberty of Christ's deliverance because he continues walking more in his soulish realm than in the spirit realm.  He trust more in how he feels than in what the Word says.  He professes that Jesus died for his sin, but still allows the same condemnation that brought him to Jesus to keep him from fellowship with Jesus.
     Notice how in Romans 1:17 (Amplified) we're instructed to increase in our faith and allow our faith to bring the truth of His Sacrifice and victory in the resurrection into focus.  Because we haven't cared to walk on the other side of the cross, where Jesus' victory for us lives, we continue allowing the enemy to hold us in condemnation for our past and keep us out of the joy Jesus gave.
     The condemning heart is a serious heart problem because it always reminds us of our failures instead of Christ's victory.  This limits our allowing His grace to cleanse us like He wants too.  Even though we have His grace and His favor in our lives, we won't allow it to flow to the deepest cleansing power in our heart.  Therefore, our heart is still condemning us even though His Blood has cleansed us.  In the heart condition of the believer with a condemning heart, even when the Father wants to bless them, their heart condition won't allow it.  Their heart always tells them that they don't deserve to be blessed.
     This was true for all of us before we ever accepted Jesus.  We didn't deserve to be blessed or healed or even have the privilege of having our prayers answered.But now, because of Jesus, grace has overlooked and done away with our past and has put us in a place where we have legal rights to enjoy all of His blessings.
     Until the truth of the Word is made greater than the shame of our past, we (because of our hearts) have shut off the reason for our justification in Christ.  Our hearts will not allow us to walk above the old man.  This translates into the believer's mind as humility, but the real reason is a lack of faith in what God has said about us.  His Word must be greater than your emotions and past.  When we come to the cross, we are sinners without God, without hope and without covenant.  Each of us had to come to that acknowledgement before we could be saved.  By faith, we acknowledge that Jesus died for us and forgave our sins.
     This portion of our faith was brought on by the condition of our heart.  When we knew in our heart that we were sinners, our heart condemned us and brought us to the cross.  Now, we must allow the Word of God to bring about a new heart (a new spirit).  We must have a new one that will continue growing in faith and bringing about our right standing with God now, because of the cross.
     The old Christians hymn, "Just As I Am," has brought many people to salvation, but Jesus didn't leave you just as you were.  Our heart and mind must be renewed by God's Word in order to bring about a cure for the condemning heart.  The truth of God's Word must be greater than the past lies of the devil.  Our faith must dare believe the resurrection side of the cross.  We must allow the truth of His risen glory to outshine the darkness of the old man.
     These things already belong to you now...in this life...because of Him.  If you've already received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you're already righteous by faith, you're already justified by faith and you're already favored and have all the grace abounding towards you.  These were covenant promises and He is faithful to His covenant.  These aren't things God will do once you start being good.  These are His promises to us after you receive Jesus by faith and not because we are good, but because He is good.
     The condemning heart is one that still remembers the old man instead of knowing the new one.  All the promises of God are already yours whether or not we enjoy them and accept them or not.  It all depends on your heart.  Will faith in Him reign over shame in you?  Will God's Word override the things from the past?  Or, will we allow condemnation be lifted above truth?  If our faith believes that Jesus died for us, then why can't we allow our faith to believe He also rose from the dead for us?  If faith allows our heart to believe He bore our sins, then we should let that faith cause us to believe we are righteous because of that.

    

Lesson 10 The Condition of the Heart

     When we speak of the heart of man, It Is the wholeness of our being starting inwardly from our spirit.  The heart is the combination of your mind, your will, your emotions and your spirit.  Your brain simply directs your body in the direction you devise.  Your brain is the command center that takes its command from the mind, spirit and emotions.  If you think on anything long enough, then it will effect your emotions.  And, if your spirit isn't renewed by the Word, then it will follow the mind and emotions.  As it direct its impulses to the brain, the body will simply follow the command whether good or bad.
     There's been a classic case of being ruled by the soulish man rather than  the spirit of a born again man going on for quite awhile.  If a person is insulted or given a reason to be angry, then you've probably heard him say "The more I thought about it, the angrier I got."  His soulish man ruled rather  than the born again spirit.
     Psalms 86:11-12 (Amplified) says, "Teach me your way O Lord, that I may walk and live in Your truth; direct and unite my heart (solely, reverently) to fear and honor Your Name."  Verse 12 goes on, "I will confess and praise You, O Lord My God, with my whole (united) heart; and I will glorify Your Name forevermore." 
     A "whole and united" heart is one that overrules the mind and emotions and is obedient to the Word of God.  If our minds haven't been renewed by God's Word, then our spirit is still not united and undivided.  James speaks of this in James 1:8 (Amplified) when he tells of a man wavering or doubting when asking God for wisdom.  He said that, "If we lack wisdom, then ask God and He will give it."  "But," James said, "If we become double-minded in this wisdom, then we won't receive it."  James didn't say that God wouldn't give it.  He said that we wouldn't receive it.  Verse 8 says, "(For being as he is) a man of two minds (hesitating, dubious, irresolute) (he is) unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything (he thinks, feels, decides)."
     The man with a divided heart has a heart condition.  His spirit wants to hear from God, but his emotions and his mind are still working in an unrenewed manner.  So, when God gives wisdom, the first thing a divided heart or unrenewed mind will say is, "I wonder if that was really God or not."
     Psalm 112:7-8 (Amplified) is about a man following God's Word.  He's giving to the poor and is conducting his affairs with justice.  He's a man who is uncomprimisingly righteous.  Verse 8 says that, "His heart is established and steady, he will not be afraid while he waits to see his desires established on his adversaries."  We need to be where Verse 7 says, "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is firmly fixed, trusting (leaning on and being confident) in the Lord."
     That man isn't moved by the things going on around him.  His heart is "fixed, established and united" by the Word of God in his mind, will and emotions and his spirit is directed by the Word.  It would be very easy to have a divided mind today.  Wrong is called right and right is called wrong.  Sin is no longer sin.  People just have "issues."  Things that once would have made the hardest of men blush are now accepted as normal.  We've entered an age where our hearts must be established in God's Word.
     We've somehow decided that some of the things God said are old fashioned and out of date in this 21st century.  We find that even in our churches, this compromise of faith and righteousness not only being tolerated, but being encouraged.  This heart condition is partly due to the Church not knowing God's Word and having a divided heart.  As the Church, we're led more by our minds and emotions more than by the Word.
     This condition of the heart is a thing that only the individual can fix.  Each person must weigh his own heart and not be led by the mass or majority.  It doesn't make it right simply because others are doing it or thinking that way.  In the face of opposition, this man prayed for an "undivided heart" to walk in God's way.
     Even the laws of these last day's land reveal the heart of man to still be opposed to the things of God.  We've watch this great nation of America decline in the world's standing and in righteousness.  What was once a light on a hill shining for all the world to see, has become a debt ridden, laughing stock for the world to openly mock.  This is a heart condition on a national scale.  The heart of this nation (not all of her citizens), but the heart of the nation, has been turned from God.
     We watch our national leaders be moved by popular opinion more than by righteousness.  We pass laws and amendments that are a slap to the face of a Holy God.  As a nation, we have watched the family decline, our schools fail, and our economy being controlled by foreign nations that hate us.  The only way to change a nation is for each one of us to change our hearts.  Individuals make up a nation.  When Israel turned as a nation from God, the whole nation declined.
     The condition of a heart can affect a person, a family or a nation.  It seems to be a hereditary thing that passes from one generation to the next.  We somehow have passed the denominational church we belong to onto our children and not necessarily the Word and personal relationship with God.  If we asked people on the street whether or not they were Christian, then they'd probably tell us what denomination they belonged to. 
     Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (Amplified) says, "Therefore you shall lay up these words in your (minds and) hearts and in your (entire) being, bind them for a sign upon your hands and foreheads and between your eyes."  Verse 19 goes on, "You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you rise up."
     These words and deeds of God were to be before our eyes (reading and handling) helping us teach a personal relationship with God and the Word of Life to our children from generation to generation.  The Lord speaks concerning Abraham in Genesis 18:19 (Amplified) For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him (as My Own) so that he may teach and command his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him."
     Receiving the blessing (the fullness of the promise) depended on their being taught what the promise was.  Today, we only seem to know that the promise means we'll go to heaven.  We haven't been taught nor have we been able to teach what the fullness of that promise really is, for here as well as later.  Our hearts are still divided by truth and untruth and by what we've heard and what the Word says.  We've become double minded concerning the majesty of all He has done through Jesus.  Our heart condition restricts God in the full move of our new covenant.  We need our hearts to once again become established in the Word.

Lesson 9 The Condition of the Heart

     The Apostle Paul gave a discourse about the relationship between a husband and wife in Ephesians 5:21-33 (Amplified).  In this passage he describes the bond between them in the matters of the heart.  In Verse 32 he wraps up the discourse saying that, "This mystery is very great, but I speak concerning (the relationship of) Christ and the Church."  Verse 33 goes on, "However, let each man of you (without exception) love his wife as (being in a sense) his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband (that she notices him, venerates him and esteems him; and that she defers to him, and praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly)."
     We at times in our married life, seem to begin to take each other for granted.  We forget that sometimes we need to just stop what we're doing and really examine our relationship.  We get so caught up in the every day things of life and forget why we were there.  Someone once asked me what would happen if I lost everything.  After thinking about it awhile, I answered him and said that "I have everything I started with in my wife."
     All we had when we started was each other.  Everything gained since then is nice, but not essential.  Our relationship with each other is the most important thing.  We have worked together for all we have and all that we have is for one another.  Without my wife I wouldn't have built a house.  I built it for her.
     Most men would be content with very little in life.  We could love almost anywhere and with very little for ourselves.  The majority of men I know, would or could live in the woods during hunting season and at the river during fishing season.  Camping out in the woods in a tent or hunting lodge would be all we need.  My wife, however, would not.
     Jesus had all He ever needed while He was with the Father.  He was never sick, broke, hungry, distressed or without.  He had always had authority over satan and death.  There was nothing He ever had need of.  Everything Jesus ever did, He did for His bride, the Church.  Ephesians 5:25 (Amplified) tells us, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her."  This is total love.  Verse 22 says, "Wives, be subject (be submissive and adapt yourselves) to your own husbands as (a service to the Lord)."  Verse 24 says, "As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands."
     To love our wives like Christ loves the Church is a condition of the heart.  The only way to continue in this kind of love is by keeping His love flowing in our lives. Giving everything that you are or have to your wife is the kind of totally unselfish love.  Most men want to give the very best to the woman they love.  They will work hard, sometimes at a job they don't even like, to supply her things.  They work nights, split shifts, holidays, weekends and even overtime in order to give her things.  I worked twelve years on a job where I'd work a week of days, then swing shifts, a week of nights and then a week on the midnight shift.  I missed a lot of things that I would have liked to share with my wife to provided all the things she needed.
     I found it was easy to forget why I was working during this time because it seemed like all I did was work.  Then I'd remember why I was doing it and it gave me the hope and strength I needed to continue on.  Meeting her needs was all the reward I needed.  And, she in turn, was always happy with what I did.  She didn't care if I worked a high paying job or a lower paying job.  She always knew I was doing the best I could and that it was all for her sake.
     Sometimes, we look at what other people have and begin comparing our spouses with others.  This is a heart condition that must be avoided at all costs.  I've discovered that as my walk and relationship with the Lord goes, so goes my relationship with my wife.  Without God's love flowing through me, my own natural love becomes insufficient in my marriage.  When God's love wasn't present or being kept predominant in my life, I began walking back in the natural.  All the things I was doing was for nothing.  I had to keep God at the center of my heart in order to love my wife like Christ loves the church.
     When we forget that it's His love in us that moves us, we fall back into the selfish love we had before we knew Christ.  I've found that without Him, I didn't even have the ability to love; because God is love.
     We can begin overlooking the sacrifices we make make in love and begin taking one another for granted.  When we do this, the distance between us begins to grow.   And we begin hearing such old sayings of the world creep into the Church as "we just grew apart" or "I love him (or her), but I'm no longer in love with him."  These are signs of not being in fellowship with our Father.
     The condition of the heart is a vital part of our fellowship with Love Himself.  We know that we need Him, but we can fall into the same trap the world falls into.  We read in Mark 4:19 about the cares of the world and all the other things that enter and choke out the Word.  This happens when our heart turns to the things we do instead of why we do them (in love) and who we do them for. 
     The condition of the heart is something we must always be aware of.  Before we can become resentful with our mate or before we can break covenant with them, we must first break covenant with the Lord.  Once this condition of the heart sets in, it's vital it be remitted at once.  Most divorces could be totally avoided if we would recognize this heart condition early enough.
     Keep your time with the Lord at the top of your priorities.  He must be number one in our lives in order to keep everything else in place.  One person cannot do it all by themselves.  Husbands must love your wife as Christ loves the Church and gave Himself for her.  Wives must love your husbands like the Church loves Christ.  This is a condition of the heart that we love Him because He first loved us.  We (the wives) love him because of His love for us and submit to him not in fear, but because of His love for us.
     Keep your heart soft and pliable in the hands of God.  Don't let hardness of heart enter in.  Afterall, it's His love for us that holds us together and through His love, we remain whole and well.  We must respond in love at home more than anywhere else.  If we only act the part in public and don't walk it at home, then we're setting ourselves up for heart failure and our love will wax cold.
     

Lesson 8 The Condition of the Heart

     Proverbs 14:20 (Amplified)  tells us that, "A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy and wrath are like rottenness to the bones."
     Our heavenly Father wants us to have a calm and undisturbed mind and heart.  This has been a difficult thing for many to achieve.  As we live in a world that's ever changing and moving, we must keep our eyes on Him and not the things around us.  This sounds easier than it is.  Because we still live in this body and have all these things happening around us, we are easily distracted.  This isn't an indication that we don't love God or that we don't care about other people.
     Jesus told the parable of the sower in Mark 4:18-19 (Amplified) saying, "And the ones sown among the thorn are others who hear the Word, then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless."
     This is probably the most common heart condition in today's Church.  Notice how Jesus said that the things "creep in."  We don't just get out of bed in the morning and find our hearts turned towards other things.  They creep in.  The fire and desire we had for the things of God when we were first saved get replaced by the cares of life in this world.  This isn't a change of heart removing us from God, or better yet, removes God from us.  It's not a form of sin or something that cancels our salvation.  I have a family who moved out of New York state to another state.  I still love them as family, but the longer we're apart, the easier it becomes for my degree of love for them to change.  I still love them and they remain my family, but they're not on my mind like they would be if they were here with me all the time.
     Jesus said that "He would never leave us or forsake us, but He's be with us always."  His love for us is always a now kind of love.  Although we're still in Him, we must keep our minds and hearts focused on Him so we don't forget He is here.  In Revelations 2:4 (Amplified) Jesus said, "But I have this (one charge to make) against you; that you have left (abandoned) the Love that you had at first (you have deserted Me, your First Love)."
     These were still God's people who doing good things that Jesus addressed in the above passage.  They hadn't gone back on or given up their walk with God.  Now, though, they walked in religion and not life.  This was like what Mark 4:18-19 (Amplified) tells us, saying, "The things of life in this world, had taken over the life (the new life of the Spirit) and we had allowed the old things to choke out the new life."  Jesus said in John 14:27 (Amplified) that, "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; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidation and cowardly unsettled)."
     All of the things Jesus spoke of are the "peace that the world gives."  It's an unsettled, uncertain and elusive peace.  One day it seems all is well and the next day everything changes again.  We find ourselves caught up in the life around us instead of the Life Within Us.  The temperature is below zero where I live and the fuel prices are higher than ever.  Our nation's economy is in serious trouble.  The unemployment level is higher than ever and there are more people needing help than I can remember seeing in years.  In other words, it wouldn't be difficult for the cares of this world to creep in and choke the Word out.
     Isaiah 26:3 (Amplified) says that, "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, and hopes constantly in You."  This is the kind of peace Jesus spoke of in John 14:27 (Amplified) saying that, "If we don't allow the things around us to choke out the truth of the Word within us, then our hearts can be strong and healed."  Things are so hectic today that you must make your mind and heart obey the Word above all else.  Sometimes this a command you have to give your own self like David did.
     We read in Psalm 103:1-2- (Amplified), "Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul; and all that is (deepest) within me, bless His Holy Name."  Verse 2 says, "Bless, (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, o my soul, and forget not (one of) all His benefits."  David goes on the next verses, bringing to remembrance to himself  what these benefits are.
     This is keeping our minds stayed on Him, by which our peace comes.  Did you notice how David's heart was speaking to his mind, will and emotions?  This was a command he actually made unto himself in order to prohibit the things happening around him from choking out his "First Love."
     As Christians, we need to learn how to allow our spirit to rule over our emotions.  If our emotions rule, then it becomes easy for "the cares and anxieties of this world to creep in."  There are so many things going on around us everyday, that it's a matter of authority in your spirit to rule over them. We must not allow them to rule over our spirit.  Proverbs 23:28 (Amplified) says that, "He who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.  In David's day the walls of a city was their protection from the enemy.  Such strong walled cities as Jericho were difficult to overthrow.  Those who have no rule over their spirit are more open to attack and defeat.
     Our heart condition in the spirit is no different than our heart condition in the natural.  If we have heart problems, then the doctor will put you on a diet and exercise program and try making you stress free.  God's prescription for our heart problem is much the same.  Our diet is to feed on His Word more.  Our exercise program is leaning on Him and not on our own understanding.  To become free of stress we must cast all of our cares on Him.  These aren't always easy things to do even when we love God.  But, we don't always do the things the doctor instructs for our natural hearts either. 
     We all know there's more to out new birth and life in God than we are now experiencing.  Our Father God wants us to enjoy all the things Jesus gave us by His sacrifice.  I believe that our heart condition has allowed the things of the world to choke out what we reached for at our first taste of salvation. Don't allow your heart to condemn you like 1John 3:20-21 (Amplified) says, "Don't allow yourself to walk in guilt and condemnation. God is greater than your heart.
     Some people with heart conditions become invalids for life because they're afraid of having another attack.  We might not need to alter our activities somewhat to compensate, but we need some exercise.  With the spiritual heart condition, we can't allow ourselves to ignore our family and stop taking care of our natural man.  But, we cannot allow these things to make us spiritual invalids either.  There's a balance Jesus walked in and the apostle did as well.  Let God deal with your heart condition and tomorrow will take care of itself. 

Lesson 7 The Condition of the Heart

     The heart condition I've been writing about is what keeps me writing the things I do.  People want to know why I have set myself up as being controversial and it's because I wish to see God's people understand and walk in the fullness of Christ.  We cannot arrive at the heart condition God wants for us without understanding beyond what religion has taught.
     The answer to the heart condition is understanding the love God has for us and loving one another as He has loved us.  If we don't understand God's love for us, then how can we love someone else in that way?  We read how God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus so we might be saved.  But, do we understand God's great love for us in our own lives?  We've tried to perfect this love in our own feeble selves instead of totally surrendering to His love.  In Romans 5:5 (Amplified) we read that, "Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given us."
     The last verse of 1Corinthians 12:31 (Amplified) Paul gives a discourse on the great spiritual gifts.  All of these gifts are still valid and alive and well in the Holy Spirit today.  We make doctrines that discard them because we fail so miserably to walk in them rather than facing the fact there's still a heart condition in the Church.  Paul speaks about love and the actions of love in 1Corinthians 13:1-13 (Amplified).  We've tried walking in and understanding this scriptures, but mostly to no avail.  Near the end of 1Corinthians 12:31 (Amplified) Paul says we're to, "Earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces), And yet I will show you a still more excellent way (a better way to obtain these gifts than to desire and zealously cultivate)."  Paul goes on to says, "(Away that is far better to receive these gifts) seek after love as a higher and better way (to obtain the gifts)."
     If we could learn to understand God's love to and for us, then we could move into this love for others.  When Paul speaks about love in 1Corinthians 13:4-8 (Amplified) we must understand that it's not simply a way for us to act, but actually it's the very character of God Himself.  1John 4:8 (Amplified) says that, "He who does not love has not become acquainted with God (does not and never did know Him) for God is love."
     We've sought out the power of God through the gifts of the Spirit.  But, we've never understood the reason for the gifts.  The Spirit gives these gifts "as He wills."  It's God's love for the person who is sick that will override even the faults of the one who is praying to meet the needs of the one being prayed for.  This is what moves the Holy Spirit to deliver these gifts to profit all.
     We've seen how men can get puffed up by operating in these gifts.  I've watched men misuse these gifts for personal gain, yet God's love for the sick person still allows them to operate.  That's because He wants to see the sick well, the oppressed set free and the lost and hopeless be restored.
     It'd be easy to let go of all the things that are viewed as controversial in the Church.  Instead, ministers could just teach and preach what people want to hear and leave them in the same heart condition we are in.  If we read the Word, we find that Paul was probably the second most (Jesus is the most) controversial man in the New Testament.
     Paul struggled with the people's unbelief throughout his ministry.  All he wanted to do was bring the people to a higher place in their faith than what they were in.  Most of us become comfortable in where we are and don't want to be challenged to move up.  It seems easier to simply let things go than to "eagerly desire the gifts."
     Without these gifts operating in the Church and "in the world," how can we ever hope to reveal a true and living God and Father to the people?  Jesus said that, "If you can't believe what I say, then at least believe Me for the works that I do."  Did it work?  Yes.
     I've heard people ridicule gifted men and women of God who walked in this power of love.  Some were branded fakes, crazy and some even as being from the devil.  But, still, the Great Love Who is God Himself, kept them from ever quitting in their pursuit of God for the people.  Only God's love can compel someone to continue on in the face of all opposition.
     God still want what He set out to do in Luke 4:18-19 (Amplified) where Jesus stated what His anointing was for.  Thus, He says, "The Spirit of the Lord (is) upon Me, because He has anointed Me (the Anointed One, the Messiah) to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are down trodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity)."  Verse 19 goes on, "To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord (the day when Salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound)."
     We're to be ambassadors for Christ.  2Corinthians 5:19-20 (Amplified) says, "It was God (personally present) in Christ, (reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself), not counting up and holding against (men) their trespasses (but cancelling them) and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor)."  Verse 20 says, "So we are Christ's ambassadors, God, making His appeal as it were through us. We (as Christ's personal representatives) beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor (now offered you) and be reconciled to God."
     As God's personal representatives, we are to reveal Him in all of His fullness.  We are to represent Jesus as He represented the Father.  We are His Own personal ambassadors to the entire world.  Part of this representation is to return the eyes of the world to the supernatural power of the One we represent.  Mostly, we're to reveal to the world and overcome the natural state of man by the supernatural power of God's love for them.
     The lack of the power of God as shown through the gifts of the Spirit comes form a lack of understanding that God's Own love is already been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  If this love is in our hearts and isn't being manifest, then we still have a heart condition to deal with.  When we love like we're called to love, then we cannot look at someone who is sick or disabled without being "moved by compassion" and setting them free.
     Don't simply say such things as "some day when you get to heaven, you'll be healed."  Jesus didn't wait for us to get to heaven before He set us free.  He dealt with us now while we were here on earth and promised us heaven too.  As the Church, we need to examine our hearts and see whether the true love (as He loved us) is really at work in our lives.  We have the ability inside us to actually reveal Jesus as He was and as He still is.  The world is searching harder than any other time for a Light to follow.  We are the light of the world.  Let's raise that light (which is Jesus, the manifest Love of God) high upon the hill so the world can see their way through the darkness.  The enemy's always showing the world a false way to walk in.  And, because they are lost and confused, they're seeking leadership like they were in Jesus' day.  Jesus said they were "sheep without a shepherd."
     Our heart condition is understanding that God's love for us is His love for them.  If we set out to reveal this love and walk in it, if we seek after understanding and if we ask for wisdom, the Bible  says that He will give it.  James 1:5 (Amplified) says that God wants to show His love through you.  If your heart is right, then it will never be you who is exalted...only Him.  If satan or your own heart tells you that you're not a candidate for these gifts to men, then let God's love fix your heart condition.
     These gifts are as much a part of our Lord as feeding the hungry or clothing the naked or sheltering the homeless are.  One can be done by simple human love and the other will have to be done only by His love.  Even natural men can feed the hungry, but only supernatural love can give sight to the blind or help the lame to walk.  In Acts 4:19 (Amplified) the apostles were attacked by the people for healing a man.  Verse 19 says, "But Peter and John replied to them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you and obdy you rather than God; you must decided (judge).'"

     

Lesson 6 The Condition of the Heart

    Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified) says that, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."
     Hebrews 9:14 (Amplified) says, "How much more surely shall the Blood of Christ, Who by virtue of (His) eternal Spirit (His Own pre-existent, divine personality) has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the (Ever) living God?"
     In order to have a happy heart and a cheerful mind, our conscience must be purified from all of our own efforts to redeem ourselves.  All of the things that the Law required (even if we could do them all) wouldn't purify our conscience.  We were still sinners and we still knew it.  Even all the good works wouldn't make as clean in God's eyes.  No matter how tried or what we did, we couldn't change that.  Even so, we try to impress God with our deeds and works.  If something goes wrong, then we don't receive our healing or for some reason we don't feel our prayers are answered, then we try reading the Word more, praying more or giving more in order to get God to move on our behalf.
     The only way to a happy heart and a cheerful mind is to look to the other side of the cross.  We see ourselves as sinners who need a Savior to deliver us on this side of the cross.  But, once we realize we have a Savior Who paid the price for our redemption, we're to be grateful and thankful He set us free from the Law of sin and death.  We should be cheerful and thankful that we are free and we should learn to walk in that.
     On this side of the cross, I did with Him, I was buried with Him and I was set free by Him.  Now, I need to learn how to walk on the other side of the cross and live with Him.  Jesus didn't suffer through what He suffered through to leave us in our fallen state.  There was also Jesus' resurrection according to Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore, Since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God-through the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."  Verse 2 goes on, "Through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand. Let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God."
     This act of faith seems to be very difficult for the Christian to walk in.  We believe Jesus bore our sin, the curse of the Law, our sickness and disease and our separation from God, but we stumble at the thought of being free.  We mostly spend our lives under the condemnation of our pasts and never seem to walk in the liberty if the other side of the cross.
     If Jesus hadn't risen from the dead, then we'd still be in our sinful state and would have cause to be broken in spirit.  But, Jesus did rise from the dead and we should be able to rejoice and walk in fellowship with our Father because of it.  That was the whole reason for the cross.  It wasn't to leave us hiding from God with a guilty conscience.  Hebrews 4:16 (Amplified) tells us to, "Let us, then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of Grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners) that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need(appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it)."
     We must come to the cross and receive (by faith) the sacrifice made for us.  We must also come to His resurrection (by faith) and live in the peace and reconciliation Jesus bought for us with His sacrifice.  We just read Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) which tells us that,  "By faith, we must learn how to walk with Jesus now to hold and enjoy peace with God."
     We seem to stay on one side of the cross.  Jesus isn't on the cross anymore and He isn't in the Tomb and He's no longer separated from God.  He has risen.  Now we need to learn how to walk with Him in the power of His resurrection.  Philippians 3:10-11 (Amplified) says, "For my determined purpose is that I may know Him (that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and understanding and recognizing the wonders of His Person more strongly and clearly) and that I may in that same way come to know the power out flowing from His resurrection (which it exerts over believers) that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (in spirit into His likeness even) to His death (in the hope) that if possible I may attain to the (spiritual and moral) resurrection (that lifts me) out from among the dead (even while in the body)."
     We're not only called to die with Jesus on the cross, but to live with Him (not only after His death), but now, here in this natural body.  Paul continues to write in Philippians 3:12-15 (Amplified), "Not that I have now attained (this ideal) or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His Own."  Verse 13 says, "I do not consider that I have captured and made it my own (yet)

Lesson 5 The Condition of the Heart

    In  1Samuel 13:14 (Amplified) Samuel said to King Saul, "But now your Kingdom shall not continue; The Lord has sought out (David) a man after His Own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince and rule over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
     In 1Samuel 16:7 (Amplified) we read, "But the Lord said to Samuel, look not on his appearance or on his height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."
     The Lord judged him by looking into the heart of Saul and seeing the motives of his heart and not by Saul's words or deeds.  Even when he had received command from Samuel by the Word of the Lord, he transgressed and did what the people demanded and desired instead of what God wanted.  1Samuel 15:3 (Amplified) says, "Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and sackling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."
     In 1Samuel 15:13-15 (Amplified) we read, "And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, Blessed are you of the Lord. I have performed what the Lord ordered.  Verse 14 "And Samuel said, What then means this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"  Verse 15 Saul answers, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we have utterly destroyed."
     1Samuel 13:22 (Amplified) gives Samuel's reply to Saul, "Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."
     Even in this new covenant, God looks on the heart of His people.  We can make sacrifice according to religion, but it doesn't change the heart.  Continued sacrifice doesn't change our hearts and bring about what God desires.  After we continue to do the same thing repeatedly without repentance, we have a heart condition.
     As humans with pious outlooks on life, we see the mistakes of others to judge the mistakes in our own lives. We've all heard that old saying, "At lest I'm not like so and so."  We never know how hard someone is trying to get their life in order by looking at the outward man.  We never know how hard someone is trying to forget the things that plagued their lives in the past.  As far as God is concerned..."Old things are passed away."  But, these things still haunt the believer's heart at times.  We try hard to go on with our lives as though nothing is wrong, but the heart still condemns us.
     Man's heart condition can only be dealt with by the Word and the Holy Spirit.  Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) says that, "The spirit of man (heart and soul combined) (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God) is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his inner most parts."  The Holy Spirit won't reveal your past to you, but He will show you your new life by the Word and the sacrifice of Jesus.  Somehow we've had a difficult time bringing God's forgiveness into this "natural" life.  We understand the Word when it says that "our sin and iniquity I [God] will remember no more."  We understand, through the Word, that we're forgiven, but it's difficult for us to forgive ourselves.
     Proverbs 18:14 (Amplified) says that, "The strong spirit of a man sustains him in bodily pain or trouble, but a weak and broken spirit who can raise up or bear?"  The way we must set about to build a strong spirit within ourselves is through God's Word.  We already have the Holy Spirit living inside us, but we need to feed on God's Word to provide food for Him to disperse throughout our spirit.
     Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified) says that, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones."
     Proverbs 15:13 (Amplified) says that, "A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken."
     The enemy's strategy is to keep you in a place where your spirit is broken by not allowing you to believe and forget your past.  He will continually show you your old sinful nature before you knew Jesus.  Through constantly bringing up and having you concentrate on your past, he can hold you back from enjoying your new life in Christ.  If satan can succeed in locking you up in your past, he will break your spirit or "condemn you from your heart."
     We read in 1John 3:20 (Amplified) that, "Whenever our hearts in (tormenting) self-accusation makes us feel guilty and condemn us. (For we are in God's hands) for He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts) and He knows (perceives and understands) everything (nothing is hidden from Him)."
     Remember in 1Samuel 16:7 where  God revealed that He doesn't man as man sees, but He looks on the heart.  He knows the accusations of the heart and knows who we are now in Him by Jesus.  God knows all about us and that's why He sent Jesus.  He sees us now through the Blood of His Son and not the weakness of the flesh.  The only thing perfect about you or me is Jesus.  God sees the perfection of Jesus in us and not our old lives.
     Some of us in the Body of Christ come from places filled with horror and shame.  Some of us came from good homes and had good parents.  Some came from foster homes with good parents.  Some came from places where they needed to engage in unthinkable acts to survive.  These things from our past are stamped into the thoughts that governed our lives from the past, even though we're saved now.  Some of these things scarred our lives in various ways.  This is a heart condition that God wants to heal.  The only way this healing can occur is to feed on His Word and make it more real in our lives and hearts than our old lives.
     Human nature tells us that we're too dirty, because of what we were in the past, to approach a Holy God.  We feel inferior and dirty in His presence.  This heart condition holds us back from allowing our Father to lavish us with what His heart has prepared for us.  We actually do God an injustice when we allow our past to keep us from the presence of One Who loves us so very much.  It hurts the Father's heart when our hearts cause us to shy away from His presence and stand outside the throne room of His grace.
     This heart condition is on that all of us need to work on.  We keep forgiving, but fail to forget.  The old old things or things remembered, hold us and others in bondage.  We don't forget and we won't let them forget either.  This is a condition of the heart that must be dealt with in the believer's life.
     We still need to learn from Matthew 7:3-5 (Amplified) which says, "Don't judge others before we judge ourselves."  All of us have failed in our walks in some place or another.  The things is, that we must continue and finish the race.  If we allow our hearts to condemn us, then we've failed in our own eyes.  But, in God's eyes, we're already a victor in Jesus.  We need to begin seeing ourselves the way He sees us and not the we see ourselves.
     The condition of the heart depends on your revelation of Jesus.  The more you see of Him, the less you see of you.  If we see Him long enough through the Holy Spirit and the Word, then we can actually come to the place John spoke of in 1John 4:17 (Amplified) which says, "In this (union and communion with Him) love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment (with assurance and boldness to face Him) because as He is, so are we in this world."  Only revelation of Him as He is, will ever fix the heart condition we struggle under.  His love is the medicine for our heart condition.  And, when the love He has for us  is revealed to us in the fullness, then we'll have no fear, no guilt, no condemnation.  We'll have only the peace in our hearts that God promised.

Lesson 4 The Condition of the Heart

     When the word "heart" is used in the New Testament, it signifies the soul, the emotions, the mind and the spirit.  The word "middle" is used in reference to the heart; as in referring to the heart of a tree or even the heart of a subject or the "heart" of the matter.
     After the fall of man in the Garden, the spirit of man was dominated by his soul and emotions.  His spirit, being cut off from God because of Adam's transgression, was now silent as far as righteousness was concerned.  Man set about, through satan's guidance, to establish his own righteousness.  Consequently, man was now out of control for the most part and was guided by his soulish parts.
     Even in his fallen state, man had a knowledge of God and a desire to be pleasing in some ways.  Satan, acting as god, would now direct all of fallen man's desire to worship unto himself by presenting them with false gods.  This false worship had a soothing effect on man as he was now fulfilling his deepest inner drive and satisfaction.
     Romans 1:21-23 (Amplified) says that, "Because when they knew Him and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and Godless in their thinking (with vain imaginings, foolish reasonings, and stupid speculations) and their senseless minds were darkened."  Verse 22 says, "Claiming to be wise, they became fools (professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves."  Verse 23 says, "And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles."
     Now, man's inner need to worship was met without any laws to govern his sinful nature.  His heart (his inner self) was now able to control his spirit and still fulfill the evil impulses of the flesh.  Some men, even though they were in a fallen state, still had the Law of God written in their hearts.  Romans 2:14-15 (Amplified) tells us that, "When the gentiles who have not the (divine) Law do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, since they do not have the Law.  Verse 15 says, "They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts and are operating there, with which their consciences (sense of right and wrong) also bear witness; and their (moral) decisions (their arguments of reason, their condemning or approving thoughts) will excuse or perhaps defend and excuse (them)."
     Even though man still knew the difference between right and wrong, he had no power (without God) to keep the moral laws that held him.  1Corinthians 2:14 (Amplified) tells us, "But the natural, non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them (of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them) because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated."
     Man, at this time, walked only by his willpower to do right or wrong.  The will of man, even though there's a kind of power in it, couldn't take away the sin ruling him.  It's much like an alcoholic attending A.A. meetings 3-4 times a week.  He isn't drinking, but he's still an alcoholic.  His willpower can maintain his sobriety, but it's still a constant struggle for him.  This is still a problem for a man without God's putting a new heart within him.  We still know the difference between right and wrong, but we're powerless to perform it without God.
     A heart transplant is needed in the life of every man.  Our heart condition needs surgery from the Great Surgeon, God.  Even under the Law, man couldn't walk upright before a Holy God.  He had to continually make a sacrifice for his inability to keep the commandments of the Lord.  They kept adding amendments to the Law to cover their inability to walk it.  The heart condition had already brought death to man and he didn't even know it.
     Ephesians 4:17-18 (Amplified) says, "So this I say and solemnly testify in (the name of) the Lord (as in His presence) that you must no longer live as the heathen (the gentiles) do in their perverseness (in the filly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility) of their minds."  Verse 18 goes on,"Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. (They are) alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God (with no share in it; this is) because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the will blindness) that is deep seated in them, do to their hardness of heart (to the insensitiveness of their moral nature)."
     See how when a man gets born again from on High, his spirit get joined together with the Spirit of God, but his mind and emotions (soul or heart) is still unrenewed.  Now we understand what the Apostle Paul was saying in Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified), "I appeal to you therefore brethren, and beg of you in view of (all) the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies (presenting all your members and faculties) as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship."  Verse 2 goes on, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs) but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude) so that you may prove (for yourselves) what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect (in His sight) for you."
     As God's people, we have always majored in getting others born again, but never really majored in getting them to renew their minds by reading and teaching them the Word.  Until the Word is sown into the mind(soul and emotions), the heart of the man, he is like someone who's trying to walk with God by his shear willpower.  It's like sending someone to rehab and expecting them to be alright.  Some have come out of rehab and do alright, but most do not.  That's why such programs as the "Teen Challenge" has been so much more successful than government programs.  The government programs deal solely with the cleansing the person's body of drugs or alcohol.  But, Teen Challenge renews the addict's mind with the Word of God.  If you come out of rehab, your body is clean from the drugs, but your mind still thinks the same way it did before.
     The heart of man is the very core of his being that encompasses the spirit and the soul (mind, will, emotions) of man.  These, in turn, will govern the body to obey the Holy Spirit Who is now leading the entire man.  Galatians 5:16 (Amplified) tells us, "But I say, walk and live (habitually) in the (Holy) Spirit (responsive to and controlled and guided by the Holy Spirit) then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of the human nature without God)."
     In the Church, we keep telling people they must stay out of sin, but we don't always renew their minds by the Word and allow for a change of heart.  They want to walk upright before God in their spirits, but in their minds desire the fleshly desires.  We keep renewing our vows and recommitting our lives to God.  We walk in guilt and condemnation over our failures and pray for deliverance from the flesh.  Matthew 26:41 (Amplified) tells us that, "All of you must keep awake (give strict attention, be cautious and active) and watch and pray; that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
     This is still true today for all who are saved.  We need to keep awake, be cautious and active in His Word.  The flesh is still as weak as it always was.  This is the condition of the heart (the core of our being).  When we were saved, our spirit got saved, but our mind, will and emotions (the flesh and soul) of the man was still as it was.  It had been in control of our lives from the first and would still try and rule like it always had.  Close fellowship with the Lord and time spent in His Word will bring the soulish part (the core and heart) of man under the control of his born again spirit.  By renewing your mind with the Word of God, the control of an unrenewed mind that had guided us for so long, will become obsolete in our lives.  Your body can only do what your head tells it to or allows it to do.
     This heart condition is what brings all the torment and sickness into the natural flesh and blood body we live in.  The oppression of the enemy, the condemnation and guilt coming from the heart, brings all the misery in our lives in the form of self-accusation.  We read in Acts 10:38 (Amplified), "How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the (Holy) Ghost and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by the (power of) the devil, for God was with Him."
     In the Gospel of Luke 2:45-46 (Amplified) we read, "And when they failed to find Him (Jesus) they went back to Jerusalem, looking for Him (up and down) all the way."  Verse 46 says, "After three days they found Him (came upon Him) in the (court of the )Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions."  Even Jesus studied the Word and attended Synagogue.  Luke 4:16-17 (Amplified) tells us, "So He came to Nazareth, (that Nazareth) where He had been brought up, and He entered the synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read."  Verse 17 says, "And there was handed to Him (the roll of) the book of the Prophet Isaiah, He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written."
     Even Jesus read the Word, studied the Word, and knew the Word.  Luke 4:4 (Amplified) says, "And Jesus replied to him (the devil) it is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone, but by every word and expression of God."  Jesus wasn't just a preacher, but a teacher.  He knew that if the people didn't get the seed (the Word) in their hearts, then it wouldn't change them.  We still need the Word in our hearts to change the condition of our hearts.

Lesson 3 The Condition of the Heart

     When we talk about someone's having a heart condition, we usually presume he had a heart attack or some similar malady.  Man has had a heart condition since the fall of Adam.  This heart condition isn't the muscle that pumps blood through the body, but the very heart of man itself; the spirit of man.
     We seldom think of ourselves as spirit beings.  Mostly, we think in terms of body and soul.  The truth of the matter is that man is a spirit.  We live in a body ad we have a soul.  The spirit, which is the real you, lives in the flesh and blood body.  The soul of a man, which is your will, your mind, your intellect, your emotions and is the command center that directs your body.
     When Adam committed high treason in the Garden of Eden, his spirit was cut off from God and we became spiritually dead to the life of God.  We still were a spirit, but now it was silent and shut off from the voice of what it was created to be.  We were to be led by the spirit by receiving our direction from the Spirit of God Himself and were to live in perfect harmony with our Father God.
     Once we were cut off because of the fall of Adam, he, as the one who was to propagate the human race, bred sin and death into every human being who came from his loins.  Because the blood type comes from the father, every child has been born with this heart (spirit) condition because of Adam's lineage.  Sin was transmitted from one generation to the next by the very blood of Adam who was a fallen man.
     Because sin was a spiritual condition effecting the spirit (or the heart) of man, the effects of sin were propagated from one generation to the next, much like a child born with AIDS (or some other disease) because the mother was infected.  The child didn't do anything to incur AIDS on its own, yet was born with the disease because it was in the blood.  When this sin nature was transmitted through Adam down through the centuries, there needed to be an antidote that would cure this disease.  The only way was for man to be born again from a different blood source that was free from the spiritual disease called sin and death.
     Jesus, because He was born not of man, but by the Holy Spirit, was free and could therefore bring life (God's Life) back to all who would receive Him as our antidote for this heart condition.  It was never a matter of our being good, doing good or going to church.  Even though these are good things, they couldn't fix the heart and cure the disease.  Man needed a new heart.  Ezekiel 11:19-20 (Amplified) says, "And I will give them one heart (a new heart) and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stoney (unnaturally hardened) heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh (sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God)."  Verse 20 goes on, "That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God."  Ezekiel 36:26-27 (Amplified) says that, "A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stoney heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."  Verse 27 says, "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes; And you shall heed My ordinances and do them."
     We also read in 2Corinthians 3:3 (Amplified) concerning the Church in Corinth and their receiving of the gospel where Paul says, "You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written in ink, but with (the) Spirit of (the) living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts."
     This heart condition isn't one a doctor can cure of fix.  Nor was it one that medicine can be administered to fix.  It was a spiritual condition of the heart that only God could heal.  Mostly, we didn't know we had a heart condition, although, even doctors could diagnose conditions in our body because of it.  We were (and still are) pulled down by stress, nerves and mental diseases not brought on by natural things, but spiritual things that manifest themselves in our natural body.  Dis-ease in the spirit bring disease in the body.
 

Lesson 2 The Condition of the Heart

     Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-12 (Amplified) saying, "And 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) and about judgment, 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 longer about judgment, because the ruler (evil, genius, prince of this world) satan is judged and condemned and sentence is already passed upon him."  Verse 12 goes on, "I still have many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear them or to take them upon you or to grasp them now."
     Jesus was speaking about a future event.  He was speaking about after His death and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  When He came, the Holy Spirit would have the ministry of the new birth.  He was to convict and convince the world about sin and He was to convict and convince the believer (as they came to believe in Him) about righteousness.  He would deal with the hearts of men and bring us to the place of salvation.
     The only way to bring men to repentance is to deal with the heart of man.  When Jesus speaks about the heart, He's speaking about the spirit of man.  Notice how the Holy Spirit will speak to the hearts about sin because they don't believe in Jesus.  He will speak about righteousness because Jesus is to go to the Father and now righteousness is based on Him and not on Law and sacrifice.  He will speak about judgment because satan has been judged.
     This condition of the heart is based on sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.  If you were unsaved, then the Holy Spirit would convict your heart of your condition and reveal Jesus as the way out of sin.  If we were basing our righteousness on the Law and sacrifice, then He would reveal Jesus as the final sacrifice that paid for everything.  If we needed to understand the judgment, then He would show into our spirit how judgment will befall everyone who rejects Jesus and how Jesus was judged for all who accept Him as their Lord and ruler.  Since satan is judged, condemned and sentenced already, it's easy to see what judgment will befall all who choose him as their ruler or way of life.
     The heart or spirit of man is the real life of man.  Conviction of sin and righteousness come into a man's heart.  The problem for the believer is that we don't always listen to our heart.  John wrote  about the heart of the believer (under the direction of the Holy Spirit) in 1John 3:19-20 (Amplified) saying, "By this, (Love), we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the truth, we can reassure (quiet, conciliate and pacify) our hearts in His presence."  Verse 20 says, "Whenever our hearts in (tormenting) self-accusation makes us feel guilty and condemn us. (For we are in God's hands) For He is above and greater than our conscience (our hearts) and He knows (perceives and understands) everything (nothing is hidden from Him)." Verse 21 says, "And beloved, if our conscience (our hearts) do not accuse us (if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us) we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God."
     The condition of the heart is based upon the conviction of the Holy Spirit according to John 16:8 (Amplified) which says that He just doesn't convict us of sin, but also about our right standing (righteousness) with before God.  In 1John 3:20 (Amplified) we read that our hearts "in tormenting self-accusation, make us feel guilty and condemn us."  If our hearts aren't sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, then we will continue to walk under the self-accusing voice of our own spirit (or heart) and not the renewed, born again voice of the Holy Spirit now in our spirit.  The Holy Spirit will convict and convince us, too, that we're now in right standing with God through Jesus.
     The Father said that our sins and iniquity He would remember no more.  We, on the other hand, do remember them.  We remember all the dumb things we did before we knew Jesus.  They're still in our conscience minds.  They still make us feel unclean and unfit to come into the presence of our Father.  This is the condition of the heart only the Holy Spirit can fix.
     1John 3:21 (Amplified) says, "And beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us (if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us) we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God."
     This condition of the heart is the most common heart problem in the Church.  Do I believe my self-accusing heart about the man of the my past, or do I believe the new heart and the truth of God's Word about my conviction of right standing with God?  It almost seems sacrilegious to say that your heart doesn't accuse you anymore.  Some see it as being puffed up or proud to declare that our righteousness is in Him.
       Romans 10:9-10 (Amplified) may be the most well known scriptures used to lead people to salvation (maybe even that led to our own salvation).  The main stay of these scriptures has to do with your heart.  Verse 9 says, "Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Verse 10 says, "For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trust in, relies on) Christ and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God) and the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms (his) salvation."
     You can tell the condition of your heart by the words that come from your mouth.  The symptoms of a "heart attack" is your heart condemning you like in 1John 3:20 (Amplified) which says "our hearts, in tormenting, self-accusation, makes us feel guilty and condemns us."  These are the tell tale signs of a heart that hasn't yielded to the Holy Spirit as He reveals the fullness of righteousness to us in Jesus.
     Only by the Holy Spirit, through the Word and a hearing heart, will we ever walk above who we were and walk in the fullness of who we are.  Our heart condition can never be healed by the flesh or the religion of the world.  It's only the Holy Spirit Who will bring to light the fullness of Jesus.
     Our hearts (because we won't forget who we were), keep telling us we still have to pay, in one way or another for our past by working hard to be good, by going to the mission fields or by giving more, etc.  These are conditions of our hearts that continue condemning and accusing us and keeping us from walking in the full freedom of the sacrifice of our Lamb,Jesus.
     We must allow the Holy Spirit to override the condemnation of the past life and make us more aware of our new life.  He is the heart medicine Who can heal and make new our spiritual heart condition.  It's hard for us to believe and receive the fullness of God's pardon without feeling as though there's something else we must do to be deserving of it. There's nothing we can do to deserve it.  That's why it is comes by grace.  When our hearts receive this grace with thanks, we are made free.

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."