Matters of the Heart

My sincere desire is to deliver this message in the spirit of Love. My hope is what you will here this morning will encourage you to see the Fathers Love for all of us.

All scriptures will be from the Tree of Life version unless noted otherwise.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable—who can know it? I Adonai search the heart, I try the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds. ‘ Jeremiah 17:9-10

I believe that God is wanting his people to allow Him to expose the deceitfulness that abides in our hearts. Only God can know what is in the heart of a man and His word says that He will give to us according to the fruit of our deeds. God desires that we produce good fruit and we must obey His Word if we are going to see the blessings of God.

We must seek the Lord while he may be found. If we do not, then He will be bound by His word to remove the blessing and allow us to go into captivity.

The children of Israel after leaving captivity in Egypt were supposed to go into the promise land but wandered in the desert for 40 years because of disobedience. An entire generation of the unbelieving died in the wilderness before the children of Israel would enter the land that God had promised them. They left one captivity for another.

Captivity is the condition of being imprisoned or confined.

Many are in captivity to sickness, disease, poverty, lack, sexual immorality, greed, pride and a whole host of ungodly acts. This captivity has come about because of the condition of our heart.

Yes believer, our hearts can be deceitful. We might very well think that we are doing the right thing and be so far from the heart of God.

This reminds me of Saul who was convinced in his heart and his actions so much so that he stood by and watched as Stephen was stoned to death and then began to persecute and destroy the church. Reading in Acts 7:57-60 and continuing in Acts 8:1-3

‘At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.’ ‘And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. ‘

Because of God’s love for Saul we know that He met him on the road to Damascus and changed his deceptive heart. Why do I say deceptive heart? 

‘I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. ‘ Acts 22:3-4 NIV

Saul believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing, but it took Gods intervention to expose the deceitfulness of his heart. Let me add that it was not only Gods love for Paul but also Gods love for all peoples because Paul was called to preach the good news of the gospel to the gentiles which is you and I.

Saul also known as Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament and suffered greatly for his faith in Jesus.

When we look at the life of King David, the son of Jesse we find that following in Acts 13:22 NIV.

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’ 

You know who we are talking about. David did some horrible acts.

• David committed adultery with Bathsheba. 
• David devised and executed a plan to kill Bathsheba’s husband.
• David took a census of the people against Godly council.
• David shed much blood while he was king.

Now here are the fruits of those deeds.

• The firstborn son born to David and Bathsheba through adultery died.
• Because David’s plan to kill Uriah the husband of Bathsheba by the sword of the children of Ammon. The sword would never depart from his household and one of his own would rise up in rebellion against him and that would be his son Absalom.
• The census caused the death of 70,000 men and if it had not been for God’s mercy Jerusalem would have been destroyed.
• Because of the blood that David shed the Lord would not allow him to build Him a temple as a dwelling place for the Lord. Solomon his son built it.

This is the same man who wrote many of the Psalms that bless us today. David says in Psalms 51:6-12.

‘Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was born in iniquity and in sin when my mother conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inner being. Make me know wisdom inwardly. Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean. Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness, so the bones You crushed may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ‘ 

Only God can create a clean heart.

This is the same man that through his lineage the savior, Jesus Christ would be born.

‘Remember Yeshua the Messiah, raised from the dead, from the seed of David—according to my Good News. ‘ 2 Timothy 2:8

David might have done some horrible things in his life, but David realized his need for God to change his heart. When God showed him his error he would repent and call upon the mercy and forgiveness of God. David did not run from the consequences of his actions, but he fell upon the rock and looked for Gods mercy and goodness to sustain him.

Two great men of God who had their hearts exposed to themselves.

Near my home is an intersection with a 4-way stop sign. In one direction there is also a Yield sign to turn right. Many times, when cars pull up to Yield sign and there is a car sitting at the stop sign across from them ready to turn in their direction. The car by the yield sign will shoot out in front of the person at the stop sign. The other day it was happening to me and I determined that I was not going to let it happen, so I quickly turned. After doing so I thought to myself why did I do that? Why was it so important that I did not allow this person to get in front of me? I concluded that it irritated me that this person was doing something wrong and I was going to make sure they did not get their way.

Was it my place to make sure this person did the right thing?
Was it my place to defend myself?
Was it my place to act as judge and jury?

Afterwards I felt like a child who did not get their way. Immature, selfish, and foolish.

God showed me just how unlike Him was this act. Because of a very simple situation it brought out the poison in my heart. I thought to myself if something so simple like this can reveal the ugliness in my heart then what else lies hidden in the deepest parts of my heart. 

So, I repented. Forgive me.
God create within me a clean heart.
God get all the junk out of my heart.
Remove my stony heart and give me a heart of flesh.

‘“Out of the good treasure of his heart the good man brings forth good, and out of evil the evil man brings forth evil. For from the overflow of the heart his mouth speaks.” ‘Luke 6:45 

You see it is really true when Jeremiah said “The heart is deceitful above all things, and incurable—who can know it? 

We need to be willing to allow God to show us the condition of our heart. We probably will not like what we see but don’t dwell there too long. Let us respond like David, repent and ask God to create within us a clean heart.

I want to give you a pattern that I believe will help you. Let’s look at Isaiah 55 verses 1through 3.

‘“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the water, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money for what is not bread? Your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, so that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the trustworthy loyalty to David. ‘ 

The simplicity in this scripture is Come, Consider, Listen

Everyone who thirst can come to the Lord. There are a lot of thirsty people out there. Most don’t realize they are thirsty. They are empty, unsatisfied, without hope, distraught, hooked on drugs, alcohol, sexual desires, and many other acts of debauchery. They are just drinking the Devils sour Kool lade. As believers it is our job to show people by our example in word and deed the sweetness of the Lord’s Kool lade. Unfortunately, much of the church looks so much like the world that our words and deeds seem like hypocrisy rather than the salt God intended for us to be. So he says “Come”.

Come means to move or travel toward or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker. 

• We have to move towards God. 
• We have to get closer to Him.
• We have to be more familiar with him.
• The only way to accomplish this is by spending time with him. 
• Remember it will cost you nothing and what he has to offer will fill the emptiness in your life and make you complete.

Jeremiah says in verse 2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread? Your wages for what does not satisfy?”

Consider means to think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision. Jeremiah is asking us to consider our ways.

• We spend our money on things that will not satisfy. We can’t take them when we leave this world. 
• We see greed, selfishness. self-gratification, and indulgence in our lives. 
• We use all kinds of things to fill the missing places in our lives only to come up lacking every time. 
• We spend our time on trivial matters and overlook what matters most, God, family and others. 
• We look down on others forgetting that we were all created equal in the eyes of God.
• We abuse our bodies which it is the temple of God.
• We fill our minds with all kinds of foolishness leading us farther away from God.
• We judge when God said to judge not lest you be judged.
• We are hard on those who make mistakes forgetting we once made them ourselves.
• We get angry and hold that anger in our heart which develops a root of bitterness and resentment.
• We have agendas that are not pleasing to God.
• We lie, cheat and steal which is the work of the flesh.
• We make decisions without including God in the process.

We need to consider our ways.
We should always be asking this question.
Do our ways line up with the heart of God?

Continuing in verse 2 and 3. “Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, so that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the trustworthy loyalty to David. ‘

Listen is to give one’s attention to a sound.

• Many of us don’t know how to listen.
• We are so used to saying something all the time that we don’t listen.
• Some of us like to hear ourselves so much we can’t listen.
• Many relationships break down because we don’t know how to listen to one another.
• Many conflicts are because we don’t want to listen to one another.

Think about the following question.
If we can’t or will not listen to others, then are we listening to God?

God is instructing us to listen to Him.
He has every good thing for life, health, and happiness.
He wants us to enjoy, delight, partake and take pleasure in His abundance.

This is the promise. The promise of life and it is an everlasting promise.

There is a condition though.

Come to the Lord
Consider your ways
Listen to the Lord.

This is an invitation.
This invitation is open to anyone.
This invitation will cost you nothing.
This invitation comes with a door prize, the promise of life forever.

Maybe you have heard something this morning that resonates in your spirit, and God is tugging at your heart saying Come, Consider and Listen. If so, don’t delay come now and ask God to create within you a clean heart.

This is a matter of the heart.

Before I continue, I want to give all of us an opportunity to spend a moment with Lord and ponder what I have shared this morning. I ask the Holy Spirit to do a work right now as we come, consider and listen.

We played “Open the eyes of my heart” by Don Moen as a time of reflection.

I would like to speak of another invitation.
This invitation is open to anyone.
This invitation will cost you nothing.
This invitation comes with a door prize and his name is Jesus. 

This is a matter of the heart.

By accepting this invitation Jesus will come into your heart and you will be saved. If that is you, then I am going to ask you repeat this simple but life changing prayer.

God I am sinner.
Forgive me of my sins.
Jesus is your son.
He died for my sins.
Jesus, come into my heart.
I make you Lord of my Life.

It is that simple. If you said that prayer and believed in your heart, then you are saved.

This is a matter of the heart.

If you said that prayer, please let us know so we can send you some information to help you with this new direction in life. Let us help you find a good church so you can be discipled in your new life with Jesus. Share your decision to follow the Lord with others.

We rejoice with you and most of all we Love you.