A New Heart For A New Year

TIME FOR A HEART CHECK UP

A couple of cows were grazing in a lovely pasture. They were standing by a fence alongside a road. Right in front of them passes a large semi truck. It was hauling a bright, shiny, chrome tanker trailer. On the side of the trailer - printed in big red letters - were the words: “Grade A Milk. Homogenized; Pasteurized; Vitamin D Fortified; Calcium Enriched.” One cow turns to the other and says, “Kinda makes you feel a bit inadequate, doesn’t it?”

Whenever we go to the precious word of God, to learn how to live for God, we always come away feeling inadequate---it is the grace of God that presents us cleansed and it is the power of the Holy Spirit that give s us the power to live for Jesus.

I want to talk about something you cant live without –YOUR HEART!

The heart weighs between 7 and 15 ounces and is a little larger than the size of your fist. At the age of 75 your heart has beat more than 3.5 billion times. In fact, each day, the average heart beats 100,000 times, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood.

Your heart and circulatory system make up your cardiovascular system. Your heart works as a pump that pushes blood to the organs, tissues, and cells of your body

If all the vessels of in your body were laid end-to-end, they would extend for about 60,000 miles

You cannot live without a beating heart. What the physical heart is to the body, is what the spiritual heart is to the soul. Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life

Remember when you heard that Steve Irwin , the Crocodile Hunter was tragically killed by a sting ray. I was surprised by the way that he died. About the only way that a Stingray could kill you is to stab you directly in the heart with his barbed spine. Who would have thought that the great Crocodile Hunter would go in this fashion? That little stingray pierced him right in the middle of the heart.

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life

THE DEVL IS AFTER YOUR HEART!

He seduced Adam and Eve and the result was the fall of mankind (Genesis 3:1-6)

He seduced King David and the result was the death of his son and the division of his kingdom (2 Samuel 11-12)

He seduced Judas Iscariot and the result was the betrayal of Jesus and Judas committing suicide (John 13:21-30; Matthew 27:3-5)

He seduced Ananias and Saphira and the result was that they dropped dead (Acts 5:1-11)

WHERE is your heart today when it comes to God?

Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

WHEN IS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD A HEART CH ECKUP?

My Dad use to tell me, the life of the engine is the oil, Make sure you change the oil in your car. Some recommend every 3,000, some every 5,000, and if you have the synthetic oil, it was suggested you could go up to 25,000 miles. At some point a change is going to be needed.

How long do you think you should try to live before checking in with Jesus to ask Lord, is it time for me to have a change of heart.

I. Is your heart DECEITFUL ? The thief comes only to steal and kill and

destroy; John 10:10

There was a man who bought fried chicken dinners for himself and his date one afternoon. The attendant at the fast food chain,, however, unintentionally gave him the proceeds from the day’s business - a bag of money instead of fried chicken.

After driving to their picnic site, the two of them sat down to enjoy some chicken. They discovered a whole lot more than chicken - over $800! Now many people would have kept the money, and bought themselves a lunch much nicer than KFC!

But this man did something unusual. He quickly put the money back into the sack, got into his car and drove all the way back to KFC. walked in, and told the manager, ’I want you to know I came by to get a couple of chicken dinners and wound up with all this money here.’

"Well, the manager was thrilled to death. He said, ’Let me call the newspaper. I’m gonna have your picture put in the local newspaper. You’re one of the most honest men I’ve ever heard of.’

"To which the man quickly responded, ’Oh, no. No, no - don’t do that!’ Then he leaned closer and whispered, ’You see, the woman I’m with is not my wife.’”

This man was honest in one area and down right deceitful in another. Jer. 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?