HABITS OF THE HEART
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Heart – what the Bible says about it in comparison to what our culture says about it. Those view points are very, very different:
There are alot of songs about the Heart: Like…
1. I left My Heart in San Francisco – Tony Bennett
2. I’ll Never Break Your Heart – Backstreet Boys
3. Acky Breaky Heart – Billy Ray Cyrus
4. Take the Keys to my Heart – Garth Brooks
5. E-mail my Heart – Brittney Spears
6. Music of my Heart - N Sync
7. Tearin’ up my Heart – N Sync
Is that the kind of Heart the Bible alludes to? I don’t think so. Then there are the phrases about the heart from everyday language –
1. I love you with all of my heart
2. You have broken my heart
3. She’s warm hearted
4. He’s cold hearted
5. Have a heart
6. You’re heartless
7. Lets have a heart to heart talk
In the OT book of Proverbs we are told to “Trust in the Lord with all your Heart”
Are you good at doing that - all the time?
Is it the Habit of your Heart to just automatically Trust God?
What does it mean to trust God with all of our Heart – especially when things go wrong?
What should we understand about this Heart that the Bible speaks of so often?
The Heart that God is after is very different from the one those songs & phrases describe. Obviously our culture’s concept of the Heart is one of:
• Emotion and Romance
• Up and Down feelings
• Some people live life only by their emotions -
• Others walk through life ignoring their feelings –
or should I say hiding them?
Either way, feelings are deep seated- felt deep within - feelings that we must deal with in a way that honors God. When the Bible speaks about the Heart it elevates the discussion beyond our unpredictable feelings and helps us deal with them in a mature way -
There are over 900 verses in the Bible that refer to the Heart – from those verses we can gain some insight to what God wants us to understand. The Bibles Heart includes:
• The inner self - the core of a person
• The center of all thoughts and actions
Joe Stowell in Fan the Flame says that “The Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It has been described as "the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity," -"the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will,"…(J. Stowell, Fan The Flame, Moody, 1986, p. 13.)
According to God’s Word our Heart is who we really are. The condition of our heart and The Habits of our Heart are important to God and shows Him and us the real us.
When God was looking for a king to lead Israel after Saul died, what did He look for? Why did He pick David? 1 Samuel 16:7 answers these questions. It states, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
The “Heart” is that part of our inner being where we wrestle with our:
1. Core DESIRES (our need for love, acceptance,
significance)
2. Current DELIBERATIONS (the give & take of the
decision making process )
3. Critical DECISIONS (decisions that affect us for
years to come)
Let’s identify some Bad Habits of the Heart– things like Selfishness, Greed, Laziness, Jealousy, Sin, Bitterness, Unforgiveness, Self-Centeredness, Hatred, Fits of Rage, Selfish Ambition, etc –
More importantly let’s consider some Good Habits of the Heart -
1. DON’T LOSE HEART -
Obviously Life can be extremely Tough – Many of you know that - There are a lot of Rough Roads in Life -
• Several families in Colorado went thru devastating personal earthquakes in December of 2007 when their kids were shot and killed at the YWAM Center in Arvada by a man who had a corrupted heart. Later that morning he did the same horrendous thing at a Church in Colorado Springs - he had lost control of his spiritual heart -
• Maybe someone you loved died this last year or several years ago
• Perhaps you’ve faced some rejection lately, or a divorce, a separation, some abuse, a financial crisis, loss of a job, sickness, depression and the list could go on –
When frustration & heartaches come our way, how do we tend to respond? What are the Habits of our Heart?
Do we tend to Trust God first or do we tend to just respond according to how we feel?
Proverbs 3:5-7 (NIV) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.”
II Corinthians 4:1-2 (The Message) Since God has so generously let us in on what He is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves.
4:8-9 - We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; We’re not sure what to do, but we know God knows what to do; We’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side, We’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken.”
When life get’s rough, when our mistakes are obvious, when heartaches won’t go away, Trust in the Lord – Do it with all your Heart and then Lean into His Presence! Depend on the Lord – not yourself! Trust His Heart – Trust His Love – Trust His Grace – Trust His Strength!!
Things go wrong at times – disappointments and pain come with life. We can’t always control our circumstances. However, we can ask God to help us control our attitude and our reaction. And when we let Him do that, then His answers and His provision aren’t far behind.
Hebrews 12:2-3 (The Message) Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – He could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!”
So friends, don’t Lose Heart – hang in there with God and do what He says is right! No matter what others are doing – stay close to the Lord! Pray! Obey! And He will make a way for you!!
2. GUARD YOUR HEART
Prov. 4:23 NIV “Above all else, Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
My cousin Bob and his wife LeAnn works with Convoy of Hope – an outreach to people who have gone through natural disasters – earthquakes, hurricanes, famine, drought – Convoy of Hope brings in food & water, clothes & blankets, encouragement. He also travels overseas and distributes ‘water filtering’ units so remote people groups will have access to life sustaining fresh water.
Get the word picture that is in verse 23 – our heart “is the wellspring of life”. There are countless numbers of people around the world who live where they live only because there is a fresh supply of water that comes from a natural spring in the ground, a natural well of some sort, a reservoir of fresh water. Without that continuous supply of fresh water they would die – can you imagine the effort they put into protecting that source of water from contamination, how they Guard that fresh water with their life?
God’s Word says we should Guard our Hearts the same way – because if our heart becomes contaminated, the resulting damage can be catastrophic to our relationship with God.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 - NIV – "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God".
When will they see God? Just in Heaven during eternity? Maybe Jesus also meant the Pure in Heart will see God in this life...see Him involved in every area of life...Not just in the Spiritual moments, but in the physical realm, the relational, financial, emotional, in the day to day activities, during the struggles and heh, even in the good times. God wants us to see Him at work in us and it’s easier to let Him work when we have a Pure heart.
That does not mean that God can only work in us when we are perfect – none of us are – but we are more open to God’s work in us when we have a heart that desires to be pure before Him. When the habit of our heart leans toward God rather than toward self and sin, He is then able to work in us in amazing ways.
Here’s the struggle: History proves the Scripture correct when it says in Jeremiah 17:9 -“The heart is deceitful above all things, desperately wicked, who can know it?” (NIV)
When God created mankind He created us in His image- pure and without sin. God not only gave to us the freedom to serve and love Him from a sincere heart but He gave us the freedom to go our own way. Sad to say and tragically so, most of mankind has gone their own self-centered way. Genesis 6:5 says, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” And that grieved the Lord my friend. It grieved him – it hurt him – it caused Him pain.
From that day on God has been working to pull people back to Himself. He does that by reminding us of His Love and Grace. That’s why Jesus came and died on that old rugged Cross- as an expression of His love and His warning of the consequences of sin.
In Matt. 15:19 (NIV) Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder,adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander."
II Timothy 2:22 (NIV) "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
So the challenge is clear – We must guard our hearts from sin and self centered living by serving God wholeheartedly - with a passion that honors the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross.
How? a. Hide it in your Heart - Hebrews 4:12
b. Pray c. Be open with an accountability partner
3. SHARE THE HEART OF GOD WITH OTHERS –
Read Luke 7:11-16 (NIV)
Our world, our community needs to see the Heart of God. God’s heart is primarily filled with:
• Love, not judgment - tho someday He will judge all
mankind
• Forgiveness, not punishment – tho someday sinful
actions will be punished
• Acceptance, not rejection – tho someday those who
refuse to let Him work in their lives will be
rejected from entering Heaven
How does God want to use you and me in our neighborhoods, our schools, our workplaces, this city, so people will get an opportunity to see the loving Heart of God?
Do we sometimes avoid interacting with ungodly people because it makes us uncomfortable or we think that their sin will rub off on us and corrupt us?
As we listen to this song, think of Jesus and his concern for the woman at the well or think of someone you know that desperately needs Jesus...
Song – “Does Anybody Hear Her?” – by Mark Hall of Casting Crowns (words on screen)
She is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
She is trying
But the canyon’s ever widening
In the depths of her cold heart
So she sets out on another misadventure just to find
She’s another two years older
And she’s three more steps behind
Does anybody hear her?
Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she’s going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that’s tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her?
Can anybody see?
She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away
If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can’t see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her
If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can’t see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her
He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction
(Share some closing comments about teens & young adults killing others & committing suicide – they often feel misunderstood, friendless, hopeless, etc...)
Closing Prayer – what is God speaking to you about?
