Have you ever thought of taking time for your heart? What power their is in dwelling in your heart? In truly opening the flood gates and allowing the Lord to come in and heal the broken places in your life.
Lets stop just for a few moments here. Write down what your thinking right now as you read those questions. Let the Lord minister to your heart. He wants to free you, but the question you must address right now before we go further in your heart is are you willing to take responsiblity for decisions you’ve made? Are you willing to face problems head on? Battles head on? Are you ready to rejoice in the Lord even in the face of persecution? Are you?
The list goes on and on as the swales grow larger and larger in the vast expanse that is the ocean of our lives. Neo stands up and exchanges his former idenity as Mr.Anderson for Neo in the Matirx triology. Athensias from church history runs for his life into the desert only to be called out of the desert into the office of a Bishop. Moses is left on the river but called to be a prince of Egypt. Joseph is taking into slavery but then brought into the royal family.
This is just a short story from the story that is our lives. You see their is something so firece within each one of us, but also something so tender. Now who would place that their? Who is the One who helps us and guides us? The Spirit of Truth? The Lover of our souls?
We have often been told another story. We have been told the story of stoppage. The story that stop from finishing instead of allowing us to go into freedom. Revelation 3:20-22, "20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.""’ "
If He knocks at the door of our hearts at a sick spiritual congregation how much more does He knock on the door still of our congregations? Do we hear and heed the voice of the Lord? Or do we shy back because we really are more interested in doing it the hard way, in walking in Egypt in spiriutal bondage instead of spiriutal freedom? He invites those who come into the door to overcome as He overcame through His sacrifice being approved by the Father so as to be resurrecuted from the grave to give us new life, and sitting down now with the Father through the Ascension to the Right hand of the Father. If this doesn’t get through to you, then hear what the Spirit is saying to your heart right now as confirmation of His Word. He wants you to be free by coming through the door of your heart. Won’t you let Him in today?
Beg me leave here to share a story. Israel was bondaged and still is to this day. Why? Israel has not awakened to the reality that its Lover is the King. Israel wanted a King, but it already had a heavenly King the Messiah.
We are begining to see how far this goes, but it cannot ever stop their. The heart is the key to unlocking your freedom in Him. It is the key to walking in the power of the Spirit which Paul speaks of throughout his letters. If you are going to walk in the Spirit of freedom of adoption not in the former bondages then you are going to have to make some radical changes in your own life. We were never sold into slavery because slavery is our former selves according to Paul in Romans 6. Slavery is for those who were sold into it, but slavery is not who we are now, as believers, for that slavery was purchased so that we could have new life and live the new life. God always equips us for what He requires of us, so that we can walk in the Spirit and thus equip others to serve Him as He equips us to serve others.
All the stories of our lives; the one’s that have truly made an impact on our lives are the one’s that involve us. The stories that impact our lives are the one’s that call us to adventure. Trying reading the words of Scripture and you will see the God who pursues us is the God who is engaging us to adventure. He is the Master Story Teller and He’s the one whose invited us into His story of redemption. Its the classical tale. Its Lord of the Rings, Matrix, Gladiator and Caddyshack all smacked together in one. The story is so central to our lives that without our hearts we will faint.
What happens when a heart faints? When a heart faints it gives up. It doesn’t have hope anymore because it can’t know hope. It has given up on the possiblities of hope because it doesn’t see the need to actually see the war that is going around us, which is why Paul tells us that their are many forces in this world including the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 6. The story that we are living in is a war that is being fought out in the heavenlies with earthly implications. It is the story of our lives and until one comes to the reality that we live in a war torn by sin, death in tension with grace, mercy and the Blood of the Lord you are blind. Pause to think on that.. you are blind. But you may ask I’m not really blind?
Blind not as a blind man doesn’t see, but as a man who can walk into a fully lit room and not spot the gorgeous lady who is so captivating she has the attention of every man in the room. Blind not as in the musician who is taking over the stage and who has everyone’s attention. No way, I"m talking blind here as in spiritiual blind or as in spiriutal ignorant. We have many who are leading people to the door to receive Christ but after that they don’t lead people through that actually door to experience the freedom that is in Him.
It makes me pause and wonder what they are really doing, for this is nothing more than the very same reason why Paul wrote Galatians to expose those who were preaching contrary to the New Covenant of the Lord. The New Covenant is freedom, and the Old Covenant is bondage. He said it was finished thus He inaugrated the New Covenant through His Death so that the Old Covenant could lead us to the New covenant freedom! You may say, "Hurrary" at this point, but it cost the blood of the Lord of hosts for our freedom.
It is only through that offering that He gave that we can be saved and then be obedient. Many people just get confused here, but the Cross leads to salvation, the Resurrection and Ascension for our understanding today lead us to obedience and newness of life. Newness of life? You have honestly got to be kidding me. When someone thinks of newness of life we often think of starting over. A brand new start? The problem is that many confuse the new life with not having to still take responsiblity for their mortage, car payments, debts and other such responsiblities that they may have had before they actually came to understand that they could throw themselves upon the righteousness of Christ and actually have the new live by receiving the actualization of it already, because they already had it yet they didn’t know they had it. We are often our greatest enemies, because what we think we know we haven’t ever really touched or mined in our hearts.
Paul speaks of confessing the Lord in our hearts in Romans 10:9-10. This doesn’t leave room for a little prayer because Paul never said pray it, but confess it. He said to pray at all times in the Spirit to the Thessalonians, but to the Romans he told them to confess Him in their hearts.
Soak in the Truth that Paul is speaking of here in Romans 10:8But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart"[e] (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."[f] 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."[g]
The implications of these verses have the full force of apostolic authority. Confess with your mouth. James told us that we are to confess our sins one to another, and to pray for one another and we will be healed in James 5. You see, Paul is phraising this picture of salvation in terms of community. One has to speak out or confess but before they do that they have to believe in their hearts, because confession cannot begin until the heart has been changed by the actual realization of the righteousness of God as revealed in Christ through the work of the Cross which leads to the work of the Resurrection. Paul’s last phrase Jew and Greek just phrases it in terms of the community of people that Paul is addressing.
Paul is always speaking in terms of community; whether the people are acutally in the community or not is another story. The Bible is a book about people coming together in community. Many people have experienced brokeness, but not many have experienced restoration and freedom. Many would rather stop at the door of there hearts and never actually enter into the hearts. Yet this is the problem, and the solution is easy. Actually today believe in your heart in what He did, and confess it with your mouth and you will be saved. Actually saved, not rescued, but saved. You will face the tyrant himself-Satan face to face with all of his tricks that have lied to you into telling you that you are no good person, which is in and of itself a lie.
You were made for a purpose, and that purpose is to experience the life shattering; mind jarring reality of His presence now tearing down the strongholds of spiriutal ignorance, so that you can experience spiriutal freedom through Him whose blood is good enough to lead you into freedom that you long to experience.
Come to Christ today and begin to experience the life changing power that is found in really knowing Him. He wants to set you free. He came so that you could be free, actually free, not sorta free, but actually free.
I leave you with some verses to think on. Before I do that lets go back to our original questions: Have you ever thought of taking time for your heart? What power their is in dwelling in your heart? In truly opening the flood gates and allowing the Lord to come in and heal the broken places in your life?
If this is you today and you don’t know where you are, or your questioning what this freedom is all about, I would like to encourage you to open up your heart today. Let the Lord come in and speak His truth right into your life. He came to set you free. He came to give you hope and a life of everlasting joy and freedom in Him. Come into His arms today. I won’t lie to you and tell you that this life is easy, because it isn’t. This truth about freedom cost God the Son His very life, but it was His life that gives us new life, so that freedom can only ever be through Him whose life was sacrificed so that we ourselves could experience the everlasting reality of the work of freedom through that very sacrifice.
Luke 5:7And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,[j]
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
19To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."[k] 20Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 22So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, "Is this not Joseph’s son?"
23He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, "Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum,[l] do also here in Your country."’ 24Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath,[m] in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."
28So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Isaiah 61: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,"
Even so come Lord Jesus come and speak words of freedom to the captives so that they may actually be free. Freedom is the answer to your weary soul so come and be free by entering into the door of your heart and experiencing the power of His Spirit at work within you. Freedom is the answer you’ve been looking for today but its not where you’ve looked before... its in His resurrection power.
Pastor David Jenkins
