- Part Two –
Review of Part One –
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Your heart determines the health and well being of your whole body and your soul.
The heart - Governs the life and death issues for both physical and spiritual matters.
There are those who are like
- Moses who are willing to listen to what the Lord is saying. - Pharoah who refuse to listen to the voice of the Lord.
Moses’ heart was once so hard that he killed a man.
But God had a plan for Moses so He softened Moses’ heart.
As a result, Moses was willing to go back and face his past, and the problems he had once ran from.
Question: Why is knowing this so important?
The answer is simple. GOD WANTS TO SOFTEN YOUR HEART AND CAUSE YOU TO BE MORE OF WHAT HE IS WANTING FOR YOUR LIFE!
Explanation:
Moses was at one time a hot headed foolish young man that at a moment of passion killed a man, and thought he was justified in doing so. Nevertheless – God had a plan for his life. The softened heart of Moses found:
Wisdom and obedience - (in hearing from God).
Authority and boldness - (in leading God’s people).
Likewise – there are areas in each of our lives that God wants to change. Taking in God’s Word will make the difference.
God can and will speak to us and do great things in our lives if we first allow Him to soften our hearts.
The condition of our heart is determined by how much of God’s word we have in our lives. We need the Word of God.
We all are very busy. Life can be hectic. But we should be careful to remember that hearing the Word of the Lord must have priority in our lives.
Let’s face it. It’s easy to listen to what other people (in your life) have to say to us. Others can easily get our attention when they speak. They speak and you listen.
Listen – I love to preach, but I can only tell you so many times what you should be doing with your life. On the other hand if I teach you God’s Word with depth and clarity, and you choose to listen and take heed to God’s Word, your life will naturally and supernaturally change.
Thus maybe you won’t be like Moses, that is, “hot headed” or “foolish” with how you live your life. The most foolish people I have ever met are those who typically don’t like teaching.
I have even met some of God’s people who have told me they didn’t enjoy listening to someone teach them about the Bible. They had just rather just go listen to some good old fashioned preaching.
Learning things should not become so difficult for us as we grow older but it does. Sometimes, the older we get the less we want to have to learn things. Our mind is oftentimes made up on certain things and sometimes this is the way we get with the Word of God. This is not the will of God…
Proverbs 4:20 tells us,
My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
As an example –
As a child we were taught how to do this at an early age. Many mothers know that if they want to speak to their child, they may have to first take them by the hand and say,
“Sweetheart, listen to what I am saying…”
It is the same when we listen to God’s Words.
God speaks and we may or may not hear Him.
We may even hear Him, but often will not listen to Him.
The health of our heart relies on how much we choose to hear from God. God’s voice is sometimes loud and clear. While other times it may be soft and intimate.
Regardless, our hearts must hear and sense the power and presence of God.
Tonight, I want to again look at our heart and the “Issues of Life” by looking at another great man of God.
His name was King Solomon.
Text: I Chronicles 29:25
Prayer:
Solomon was to become the greatest king Israel had ever known because of his wisdom. Thus all of the world has heard and known of the - “Wisdom of Solomon”.
Many great men down through the ages have recognized the accomplishments of this man, King Solomon.
Even Jesus referred to Solomon in Matthew 6, when Jesus taught on the provisions of God:
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:
…and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory…”
How did God make Solomon such a great man of wisdom and glory? For one thing, he had a praying father.
One of the reasons for the blessings on any of our lives can be found in the prayers of our fathers, mothers, or any of our other relatives. As well, the godly heritage we bestow on our children can make a great difference.
As parents, we have an awesome responsibility to our children to train them to be soft hearted.
As children, we also have the responsibility of listening to the godly counsel of our parents.
Some may say, “I don’t have parents like that.”
You may not know them by your natural birth, but you may have been given them by your spiritual new birth (when you first became a Christian).
Personally I have had several people in whom I have considered to be “Spiritual Fathers…Spiritual Mothers”
Solomon had an even more important thing going for him.
Let’s look at I Chronicles 28:9.
In verse 9, King David spoke of our need for you and I to serve the Lord with a loyal heart.
Solomon needed
• to understand the basic fundamentals and commandments of being a child of God.
• serve God with a “loyal heart” for God to fulfill everything God had planned for him.
There were preparations to be made before Solomon would be entrusted with becoming the king of Israel.
Look at Verse 10
His heart would have to be loyal to the Lord in order to build the sanctuary. God wants you to build this sanctuary but you will need a “loyal heart”
There are some things in your life –
• You need the Wisdom of Solomon for.
• You do need take the authority of God in.
As well, we all need to have a “loyal heart” with what God is doing in this church. Let me show you what I mean.
Let’s look at verse 9 of chapter 29.
After this, King David began to pray for his son in verse 10. It was a great prayer. Things were happening when King David prayed, because –
• David knew how to pray
• The people had a “loyal heart” for the things of God.
Notice what he prays in I Chronicles 29:17 thru 19.
David knew that it takes his heart and the heart of the people being loyal.
This was an important time for the nation of Israel.
There was a transition of power taking place. Solomon becoming king would be so different from when David was crowned to be the king. Let me show you the difference:
David’s life was in jeopardy during the time of King Saul. David was considered to be a criminal and he had to fight for the right to be King of Israel.
Whereas, Solomon was freely given this anointing and royal majesty. Solomon did not have to do anything to be crowned an heir to the throne. All of the king’s riches and wealth was given to Solomon for free.
More wealth than could be found anywhere in the entire world was instantly given to Solomon. In a moment’s time, Solomon became the wealthiest man in the world.
On one hand, David suffered humility and persecution to achieve his crown. But on the other hand, Solomon was given the entire inheritance of the king without having to earn it. This is prophetic for us.
David recognized what was important here. David’s prayer was not for:
- The wealth and riches of gold and silver.
- The strength and courage to wage war against all of his enemies.
In Verse 19, David prayed,
“And give my son Solomon a loyal heart to keep Your commandments and Your testimonies and Your statutes
David’s prayer should be our prayer today. We need to pray for a “loyal heart” that the “Issues of Life” would flow from. But it even gets better for Solomon in verse 25:
So the LORD exalted Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him in Israel.
This all began with God first doing something great in Solomon’s heart that we also need for our hearts.
With God’s hand of blessing on our heart, we too can become the Lord’s “Royal Majesty”.
Our lives are dictated and determined by the “Issues of Life” that come from our hearts. I know this to be true.
It is true that God did bless Solomon with great wealth and God did use Solomon to build the Temple.
Those things do have their importance. We should expect blessings of wealth and responsibilities of fulfilling the plan that God has for our lives. But that is not all.
God has a greater plan that must have the greater priority. That is the plan for you is the same plan the Lord had for Solomon. His plan for you has everything to do with your heart. That your heart would be a perfect and loyal heart.
You see (in many ways) we are like Solomon this morning. We all have someone praying for us this morning. We can see the similarities of what King David did and prayed for Solomon with what King Jesus is doing and praying for our lives.
We have had to do nothing to become an heir to the throne of Jesus. The promises of God, the wealth and riches of God belong to each of us because of Christ.
We are His direct descendants to His throne.
We have much more than we can possibly know.
We have become the “royal majesty” of the Lord.
Jesus has
- Lavished us with His Grace and forgiveness.
- Clothed us with His robe of righteousness.
- Written our names down in the Lambs book of Life.
- Made us to be His joint heir with Him.
- Enabled us to rule and reign with Him in heavenly places.
Likewise with all of these blessings from Jesus, we should also know that He is praying for you right this moment.
Closing:
King Jesus desires for you to build His Temple.
He has big plans for you.
King Jesus wants you to rule and reign with Him in the Kingdom of God.
2 Timothy 2:12
If we endure, we shall also reign with Him.
Revelations 5:10
(we) have (been) made…kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."
Revelations 20:6
(we) shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
But you will not be able to accomplish all that He has for you without first receiving the loyal and perfect heart He has for you.
