Got Heart Issues?
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· 11 viewsGrace Fellowship in Rusk, Texas Sunday, August 1, 2021 at 10:30 AM NOT PREACHED
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Got Heart Issues?
Got Heart Issues?
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
Heart Issues
Heart Issues
“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Got issues?
God Tests the Hearts
God Tests the Hearts
I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
God knows what is in our heart. He will test our hearts to reveal what is inside
Heart Wars
Heart Wars
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Lust: The selfish desire and pursuit of one’s own pleasure at the expense of everyone and everything else, including God.
Anger: An emotion caused by not getting our way, or by a sense of injustice, whether real or perceived.
Bitterness: Poisoned heart due to its refusal to let go or to forgive.
Resentment: A sense of displeasure toward those we feel have injured us.
Malice: A feeling of ill-will that seeks to cause pain, injury, or distress to another.
Competitive Jealousy
Competition is striving to achieve the same goal as another. Competition is neither good nor bad. It is the context that matters.
Jealousy. Righteous jealousy rises to protect covenant (for instance, jealousy to protect the marriage covenant). Unrighteous jealous is the feeling of anxiety or fear caused by the preference, position, and authority given to another. Jealousy is rooted in comparison.
Competitive Jealousy is a poisonous combination of unrighteous jealousy and competition in the heart that seeks to judge, criticize, undermine, and even destroy another person to remove their preference or advantage.
Competitive jealous was what caused Cain to murder his righteous brother Abel.
Heart Allegiances
Heart Allegiances
Friendship with the world that is regarded by God as adulterous in our covenant relationship with Him.
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
Does our heart belong to God or is it compromising with the world?
Heart of Pride
Heart of Pride
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
Pride is the biggest root issue in the heart.
Pride was the original sin of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15)
Pride causes us to think more of ourselves than we ought
Pride causes us to think of others less than we ought
Pride causes us to base life on comparison rather than God’s will.
Pride causes us to focus on preferences rather than principles.
Pride causes us to think of what we want rather than what others need.
Pride causes us to judge and criticize others.
Pride causes us to blame others while justifying ourselves.
Pride causes us to secretly or openly sow strife and division to undermine others.
Pride causes us to pull back to subvert the success or progress of others.
Pride causes us to rebel, scoff, and protest.
Pride causes us to stiffen our necks rather than humbling our hearts.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.
By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.
A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor.
Dealing with Heart Issues
Dealing with Heart Issues
Submit to God.
God is ultimately in control.
Stop trying to do God’s job.
Stop speaking evil of others.
Step down from the Judge’s bench. God alone is the Judge. Submit to Him.
Resist the devil.
The “devil” is the accuser. He wants us to side with him in bringing accusation rather than with God in bringing redemption to others.
The devil, not people, is our real enemy.
Draw near to God.
Only God can help you.
Cleanse your hands.
Stop participating in sinful attitudes and activities.
Purify your hearts.
Stop being double-minded. Commit fully to God.
Lament, mourn, and weep.
Express genuine godly sorrow from the heart.
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord.
Put yourself, your status, your justice, and your future under His sovereign control.
Expect God to lift you up as He promised.
He will give you grace for the moment and grace for the journey.
Trust God to lift you up where He wants you to be.
When God lifts you up, no one can put you down.