I got the inspiration for this note off a teaching from Bertie Brits called "The Heart of man" go check it out at
http://www.dynamicministries.com/audio-messages/sunday-service-archive/
Ok, this note is longer than my usual notes, but trust me THIS WILL BLESS YOU. Read it and please inbox me if you have ANY questions!
The Heart of man:
Firstly we need to understand WHAT the heart of man is:
Rom 10:10 "For with the HEART ONE BELIEVES unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation." The heart is the belief-system of man. Before I continue I want to stress the importance of FAITH (belief-system). Humanity is DESIGNED to live by faith. You won't go to bed if you don't believe that you will wake up tomorrow. Faith is not something we decide to do, it is something that happens to us when we are confronted with certain knowledge or facts:
Rom 10:17 "Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The "Word" in this context is translated as "Rhema" which means SPOKEN WORD OF GOD. Listen to what Paul says about this 1 Cor 2:4-5 "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God"
If you continue reading you will see WHAT Paul was preaching that people believed, the mystery now revealed, CHRIST in YOU, the GOOD NEWS of God's act of peace and reconcilation towards man (2 Cor 5:19-21, Col 1:19-20;26-27) My opinion on why Abraham believed and was declared righteous (because of his faith) wasn't because Abraham was special or that he DECIDED to believe.... it was simply because God spoke to him! (Rom 4:3-5 - Abraham was unrighteous and the fact that God spoke to him and promised him blessing resulted into him believing) Faith comes by hearing, by hearing the SPOKEN WORD OF GOD! When people minister the GOOD NEWS under the influence and power of God, the HOLY SPIRIT stirs up faith in people, persuading them of the Gospel Truth!
Why is it so important to believe that God is a God of Grace and Love? Heb 13:9 "Do not be carried about with different and strange doctrines, for it is good for the HEART to be established with GRACE" Thus its good for the BELIEF-SYSTEM to be established with GRACE!
If I don't believe in someone's ability to be good to me, I will never be able to receive ANY GOOD THING that person has to offer. Basically it's like this: Let's say there is this girl I am interested in and I feel I want to pursue her heart. If someone she knows or trusts comes by and tells her that I am just a "player" and that she must be careful of me, she will NEVER trust or believe that my intentions towards her are good and innocent, which means that the good things I do WILL NOT INFLUENCE HER! Unless someone can PERSUADE her that it was a lie, even if I buy her the moon and the stars, she won't be influenced by the good things I do. It's the same when people believe in a certain sport. If you don't believe in South-African Rugby, the 2007 Rugby World Cup Victory of the Springboks will NEVER influence you and you will never share in that JOY! If you don’t believe in the TOTAL victory and success of the Cross, you will never EXPERIENCE the full implications thereof!
Now here is where I want to make my argument: Prov 4:23 "Keep and GUARD your heart with ALL VIGILANCE and above all that you guard, for OUT OF IT flow the springs of life" Amplified Pro 22:17 "Bow down your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to My knowledge." To "apply your heart" is not a work, it is just an openness for the Unconditional Love and Grace of God. The problem with contemporary Christianity is because of FALSE TEACHING and a mixture between Grace and Law. Most Christians literally believe everything they hear if it has the word "Jesus" or "God" in it or just because it comes from the BIBLE. This is where trouble starts! People are not guarding their belief-systems and they are tossed like waves between different winds of doctrine. (James 1:6-8)
Basically what happens is that people believe a bunch of stuff and when these doctrines mix they get confused and the heart of man gets DECEIVED which makes us DOUBLEMINDED. When we become doubleminded our belief-system is polluted and with the wrong faith we will NEVER EXPERIENCE the Fruit of His life in us and ALL the GOOD THINGS God has ALREADY bestowed upon is in Christ are made of no effect because of our unstable belief-system (Eph 1:3, Phm 1:6). Here is just an example: When people are constantly being told “HOW TO LIVE” from the Bible, subconsciously in their hearts they cannot believe in God’s ability to LIVE THROUGH us, therefore they don’t experience the FRUITS of the Spirit, instead they have to go to WILLPOWER GYM and work up some motivation to live the Christ life…
So what happens is the Character of the God WHO IS LOVE get’s distorted and the image people have of God starts to become that of a Schizophrenic personality! Yes, it’s impossible for man to believe in such a personality, we are designed like this. Here is an example. “I love my daddy so much, he even feeds me when I do everything right… Sometimes he takes my stuff away and let’s me sleep outside in the cold but it’s only because he loves me so much and he says it’s to teach me how to be a better daughter, but I guess it’s just his way of building relationship.” This is a sermon in itself, but you must start to examine the things you believe about the Character of God. NO, He doesn’t send HARD TIMES over your path to teach you something, if this was true, you will find that countries like Zimbabwe and Haiti are the strongest in the Christian faith, and that they will find the need to send missionaries to countries like America and England.
I strongly feel I also need to give some other examples so brace yourself: People believe stuff like “God loves us so much” and in the same breath they talk about the need to deliver each other from “bloodline curses” that was completely destroyed on the CROSS! That is like saying "God loves me so much that he punishes me for the sins of my father of what I had NO CONTRIBUTION of!" This is an insult to the NEW CREATION that God redeemed and bought with the precious blood of Christ. God didn’t pay the highest price for us to be taken for years of deliverance and inner-healing! There is nothing that completely restores a person than the full understanding and the persuasion of his IDENTITY and ALREADY COMPLETENESS in Christ and the fact that it’s been done on the Cross! God got MORE RIGHT in Christ, then what satan did in Adam. (Rom 5:17-19, Gal 3:13, Eze 18:1-4;20, Jer 31:29-30, 2 Cor 5:14-17)
They also say: “God loves you SO much, AS LONG as you tithe, and He might even bless you IF you sow something” Popular beliefs like the “warfare approach” many Christians are caught up in, not yet understanding the Gospel of Peace and the Victory attained through the Cross. They constantly find the need to BIND evil-spirits and “plead the blood” over people, things and places. They struggle with a defeated enemy, literally giving him the stage by just calling his name the whole time, giving him glory for EVERYTHING that goes wrong. This includes the need to clean up your house because of “cursed” objects. I guess it’s a shame on the poor people who doesn’t have the knowledge of those things, I guess the blood of the Cross isn’t enough for them until they do something about it? WRONG, the blood was more than sufficient! I know EVERY scripture they get this from and if I had a few hours I could uncomplicate what we have complicated when we started degrading the victory of the Cross. We must stop to be so devil-conscious and must start to become GOD-CONSCIOUS!
Ok, I know I just said a mouthful, but if you believe some of the stuff stated here, I URGE you to evaluate your belief-system and ask God for revelation of Truth, Don’t ask your favorite pastor or your friends at your favorite conference where you like to go so often, NO, ask the TEACHER Who indwells you! The Bible says “You will know the TRUTH and the TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE” How free are you? “He whom the SON sets free is FREE INDEED.” (not free everytime you go for a deliverance-session, FREE FORVER!)
The book of Proverbs clearly stresses the importance of "believing right" and the tremendous influence our belief-system has on us:
Proverbs 17:22 "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones" Proverbs 4:30 "A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones." Proverbs 15:13 "A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken" Ok if it is not clear to you yet, let me make it CLEAR. It is time you EVALUATE what you believe and be honest with yourself and God how evident His power is in your life. If you feel the lack of His power in your life you need to start to examine your heart and you need to “clean up” your belief-system from all poison that’s been pumped into your veins through the years by wrong teaching. Paul confirms this:
2 Cor 13:5 "Examine and EVALUATE your own selves to see WHETHER YOU ARE HOLDING TO YOUR FAITH and SHOWING THE PROPER FRUITS OF IT. Test and prove yourselves. Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ IS IN YOU..?" Paul is literally saying that you must examine yourself, examine the way you live, examine the way you believe, DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT CHRIST LIVES IN YOU!!! If Christ lives IN us, HOW IS IT POSSIBLE to live defeated lives where the FRUIT of the Spirit are missing so often!?! We need to be honest with ourselves, and if we can come to the end of our pride in our current belief-system, we can be open for the Truth, we can be open for God to RADICALLY transform our lives, for God to POWERFULLY work in and through us, EFFORTLESSLY experiencing the Love and Grace of God, spontaneously responding in Worship and "good works", not because we are so special but because He lives IN us!
This note won’t be of much use if I don’t offer you with a solution. Our conclusion is that we need to protect our hearts from false teaching, but how do we do that? By having a REFERENCE that keeps everything in CONTEXT! The only reference in which the Bible can be understood correctly is in CONTEXT of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, CROSS-REFERENCE! The Cross speaks of God’s UNCONDITIONAL act of love to REDEEM sinners while they were dead in their sins, God’s ability to justify ungodly people who doesn’t qualify, God’s ability to be GOOD to those who hasn’t lifted a finger! Yes this is a Radical Gospel that comes from a Radical God, the living God of Power, Love and Grace! Everything you read in the bible must go through the FINISHED work of the Cross.
If you really want to know WHO GOD IS, look at the Word (not the bible), look at JESUS, the Word Who was from the beginning, the Word Who was with God, the Word Who WAS GOD (John 1:1-3;14). The "Word" is translated as "Logos" literally meaning the Logic, thoughts and reasoning of God. The "Logic, thoughts and reasoning" of God became flesh! Jesus said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the Father for He is the EXACT REPRESENTATION of the INVISIBLE GOD! (Heb 1:1-3) John 1:17 says that GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ, literally meaning that there was no truth before Christ came and Hebrews 1 says that IN THE NEW COVENANT God has spoken to us IN A SON. If you want to know God, look at Jesus, look at His complete work done on the Cross FOR YOU!
1 John 5:20 “And we [have seen and] know [positively] that the Son of God has [actually] come to this world and has GIVEN US UNDERSTANDING and insight [progressively] to perceive (recognize) and come to know better and more clearly Him Who is true; and we are in Him Who is true--in His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). THIS [MAN] IS THE TRUE GOD AND LIFE ETERNAL.
To nail this reference into the coffin, now read Heb 13:8-9 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” VERSE 9 – “Do not be carried about with different and strange doctrines, FOR IT IS GOOD FOR THE HEART TO BE ESTABLISHED WITH GRACE, not with foods, in which those who have walked in them were not helped.” Aha! Jesus IS God, and Jesus NEVER CHANGES, before Christ came NO-ONE KNEW the TRUE GOD and Jesus confirms this in John 17:24 “O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You [continually]; and these men understand and know that You have sent Me. I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.”
John 17:26 “..the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.” How can we look past scriptures like these and just settle for “average” Christian life… Christianity must wake up and start to challenge the widely accepted religious-system that keeps the beloved in bondage, living defeated lives, causing them to walk around with LONG-FACES constantly judging those who are not living as “righteous” as they do. If this note has shaken you a bit, then I have succeeded.
So just to stress the importance of having the CORRECT FAITH carefully read the following scripture as in the Amplified Bible and see that the emphasis is put on FAITH.
Eph 3:17-19 “May Christ THROUGH YOUR FAITH [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
So the kind of Faith we need to have is that which will produce the EXPERIENCE of the Love of Christ that FAR SURPASSES mere KNOWLEDGE, focusing on the breadth, length, depth and height of it! If we start believing right we will discover how flooded we are with the FULNESS of God and I won't let anyone tell me that being "flooded" with God results into mediocre living! Now go and evaluate your HEART, deep inside you, it's calling out to the LIFE and LOVE of God!
Grace and Peace!
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