Have THE Heart

by James M
(Melbourne, Australia)

1 Sam. 16:7

I’ve been so fascinated with hearts lately for some reason because it is pretty much the most important organ in our body, physically and spiritually. The heart is what gives us our passions and desires and it enables us to love.

Having the right heart can get you to amazing places that you never thought you would ever be, but having the wrong heart can get you to the wrong places, especially when God will judge you one day.

1 Chronicles 28:9

This is God’s message for you, just change the name ‘Solomon’ to your name and this is what God wants for you.

The most frustrating thing in our society is that we are all so worried about trying to please people and gain approval by showing it on the outside. We must have the best clothes and jewellery, the latest items, etc.

They get so caught up in it and forget about who they were inside, they lose control and fall into temptation, which is what the enemy planned and he will target your heart from time to time. Let me tell you, there will always be a person who will light you up and expose who you really are.

I want you to ask yourself a question, where are you going to stop short when God is ready to judge you, will you have the right heart? I will explain some type of hearts we could have.

I. A Heart of Greed.

2 Peter 2:14

If you have a heart of greed, it means you always will be looking for something more, the bigger, the better and that little extra, to satisfy your own self. And you may think you feel satisfied for a short time BUT it will never last because God Himself has purposely created a void in us that He can only fill and he will only do that if we ask him.

That’s why we have so many people searching for the meaning of life; People try sex, money, drugs, alcohol, people, worldly objects and religion. I’m sure you know that the bigger hole you dig, the harder it will be to get out.

There have been many people who are so focused on themselves and when they don’t get something they wanted, they go out of their way and even manipulate people and usually make a mess of their own lives at times. Are you searching for something more?

Are you thinking that maybe if you were rich, you will be fulfilled, or something close to that? Well, sorry but I have to say that ain’t going to happen and that is the BASIC TRUTH!

I’m not saying you can’t enjoy what your heart desires or something you want. But I’m saying, enjoy it for the right reasons, as we look into this verse,

Ecclesiastes 5:19 to 6:2

Do you always want something more? Do you feel that you have a Heart of Greed? Then I have an answer for you. To put it bluntly, you haven’t fully grasped having God in your life. God is waiting for you to ask him to become closer to you, clearer to you.

God wants to fulfil your life and He will bless you, if you follow him and set your heart on his will and on things above. There is no better feeling than that and that’s the way God intended it to be!

II. A Heart of Pride.

As I say a Heart of Pride, there are two types of Pride; the first one is described in this verse:

Hosea 13:6

Are you too comfortable with yourself at the moment? Is it because you feel that you have done enough and God has blessed you. I heard from a remarkable young woman preach this, ‘You should never be satisfied of where you are with God; We should feel the need to get even closer to God every moment and the closer you get to God, the closer he gets to you!’.

Your relationship with God never stops, it gets better and stronger and closer as you spend more time with him and yet people do become proud and forget about Jesus. It’s really saddening that they were once on the right track and soon got distracted by the world; it certainly breaks God’s heart. This does happen to Christians.

The other type of pride is mentioned in Psalms 10:4.

Psalms 10:4

Do you feel that you don’t need God as you are doing very well with your own life? Do you think that you should have full control over your life and make your own decisions as to how they suit your own benefits?

When you have a heart of Pride, it is usually because you have built your self-esteem so high with worldly things, achievements, trophies and money that make you feel invincible, that you will can never be defeated and you will never fail.

Having a Heart of Pride will lead you to trouble because when you fall and we all fall at times in our lives. It will be very hard for you to admit that you failed and you end up trying to hold onto what you have left or become desperate to get back to where you were. This usually happens to unbelievers.

When you have God, you have a foundation set on a solid rock. He can’t fail and he won’t fall because we already have the victory! When you are humble and surrender your life to God, he will carry you, teach you, love you and bless you. You must stay humble and stay focused for God and the rewards will be so much better than you can imagine and God has mentioned that in Ecc. 7:8

Ecclesiastes 7:8

III. A Heart of Stubbornness.

Romans 2:5

Are you storing wrath against God? It’s like a wall between you and God, he can't break through it, more like a window, he can see through and you can too, but there is nothing he can do because you are too stubborn to admit something, or to repent a sin that is separating you from God.

So what can you do? There’s only one answer - You have to break the window, by confessing whatever it is that is stopping you and God and He will shatter the window and you'll feel his wonderful presence.

If you are still struggling, then I can only put it in this saying ‘you know how the Sun shines through a window, it's really good, but not as good as going outside and feeling the full radiance of the Sun.

It’s the same with God when you go outside, out of your comfort zone and just surrender to God. It is and will always be unbelievably amazing!

IV. A Heart of Bitterness.

Job 21:25

Are you holding something against someone, or against God himself? This is just one of the worst hearts to have because you only hurt yourself and you definitely don’t gain anything. Bitterness comes from being hurt, offended or cheated.

I looked up ‘Bitterness’ and it gave me a couple of meanings which were:

1. Causing a sharply unpleasant, painful, or stinging sensation; harsh.

2. Difficult or distasteful to accept, admit, or bear.

3. Resulting from or expressive of severe grief, anguish, or disappointment.

4. Marked by resentment or cynicism.

5. Difficult to accept.

All these meanings just all come back to the sole point: It is simply not a good feeling!
Stubbornness and Pride can lead to this feeling. Bitterness is just so bad because when you feel the resentment towards someone, you only end up hurting yourself as it says in the verse, ‘never having enjoyed anything good’.

The only way to get out of it is simply sorting out the unsolved problem that is bothering you and that means letting go of the past and just step forward into a fresh new beginning because we can’t change the past but we can make choices now that will influence the future.

It is so simple but yet so hard when you feel the bitterness in your heart. You and only you can break that wall of resentment that is stopping you or holding you back!

There are many other types of hearts, such as crushed heart, deceitful heart, fearful heart, broken heat or a heart of stone. But God has so much power that he can completely change your heart, your life and your piece of mind. But that can happen only if you seek him, and I say that’s a BARGAIN!

Col. 3:1-10

Conclusion:
So let us all ask God to teach us, show us and change us for the better. If something in your heart is holding you back, whether it’s Greed, Pride, Stubbornness or Bitterness, God wants to change you. It is not too late or too bad for God to change you.

Ezekiel 11:19

He simply wants to transform you because he loves you so much and he wants you to become a revelation to the world. I want to ask God to help us have THE Heart, the pure heart, the devoted heart, the humble heart, the strong heart, the UNDIVIDED Heart that God wants us to have so we can show who God is to the world through us.

Come to the front if you want God to give you a revelation to give your heart the change that you and God have been waiting for.

Note from Mark: We need a heart after God, don't we? Some can have a bad heart and not even know it. Remember Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Thanks for the sermon James.