When God Grabs the Heart

Just over two weeks ago God graciously grabbed my heart. It was not a pleasant experience, but the fruit of it has been sweet and surprising.

For many years I have worshipped at the altar of the sloppy cheeseburger and fries. In my worship I always washed the hastily chewed and swallowed food down with a cold Coke. This consistent lifestyle worship of the appetite idol led to a number of side-effects in my life:

• Using money to ensure access to my idol instead of stewarding it for God's Kingdom and glory;
• Lying in the form of deceitful "hiding" and partial answers to potentially idol-revealing questions;
• A long, slow roller-coaster of weight gain and loss, living for 25 years within a 65 pound range of weight and thus acting as lord over my body, which Christ died to purchase for Himself;
• Living with the low energy level that comes with a diet of junk;
• Meager fruit of life and ministry because of constant grieving of the Holy Spirit and His filling;
• The detachment from others that comes when this appetite idol was occupuying my mind with thoughts of "I can't wait until this is over so that I can get to my beloved Whopper," or "What excuse do I need to come up with to get me out of the house so I can sneak in a super-sized coke?"
• Having the joy of the Lord choked out of my life just like the fat of my idol was slowly clogging my body's arteries;
• I stole from my family, giving to them a half-husband and half-dad; and I was...
• Betraying the glory of God for the glory of grease. Inevitably I would show in my words and my passion my great love and satisfaction for food. This siphoned off true love and satisfaction in the all-satisfying person and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To name a few.

How did God get ahold of my idolatrous heart?

He opened my eyes to the sin and idolatry that was there. In my rationalizing, compromising heart I had minimized my sin, compared myself favorably with others, and just plain refused to think too deeply about it. While reading John Owen's "The Mortification of Sin in Believers" I was grabbed over and over by God's Spirit and by the Word of God. I was caught between a rock of long-developed habit and the draw of the grace of God. The time was very dark. There was nothing to see but decades of betraying my Father and My Savior and Lord for a pot of beans, just like Esau. In the darkness there was one thing left for me: the character of God. He receives the repentant, confessing heart (1 John 1:9). He turns darkness to light. He "breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron" Psalm 107:16. He strengthens weak, fearful hands to toss long-held idols into the river of "never again." He opened my eyes somewhat to the sinfulness of my sin and to the astounding price my Savior had paid on the cross to make me His.

My counsel to you if you are struggling with habitual worship of idols in your heart: SEEK THE LORD. Go to Him and cry out to Him for deliverance. Plant your heart in the Word of God, for "The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul" Psalm 19:7. Tell the truth; to yourself...to God. Enlist the prayer help of others. If you can get ahold of it, read Owen's work referred to above. Refuse to listen to the whines and excuses and rationalizations of your heart. Don't compare yourself to others. Let the Word of God be your magnifying glass. Realize that life and eternity are at stake here. KNOW that the Lord is gracious and compassionate, full of mercy and that He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin (Exodus 34:6,7). Pray Psalm 51: 1-12 over and over and over. Ask the Lord to show you the sinfulness of your sin. Ask Him to show you just how much you have been forgiven. Ask Him to show you the JOY and SATISFACTION that is in Jesus that you have been tossing aside for mud pies.

Ask Him to show you WHO you have been pushing back into the closet of your heart in order to worship your pitiful, deceitful, Satan-puppeteered idols.

Keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. He WILL answer (Matthew 7:7,8)

May the Lord who delights in setting captives free and regaining the hearts of His own for His exclusive worship make your heart an IDOL-FREE zone.

Discipline for Winning at Ministry and Life

The Apostle Paul lived a life for the sake of others. This included things like not having a wife, eating and drinking simply, working for a living at times when he could have lived on support from others, and adjusting to whatever group he was with so that he would not lose a chance to share the gospel (see 1 Corinthians 9 for all these).

However, living this way was not always easy. Paul, just like you and me was a man with a body that has desires and in which the power of sin was at work (see Romans 7). Therefore, in order to live in a way that was most effective for the gospel ministry at all times, he had to discipline himself in all things.

Paul used the image of an athlete to convey this truth in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. There were athletic games in Corinth, the Isthmian games, that were second only to the Olympic games in Greece. People knew well the image of the runner who trained constantly for the honor of wearing the laurel wreath as winner of his event in the games.

Paul makes several very significant points about the kind of discipline it takes to win at ministry and life all the way until the race finally ends.

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

Some of the important truths here:

• There is an important MINDSET that is necessary in life and ministry that will keep us running in a winning manner to the end of the race. Paul says, "...Run that you may obtain it." That is, we must run our Christian life with the determination that we will, by God's grace, succeed in this thing. We are going to keep on. We will not be turned aside. There is a prize out there (Jesus!) and we intend on getting it. We will do whatever it takes to win.


• Another important truth here is that winning discipline is UNIVERSAL. That is, we must "exercise self-control in ALL things." I cannot work hard at my study and let my eating border on gluttony (Oh Lord, how I lived there for SO many years!). I dare not think that compromise and laziness in one area of my life will not ultimately affect ALL areas of my life. It will. It does. It has. There is a spiritual domino effect in all of our lives. To win in one area requires some level of winning in all areas of my life. This does not mean or necessitate perfection. Just a mind to fight the battle on all fronts. Often continued failure in one area is due to the effect of failures to discipline in other areas.


• Winning self-discipline always has in view the REWARD. None of us disciplines except for some reward. It may be to look better, to get a better job, to please a boss, or to keep healthy for a long life, but there is some reward we are after. Paul says the runners in the Isthmian games ran for a perishable wreath. This laurel wreath was just leaves and branches, but it was the SOURCE of much praise of man and acclaim. Ultimately though, it was perishable, it would shrivel up, along with the praise. But WE run for an "imperishable" wreath, that is, the crown of righteousness, Heaven itself with Jesus at the center! This is the reward of rewards, the ETERNAL reward. All the glory of Almighty God and His Son to enjoy and serve forever. No shriveling! I must be able to remind myself day by day, as the struggle gets old and hard, that I am after something that is worth it all, the "pearl of great price." The reward of HIM will draw me on through thick and thin all the way to the finish line...a winner.


• My goal in discipline is to "discipline my body and keep it under control." That is, I must be MY BODY'S MASTER, not it my master. I am out to make it my slave every day, every meal, every morning when the alarm mocks me, every fork in the road to take the way of ease or the way of faithfulness. I cannot run the race if my body tells me to quit or slow up or cheat and I obey. I must be in charge by the Holy Spirit's power (Romans 8:13). I will sign no compromise with my body.

What about you?

• Is your mindset, "I am, by God's grace, going to win this race"?


• Are you exercising self-control in all things?


• Do you remind yourself that it is Jesus at the end of the race that you will win and therefore the whole thing, whatever it requires, is worth it?


• Who's in control: you or your appetites?

Run in such a way that you may win...at ministry and life...to the end of the race...for Jesus' sake

The Center of His Plan

What was Jesus' plan for developing people whose lives would result in covering the earth with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? What was his method for making "Kingdom-Advancers" who would get the gospel to all nations? What is He seeking to do in my life and your life, if we boil it down to its most basic essence? What is OUR CALL?

Matthew 4:19: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

This is the brief, life-changing call of Jesus to his first "full-time" disciples. What does this call include?

• A CALL to follow Jesus. This is the essence of discipleship: following Him. It is personal, not just following a list of rules. It calls for obedience, it calls for submissiveness, it calls for trust that He is leading in a good way, the best way...the way that leads to life and meaning and impact. Following Jesus, as we see from the gospels, calls for willingness to be a LEARNER in all of life, for that is where Jesus teaches (not just in church on Sunday!). Following Jesus is a call to learn to love Him, our beloved teacher and master. If we do not get the FOLLOW part right, the rest will never become true in our lives.

Are you following Jesus, right now, whatever He requires of you through His Word?

• A PROMISE: There is a promise that He will do something in and with us. He will make us "fishers of men." The men who heard this call were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They knew about fishing for fish. They did NOT know about fishing for men. Jesus was and is the Master Fisherman of Men. He wins every man-fishing tournament hands down. His stringer is always full. But He fishes for men these days through His disciples. Therefore we must be made into something we are not by nature. No matter how inept I may feel, no matter how much I have failed in the past to be a fisherman for Jesus, I have His promise, if I will follow Him, that HE will make me a fisher of men. How does He do it? First, AS we follow. Jesus knows where the fish are. He needs no sonar to spot the "big ones." As we follow Him He leads us to the fish, the people He wants us to "catch." Jesus also changes our character as we follow Him. He makes us people who love the lost and not just ourselves. He gives us the kind of compassion He had (Matthew 9:36ff). He gives us persistence. Second, Jesus transforms us into fishers of men by giving us the gospels to see how He did it while on earth. Note the difference of approach between an encounter with a Nicodemus vs. a woman at the well vs a Rich Young Ruler vs a Zaccheus. Jesus was always fishing or training fishermen. We don't need to ask, "What would Jesus do?" We just need to study the gospel records of Jesus' life. Third: Jesus trains us as fishers of men by yoking us up to fishermen who have already advanced in His training. Do you know someone who fishes for men (or women or children) faithfully as a lifestyle? Hitch a ride on their life. Ask them to give you some insights re: how they do it. Could you possibly tag along with them as they go to share Christ with someone? Fourth: Jesus equips us to fish for men by supplying us with the proper "bait." We need to share a biblical gospel with the lost. The Holy Spirit uses the Gospel of God, not the gospel of Mike or Fred or Sally to win the lost. Take a look back at the blog for February 18, "Do you share a biblical gospel with others?" Also, you can't do better for learning a biblical gospel presentation than using the book, Telling the Truth by Will Metzger. But, this takes work. Fifth, Jesus makes us fishers of men by making us pray-ers. Prayer is as essential to the fisherman's work as is a fishing pole. God has ordained that prayer will be a part of the salvation of the lost. Fishers of men have prayer lists, whether that list is in the mind, on the wall, or in the notebook. And they persist in their praying. And they BELIEVE as they pray. They believe that God will soften hearts, open doors, and bring lost, Satan-enslaved sinners into His marvelous light. Sixth, Jesus makes fishers of men by linking them up with a fishing team, the church. It is in the church that the full-orbed character of Christ is displayed in relationships and thus shown to be authentic. It is when you can take Jake to church and he meets Bob, who has a past very similar to his, that your witness to Jake takes the next step. Team fishing is superior any day to a solo effort.

This promise of Jesus makes something plain: at the center of His Kingdom plan is EVANGELISM and DISCIPLESHIP. That is what He is up to in you and me.

How do I know I am following Jesus? How's fishing?

Tossing Idols, Delighting in the Lord

From the New Living Translation, Second Edition:

Job 22:23-30: "If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored - so clean up your life. If you give up your lust for money and throw your precious gold into the river, the Almighty himself will be your treasure. He will be your precious silver! Then you will take delight in the Almighty and look up to God. You will pray to him, and he will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows to him. You will succeed in whatever you choose to do, and light will shine on the road ahead of you. If people are in trouble and you say, 'Help them,' God will save them. Even sinners will be rescued; they will be rescued because your hands are pure."

This is an astounding passage of Scripture. It gives us God's promises to people who put away their idols to love and worship God only. What are these promises?

• God will become their treasure.
• God will become their delight.
• Their prayers will be heard and answered.
• God will be glorified.
• There will be success and fruitfulness.
• Their impact on others, especially through prayer, will be powerful.

Perhaps you have wondered how you can have a heart that finds great delight in the Lord. Perhaps you have wondered how to finally be free from the idols of your heart, maybe that ONE idol that has kept hold of your heart for years...decades. Why do my prayers seem so impotent? Why is there no more fruit in my ministry to others? Why is God not more glorified in and through my life?

There is only ONE WAY all of these things can happen in any believer's life: we must TOSS our idols into the river of discarded gods and dust off the throne of our heart for occupancy by God alone. There can be NO joy in God while food or drink or sex or laziness or money or relationships with others or fear of the future rules my life. The human heart has room for one ultimate treasure: it is God or it is gods. It is the Gold and Sliver of the Almighty or it is the cheap trinkets of earth.

Can you taste what it would be like to have HIM as your only treasure? Don't you desire to be fruitful in His service? Do you long for the assurance that comes when you KNOW there is no other god before Him? Are you hungry for a prayer life that has impact for the Kingdom?

Again, there is one way and one way only. TOSS the IDOLS! Idols of the heart are deceptive...they promise what they can NEVER deliver: life, meaning, joy, impact, peace, assurance, love... Idols DISPLACE the deep love of Jesus with the cheap love of stuff.

"Lord Jesus, grant repentance to our idol grasping hearts. Grant us grace to toss the idols and grab ahold with all that we are to the true and lasting Treasure. Be our Treasure, be our Joy, be our fruitfulness, be our all. We seek to toss the idols in VAIN until your strengthen our hands and arms with the courage that will no longer settle for lesser things. Do this through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray...Amen."

Solution to a Hardened Heart

We talked a few days ago about what a hardened heart is. I wanted to add a few more specifics regarding God's solution to a hardened heart.

• 
  Repent – “Lord, I realize that I have stopped being teachable before you. When I have read your Word I have not come with a hungry heart. I have not come to corporate worship with the intention of applying and obeying Your Word. I have not been expecting You to speak to me. Father, please forgive my closed ears and grant to me a renewed appetite for Your Word…for You. Grant to me the heart of a disciple; a willing, obedient disciple.”
  
  Fear the Lord – When reading the Word or hearing the Word taught or receiving an encouragement or admonition from another believer:
  
  -Pray for ears to hear what the Lord Jesus would teach you.
  -Remember it is God speaking. It is His Word, not the word of men.
  -Remember God desires to speak first of all to you as you listen, not primarily others.
  -Work hard to hear: listening carefully and attentively, taking notes.
  -Apply what you learn. This word from God’s Word is for putting into practice: thinking, speaking, acting in more godly ways.
  -Seek to take away at least one truth that you will meditate on further and apply.
  -Share what you have learned with others.
  
  Walk with the Righteous – stay in fellowship with believers who love the Word of God, live in it and live it out, and who will challenge you with it.
  Hebrews 3:12,13

The Relationship Between Forgiveness and Love

In Luke 7 a woman who was known as a "sinner" broke all the cultural taboos and actually came into the house of a Pharisee, came up to Jesus, and lavished grateful love on the Savior with hair and tears and kisses and precious ointment.

This was beyond understanding for the Pharisee as he reasoned that Christ should have rejected the woman since if He WERE a prophet he would know who she was. Jesus did not reject her. He welcomed and received her lavish love.

Jesus did not miss the chance to offer truth to the Pharisee. As He often did, He told a story. This story was about a moneylender who had 2 debtors who were unable to pay their debts. One owed what would for us be about 2 month's wages. The other owed a debt of about about 20 month's wages. The moneylender for some reason cancelled the debt of both of them.

Jesus' question to Simon, the Pharisee, "Which of them will love him more?" v.42. Simon's answer, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt" v.43. He was right!

The greater the debt that is paid for someone, the greater their love for the one who paid the debt.

Jesus goes on to contrast the love being lavished on Him by this "sinful" woman with the lack of love of Simon the Pharisee. Not even the common courtesies had been offered to Jesus as a guest of the Pharisee. The point: the love of this "sinful" woman demonstrates her understanding that she has been GREATLY FORGIVEN. Simon's un-loving hospitality demonstrated that he had not been forgiven at all. He was one who considered himself righteous but was actually "sick."

How great is the love you lavish on the Savior? Do you understand, if you are a serious believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He has given Himself to suffer a Hell of punishment for YOUR SIN? It was not a portion of Bill Gate's fortune that was paid for your forgiveness. That would be pennies from a piggy bank in comparison to what Jesus has paid. It was the very life of the sinless Son of God, the eternal God become also man, creator and sustainer of the universe, who suffered in your place so that you could be forgiven by the holy God.

How much have you been forgiven? The price that had to be paid is the measure. God the Son for you.

Perhaps like me you need to cry out to God for the mercy of having your eyes opened to the immensity of the forgiveness that has been given you freely (in terms of what YOU had to pay) because of the infinite worth of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Do you find your love for Jesus has grown cold? Or, has it never been stoked up to white hot lavishment?

Cry out to Jesus.

Immerse yourself in the Word of God, especially those passages that deal with the sacrifice of Christ.

Think on it often.

May your love and mine for the Redeemer burst into a flame of never-dying love fueled by the deep awareness of HOW MUCH WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN and the PRICE that was paid that we might be.

Lips that Feed

Proverbs 10:21: "The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense."

Lips, of course, refers to words, to the speech of the righteous. How can words "feed"? Words can feed the HEART, the SOUL. Remember Jesus' words in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Man eats bread to live, but bread alone does not nourish true life. True life, spiritual life, is nourished by the Word of God. This tells us HOW the righteous' lips feed many, they feed the hearts and souls of people by sharing with them, speaking to them, the Word of God.

Note:

• The righteous' lips are characterized by the truth, the Word, of God.
• The righteous' speech is designed to build up, give life to, feed and nourish the heart of others. It will be an intentional thing and it will be an overflow of their righteous life.
• It is the lips of the RIGHTEOUS that feed many. This would seem to refer to those who are practically wise and obedient to God's Word, not the fools they are contrasted with. Of course, this can only be those saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the emphasis here is on the practically righteous, whose ways align with wisdom.
• The lips of the righteous feed MANY. That is, it is their LIFESTYLE to speak the Word of God to others. This would seem to indicate that their very way of looking at all things is formed by the Word of God and therefore their speech, whether commenting on, warning against, encouraging, or any other type of speech will be guided by and full of the Word of God.

Note Also:

• Fools die for lack of sense: That is, they have no appetite for the words of the righteous that feed the soul. They will not listen to God's Word and gain wisdom...therefore they destroy themselves, limited to their own wisdom. Their souls starve to death on the wisdom of the world.

Implications:

• Am I righteous? Do I live in obedience to the wisdom of God found in His Word? If not, I don't have much to say that will feed the souls of others.
• Am I immersed in the Word of God? This is what man lives by...are my words giving to others the living bread of the Word?
• Do I intend to speak to others to build them up? Ephesians 4:29 is excellent here.
• Do I listen to others, especially those who are wise and righteous? God has fresh bread from Heaven's ovens for me through the lips of the righteous around me...do I have ears to hear so that my soul may be fed?