Peace Within the Heart
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Recount Imagery of Iwo Jima
Recount Imagery of Iwo Jima
Pick up on imagery from first
Pick up on imagery from first
Some volunteer to surrender, yet Christ approaches, the man who was hung on a tree in victory now lives and comes to those who want to surrender, and says:
25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
What does he mean to hate? Living for what you love and desire the most.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Ex of treasuring my family and locking the doors at night.
Ex of treasuring my family and locking the doors at night.
Submission is giving up your right to rule.
Mat
Not just about outward actions
12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
God wants your Heart
Outward Actions Point to the Heart
Outward Actions Point to the Heart
Mt
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
luke 6:45
When we do sin, we need to stop and assess our hearts, not just try not to do it again.
Scripture says the heart is .....(soul, mind, spirit).....(affections, desires, beliefs, choices)
Embodied souls
Beliefs
Beliefs
9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! 11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. 12 Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! 13 With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. 14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Psalm 119:9-
Surrendering your beliefs means holding your understanding and beliefs with open hands, recognizing many are sinful or wrong, and allowing God to change them as he sees fit.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Desires
Desires
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
psalm
Gal 5:22-
Surrendering your desires means holding them with open hands, recognizing some may have become demands, and allowing God to shape your heart to desire what he does.
this may mean letting go of a desire for genuinely good things because God, your father who perfectly knows you and your future, knows it is not what you need.
Very difficult.
17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Resolutions
Resolutions
Ex of lifting my arm / New-year
1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. 2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. 3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”
Submitting your resolutions (choices) means holding them with open hands, recognizing that they were made in ignorance compared to God, and choosing to follow his above yours.
Submitting your resolutions (choices) means holding them with open hands, recognizing that they were made in ignorance compared to God, and choosing to follow his above yours.
Conclusion
Conclusion
“First, faith is expressing the raw contents of the heart to God. Second, faith is submitting the raw contents of the heart to what God said about himself. And third, faith is acting in the present situation on what God says is true, valuable, and worthy of commitment.” Pierre, The Dynamic Heart, 114.
Mark 9:17-
17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19 And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25 And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26 And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Now comes a key feature of this story. Expect to find it in your story as well: God is the One Who Test, and he will test you. Don’t think of final exams and test anxiety. Think of this test as a way to expose traitors during wartime. We are the potential traitors and don’t even know it. God test us because we are so oblivious to the mixed allegiances in our hearts. The purpose of the test is to help us see our hearts and if they are found traitorous, we can turn back to God. God is not playing mind games with us; he is forging a relationship with us. Welch, Running Scared, 75.
Now comes a key feature of this story. Expect to find it in your story as well: God is the One Who Test, and he will test you. Don’t think of final exams and test anxiety. Think of this test as a way to expose traitors during wartime. We are the potential traitors and don’t even know it. God test us because we are so oblivious to the mixed allegiances in our hearts. The purpose of the test is to help us see our hearts and if they are found traitorous, we can turn back to God. God is not playing mind games with us; he is forging a relationship with us. Welch, Running Scared, 75.
Submitting our hearts to God is at the core of worship.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
psalm
psalm 139:2
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Questions to Think About
Questions to Think About
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
philippians 4:
Questions to Think About
Questions to Think About
Am I holding on to my life with closed fist, unwilling for God to take and give as he sees fit?
Am I seeking to believe what God says, even when I have always believed differently?
Am I seeking to desire what God does, such as being grieved by what grieves him, like sin?
Am I seeking to be more committed to God’s will rather than mine?
Am I seeking to build my kingdom, or God’s?