Don't Allow Your Heart To Faint
Don't Allow Your Heart To Faint!
Introduction: We want to bring you a message today to challenge your life.
The Bible says we can have the fruit of our lips. So it is good to talk about what God says we can have. One of the things I want as a pastor, and Christian, is to be able to live what the Bible says, no matter what is going around on me. No matter what my thoughts or attitudes say. I want the Word of God to come to pass in my life:
I want to teach you today on a subject I will call: "Getting control over a fainting heart".
I have heard many preaching lately about not giving up. Don't quit, but just keep pressing on. Stay strong in God this is the year of our Jubilee. It is amazing how many have either slowed down, quit, given up over the past year or so. One of the largest enemies to the Christian life is the "I Quit" spirit! Self pity, insecurity, inferiority, I can't do this any more. I want to encourage you today ‑ there is a way not to quit. You will never quit on the outside, until you first quit on the inside.
If you can get to a place where you don't quit on the inside, then you will never quit on the outside:
As long as there is inner fight then that outward man has to keep up. Illustration of a preacher who was on a coma, comatose condition in the hospital, and he could hear the doctors tell his family, he is not going to make it, we can't do anything else for him. They said were going to pray, and the man said he heard them talking and the doctors negative reports. Now he could not talk or respond, yet he could hear all this going on at his bedside. And he went on to say later, when he came out of the coma and was healed. But he said the thing he realized when it was all said and done, the thing that he realized that really saved his life, was that deep down inside, he was grasping for life and he said under my breath inside of me I kept saying I am going to live and not die to preach the gospel. Kept saying over and over on the inside I am going to live. Powerful thing to be willing on the inside, it will eventually manifest on the outside. I hope you and I never have to go comatose to attest to that. Let us practice on little things. I am going to do this and not quit! This is not going to stop me, I don't care what is going on over here, I am going on, and its not going to stop me from serving my God.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
It is every Christians responsibility to get rid of every weight that slows us down. Another name for weight is burdens, worry, what troubles you, what is changing your attitude, what is stealing your joy, what takes your spiritual energy from you. What ever it is lay it aside. Just purpose to say, I am not going to be that way anymore, I am not going to do that anymore, I am not going to feel that way anymore. It may not get rid of the weight overnight, but its certainly a start.
If you opened the back door and a possum came into the house ‑ it might take you a minute or two to get him out, but you are going to start immediately. The first thing your going to do is talk to it. Get out of here, scat, scram! It is amazing how you will yell at dumb animals that can't talk back. Shoe fly! But when it comes to confessing God's Word, things that the Bible says, sometimes we feel funny or a little slow. But you talk to everything else. You get up and go out to your car and you turn that key and hear (a slow grunting sound), come on don't tell me you don't say, come on car start, don't let me down now! Come on you can do it!
When your in a hurry you talk, oh I hope I am not late, oh hurry, and your by yourself! If you just think about how much you really do use your mouth to encourage you, then you would use it more also in the good things of God to call good things to you. Instead of saying, oh my god, I can't, oh my God what am I going to do? Start saying were going to, we can, God is on my side! If nothing else you adjust your attitude and you feel better and those around you feel better.
Come on we probably all have felt like quitting. I almost have several times. It will start inside before it manifest outside. Yes, just dealing with stuff can get us discouraged and down. Thanks God for godly wives and friends to speak into our lives, just at the right time, right moment, that speaks to us. Weights fall off, strength returns. We realize were not in charge here, God is. Were just living our life in Christ. Sometimes we don't want people to know were in a ditch. But God has a way of pulling us out if we keep our hearts right.
So we need to lay aside every weight. Every worry, care, burden, anxiety, hurt, anger, resentment, fear, and any sin! (deal with it right now!)
And we are going to run the race that is set before us! (and finish it!)
Verse 5‑6 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
You=ve got to listen to God and hear the Agentle whisper.@
Lets talk about this a moment. The Lord is not going to beat you up, kill your kids and burn down your house and anything like that to get your attention. But He will speak to you in a Asmall still voice.@ KJV
1 Kings 19:12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
The Lord is for you. He is for your promotion, your advancement. The Bible says, promotion does not come from the east or west, promotion comes from the Lord.
Psalm 75:6 No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. (NIV) (The Lord is In the promotion business)
He wants you healthy and strong! And yet He will deal with us. He won=t just let us run as renegades. I am going to tell you right now if you don't feel the Lord dealing with you about your time, about your money, your words you say, your attitude, your family, your job, your business, your possessions, your belongings, your church participation, attendance, tithing, how you deal with other people.
Here me on this because I am going to tell you straight out: If you don't feel the Lord dealing with you on these things, I am going to tell you it=s a pretty sure sign that your becoming callused and your conscience becoming seared and you may be in bigger trouble than what the outward things are showing up as.
$[My definition of a Christian] It is you developing in Christ, and then at the same time developing someone else in Christ. Personal development, and developing others. See that is true Christianity. Christianity is not just a set of doctrines, not just a set of beliefs, its not just going to church only, Christianity is life changing, redeeming, I am a new Creature in Christ, old things passed away, behold all things have become new! I have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb! From glory to glory, He is changing me. And on and on goes the change in me. $To be a Christian means, every week, every day of your life, your improving, advancing, your growing, your changing. Now that does take encouragement, it takes anointing, it takes the Word, it takes prayer.
But let me tell you what else it takes ‑ it takes come correction. Because you and I are not always right. The bible says, only a fool thinks he is right in his own mind! All of us need a constant level of check and balance, a constant level of correction. It is good to have people around you that really love you. It is good when a wife or husband will tell each other they love you. But also say I love you but your wrong. It is good when its not just a disagreement of opinion. And its good when the other one can say, thank you your right!
It is good to have a pastor. I have a pastor. It is good to have a pastor that once in a while will say, you know I don't want to hurt you in this, but I need to tell you your wrong, stop saying this, stop doing this. Come on your slacking off in this area. That is not bad, that is not controlling, that is not cultic, that is good for the soul. Its good for Christian growth. Every soldier needs a commander! Everybody who is called to the army of God (and that is every Christian) you need, I need someone calling cadence. If you don't you just kind of stay at ease all the time. Once in a while you need someone to bring you to attention! Forward march! Left, right, left right, leading you in the Cadence. I don't know but I've been toldY!
It is way beyond discipline. It has to do with you submitting your soul to someone who is led by God barking some orders from heaven and blowing the trumpet in Zion and shouting from the Holy Mountain!
We all need it. And you we really need it when we know our attitude stinks, you know your hands have been doing a little wrong, feet been going some places when it ought to be going somewhere else, like to the house of God and prayer!
This verse says, don't faint‑ don't get discouraged when your rebuked by God!
So how is God going to rebuke you?
Let me tell you the last way you want God to rebuke you. Himself! Peter said, God is a consuming fire! God is an awesome God. Let us not fall into the hands of this awesome God. There is a better way for us to receive the message than the main man come visit you in a dream or vision or just flat out correct you. It would be better to just get in His Word and let His word fix you. Through study, through preaching, that is better than visitation. Or let believers correct you just through fellowship. Just by being around good people, Iron sharpens iron. See many times they might not even know they are correcting you, but they will just knock off a rough burr off once in a while, adjust an attitude by a simple word to you.
It is good once in a while to let the preacher fix you: something he preaches or something he says. Just one on one or through the message. There is not bad in that. Its all improvement, there is all good in that.
Illustration ‑ if you went and paid a skiing instructor to teach you how to go snow skiing, your not going to get mad and hurt feelings and angry and says no, you do it this way. If you pay a golf instructor, to learn how to play golf, your not going to get mad your holding the club wrong. No, you paid the guy so that he would teach you how to do it right and where to hold your hand and how to swing the club, and so on. You want the guy there and you don't mind him telling you what is wrong so you can get better. After all you want to win at what your doing and be the best at skiing or the best at golf that you can be.
We ought to be the same way about the things of the Kingdom of God.
We ought to enjoy when our Christian leaders say, well your doing pretty good, but you could be better!
See I am a pastor to you now: I don't know a lot of things you know. Some of you are in business, and skills that do many things I don't do. Some of you are a lot smarter than I am at business or in your arena. I don't claim to know all that stuff. I don't have time to study and develop in all that stuff. Someone ask me how do I do all that Internet and computer stuff? I know someone who knows what there doing! Teaches me. But the last thing I need is to start doing it for others, I barely have time to preach and prepare let along to get involved in some other kind of business. I just find the most knowledgeable people and let them do what they do best. See they are anointed to do what they do, and I am anointed to do what I do.
It is good not to faint and fall apart when someone confronts you:
Life is filled with confrontations. You can get nasty about it, or you can improve because of it. The bible says if you rebuke a scorner he will hate you for it. But if you rebuke a righteous man, they will love you for it. I like to say it this way, and you probably won't like it when I say it, because I don't like it when I say it, but if you want to really tell how mature you are spiritually, wait until the next time a friend looks you right in the eye and rebukes you! Weight until a couple of your friends confronts you. Wait until the pastor puts his arms around you and says wait a minute big mouth, its time for you to zip the lip, your getting yourself in trouble. Now let me tell you something, the way you respond to that, not after you have had time to think about it, but the first immediate response, ask them to record it. Because when you calm down, you can see that your really not the spiritual giant you thought you were.
I will be the first to admit, many times I have been confronted in my life and did not handle it right the first time. I am getting better at it because I am believing my pride level is going down and not up. I am believing that my heart to receive and my heart to be right with God it bigger than my heart to be right. I am finding out its not real healthy to think your right all the time. So we ought to be humble enough for anyone to confront us, even our enemies without loosing it. Does not mean you always agree and your glad about it!
No, because the Bible teaches us that chastening is not pleasant for the time its going on. No body enjoys, just being chewed out and getting a spanking. Get out of here! If your saying that something is wrong. You don't say lay it on me, you say get it over quick. If you ask your child, which he rather have a swat with the paddle or 2 weeks grounded! Most of them will take the spanking so they can get it over faster!
Point is with tender hearted kids, you want have to spank them much. My point is it don't feel good, but when our hearts are tender it won't take a lot of correction. When were tender before God it takes a whole lot less application of discipline and authority to get our attention and keep our lives fixed.
$Ecclesiastes 10:4
If the spirit of the ruler rises against you, Do not leave your post; For conciliation pacifies great offenses.
For if you leave your post, your telling your senses to have a pity party. Don't quit church, don't quit your position, don't leave your family, don't quit your job, just because your boss chewed you out one day. Don't give up. This says if you start yielding to your disappointments to a pacifier and say to them suck on this a while, they are going to stay around a long time. And you are going to end up offended and hurt.
Do not leave your post even if the ruler or the boss or whoever is over you, is against you, still don't leave it.
Eccles. 10:10 If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength;
But wisdom brings success.
In other words the sharper the ax the better its going to go through the wood. Take a whole lot less effort.
$2 Thessalonians 2:1‑2
shaken in mind ‑ don't let things change your mind so easily. Quit being wishy washy and if you are. Blown about by every little change. Keep a sound mind, don't be easily worried, troubled in your mind.
It does not matter if people talking to you or attitudes talking to you. Trouble come or what have you: it does not matter what comes at you don't let it change your mind, don't let it affect you negatively. Don't quit on the inside and learn to stand strong and say, it may be bad on the outside, but its not going to change me on the inside! Praise God! Don't change on the inside!
Remember your mind is one of the most powerful elements of your human make up:
No other creation has a mind like you and I. It not calculable how many thoughts you mind receives in a 60 minute or 1 hour time spot. Thought shoot in, come from every direction. Come from what you hear, see, the 5 senses bring thoughts in and fast. Telling you something every minute your alive. You brain is registering some thought. You touch, you feel something all the time, your taste, your sight, your hearing, think about it. We have to learn how not to be easily shaken in mind.
We have to come to a place and ask God's help to do it. That you and I come to a place where were not worried all the time. Not burden down all the time. I heard a very wealthy man say one time, most people don't realize the weight that comes with money. He said he didn't always have money, and there is a weight to being poor‑ oh but when you start getting in the money and now you feel responsible, who do hire, who do I give to, what do I build, what don't I build, what organizations do I help?
You have to become harden to adversities and tender towards people:
The average tendency when people are angry with you and disappointed with you, they don't like you, talking against you, the first thing a human wants to do is become harden towards people. Give them a piece of your mind, I am not going to have anything to do with them anymore! I am offended, I am hurt at them.
See people by instinct become harden towards people and tender towards adversity ‑ what is wrong with you? Oh I am hurt, I got abused, you don't know how they treated me! You see what is happening, your doing exactly what the scriptures warns us not to do. We are to be tender towards people and harden inside towards adversity. Not the other way around. Never let the system slowly to teach you to be harden to people.
I am telling you if you lived long enough this is not an easy task to accomplish.
Why? Because all the time your brain is collecting the pollutants. See what else are you going to do with your brain anyway? Besides renew it and wash it, what else is there to do with it? Pride says, I don't need to go to church, I don't need to hear the preacher, I don't need to go play the tape and hear what I have missed while I was gone. I don't need to study my Bible. You know why pride says that ‑ because the pride as convinced you that your Ok!