Can You Locate Your Heart?

Everybody knows that their heart is on the left side of the body, for when the National Anthem is heard, our hand is placed over the heart as a sign of devotion to this land. It is likely that few have heard of dextrocardia situs inversus, but about one person in 10,000 suffers from this medical situation where the heart is located in the right side of the body. It is not often fatal to have the heart located in the wrong place, but there is another fatal condition called spiritualitus cardia situs inversus. Having the spiritual heart in the wrong place is always fatal.

The Bible uses the word “heart” 837 times and almost never uses it to refer to the muscle which pumps our blood. It uses the word to refer to our inner being, our souls and our emotions. Who has not heard of the greatest commandment, to love the Lord with all our heart?  Our love is tied to our hearts.

Jesus indicated this when He said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21). The context in which He said this is preceded by two commands:
(1)  Do NOT lay up treasures for yourself on earth.
(2)  Do lay up treasures for yourself in heaven.

Notice how vividly the Lord described the two options where our treasures, and therefore, our hearts, will be focused. Far too many are so focused on physical matters that their hearts are not heaven centered. There is no middle ground, for the verses that follow show that it is impossible for one to serve God and riches (mammon).

Now all of this is tied to the heart. Those in the world, and sadly many Christians, have their hearts located in the wrong place. There is no way anyone can live focused on the physical pleasures which money enables and stay focused on spiritual matters. Why? Because “…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

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Spiritual Harddrive

Recently I learned a very important lesson about internet and computer security. I had not backed up all of my important files, except for some sermons which I backed up about May of last year. None of the church bulletins or other church related documents had been backed up since I have been working with the Oak Grove congregation. Also, the antivirus software on the church office computer was not up-to-date nor had a virus sweep been run recently. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the computer was infected with a “worm” virus that destroyed the contents of the hard drive. I lost virtually everything I had done on that computer in the last year. It’s GONE! Some of it might be recovered, but the computer tech told me not to get my hopes up. Today I purchased an external hard dive so that I can store and protect my important “data treasures” and prevent another catastrophic loss. If only I had done so the previous week, I would not have had my valuable documents destroyed! But once the worm eats your data – it’s too late, there’s little chance of recovery!

This reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal…”

Like me with my “date treasures,” many trust their infinitely more important spiritual treasures to their “internal physical hard drive” (i.e. “laying up treasures upon the earth”) instead of in the “external spiritual hard drive” (i.e. “laying up treasures in heaven”). If our spiritual treasures are stored only on the earth, what will happen to them when our system crashes (and crash it will) – and we die? Our spiritual treasures will be GONE FOREVER! There is no “technician” that can restore or recover our spiritual treasures once the system crashes – it’s too late to retrieve what will be lost! We need to place our valuable spiritual treasures somewhere that nothing can harm them! We need to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where our God will keep them safe and protected and hold them preserved for us until the time when our “physical system” crashes and our “internal hard drive” is gone forever.

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Selfish Ambition

Selfish Ambition

The Bible condemns it in many places …

Galatians 5:19-21 – 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.{NKJV}

Philippians 2:3 – Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  {NIV}

James 3:14 – but if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.  {NIV}

James 3:16 – for where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.  {NIV}

Jesus Christ condemns it …

Matthew 18:1-4 – At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3 And said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.Matthew 20:25-27 – 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said; ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 but it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: {KJV}

Matthew 23:11-12 – 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. {KJV}

All Christians {i.e. Saints} should avoid …  

Psalms 121:1-8 – I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2

My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. {

May lead to strife and contention …

James 4:1-7 – From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not

hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. 5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? 6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Selfish ambition is often connected to pride, covetousness, and cruelty …

Habakkuk 2:4-5 – 4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.  5 Woe to the Wicked “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man, and he does not stay at home. Because he enlarges his desire as hell, and he is like death, and cannot be satisfied, He gathers to himself all nations and heaps up for himself all peoples.  {NKJV}

Covetousness …

Habakkuk 2:8-9 – 8 Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you, Because of men’s blood and the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it.  9 “Woe to him who covets evil gain for his house that he may set his nest on high that he may be delivered from the power of disaster!

Cruelty …

Habakkuk 2:12 – “Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, who establishes a city by iniquity!  {NKJV}

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES …

Adam and Eve …

Genesis 3:5-6 – 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. {KJV}

Miriam and Aaron Numbers 12:2 …

Numbers 12:2-8 – by us? And the LORD heard it. 3(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) 4 And the LORD spoke suddenly unto 2 And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. 5 And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. 6 And he said hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? {KJV}

Korah … READ Numbers 16

Adonijah … READ 1 Kings 1:5

Sennacherib… READ 2 Kings 19:23

Sons of Zebedee … READ Matthew 20:21

The antichrist … READ 2 Thess. 2:4

Diotrephes … READ 3 John 1:9

Consider this:

All Christians must guard against the sin of selfish ambition; for this sin will cause that one who yields to it; spiritual suicide. If you find that your ambition is of the sort herein examined, correct it quickly by repenting and resolve to be unselfish in all that you want, hope for or desire in life. Indeed; submit yourself unto God and God will aid you in resisting the impulse toward selfish ambition – cf. Philippians 2:1-8 – 1 Unity Through Humility – Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 The Humbled and Exalted Christ  – Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. {NKJV}

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Microscope and Bible

Several years ago the story was told of a wealthy Chinese businessman who visited America.  During his stay he was introduced to something he had never seen before (a powerful microscope).  As he looked through its lens he was amazed at the detail and beauty of crystals and the petals of flowers.  He was so impressed with the instrument that he decided to purchase one and take it back to China. He thoroughly enjoyed using his microscope; however, one day he discovered something that disturbed him greatly.  As he examined some rice he was planning to eat for dinner he found that tiny living creatures were crawling in it.  Troubled by this he concluded that there was only one thing he could do.  He would destroy the instrument because of what it revealed – and so he smashed the microscope to pieces!

This is the way some people are with the Bible.  God’s word reveals how disgusting a sinful life is; yet instead of doing something about it (by repenting and obeying the Lord, Acts 2:38), many reject the word of God.  To them, if it weren’t for the Bible, they wouldn’t have to feel dirty or ashamed.  Jesus said, “this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jn 3:19-20).

Friend, is this true of you?  If so, the fault lies with you – not the Bible!

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Offensive Love

Earning the Right to Offend

“The church is just too judgmental,” they say. “Doesn’t the Bible say ‘Do not judge lest you be judged’”?

The most popular Bible verses in recent years have completely flipped from what they once were. Rather than verses like John 3:16 which tell of the love of Jesus Christ, the most well-known Bible sayings now are used by non-Christians to preach a postmodernist “tolerance.” “Do not judge lest you be judged” comes to mind, in particular. Of course, we seem to have started memorizing certain verses in response, verses like “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” and “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

We remind ourselves that the Gospel is offensive, and that if we speak out in defense of the truth (even in a loving way – 1 Corinthians 13:1) we’re going to make enemies of those in the world, even including friends and family. While such Scriptures are true and we’re right to comfort ourselves with the reminder that people hate God’s Word and not us, we can sometimes be guilty of missing a step.

Take a look at the church’s beginning in Acts 2, where we have the first examples of what our first century brethren did and how they were perceived in their society. We see that they were dedicated to the Apostles’ teaching, that they were in constant fellowship, and that they were serving and caring for one another by giving of themselves any time a need arose. While they were eventually persecuted for preaching (starting in chapter 4), but before that happened Luke wrote down a key phrase that we would do well to note. Acts 2:47 says that the early church was “having favor with all the people.”

Among the crowds and with the people around them, the church was looked at in a positive light. The lesson we should take from this is that though the Bible’s teachings may be offensive to those who refuse to consider them, the church’s loving actions should be their first impression of the church among the people in our communities. While I believe in holding fast to the truth, I also believe in listening to criticism and seeing what we can take from it. When people say that we come off as too judgmental, it seems to be equally due to the Bible’s challenging teachings and our lack of loving action backing up what we say.

We claim it’s our goal to teach the truth in love, but that’s where we’re mistaken. You have to earn the right to teach the truth in love. How? By showing love! In the same section where Jesus assured the apostles that the world would hate them because of them, He also reminded them that it was their love that would distinguish them from the world. As of right now, the most noticeable factor separating us from the world is the divisive truth of the Gospel and not our love for each other and for the world. Jesus didn’t say “Love your neighbor” is a hard enough to command to follow in today’s busy, hectic life where we’re all carefully guarded about how we come across to each other. Love your enemy? That’s even harder. What about loving people enough to feed them, clothe them, visit them, or invite them in (Matthew 25:35-36)? What about loving people enough to leave our comfort zones and preach the love and hope of the Gospel to them and not just that which seems culturally relevant (be it the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality, abortion, or anything else)?

Yes, if we preach that which challenges the world’s lifestyle, we’ll offend people. It’s just a natural result. If we show Christ’s love the way we should first, though, we’ll glorify God and shine His light to people who truly need it and maybe we’ll find open doors and softer hearts.

 

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