Friday, January 20, 2023

The abundance of your heart

 The Abundance Of Your Heart


Well, praise Jesus. It is a blessing to be part of the Lord's little flock. All of us at some point were in the world, we were sinners, we were hypocrites, we were losers to the Kingdom of God, people who could not stop sinning, people who continued to relapse into sin. But when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, He called us out of sin, and He calls us into the newness of life. It is a blessing to be with the Lord and just to be walking with Him for our mind to be renewed.


What I was thinking about last night in the day before is just how, whatever we are thinking about, whatever we're filling our heart with, that is what we're going to be speaking about and and acting out. That is why when you even see little children who have watched a violent film or even cartoon, they then are acting out those violent moves. It's very important that we watch what goes in through our eyes, what we listen to, because we know that out of the abundance of a man his mouth speaks, Jesus said that a good tree bears good fruit, a bad tree bears bad fruit and out of the evil of someone's heart, an evil person speaks, and out of the goodness or out of the good of a good person's heart, the good speak(Luke 6:43-45). So if what is coming out of us is evil and perverted, there's no way we have a good heart. But if what you're speaking is pure and holy, and you're continually speaking about the truth of God, it's because you are in prayer. It's because you are spending time with the Spirit of God, the one who offers us life and fills us up. We're like that cup being filled with the joy of the Lord, being filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And that is what is spilling out of our life. And when others see it, they know that we have been with the Lord. I want to make sure that I'm always spending time with Jesus, that I am walking with Him that way. Every day is a new day to encourage others to live by faith. No matter what trials come my way, I'm still able to overcome and that when I speak, that it is out of the overflowing of my heart.


A lot of people wonder, how do you always focus on the Lord? How are you always speaking for Jesus? And they can't muster up enough joy or enough faith to speak to anyone about the Lord. They just don't have it in them. But at the same time, they haven't been filling themselves with the joy of the Lord. They’ve been filling themselves with just the news, with movies, with worldly music, with the ideas of friends, the amount of time that they have put Jesus into their hearts compared to Satan, that is, the world and everything around them, it's like probably 99.99% the world and 0.001% something from the Lord Jesus. So no wonder when they speak, they have no desire to speak about the things of the Kingdom of God, they have no revelation, they have nothing to offer to the church.


And this is one thing that the church has gotten wrong, not just in America, but across the world. For many church goers, church is all about going to church to get filled. You go to church empty, and you listen to a guy, a pastor, who supposedly has had a word from God, and he's going to fill you up. He's going to nourish you. He's going to give you spiritual meat. And when you're going to church, you're coming, you're waiting for this sermon, and you think that that is spiritual meat for you, but you still leave empty. This is not how God designed His church to be. In fact, when we get together, it is written, each of us should have a word from the Lord, a spiritual song, some kind of a joyous thing in our life to share. Not things that are just gossipy or not things that just cause others to be feeling down. But when the body of Christ truly gets together, it's to encourage one another in the Lord to do what’s right. And you don't come empty like the members of the False Church do. When we come together, it is to encourage others in righteousness and in truth, to lift them up, to bring other people into the hands of Jesus, that we may be mutually edified.


So the question is, where have we been spending our time in what has been filling our hearts? Because if we've been putting evil into our hearts, then evil is going to come out. We know that lust starts in the heart, hatred, murderous thoughts, all of these start in the heart. So how is it that Christians think that they can go rent a movie or go out to the movies and they can watch Hollywood actors perform these wicked acts. They can murder people. They can be committing adultery, fornication. You go out and you watch some horror film, or, even just some comedy, and it has the most perverted things in it. And how can you think to yourself that you're not engaging with those idolaters and murders in your heart? So if you watch one of those sorts of movies, you become a murderer at heart. You become an adulterer or a fornicator at heart. And we know that no one committing sin is going to enter into God's Kingdom. So what you've done is you've just put evil into your heart. And then you think when you go to church, or when you go around other Christians, you're going to have something good to say and encouraging. It's just not going to happen. That is why the American Church and the churches around the world that are patterned after the American Church and after the Catholic Church, do not have victory over sin. They can't really overcome all of the snares of Satan. They're constantly depressed, or they are just filled with worldliness, self gratification, it's all about them. But they can't offer anything to the true body of Christ. They can't their fruit themselves, and they can't encourage others to bear good fruit. 


As I walk with the Lord, I want to myself be upright and pure, and I also want to encourage others to do the same. Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to help people in some way. And I remember one time when I was really young, just we were on a road trip, and on this road trip, we were going from, I think it was California to Texas, or something like that. And along the way, we would meet different people, and some people were like homeless, they were beggars, people that were down and out. And occasionally these people would come up to our motor home. And I remember one day, I must have been about 13 years old, it was like a homeless lady, she came over to  our mobile home and was asking for money. And so I gave her what I had which was like three bucks. And then, I got scolded for giving the homeless person money, because I was told they're probably gonna go spend it on drugs and whatever. I didn't care. I just thought, I want to be able to be a light for Jesus, as I've progressed in my faith, I still want to be an encouragement to others. The same heart the Lord has given me to help others, to bring the things that are the goodness out of my heart.


But the Lord has also called me to a very specific mission, and He hasn't given me money to just share with the whole world. He's called me to a specific area and to specific people to be able to financially support. And this for me can be an area of condemnation, as it is to many people, because a lot of people ask for money. A lot of people now are down and out. A lot of people will want something from you. And we know what Jesus said when someone is without a shirt or without a jacket, give them, walk with them the extra mile, give to those to ask. And we want to give to anyone who asks. But a lot of times we don't have what people ask for. Some people need things that are so extravagant, there's no way we could give that to them. It's kind of like when, I believe Peter was asked from the beggar, to give that beggar money. And he said to him, “I don't have money to offer you, but what I do have, I will give for you. Get up to your feet and walk.” (Acts3:6)I think he said. And he lifted up that beggar's hand, and by the grace of Jesus, he gave him the power to walk and to be made new in Jesus Christ.


So what we do have, we need to offer to people, which is the truth that we have been putting into us, and the love and the good treasure out of our heart. And I want the treasure in my heart to be righteousness and truth, so that whoever asks me whatever it is, I can offer them something better than just something with a monetary value, not just American dollars, but that I can offer them the value to their heart, which is everlasting life through Jesus Christ who I have found, because Jesus is in my heart, and I continue to ask Him to renew my spirit By His Holy Spirit. He overflows my heart with His truth and with the treasure that comes from heaven. As Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will also be(Matthew6:21). So whoever we come into contact with, we want to be able to encourage them in the Lord and to ask Jesus to give them His blessing, so that, if they want to repent of their sins, if they want a repent of dead religion and just the Lukewarm Church culture, if people want to repent of all of that stuff in America, that we have something better to offer them, which is the love of Jesus Christ.


And so whatever you've been putting into your heart, that is what you're going to have to offer to others. It's not that you just muster up a little bit more goodness, that you muster up a little bit more love for people, even though you're not feeling loving. But if you spend time with Jesus, if you walk with Him, if you trust Him, and if you obey Him, He's going to fill you up with His treasures, and then, when people ask, you are ready to share that treasure from the Kingdom of God with others.


 So I hope this encourages someone to really go after the Lord and pray to Him. And just that you might ask the Holy Spirit to fill you, and that you would become an indwelling place for the Holy Spirit, not for demons or evil Spirits, not for anything in this world, but that you would have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you, and that the out-spilling of your life would be the love that God is offering to others through you, because He is in you. So, “Lord Jesus, I pray for those who want to know the truth. I pray for those who have needs, who need to overcome, who have addictions, who have problems with their family, with divorce, with broken marriages. I pray for people that they may come into the newness of life with you, and that you may offer them everything that they need, that they would truly repent of their sins and come into the newness of life and be blessed by you and not fall under the curse of God. We know that you came to save people from their sins, not to condemn people and send people to hell. So I just pray for your church, for the brothers and sisters in the Lord, that they would overcome in your name and be filled with your Holy Spirit. I pray this in your name Lord Jesus, amen.”