The Wayward Heart

I shall never look at my heart the same again!  

Truth shall abound from an Almighty God who has declared that my heart is desperately wicked and exceeding sinful.  Though with great pains He created the heart of man as a perfect place of communion and natural integration of our spirit and His Spirit; we, as children of our ancestors, have inherited a nature that is devoid of love for God and has a natural bent toward a debased behavior.

• The Rebellious nature of our heart

One doesn’t have to look very far to see the effects of the sinful nature so generously bestowed upon us by the sins of our ancestors.  Personal weaknesses and struggles usually get handed down, not necessarily genetically, but spiritually (Exodus 34:6,7).  As Adam’s descendants (Genesis 1-3), his choice to hand authority in his life over to Satan has affected us in one way or another.  Life is now a struggle to take back that authority and give it back to God who is the real owner of authority anyway.  For some reason, by default Satan seems to always receive from us what should be God’s.

The carnality of the heart desires wickedness so when a person follows after wickedness, his focus has left God and has turned to following carnal things.  Even if we are not living in full rebellion we have been deceived and need to repent, otherwise we will be living off one deception after another.  The Word of God makes it clear; if it isn’t of God, it is of the devil and you will be following the devil making him your illegitimate father, which is sin.

The nature of our heart is selfish, yet because we are relational to one degree or another, we create the appearance of service toward others in hopes of getting something in return.  In other words, we are still selfish.  In many cases we desire approval of man, so we offer “approval” to them in order to gain it from them.  In reality, we are worshipping their opinions in order to receive their worship.  The only approval we really should need is God’s approval.  In other words, we are idolaters and have made ourselves gods.  We also deal with personal pride believing we deserve better than what we are getting.  When this happens, we have an over-rated opinion of ourselves and have made ourselves a god.  Pride is usually driven by selfishness, as is adultery, drunkenness, gluttony, etc.

God has shown us through the written text of His Word that though the Old Testament people experienced a promised blessing if they remained true to Him, it was not enough for them to remain true.  The wicked nature of the heart always seemed to show itself sooner or later and sometimes in very pronounced ways.  What was accomplished then by the promise of success for choosing to believe God?  We now have a clearer picture of the state of the heart of man.  Man could try to fit into God’s Plan and receive the success that was promised to them, but with an unregenerate heart the heart is still carnal and no amount of promises of success from God can take that away.

Romans 1:18-32

For some reason or other mankind has resorted to disregarding the evidence of the existence of God, and has chosen to take its own way and worship the created world over the Creator.  Even if we are sinning through deception, we are effectively transferring authority from God to Satan and Satan as a master will destroy us.  God has said that sin can only go so far before He will turn us over to a reprobate mind.  As we continue to transfer authority over to Satan, he becomes the way we think and we end up in complete disregard for the truth.  When this happens, our lives no longer have any room for truth and we become mockers and truth inhibitors.  Once we have a complete disregard for truth God can no longer speak to us and we become a destructive part of society (A minion of Satan if you will).

We are to blame for allowing our culture to desensitize us, for we are responsible to maintain a high alert against the sinful nature we possess.  It is as if the father of deception has set forth to deceive the very elect of God through incremental deceptions leaving us numb and ill equipped to fight for our souls.  Are we going to wake up before we drift away into eternal destruction?

Today, the promise of success has been removed, but God has a plan which involves Redeeming the heart through Salvation and Sanctification.

The Rebellious Son/The Prodigal Son

Luke 15:11 Jesus also told them another story:

Once a man had two sons. 12 The younger son said to his father, “Give me my share of the property.” So the father divided his property between his two sons.

13 Not long after that, the younger son packed up everything he owned and left for a foreign country, where he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 He had spent everything, when a bad famine spread through that whole land. Soon he had nothing to eat.

15 He went to work for a man in that country, and the man sent him out to take care of his pigs.[b] 16 He would have been glad to eat what the pigs were eating,[c] but no one gave him a thing.

17 Finally, he came to his senses and said, “My father’s workers have plenty to eat, and here I am, starving to death! 18 I will go to my father and say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you.19 I am no longer good enough to be called your son. Treat me like one of your workers.’”

20 The younger son got up and started back to his father. But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.

21 The son said, “Father, I have sinned against God in heaven and against you. I am no longer good enough to be called your son.”

22 But his father said to the servants, “Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him. Give him a ring for his finger and sandals[d] for his feet. 23 Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate. 24 This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found.” And they began to celebrate.

25 The older son had been out in the field. But when he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing.26 So he called one of the servants over and asked, “What’s going on here?”

27 The servant answered, “Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father ordered us to kill the best calf.” 28 The older brother got so angry that he would not even go into the house.

His father came out and begged him to go in. 29 But he said to his father, “For years I have worked for you like a slave and have always obeyed you. But you have never even given me a little goat, so that I could give a dinner for my friends. 30 This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast.”

31 His father replied, “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we should be glad and celebrate! Your brother was dead, but he is now alive. He was lost and has now been found.”

***

The first thing we see in the story of the prodigal son is one of the sons is selfish.  The father apparently decided to allow the selfish son to continue in his selfishness.  When someone is self-centered, they are identifying with the father of selfishness who is Satan.  

There is a certain amount of humanity in each one of us that encourages selfishness to occur, but when a soul makes a deliberate choice to be selfish, he is choosing to follow an illegitimate father.  When a person deliberately sets himself under another father, he begins to exhibit the character of the father he is under.  In the life of a Christian the ideology of John the Baptist becomes negated, because instead of ourselves becoming less prominent than Christ, we actually are becoming more prominent than Christ.

The prodigal son was making his plans to deliberately walk away from his father’s house while trying to feign devotion to his father.  His heart was to get out of there and be his own boss and live wild and free.  The son finally took off making his break from his father’s house and though he took his inheritance with him lost it all living in full rebellion.

The lost inheritance the son experienced was something that was given to all of the sons the father had.  He was having so much “fun” that he didn’t see the inheritance slipping away.  In a spiritual application it was the gift of salvation and eternal life.  The inheritance that we have been given by our father needs to be guarded intensely or it will slip away.  To many people take the approach of seeing how much they can get by with.  That is a purposeful deliberate sin.

Now that he had lost everything...his identity as a son, his inheritance, and his dignity; he tried working his way back to have status in the society.  The regional famine had taken a toll on the job market and all that was left for him was feeding pigs the corn stalks and slop.  He was literally starving, but could not even eat the pigs food.

It is here that he remembered his father! He knew full well that he was probably disowned as a son; but thought he could go back as a servant.  He is beginning to humble himself, and recognizes that he isn’t worthy of being called a son and maybe not even a servant but it was worth a try.  He thought it would be better to serve his father as a servant/master scene and be able to partake of the crumbs of food and righteousness than nothing.

The son, emaciated though he was started the long arduous journey back home to submission, love, and care.  As he was approaching the father extended his arms of love once again as he ran to greet him.  The son, though he was happy to be back, came forth with a message he had saved up for this meeting.  He acknowledged that his father had disowned him and he was willing to take that burden even though it meant he wouldn't be respected in the family or society.  He was willing because he knew he would be fed physically and spiritually, that he would be protected, and that he would be home.  He had seen the real world and had determined that it was a harsh world and that any entertainment he had found in it had ultimately led to his destruction.

The father, having felt sorrow in the loss of his son; though he had disowned him, was prepared to take him in again as a son should the situation should arise.  The father lifted the burden from the disowned son and reinstated him as a son in the family and also socially.

The older brother, however, returning from a hard day’s work in the fields hears the noise of an unscheduled party and wants to know what is going on.  Catching a servant of his fathers, he urged him to fill him in with the meaning of it all.  After having heard that his brother was home; he became jealous and stubbornly refused to enter into the party.  The younger brother, in his mind was still disowned and he would not take any part in welcoming him home.  

As the father realized the stubbornness of the older brother, he encouraged him to join in.  The father recognized the issue of the younger son being disowned in the eyes of the older brother and went right to the source.  He said to the older brother, “This your brother was dead to us and is alive again; He was lost, and is found”.

***

The Jewish people full well knew what happened when a son left the family under these circumstances.  The father would say, “You are dead to us”.  The family wouldn't mention his name any more and would act as though he hadn't existed.

The willingness of the father to receive the younger son back into the family, indicates his merciful nature which was driven by his love.  Imagine the grief the father must surely have felt when his son turned his back on him and his family.

Stand Strong Or You Will Be A Servant

    1  Samuel 4:9  “Philistines, be brave and fight hard!  If  you don’t, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we have been ruling them.  Fight hard and don’t be afraid.”  CEV
    1 Corinthians 16:13  “Keep alert.  Be firm in your faith.  Stay brave and strong.  Show love in everything you do.”  CEV

    All across the world, homes are in shambles.  Satan has declared war on the home as he tries to get the leaders (the fathers) focused on other things.  Usually this feeds his self-will or ego.  As fathers we need to Quit, get real, man, and fight for the Lord.
    We are only players in a much bigger picture.  The main character being played out is God and we are like the extras that only show up for a brief part of the show.
    As fathers it is up to us to be there for our families, to shepherd them toward God.  Most of us do not have gentle attributes that come natural to us, but as we get close to God ourselves, we will become more gentle.

    Ephesians 6:4

    We have an obligation as a father to fill our child’s emotional needs.  We need to be sensitive to what makes them work, and treat them in a way that will not make them become angry at us or at God.

We need to become our child’s friend, because friends care about each other.  We also need to be their peer, the one who influences their life.

    Psalm 127:1-5  

    When we allow the Lord to use us as leaders designed by Him, our homes will flourish.  We need to provide for our family, but not become work-a-holics.  Your children need you at home.  God has designed the home to be a safe-haven from the daily battles that wage on the outside.  Are we keeping these battles out?

    Also read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8  

    We are meant to exhibit these characteristics as Christians, and if we actually do, then our family and also the world will be won for the sake of Christ.

    Is the temptation you face too strong?  God does not allow you to be tempted without making strength available to you.  Sometimes it looks like Satan has the upper hand, but he will succeed only if you don’t stop, gird up your loins and fight like a man in the strength of the Lord.

    It will never work for a soldier of the Lord to have weak knees nor will it ever work to fight for truth with your hands hanging down.

    You do not have strength within your self, but God is faithful and willing to give you His strength.  We need to remember this is not our battle but God’s.  He furnishes everything we need.  When we fight under the ALL POWERFUL God we have nothing to fear.

-Resist The Devil-

    When the devil comes with a temptation to us, we need to push back against him with the shield of faith and the sword of the Lord.  Jesus, when He was tempted, quoted Bible verses as a rebuttal to Satan’s efforts.

Praying for our safety and the safety of others against wickedness, is like building a fortress around us.

James 4:7 

-Go For The Giants-

Joshua 14:6-15

The Anakim were giants in the land of Canaan, and Caleb, an 85 year old man wanted their land for his family.  The town of Hebron was located in a strategic location for safety.

When fighting giants or things bigger than ourselves, we need supernatural help.  God has never intended that we face life’s big problems alone.

God has given us Himself and the brotherhood as a means of helping us fight our giants.  When was the last time you helped someone fight their giants?

Joshua prayed that God would help Caleb and his men fight the giants.

    Some giants we face are: discouragement, fear, worry, despair, selfishness; and are all driven by the prince of giants, pride.

     If we let the giants we face penetrate our lives, we will fall into sin.  These giants will lead us to the sin of unbelief.  We need to recognize each giant we are facing and be aggressive toward it.  When the giants rears his ugly head we need to cut it off with the sword of the Lord.  We need to destroy him and his strongholds so he can not antagonize us any longer.