The Condition of the Heart
“John the baptizer was sent to the Wilderness. Why? Yahweh needed to empty John of all the garbage religion had put in him. I'm going to tell you something. You can't add what I'm saying to the religious things you learned in Sunday school. You're going to have to let God empty you of the skubala (Greek for rubbish or waste) and start again with the truth. That is Jesus, the truth of His word has to be the Rosetta Stone in which we base our entire lives because don't you know that even a little lie in your heart can permeate your entire belief system. Don't you know a little religion will make you think you're headed in the right direction, but it leads to death, and we decorate it in the name of Jesus.” Pastor Tim
Don’t you know that when you allow even a little lie into your heart, it can permeate your entire belief system? Galatians 5:9
When making bread you first start by adding small, tiny particles of yeast to warm water. The yeast dissolves into the water. Once you add the remaining ingredients the yeast particles can no longer be seen but the effects of it is always evident afterwards. The same is true for our lives when we believe lies.
This doesn’t just pertain to religious things. This is any lie you believe about yourself or someone else. What you believe about yourself will permeate your entire life and trickle down to your children. A little lie - a tiny particle of a lie will steal from you. It causes you to believe something with your whole heart that Jesus declares isn’t true.
Pastor Tim is a walker. He walks constantly with the Lord to hear His heart for you and those around him. Last Sunday the Lord prompted him to take a walk which is rare for Sundays. During this walk Jesus shows him some things concerning us, his children at The Wilderness Place.
As he walked Jesus gave him a picture. He said this is the heart of my people. They are living on a narrow path. 4 inches, dirty and hard. This path fools you to believe that you are standing on the best that Abba has for you. We stay on this path because it's the path of least resistance. If we aren’t careful, we will travel the same path our parents traveled. We’ll pass down the same poverty. This isn’t just talking about money. It can be a poverty mindset, poverty in our health. When Jesus said this is the condition of my people's hearts, He's talking about the scripture in the Bible concerning seed being sown from the kingdom. Everything in the Kingdom starts with seed but so does weeds, thistles and thorns.
Seeds are the voice of Jesus. They're given to you anytime you turn your heart openly to Him. The seeds of the Kingdom will not compete with the seeds of other voices in your life. We've been in a trap that says this is the best Jesus has for us. Obviously, not every part of the little 4inch path is bad. Some of it's good but we are designed to have the entire field. Designed to produce fruit others can eat from. Your field should sustain the people around you. We have to ask Jesus what our heart looks like. Are you a tree of life to other people? The authority, power, blessings and abilities Jesus gave us is not to maintain a “good life” where we go to work, go home, we didn’t do any wrong and start all over again tomorrow.
Jesus desires for us to overwhelm this field with the seeds of the Kingdom. When He gives us seeds, we must water them and nurture them until they produce what He intended.
These fields represent answers to health problems, marriages, children and grandchildren, finances and our intimate relationship with Jesus. When we look at the condition of our fields we have to take one day at a time. Ask the Holy Spirit where to start. Do not get overwhelmed by all the things that may need to be changed. Allow Him to walk with you through the field of your heart and begin to deal with the thorns, thistles and weeds.
His grace is abundant when we face hard things but like I tell our children; you can do hard things. He doesn’t just deal with the top of the weeds but removes the root of the lies that have produced our overgrown fields. You must remember the importance of being honest with yourself and then Him. When this begins to happen, your life will never be the same.
“So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4
A close replica of the image Jesus gave to Pastor Tim concerning the hearts of His people.
