Having A Heart Turned Towards God

It's an honor to get to share the word.

You know I always it's different just like Jay said in here to preach the word to you adults versus preaching the word to teenagers.

A little bit different, I would say.

I probably feel more comfortable with them because sometimes they get feedback and then like I not that I'm putting y'all down or anything, but they're just different.

They're loud, they fast-question, they answer me back and sometimes they answer back and a little attitude and I answer back with another little attitude, and so that's how that goes.

But it is an honor to share the word.

It's an honor, you know, the word is the same whether you're teaching to young people or to adults.

The word is the word and the word of God works, amen.

So let's just start out in prayer for the God.

We just thank you, lord, for tonight.

We thank you for the word we're about to hear.

I thank you that our hearts are open to your word.

Our ears are open to receive your word.

Father, I thank you that you enlighten our eyes, eyes of our understanding.

Our enlightened Father, it is not me speaking, but it's you speaking through me.

Holy Spirit, we are welcome here.

I thank you that we are not left to do this alone.

But I thank you, lord, for giving us the Holy Spirit.

He's our Comforter, our guide, our advocate, and so we just rely on Him in Jesus' name, amen.

And also, we forgot to pray for Wilma Mott.

Let's just lift up a hand for Wilma Mott, father God.

We just thank you, lord, for Wilma Mott.

Whatever's going on in her body, father, we just apply the blood of Jesus over her, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet.

Father, I thank you that.

Any artery, vein, nerves, muscle, whatever it may be, father, you know what's going on in her body and I thank you that you take care of it.

Father, it's already taken care of.

That's why Jesus died on the cross for Wilma Mott, so she wouldn't have to go through any pain or any disease or anything just bothering in her body.

I thank you that that has to go and it cannot stay in her body.

In Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen.

So if you're taking notes, tonight the title of my message is Having a Heart Turned Towards God.

Having a heart turned towards God in it.

That's a little bit of a broad title and hopefully my this is the first time, kind of.

I mean, I've gone over these scriptures but the first time kind of putting it together like this and so hopefully I pray, it gels together in my brain.

It kind of does, and sometimes things don't come out.

But you know what I rely on the Holy Spirit.

He helps me.

It is not my words, but he helps me and so I'm yielded to him.

And so my first scriptures 1 John, 5, 14 and 15, new King James says now, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him.

And it all hinges when I was reading that.

You know I've read that scripture before, but what really stood out is that word confidence.

You know, if I don't have confidence, I'm not gonna ask God for a lot of things.

In the Greek, confidence means boldness, particularly in speaking.

If you are not speaking, if you are not declaring, you're not bold.

So confidence is boldness.

And so when we pray, are we not talking to God?

We're talking to God, right.

When we pray we're talking to God.

And then the Hebrew term for heart is a prominent term for self-awareness in the Old Testament, and so I did a little studying.

And conscience now there's a lot of scriptures regarding our conscience, and so the definition and really it just means to be self-aware right.

And so the definition or a definition of conscience is the faculty of the soul that distinguishes between right and wrong and prompts us to choose the former and avoid the latter.

And so, god, you know, when we were born again, the Holy Spirit is residing in us right.

And so the Holy Spirit residing in us, he works with our conscience, he works with it right.

And so a scripture Acts 24, 16, and the New Living translation says because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people.

Now, again, I'm talking about having a heart turned towards God, coming to him with boldness and confidence.

And so sometimes, when you play tug of war with your conscience, when you're going through something and you know a lot of times, people, they go backwards, they're not gonna want to draw close to God.

When there's inner turmoil, they're not gonna wanna.

Oh, god is so far away.

I did this, I did that, no, no, no, no.

The word of God here says we have confidence, there is boldness.

God's given us this boldness to approach him, amen.

And so let's see 1 Corinthians 4, 1 through 5 in the New Living translation.

Oh, and one thing I wanna say, so if I struggle with my conscience, I'm automatically gonna struggle with confidence, right?

So God's given us confidence.

God's given us not confidence in ourselves, but what Jesus did on the cross and what he did for us.

That is what we have confidence in and that is what we walk through, right?

So 1 Corinthians 4, 1 through 5 in the New Living says so look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God's mysteries.

Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.

As for me, it matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority.

I don't even trust my own judgment on this point.

My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove I'm right.

It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide.

So don't make judgments about anyone ahead of time.

Before the Lord returns, for he will bring our darkest secrets to light and reveal our private motives.

Then God will give to each one of you whatever praises.

Do so here Apollos is saying hey, apollos and me, hey, we've been appointed over this church and to explain God's mysteries.

And here he's just being very transparent, he's being very clear.

My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove that what I'm doing is right.

Like I have to make sure that it's the Lord himself that examines me.

Like that examines my heart.

Like God, is there anything in there?

Like I'm okay with my conscience, my conscience is the Holy Spirit's inside, but still beyond that God.

Like that's a good prayer.

Like to show me the things in my heart.

Like show me the hidden compartments.

Like maybe I haven't dealt with this thing over here because my heart wants to be turned towards you.

Amen, and God helps us.

First, john 3.20 in the new living translation says even if we feel guilty, god is greater than our feelings and he knows everything.

God is greater than our feelings.

God gave us feelings, right, but we don't go by those.

Those are fickle, those come and go right.

Yeah, we don't go by those.

Here it says even if we feel guilty, god is greater than our feelings and he knows everything.

And that same verse in the Passion translation says whenever our hearts make us feel guilty and remind us of our failures.

We know that God is much greater and more merciful than our conscience and he knows everything there is to know about us.

God's greater.

So here, god will come in that very place and remind you when you're feeling hey, you know what I messed up, I shouldn't have said that, I shouldn't have acted that way.

Right here, this scripture says he comes and he reminds you.

Hey, I'm a merciful God, I'm a good God, it's gonna be all right.

We don't go by our feelings.

No matter the pain, no matter the hurt, no matter the disappointment, god is there.

Amen, first John.

So if you go to the next verse 21 in the Passion, my delightfully loved friends, when our hearts don't condemn us, we have a bold freedom to speak face to face with God.

Isn't that good?

So our hearts don't condemn us.

We have confidence and coming to God, the enemy wants you to be.

So you know there's this ditch.

You know there's always self-aware.

Yeah, you gotta be self-aware.

But if you're so self-aware you're not ever God aware.

You need to be more God aware, right?

Not self-aware, because self-aware, yeah, okay, self-aware, and to like, god, show me things, but not so much self-aware.

We're like what is somebody thinking about me.

Is it weird, if I do that, is I gonna do that?

And then you know how you get this like right.

And so, if you're so self-aware, where does God even fit into that picture?

He can't, because it's all about you.

You're so self-aware, what are they gonna think?

Or what are they gonna?

No, you have to be God aware.

God aware is so much greater than self-awareness.

Right, and so again, having our heart turn towards God.

We always have to make sure our hearts that we have a tender conscience towards God, that there's not anything in there that's gonna muffle it and cloud it.

Right, Verse 21,.

So first, john 321, in the new King James, beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

And then, on the flip, in Titus 115, in the new living translation, says everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure, but nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving because their minds and consciences are corrupted.

So let me read that again Everything is pure to those whose heart is pure.

So when I read that, I thought of like a lens.

You know so our perspective of things.

When you're coming out of a heart that's pure, your motives are pure, you're gonna believe the best of somebody.

You're like, oh, they didn't mean to say that Love believes the best.

When you're really pure, you just see things differently.

The world is different.

When your heart's pure, it really.

Then when it's tainted and hurt and scarred up, then no, god doesn't want us like that.

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure, but nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving because their minds and consciences are corrupted, and so don't allow your heart to become calloused.

Amen.

Jay was teaching me some chords on the guitar and, like after I prayed, some worship practice and my fingers were.

He has calluses on his hands and that's a good thing for a guitarist, but mine were, like you know, ow there because I'm not used to playing the guitar.

But our hearts shouldn't become calloused.

God wants us to keep a tender heart towards everything.

We just have to keep a tender heart.

Philippians 3, 13 through 16,.

This is Paul.

Okay, let's do New King James.

Philippians 3, 13 through 16, the New King James.

And so God will show you areas you know in your life where you know what I'm turned towards God in this area, but maybe I'm not believing God in my finances, maybe, or I'm not praying enough, you know, over relationships, my marriage, or finance, or kids, whatever it may be.

God wants us totally, completely turned Our entire hearts turn towards Him, to where every decision we make we go to God first, right, every thought that we think God, what do you think?

What do you think about what you're thinking about?

What do you think about the thought that I'm just thought about?

Was that a God thought?

Is that your thought?

Or did that come from the enemy?

So, like our hearts totally, you know, turn towards Him.

It's a lifestyle change.

It looks different.

When your hearts totally turn towards God, you don't get offended easily.

Life's a breeze, life's fun.

You know Hard times come yes, they do, but it doesn't mean, you know, it's a perspective that we have.

We should have a God perspective on things.

Philippians 3, 13 through 16, luke and James says Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do.

I would say one thing forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind and if anything you think otherwise, god will even reveal this to you.

Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind, and I looked up verse 16, in the Passion Translation.

It says Let us advance together to reach this victory prize, following one path and one passion.

Isn't that good.

I read that in the Passion Translation, how you know, and that really go when I read that.

That's really.

Love plus unity equals miracles.

One path, one passion, right.

And so, especially if you're in a family unit, one path, one passion.

Nowadays, everybody's doing their own thing, right, you got the kids over here at baseball.

You got the mom over here taking the kids.

You got the dad over here at work.

You know they don't come home till nine.

They don't.

And then, like, well, who's?

Everybody's going in different directions and we wonder why there's chaos, we wonder why the family unit is broken, because the enemy, the enemy, he's here to divide the family unit.

But here Paul is saying hey, let us advance together to reach the victory prize.

You cannot reach the victory prize if you don't have, if you're not united, if you don't have one passion, right, one path, not all these other paths, because a lot of paths might be offered to you and they might be good paths, they might be okay paths, they might look good, right, but is it the path that God has for you?

Is it the one that he wants you to be taking?

And so here Paul is saying hey, let us advance together, look forward, not looking behind, but look forward, right.

So I have three points, and those and these are coming from Paul.

Number one is forget the past.

And I wanted to read I don't know, mark Hengans always have this little book Love, the Secret to Success.

A lot of times you know things that can hinder our heart being turned towards God.

And number one is our past.

You know or things, good or bad, you know.

I believe Oral Roberts said you know, I don't park by my successes and I don't park by my failures.

You have had some good things, you have had some bad, but I move forward, I look beyond those, I don't just sit there and gleam on that.

I look beyond that.

And so I forget the past, and forgiveness has a lot to do with that moving forward and forgetting the past.

So let me read to you here, on page 54.

The smell of unforgiveness defiles the atmosphere in every area of our lives.

Unforgiveness is worse than the smell.

It is a deadly poison that can kill.

Forgiveness enables us to escape the stink that Satan has tried to put on us.

I heard Dad Hagen say at any time you feel mistreated, you know the devil is working on you.

Let me say that again Anytime you feel mistreated church, work, home, wherever it may be you know the devil is working on you.

Satan is the master of offense.

He is the accuser of the brethren.

When we judge others, we are allowing Satan to use our mouths.

Dad Hagen also said putting out another fellow's candle doesn't brighten your own.

After the powerful lessons on unlimited faith and receiving from God, in Mark 11, 23, and 24, jesus warns about unforgiveness.

The greatest enemy to faith is unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness stops faith from working, hinders your prayer life, limits blessings, stops spiritual growth, opens the door to the devil and can cause sickness and disease, even premature death.

Unforgiveness is a killer.

Holding or nursing grudges, large or small, is a killer.

Ephesians 4, 26, and 27.

When you stand praying, forgive If you have ought against any.

In Mark 11, 25, jesus said if you have ought against any.

This word ought simply means any little thing.

It is wrong to hold unforgiveness against others or even against yourself.

If Jesus says you are forgiven, then you need to believe it, receive it and expect God's blessings from now on.

It does not take 10 years to forgive.

Can I get an amen?

Jesus said that you can choose to forgive when you stand praying.

It takes less than 10 seconds to forgive.

Harboring unforgiveness can spoil 10 years of your life, right, and so that's so good and that's just two little pages.

I mean, he goes on and on, but unforgiveness, it stinks.

And so, for one of the things for getting the past, you know God, when God forgives, he forgets.

Like, oh, I have this mind.

No, no, no, no.

I mean, with God, all things are possible.

Why not?

Sure, I can forget about it.

Yeah, that offense, what offense?

I don't even know they did that.

I forgot all about it.

And you live, there's so much freedom in that, right, and you're not worried.

And when you're not stressed and when you just chew, it's a choice, it's not a feeling, because the feelings might not ever be there, but it's a choice.

We choose to forgive and we move past it, because it keeps us in the muck.

It keeps us back there when we just walk in unforgiveness.

There's so much more that God has for you in this lot.

Your best years haven't even happened yet.

That's how one way to look at life.

Oh, my best years are back.

Oh, your best years haven't even happened yet.

They're ahead of you.

Amen, that's how you look at life.

They're ahead of you.

That's how God wants you to look at life.

And so, number one, forgetting the past.

Number two Paul said reach forth.

Everybody say reach forth.

I'm going to turn to Genesis 12, abram.

Now the Lord.

Let's see Genesis 12, 1, and the New King James.

Now the Lord said to Abram get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

God found a yielded vessel.

He told him to go, not knowing where he was going.

And Abram?

Abram wasn't perfect, I mean, but he had a promise from God.

He had a promise, with no son yet right, with how God would have your descendants shall be made, what descendants Shall be many.

And so he reached forth, right.

So God had a promise for him and he reached forth.

He went out of his country and here God is telling him I will bless you and make your name great.

It took a step of faith, right.

It took a step of faith for Abram.

And so God has lots of things ahead for us.

And here I put apart God.

We can produce nothing.

Barrenness.

So he was barren.

Him and Sarah couldn't have a kid.

They did.

But barrenness is an accurate picture of a human condition, spiritually Like, without God we're barren, we can't do anything right.

But with him and with God's help we can do all things.

You got this, you can do it With God.

I mean, the sky's the limit.

You can do all things.

So, number one forget the past.

Number two reach forth.

And then number three Paul says to press.

And let's turn to Luke 8.

Let's see, I put 840, let's see if that's here was a lady with persistent faith.

She pressed, and I'll just haul up and read it Eight, yeah, 40.

So it was when Jesus returned that the multitude welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him.

And behold, there came a man.

Oh, hold on, let's see.

Yes, yeah, yeah.

And behold, there came a man named Jairus and he was a ruler of the synagogue.

He fell down Jesus' feet and begged him to come to his house, for he had a daughter, 12 years of age, and she was dying.

But as he went, the multitude strong him and now a woman having a flow of blood for 12 years, who had spent all her livelihood on positions and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of his garment and immediately her flow of blood stopped.

And Jesus said who touched me?

When all denied it, peter and those with him said Massachus, the multitudes Throne and press you.

And you say who touched me?

But Jesus said somebody touched me, for I perceived power going out for me.

Now, when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling and falling down before him.

She declared to him, in the presence of all the people, the reason she had touched him and how she was healed immediately.

And then verse 48, and he said to her daughter be of good cheer, your faith has made you well.

Go in peace.

And so here she was persistent.

Here you have this lady that shouldn't even be out in public.

She had been bleeding for 12 years, but her faith, she was persistent.

She was going to do whatever it was to get to Jesus.

And the disciples were like what do you mean?

Who touched you?

Everybody's around, Everybody's touching you, the whole crowd.

But there was one, there was one whose heart was turned towards Jesus, like, hey, I'm going to do whatever it takes, whatever, no matter the situation I'm going to press, I'm going to lay hold, I'm going to fight, just like 1 Timothy says fight the good fight of faith, lay hold.

It's not a passive term, those aren't passive words, those aren't apathy words.

Whatever may be, whatever, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

You lay hold of it.

You have to walk it out, you have to do something, amen.

And so I just want to encourage you with that Turn your heart towards God, don't give up.

Whatever you may be facing in life, god sees it, god knows, he's working behind the scenes, even if you're like I prayed about that and I haven't seen any results.

God is working behind the scenes.

His word does not return void and it accomplishes to what I send it to do.

And so if your word says that, that hey, your word does not come back, I believe it.

Amen, I believe it.

So I just want to encourage you with that.

Make sure your heart is turned towards God.

He loves you, he cares about you.

His plan is a good plan, amen.