But, Then Jesus - w Pastor Marisa

Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name

is Marissa Cantu, and I've been here at the house

for a little over four years now. And I'm so

honored for the opportunity to share a message

today in the But Then Jesus series, right? So

before we start, I want you guys to imagine this

scripture in a social context where we are now.

Like iPhones, social platforms, comments, sharing

clicks, all of those things exist while I read

the scripture, right? And it's important because

it's a story about Jesus. And it's a story about

what he was doing. And then there was followers,

right? So just kind of imagine like if iPhones

were around. I know we catch people recording

things instead of actually helping sometimes,

but in this case, we're recording for good reasons,

right? So imagine today's social context while

Jesus is doing what he's doing, okay? So one

day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and

the teachers of the law were sitting there. They

had come from every village of Galilee and from

Judea and Jerusalem. This is from Luke 5. Verses

17 to 26, so forgive me for not telling you the

context. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus

to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed

man on a mat, and they tried to take him into

the house to lay him before Jesus. And when they

could not find a way to do this because of the

crowd, they went up on the roof, and they lowered

him on his mat through the tiles into the middle

of the crowd. Pretty outrageous, right? Right

in front of Jesus, they did this. And when Jesus

saw their faith, he said, friend, your sins are

forgiven. And the Pharisees and the teachers

of the law began thinking to themselves, who

is this man speaking blasphemy? Who can forgive

sins but God alone? And they were just thinking

that. They hadn't said it out loud. They were

just thinking it. Jesus knew what they were thinking,

and he asked, why are you thinking these things

in your heart? Which is easier to say, your sins

are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk? But

I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority

on earth to forgive sins. So he said to the paralyzed

man, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go

home. And he immediately, he stood up in front

of them, and he took what he had been lying on,

and he went home praising God. Everyone was amazed

and gave praise to God. They were filled with

awe, and they said, we have seen remarkable things

today. Can you imagine that in today's social

context? Can you imagine, like, they went up

to a roof, they cut a hole, they brought the

man down. Like, I'm sure people would be recording

this and going live, right? They would be thinking,

like, whoa, this is really happening in front

of us. And not only are they doing this big gesture,

they're, like, lowering him down into the house.

And then Jesus is saying, hey, you're forgiven.

Get up and walk. And he actually gets up and

he walks. It's a miracle, right? So in today's

context, that would be like pretty amazing. I'm

sure there would be lots of videos, lots of likes,

lots of comments, lots of sharing. But then there

would be the naysayers saying, who does this

man think he is, right? So let's just pause for

a minute because there's a lot to break down

from these scriptures, right? And before we continue,

let's just pray so that God could continue to

give me wisdom as I continue to share. Father

God, we just thank you so much for who you are

in our lives, for who you have been and what

you continue to be in our lives now, Lord. I

pray that we're able to focus on you this morning,

that we're able to see what your scripture has

to say to us, and that we're able to be changed

in this very moment, Lord. that we're changed

in positive ways, that we're changed in good

ways, that we're changed in inspiring ways, Lord,

because of your word. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. If you guys can get up with me, if you're

able to, and we're going to read another scripture

together. And this scripture is going to be out

of Luke, chapter 6, verses 6 through 10. Please

Luke 6:6–10

hold on to those thoughts about... the first

scripture that we read. Luke chapter 6, verses

Luke 6:6–10

6 through 10. On another Sabbath, he went into

the synagogue and he was teaching. And a man

was there whose right hand was shriveled. The

Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking

for a reason to accuse Jesus. So they watched

him closely to see if he would actually heal

on the Sabbath. But then Jesus knew what they

were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled

hand, get up and stand in front of everyone.

So he got up and he stood there. Then Jesus said

to them, I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath,

to do good or to do evil, to save life or to

destroy it? He looked around at them all and

then said to the man, stretch out your hand.

And he did so. and his hand was completely restored.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law

were furious and began to discuss with one another

what they might do to Jesus. Amen. You may be

seated. So we're going to take a look at two

different things. We're going to look at how

God knows what we're thinking. In both of these

scriptures, the Pharisees weren't saying things

out loud. They were just thinking them. And God

knew what they were thinking, right? And we're

also going to look at how God sees our motives

and our intentions and our thoughts, how he sees

our heart, okay? And this is probably the wordiest

message that I'll ever share with you because

there's so much psychology that has to do with

our thoughts and how it correlates with our heart

and then how our thoughts turn into action. And

how you can't really have a motive without thoughts

going into action, right? Who likes those movies

where they're like, what was their motive? You

know, and they're like going to court, and they

don't know exactly what their thought process

was, but they're like, they had a motive, right?

So the cool thing about God, before we dig in,

is that God knows our thoughts. And I want to

just drop this as a little nugget because I'm

not going to preach on it. But Satan does not

know our thoughts. Only God knows our thoughts.

So when we're claiming things and when we're

claiming things back, sometimes we need to say

those things out loud because Satan doesn't know

our heart. Satan doesn't know our thoughts. Only

God does. And so when you're rebuking something,

when you're wanting something out of your life,

when you're claiming victory, you have to be

saying those things out loud so that Satan can

hear them. Because he doesn't know our heart

and our thoughts. Just wanted to drop that little

nugget before I continue. So the beautiful thing

about what we're talking about today, and if

you see me toggling back and forth between my

laptop and my phone, it's because I don't trust

slang. and it freezes up, so excuse me. All right,

so the cool thing about what we're talking about

today and God knowing our thoughts is that it's

a beautiful thing that only he can do for us

and not anyone else. So when the Pharisees and

the teachers were looking for a reason to follow

God and follow Jesus, I'm sorry, they were there.

as onlookers, as followers, but were they really

there with good intentions? The scripture in

and of itself says that they were there looking

for reasons to fault Jesus. Okay? So that one

part of being there in that moment and following

someone in that very moment means that it was

clear that they weren't there for the right reasons.

They were there looking for a reason to fault

Jesus. Sorry for these technical difficulties,

guys. So the easy claim in that moment was that

Jesus said, your sins are forgiven. That didn't

require any visible proof. It just meant that

anybody could say your sins are forgiven, right?

But then Jesus said, get up and walk. And he

invites those words to the test. And he actually

gets up and he walks. So there's this correlation

of saying something and then also making the

action come behind it. So by following with the

forgiveness part, it was a successful physical

healing. Jesus demonstrates that his visible

divine authority is actually real in that moment,

right? But then Jesus says that this means Jesus

didn't need them to explain themselves. He already

knew what they were thinking. This is important

because sometimes we tend to hide our thoughts

from people, but we can't hide them from Jesus.

Sometimes we can be smiling on the outside while

questioning God on the inside. We can say praise

the Lord while carrying resentment in our hearts.

We can do something that looks spiritual while

our motive is pride. But Jesus sees beyond the

action. He sees our hearts. Before we ever say

it, Jesus knows it. And before we ever act on

it, Jesus knows the motive behind it. See, in

this story, the problem wasn't necessarily that

Jesus, what he did. The problem was who Jesus

was in that moment. They weren't watching Jesus

to praise him. They were watching Jesus to doubt

him. They were watching him looking for something

to criticize, and Jesus knew it. This should

cause us to examine our own hearts. How are we

looking at Jesus? Are we looking for reasons

to trust him? Or are we looking for reasons to

doubt him? How many times in our lives do we

set up questions and doubts for Jesus? Jesus,

if you do this, then I'll believe in you. Are

we looking for reasons to doubt him? Or are we

looking for reasons to trust him? Are we looking

for what God is doing in our lives or are we

so focused on what we think God should be doing

that we miss what he's already doing? I'm going

to say that again. Are we looking for what God

is doing or are we so focused on what we think

he should be doing that we miss what he's already

doing? See, two people in this room can sit here.

hear the same words, and experience the same

presence of God, but have completely different

responses because our hearts might be in different

places. Jesus knows the difference. When the

Pharisees were looking for wrongdoings and what

Jesus might be doing wrong, do you think that

it stopped Jesus from continuing to do miracles

and continuing to share? what he was doing across

Galilee, do you think that it stopped him? We

can't allow somebody else's wrong motives to

stop us from hindering and hiding what God has

called us to do. People might misunderstand you.

People might question you. People might belittle

you, criticize you. People may even watch you

hoping that you fail. But if your heart is right

before God, you have to keep obeying God. And

Jesus knows your heart. So I doubt that Jesus

even flinched for one second, paused for a second,

when he knew their thoughts were to accuse him

and to find wrongdoing. And like I said before,

there's something powerful about... Jesus not

only knowing and hearing us not only hearing

us but the Bible tells us that he knows what's

happening in our hearts and how does our heart

and our thought like go together why why do our

thoughts why does him knowing our thoughts connect

to him knowing our heart in a Christian context

the mind and the heart are deeply linked The

Bible views the heart as the core of your inner

life, where your thoughts, your feelings, and

your choices start. What you think shapes your

heart, and the state of your heart drives your

thoughts and your actions. The Word of God says

that the heart controls the center of your person.

It holds all your thoughts and all your desires

and all of your beliefs. Proverbs 4 .23 tells

us to guard our heart above all else. It says

that everything you do flows from your heart.

Proverbs 23 .7 says that as a person thinks in

their heart, so are they. Your inner thoughts

define your true character. And Matthew 15 .19

says that Jesus teaches that evil thoughts, murder,

and lies, all of those evil things come from

the heart too. So just like beautiful things

come from our thoughts and our heart, so do evil

things, right? And just bear with me because

I said this is the wordiest message that I've

ever shared, but I wanted to look into how our

thoughts and our hearts work together. What you

choose to think about grows roots in your heart.

The things that you literally sit there day to

day and think about grows a deep root in your

heart. If you're thinking about negative things,

you're sowing and you're reaping negative things

in your heart. Those are roots. If you're thinking

about positive and great things, you're sowing

positive and great things in your heart. It's

the root, right? Good thoughts build a pure heart,

and sinful thoughts, they stain it. It ruins

it. It's like putting weed eaters. Into your

heart, like you're defeating the purpose. You're

putting weed eater into the roots instead of

fertilizer that builds the roots. The heart drives

the action, then a heart full of faith leads

to loving thoughts and kind deeds, and a bitter

heart leads to angry and harmful thoughts. So

your motives and your thoughts and everything

that leads to what you're thinking. They all

need action. So the motive is the why. And intentions

are the what. And then the actions remains the

final thing that you've actually done. Right?

So you have a motive, you have an intention,

and then you have an action. And so while you're

sitting there doing all of these things in your

mind, God is seeing all of it. God knows all

of it. He knows what you're thinking right now.

He knows if you're thinking about lunch, if you're

hungry. He knows if you're like, man, this is

a little too wordy. I'm not following along.

It's okay. We'll get to the end here in a little

bit. He knows your thoughts. He knows everything

that we're thinking in every moment, right? And

so while motives fuel the intentions and then

intentions turn into actions, What are those

actions? Are they good ones or are they bad ones?

What are your motives and your intentions? Are

they good or are they bad before they turn into

an action? So that's one of the reasons why I

shared what is the last good deed that you did

for someone? What was the motive behind it? Was

it to gain popularity? Was it recorded and shared

on Facebook like we see a lot of those things?

on social media. How many of you guys always

see those videos where there's people doing great

things, giving out money? You guys see those?

Well, I saw a reverse one. I saw a man who's

usually giving out money, and he pretended to

be blind outside of a store. And this man comes

up to him, and he asks them, hey, do you need

anything? And he said, well, today's my birthday.

And I don't have anybody to celebrate it with.

And the man says, I'll celebrate it with you.

And he said, really? You don't even know me.

Why would you celebrate it with me? And he said,

this morning I asked Jesus to put someone in

my heart, in my path that I could bless. And

he said, and I believe that this person is you.

And he's like, let me celebrate your birthday

with you. I'm going to go inside and I'm going

to buy you a birthday cake. celebrate your birthday

together so he goes in he buys a birthday cake

he comes out with a balloon too and a candle

and he sits with this man who is saying he's

blind and he sings happy birthday with him and

he also ends up praying over him and blessing

him and the man takes off well the man stands

up and he puts the cane down and he tells the

man I'm not blind and the man goes it's okay

It's all right. God still loves you. And he said,

but it's not my birthday today. And the man continues,

it's okay. It's all right. God still loves you.

I'm still here for you, man. Whatever you need,

I'm still here for you. I'm praying with you.

And then the man turns around and he says, because

you blessed me, I want to bless you in return.

And he offers him $1 ,000, right? And he says.

no, that wasn't my intention. That's not the

reason that I did what I did with you today.

And another woman comes up in the middle of their

conversations, and she offers the man $5 and

tells him happy birthday. And the man says, thank

you. And the man that actually prayed with him

and got him that birthday cake, he says, why

don't you give that money to that woman? She

might need it for something. And I was like,

in the middle of this week's sermon, and I see

this message, and I said, God, thank you so much

for making that visual very clear. This man did

something from his heart without any intention

of receiving anything in return. This man blessed

someone else without the intention of being blessed

back. He didn't know that the camera was recording.

It was like from a distance. And, you know, you

can believe anything on social media. It might

have been fake or whatever, but it worked for

the purpose of what I'm sharing with you today.

The camera was far off. The man didn't know that

he was being recorded. And it was a beautiful

thing that he said, no, that is not my intention

of blessing you today. So how many times have

we been in a space where we've done something

kind for someone for the right intention? Or

we've done something kind for someone for the

wrong intention. For the likes or the clicks

or feeling good about ourselves. And there's

nothing wrong with doing kind things to feel

encouraged and motivated that we're doing the

right thing. There's nothing wrong with that.

But where is our heart and where is our motivation

for all of those things? Pure motives. bring

clarity. When they're driven by love and honesty

and genuine care, the heart weighs options clearly

and it makes choices that last. And they build

and they edify. Selfish motives cloud our judgment.

And selfish motives are led by fear. They're

led by pride. They're led by the need to control.

And they really end up being irrational and harmful

thoughts. Doing a kind thing for approval leaves

a heart empty, while doing it from compassion

brings fulfillment. So pure motives have connection,

peace, openness, honestness, reflection, emotional

health, and it builds trust in selfish motives.

They bring validation. They're blinding. And

it leads to burnout. So while people see our

actions, Jesus knows our motives. People can

judge what we do, but Jesus knows why we do it.

And in the sense where these Pharisees were following

Jesus, technically they were following him to

see what he was doing wrong. And I want to share

with you guys that regardless of who's following

you for what intention and what motive, our calling

is to continue to do the work of the Lord, the

work of Jesus. And when God ends up knowing your

heart and he knows where your heart is and where

your heart belongs, then he's going to bless

you in return regardless. Proverbs 16, 1 through

8 says, The plans of the heart belong to man,

but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work

to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

The Lord has made everything for its purpose.

for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant

in his heart is an abomination to the Lord. Be

assured he will not go unpunished. By steadfast

love and faithfulness, iniquity is atoned for,

and by the fear of the Lord, one turns away from

evil. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes

even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better

is the little righteousness than great revenues

with injustice. A lot of people have turned the

scripture into bad. But when I read it, I hope

that you receive it as something that's beautiful,

that God is seeing your heart and he's weighing

what's in your heart. And he's looking at your

ways to be turned towards him. I'm going to end

with this here. Sometimes we need to be careful.

Am I doing the right thing? But the deeper question

should be, why am I doing it? We can serve God

for the wrong reasons. We can sing for the wrong

reasons. We can preach for the wrong reasons.

We can give for the wrong reasons. We can help

people. because we want recognition. We can pray

because we want people to think that we're spiritual.

We can be in church because we want people to

think that we go to church every Sunday, but

we could be criticizing the whole time, right?

We can do good things because we want applause,

but Jesus knows our motives. In Matthew 6, Jesus

warned us about doing righteous things to be

seen by people, but God isn't only looking at

the deed. He's looking at our hearts. The truth

is that God knows when our heart is sincere.

Sometimes people will misunderstand you, and

they may think that your intentions are wrong.

They might judge you without knowing your whole

story. They might look at you and what you did

and assume that they know why you did it, but

Jesus knows the truth. He knows when your heart

is sincere. He knows when you're trying to obey

him and do your best. He knows the sacrifice

that nobody else sees. So just knowing everything

that we do and everything that we say in all

of our actions, God knows our motive. He knows

our intentions behind it. He knows when we're

being sincere. He knows when we're judging. He

knows when we're being supportive. And he knows...

Every reason that we do what we do. And I just

encourage you guys to continue to seek the Lord.

If you want to turn your heart and your thoughts

into a different direction, continue to seek

the Lord and his thoughts and his ways. Amen?

Let us pray. Father God, thank you so much for

your message this morning. We pray that we really...

Turn our thoughts to you every single day, every

morning that we wake up. Align our thoughts and

our heart, even when it's a struggle, even when

there's things that are difficult around us.

Help us to be the person that you intend us to

be. Help us to be kind, to be loving for the

right reasons. In Jesus' name we pray.