Change Your Heart

For as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he.

Pro. 23:7a KJV

Theme

To heal a troubled heart requires

letting God guide our personal passions.

What does the heart actually Do?

One of the tenets of modern psychology and learning theory is that what we think determines our reality. "As you think so you are".

Since the heart mediates the emotional system [i.e., the passions], and since thoughts with an "emotional charge" are those thoughts that most influence our life and our reality, it can be suggested that the heart truly is massively influencing the brain and our reality - if not dominating it.

1. Why Change Our Heart?

It Is Deceptive: Does Not Work Well

Jer. 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD.

6 They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. 7 “But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

It can and does deceive us allAc 8:21,22 [Said to Simon the sorcerer] You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

De 30:17,18 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.

2. How Do We Change Our Heart?

Proverbs 22:17,18 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.

What you focus on – namely what you really are passionate about or emotionally involved with – impacts your whole body and your whole life.

“Your Heart” in Proverbs, Pt. 1

2:2 [Turn] your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding,

2:10 [Let] wisdom…enter your heart…

3:1 …keep my commands in your heart…

3:3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you…write them on the tablet of your heart.

3:5 Trust in the LORD with ALL your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

“Your Heart” in Proverbs4:4, 21 “Lay hold of my words with all your

heart; keep my commands and you will live.” Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

6:21 Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.

23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear [AWE} of the LORD.

3. How Can I Change MY Heart?

Theme

To heal a troubled heart requires

letting God guide our personal passions.

The Heaven Test1. We are promised a place in heaven, some

say it is a mason, others a condo, others say a vast territory.

2. We are promised health and well-being in heaven. No fear of loss, or dealing with pain, depression, debilitating aging are gone.

3. We are promised to be with others in heaven. Family? Friends? Loved ones?

4. We are promised ongoing personal time with God in heaven.

A. Recognize there is a heart problem

Rev. 2:4,5a But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen from your first love! NLT

2Pe 2:20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

B. Point your passion using God’s Grace to do it. Love God

with all your Heart, your passion, your emotional focus,

1 Cor. 7:35 I am saying this for your own good… that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

C. Commit to loving the people in your world visibly and

unconditionally

1Jo 4:16 …We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

D. Turn your anguish & anger & unforgiveness over to God

Phil. 4:6,7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Theme

To heal a troubled heart requires

letting God guide our personal passions.

Our Challenge

Recognize the passion problem

Point your passion energy toward God

Commit to loving the one’s He loves

Turn the misdirected passions over to Him.