Monday, April 21, 2008

THE MELTED HEART PT. 5

The NUMBER ONE thing that we need to be reminded of when facing a melted heart is THE LORD IS WITH US. DON’T FEAR THE PROBLEM. Don’t become so taken with the problem, so captivated with the enormity of the circumstances that we forget THE LORD IS WITH US.
DEUT. 1:28-33 tells us more of what Moses told them. Not only is God with you, and fighting your battles, but remember what He has done.
Deuteronomy 1:28-33
28. Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
29. Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
30. The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
31. And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
32. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,
33. Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.
In verse 30 Moses told them the Lord goes before them and fights for them and to remember what they saw the Lord do in Egypt with their own eyes. One of the tools Moses used to minister and try to turn the melted hearts of the people was to put them in remembrance of what the Lord had done for them in the past. They only got depleted when they focused on the problems facing them. Could that which Moses tried to do be a key ingredient to waiting on the Lord.
ISAIAH 40:31
31. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Wait: bind together.. To expect
This word stresses the straining of the mind in a certain direction, with an expectant attitude. A forward look with assurance. We can renew our strength by putting ourselves in remembrance of what the Lord has done in the past. His character, His history, His faithfulness. Sarah received strength to conceive because she judged Him ( Faithful who promised ). The Faithfulness of God. Remembering what God has done for you in the past will re-energize your melted heart. It will put passion back in your life again. It will put drive in your actions.
However so many people today are so focused on the problems facing them that they have forgotten what the Lord has done for them in the past. Which is key to knowing that He will be faithful today and tomorrow as well. Looking back at the faithfulness of God will give you strength to continue to possess that which looks impossible to possess.
WHY ?
Because if He has been faithful in the past He will be faithful in the present and in the future.
WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU HAVE A MELTED HEART?
In the children of Israel’s case they had Moses, Aaron, Joshua, And Caleb to step in. How many of you realize that most of us don’t have that many people who will step in when our hearts become melted. A lot of us don’t have people that are brave enough, knowledgeable enough, that are concerned enough when the see our heart overwhelmed, that they will feel free enough to step into our life and re-energize us with words, right words. To remind us when God was faithful to us in situations in the past. And how He will be faithful to us right now as we trust and rely on Him. Not a lot of people in our lives that are brave enough to do that. Not a lot of people in our lives concerned enough to do that.
I have to be more concerned about my heart than others are concerned about my heart. That way if no ne else step up to put me in remembrance of the Faithfulness of God in my life, I can do it. I have to keep myself in remembrance like David did. You will have to be that way also about your own heart. Then you need to look for others that need help and be that one who steps in and reminds them of God’s faithfulness and encourage them to look to the answer and not to focus on the problem. Don’t focus on the enormity of the problems. Joshua is getting ready to lead a huge multitude of people into the promised land. There will be many problems and distractions. The Lord gave Joshua some words that would cause him to be able to have the strength to go, and to do, and resist the melted heart, and to minister to those who have a melted heart. JOSHUA 1:5
5. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
In this verse the word STAND means: to put one in a stationary place in front of you in order to block you.
When you endeavor to possess the land ( or promises of God ) people and circumstances will try to block you. The thing to keep your eyes upon, the thing that will keep you going, when problems and people endeavor to block you, Is This Truth.
AS I WAS WITH MOSES SO WILL I BE WITH YOU. I WILL NEVER FAIL YOU. I WILL NEVER FORSAKE YOU. I’LL NEVER FALL SHORT. I’LL NEVER BE UNSUCCESSFUL IN OBTAINING A DESIRED END. I’LL NEVER LOSE MY STRENGTH. I WILL NEVER DENOUNCE YOU. I WILL NEVER ABANDON YOU.
Why did God say as I was with Moses so will I be with you? Because when you face overwhelming situations, if you get distracted by them, you just might come to the conclusion that you are in it alone.
If we will remember just this one thing," As I was with Moses so will I be with you." It will strengthen you and give you the no matter what comes we will overcome it attitude. The toll that He gave Joshua to stand in the face of overwhelming situations is the fact that He is with us and is faithful. As David said, " When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I." He is faithful. Let that get into your heart. Israel would not let that get into their hearts, and they gave up and quit time after time.
When problems pop up don’t faint, or become overwhelmed, and distracted with the problems to the point that you forget to do what God said to do about it. Get the Word of God on it and know He is faithful to perform that word. Problems come to face us all no matter who or what we are in life. When a problem pops up go on the attack. He is faithful, reliable, and dependable. He is trustworthy. He will help us. We are not in it alone.
Each one of us must look deep into our own hearts and check ourselves.
Here is our check list. See if we do any of these in any area of our lives.
1. Have we lost our drive, passion, or desire.
2. Do we hold or draw back.
3. Have we fainted and given up.
4. Do we not go where God said to go.
5. Do we not say what God said to say.
6. Do we not do what God said to do.
7. Do we murmur.
8. Do we complain.
9. Do we weep a lot.
If we are doing these thing then we are experiencing a melted heart.
Then I say remember His faithfulness to us in the past and it will strengthen us to go on. It will help us to have the courage to go possess the promises, and go and do what He has purposed us to do. His will cause us to stop looking at things as impossibilities. It will help us to not be distracted and depleted by problems and overwhelmed and melted, and pass on what we know. Let us help and encourage others. Let us be instruments of Gods Love towards others that need help... May we all not live in a melted condition ever again....
The children of Israel always wanted to turn back and hang on to things that would not help get them out of a melted heart but only cause more defeat. It reminds me of a story of how natives would catch monkeys. They would make a box with a banana`in it for bait. They would stake the box down and have a hole just big enough for the monkey to get his hand in but not back out while grasping the banana. The native would hide behind a tree and wait. A monkey would come by and see the banana and reach in and grab it, and then the native would come over and beat the monkey to death because once he grabbed the banana he would not let go of it. Let go of the problems because if you don’t you will be just like those monkeys. The devil will beat you silly while you hold onto the problem. You must not focus on the problem but rather the answer. All the monkey had to do was let go of the banana and he could have pulled his hand out and gotten away. All you have to do is let go of the problem and focus on what the Lord says about it and you will run free and your impossibilities will become possibilities.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i THANK god for your life , wisdom and knowledge ......you are like salt onto the earth .....your words have drawn us closer to God....God bless you n yours!!!