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Getting engaged in your heart’s desire and mountain leads us straight in to the “go” portion of the great commission, and we find ourselves working in the middle of our cultures instead of just with believers. That means working with pre-saved people who are often in the middle of some significant sin issues. I want to use this newsletter to show what being in touch with your own heart looks like in the real world.
Remember when – The first step is to recall our own transition from the world to Jesus and then to the Kingdom. I got saved at 18 in a home Bible study setting (44 years ago). I wasn’t carrying a bunch of sins at the time, but I had a very clear sense of “self-righteousness.” I went intending to argue the issues of hypocrisy In Christians, and I honestly felt superior to them. What silenced me was the presence of God and the love among those believers. I was well aware that they had something very precious that I didn’t have. They spoke of Jesus like a friend… and I made him mine as well.
The goodness of God – I came expecting a mental debate, and what defeated my self-righteousness was the person of Jesus – His goodness. I was disarmed by the love I experienced.
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Rom 2:5 NKJV
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35 NIV
What we have to remember is that we all come to Jesus missing the mark with a boat load of issues – it’s normal. None of us are changed or converted by reminders of our failures. We are well aware of our inability to measure up to the law. What is also true is that we all carried some very good reasons why we we’re still OK without Jesus before we got saved. We call those reasons “heart codes.” As believers our first goal is to show these searching hearts some new and better reasons for letting go of the old rationale for self-righteousness. We do that by simply pulling on their heart’s desires – the ones God wrote there. Helping a person’s dream come true is one pretty good reason to know Jesus.
Once we have an “experience” with God and feel the love and forgiveness of our heavenly Father, we are willing to let go of our sin issues. That is a process that takes some time and maturity, but our hearts are now pointed in the direction of pleasing the Father and hearing His voice directly.
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28 NIV
Relating to people – All this leaves me with one simple goal: I want to help people make a heart connection with their Kingdom purpose and their King. I treat saved and pre-saved people the same way, and they respond the same way. Every time we touch the nerve of the desires God wrote in their hearts, they run toward it. If I can operate out of my own heart and transparently just be myself, they love me, too. If they don’t respond or if they need time to process, I’m content to spend my time with the next person who is ready. We only pick ripe fruit. Not everyone responds on my schedule, and some decide not to respond – that’s their business. I witness but its Jesus who saves.
Judgment or discernment – Many believers interpret this process as all love and no backbone. Although we lead with love instead of the law, there is still a place for discerning and judging evil. We have no business judging people that don’t know Jesus. We expect them to miss the mark just like we did before we got saved – we work next to these folks all the time. As believers, we have a different standard and we are called to judge one another beginning with the guy in the mirror.
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11 But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. 12 What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1 Cor 5:9-13 NIV
We are not ignorant of enemy schemes and we’re aware that the enemy usually uses people to accomplish evil. Many Christians in Germany ended up in a gas chambers because they hoped for the best and failed to discern evil. We’re not in the business of deciding who goes to heaven or hell, but we can tell the difference between right and wrong in our culture. There really are consequences for foolishness. We can tell when the enemy is lying to us! Here are a few examples that have the simple ring of common sense.
1. Christians who remain in sin may not miss heaven, but they do miss their inheritance in the Kingdom here and now. The “Kingdom of God” and heaven are not the same thing.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor 6:9-11 NIV
2. There is a spirit and a conspiracy behind sin. It is oppressive, possessive and has the power to control the way people think and live. There really is a devil and he has a plan for your life, too… to kill, steal and destroy.
3. Right now this spirit is trying to silence the voice of righteousness. You can hear the drum beat of propaganda… lies told often enough in the media and the political mountain that people fail to challenge them. Common sense and truth sound very refreshing by comparison.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isa 5:20 NASU
4. God has the power to set captives free and get people out of sin. Suggesting that gays are genetically pre-disposed to that lifestyle and can’t change is a lie intended to suggest that God is powerless to change a life… God does have the power, and He changes lives all the time. There are many organizations helping gays come out of their lifestyle and many testimonies of God’s power.
5. If no one will take a political stand for righteousness, evil will flourish and it can lead to the destruction of families, cities, cultures and nations. This has happened repeatedly throughout history.
When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan. Prov 29:2 NIV
6. An individual or a nation that spends more than it makes will eventually “serve the lender.”
…and the borrower is servant to the lender. Prov 22:7NIV
7. The man-caused global warming scare has nothing to do with the environment. It is a carefully orchestrated fabrication with a hidden agenda.
The sense of passive resignation in believers regarding the future is over. There are statesmen who can love people and defeat the lies of the enemy at the same time. They don’t just choose sides; they prophetically articulate God’s view in a way that draws agreement. The real truth is that we are much more loving and powerful than the enemy and his lies. Our future is very bright… should we choose to join the fight. There is a new crop of leaders God is raising up who will lovingly but firmly speak the truth and set captives free. They will carry an anointing to confound the wisdom of the world. When we get in touch with our own hearts we find a permission to speak the truth in love without fear. We feel God’s permission to come out of the closet with the convictions God has written on our hearts and in his word.,, no longer ashamed of the Gospel.
