David made a statement in the word of God. He said my heart is fixed.
Psalms 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
There are all kinds of heart conditions. There’s a broken heart. There’s a wounded heart. Then there are physical heart conditions that limit and restrict ones abilities and ones activities.
But David said my heart is fixed oh God my heart is fixed.
I want talk about heart conditions.
In particular I want to talk about one specific heart condition that I’ve been feeling in my spirit.
As I have been in prayer and seeking God and meditating on the word and seeking his heart and his mind for the service today I heard the Holy Spirit speak two words to me and I knew it was the message for this morning.
Those two words are. “Whole heart”.
Whole heart. I know there are a lot of ways a heart cannot be whole.
I know there such a thing as a broken heart. And I know a broken heart can come from many different situations. I know that you can experience a broken heart through loss. May be divorce, or maybe the loss of a loved one, the death of a spouse.
Or it could be the absence of a father or mother in your life.
I know that it happens to young and old. There’s no age limit on a broken heart.
And I’m so glad that I know there is one who can heal the heart and make it whole.
Jesus is a heart fixer. The Holy Spirit is the greatest surgeon in the universe, he can perform open heart surgery and never leave a scar.
But what I really felt the Holy Spirit was saying to me is that he is grieved over a heart condition in the Church today. And that condition is, “A divided heart” or we might even call it (half hearted ness).
Have you ever heard this phrase well I’ll do it but my hearts not in it? Or have you heard the phrase half hearted?
*How much heart do you put into your prayer time?
*How much heart do you put into your Bible reading and study?
*How much heart do you put in to your worship?
*How much heart do you put into your giving?
The sad truth is, that in many cases our lives are lived with less than a whole heart.
The truth is that God not only is not satisfied with less than our whole hearts. God demands our whole hearts.
To give God less than our whole hearts means that our hearts are divided. Which means we are holding out on God. Which means we are reserving something for ourselves that is actually not ours. Which means in essence that we are robbing God.
To give God less than a whole heart means that the part you don’t give him is open for business to anyone.
In other words, the part of your heart that is not yielded and surrendered to God is not filled with God and can be occupied by other things.
Which means that the part of your heart that is not filled with God and surrendered to God is not protected by God.
God can only protect what is his. He can only govern what is put in his control.
The Bible gives us several references to serving God with a whole heart.
2 Chronicles 15:15 and all of Judah rejoiced at the oath for they had sworn with all their heart, and served him with their whole desire, and he was found of them and the Lord gave them rest roundabout.
Psalms 91:1 I will praise the, oh Lord, with my whole heart, I will show forth all by marvelous works.
Psalms 119:10 with my whole heart have I sought thee, O let me not wander from thy Commandments.
Psalms 119:34 give me understanding, and I shall keep the law, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Psalms 119:69 The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep the precepts with my whole heart.
Now I want you to look at the condition that we’re talking about, “the divided heart”.
Jeremiah 3:10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah have not turned unto me with her whole heart, but fiegnedly saith the Lord.
In first Kings 11:4 it says: For it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods and his Heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashteroth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom abomination of the Ammonites.
And finally this is the one that really clarifies it 2 Chronicles 25:2 It’s speaking about Amaziah and it says: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, “but not with a perfect heart”.
Here with Israel and with Solomon and with Amaziah, we see a condition that is very dangerous. It is the divided heart.
Now let’s break this down. When we speak of the heart here, we are speaking of what you love. Affection, intention, desire, passion.
We are speaking of what you are invested in, what you are committed to.
I’ll do it but my hearts not in it, means:
I’ll perform the function, I’ll carry out the duty, but I’m not invested in it.
Ok, I’m going to get raw here for a minute so give me some grace and give me some space.
Many people in the Church are just like that; they are physically present, even give in the offering and sometimes pay tithes, but they are not invested from the heart.
Their affection, their passion, and their desire is absent from their actions.
Amaziah did what was right, but not with a perfect heart. (Perfect simply means, whole.)
Ok, hold on, I told you that we’re going to get raw for a minute.
That is no different than a prostitute.
What do you mean pastor?
A prostitute performs a service.
They go through the same physical motions as a wife, but they are not invested in the activity.
They are emotionally detached from the person they are interacting with.
Before the day is out or the night is over they may have 4 or more repeat experiences with other men.
When we come to God with a divided heart, God looks at us just like a prostitute, because all we're doing is performing what we think is expected of us just to keep our fire insurance.
But there is no heart in it, no fire, no passion, no desire.
Friends, Jesus does not want a prostitute. He wants a bride.
He is not marrying a prostitute.
Don’t get what I’m saying twisted, of course he loves the prostitute, the homosexual, the lesbian, the thief the liar etc.
But I’m talking about a prostitute church that is just going through the motions and their hearts not in it.
I’m going to be totally honest with you. I am concerned enough about your soul to tell you this.
If you cannot be passionate and emotionally and financially invested in this church. And if you don’t have any excitement about coming here and worshiping God, if you don’t have any passion and any fire and any appetite for what I teach and what I preach. Then I encourage you to take your body, and your tithes on down the road and find the pastor that kindles the fire in your heart. And find a church that you are passionate about, where you don’t want to miss a single service.
And find a place where you can give your whole heart to, and be emotionally and spiritually invested and go there.
I’m not trying to run anybody off. But I know that if you’re really going to serve God you must do it with a whole heart.
I’m going to tell you the truth, if I was coming here or any other church and there was no fire, no presence of God, no power, no anointing. No preaching and teaching the word. I would be gone so fast it would make your Head spin.
Why? Because I am not looking for a place just to do my duty and just to keep me from drowning. I need a place where the fire is burning, I need a minister that stirs me, and challenges me.
I don’t want to know how to tread water and just stay afloat. I want to fly.
I’m not looking for a place that makes me comfortable. I’m looking for a place where the anointing of God is flowing. I need to be in an atmosphere that kindles the fire in my soul. I need to be around passionate people.
People that are hungry for God.
People that are hungry for his word.
People that are passionately pursuing his presence.
That’s what we’re trying to create here.
Passion. Fire. Zeal, Intensity, Heart hunger, Desire.
These are the things that mark the lives of those who are serving God with the whole heart. John 2:17 says: the zeal of thy house have eaten me up.
Ecclesiastic 9:10 says: whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might. In other words it is speaking about the whole heart.
My friend I want you to know that in the hour that we are living in, you’re not going to make it With half hearted service.
God is not going to except our offering without our hearts. God is not looking for people who know how to do the right thing.
The church thing.
He is not looking for people who know how to do church. He is looking for people to be the church.
A church that is in love with Jesus, a church that loves the Holy Spirit, a church that has a holy heart burn.
Their hearts are on fire for God.
I know it’s tight, but it’s right. I know this is what the Holy Spirit is saying today.
He is not just looking for warm bodies in the pew.
He is looking for hearts that are on fire, that are wholly devoted to him.
