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| JAMES LESSON #57 If you have a contaminated heart � what do you do? We�ve been looking at the tongue- we�ve been looking at the heart � we�re going to go a little further with this. James 5:5. He talks about the heart again. Here you see a blatant picture of a �self indulgent� heart. James 5:8 He calls them to �strengthen� their hearts - How? The Greek word there is �sterizo:� and it means to turn resolutely in a certain direction � to �fix� - How? It goes back again to the �joint effort opportunity.� It�s not a �fixing� that �you� do on your own. It�s a form of �worship.� Go to Romans 12:1. There you see the word �worship� � what exactly �is� �worship?� It�s recognizing �worth � ship� � with deep humility taking on the heart of a �servant.� �Strengthen� � �fix�-�turn resolutely your heart in one direction� � by engaging in the �joint effort opportunity.� How? By offering your �service� of �worship� to God � that of taking on the heart of a �servant.� A �servant� does not question � He responds to whatever the commands are with �obedience..� and THAT, is the key in this picture. Look at James 3:9. James is showing us that what�s in the heart comes out of the mouth. Have you ever �cursed� someone with your tongue? I�ve personally heard �well intentioned� Christians curse other Christians in prayer � seeking God to �bring them to their knees through illness, through hardship,� through..and the list goes on. I�ve also heard well intentioned prayers asking God to �teach them a lesson � stomp on their egos, break their spirits, bring them low, bring �whatever it takes� to �and the prayer continues. Instead of praying blessing on them, they�ve cursed them � oftentimes, without knowing. The results in those cases are often devastating. Other forms of cursing are just flat out moments of anger and hatred � where I�ve heard people totally lose control of their mouths and blast the person in front of them � the most horrific, being children. READ ON � James 3:10-11 No � You�re either going to get fresh water or you�re going to get bitter water- James 3:12 Can you go pick olives off a fig tree or get a cool glass of fresh water out of the ocean? Wrong- Doesn�t work that way. James 3:13-14 If this is what�s in your heart, don�t turn around and say it�s from God. Wrong. We are so quick to blame Him for our own choices. A heart that�s full of jealousy and bitterness and arrogance and hatred � is NOT a picture of God�s heart at all. There�s no way you can say that a child of God is to �act out� those feelings. We all �have� those feelings � we all equally have a �choice� as to whether or not we will �act� on them. James 3:15 through 4:1. You�re in a battle. Stuff gets tough. There are a few who are literally �in your face� with their attitudes, positions, emotional games..and the list goes on. Guard your heart. Your tongue will reveal what�s in it. Out of your heart, your tongue will spill- don�t forget that. Turn to Luke 6:43-45 Am I saying that if I�m a Christian my mouth will never throw a swear word, or yell in hatred, or spill in anger, or gossip, or complain, or grumble, or be critical�my word, if that�s the case..none of us will make it to heaven! No- that is NOT what I�m saying. It�s about a �habit of life.� If you�re always bringing forth dirty conversation � if your joking is always sensual � if your conversation is full of jealousy � backbiting someone else on a regular basis � if your conversation is all about you and selfish ambition � me first- me first- me first- if you�re constantly complaining, constantly critical, constantly grumbling, - something is very very wrong with your heart and I would suggest that Jesus is not at all in control of who you are � that you are not born again. But.. If those things happen on occasion � intermittent � flare ups- then I would say that something has �contaminated� your heart. Anytime that you start to bring forth things that are �contrary� from the �wisdom� that is from above,� you need to stop and examine your heart. �Wisdom from above?� � Phillipians 4:8- What�s true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise - That�s a pretty tall measuring stick � but it�s an accurate one. If what�s coming out of your mouth does not measure up, you need to ask some questions? Sin questions: What�s in my heart that�s making me tear someone else down behind their back? Insecurity? What�s in my heart that�s making me jealous? Anger? What�s in my heart that causes me to be dirty in humor? Immorality? What�s in my heart that�s causing me to grumble and complain? Ingratitude? What�s in my heart that�s causing me to be critical? Pride. What�s in my heart that�s ..and the list goes on. It�s a real strong heart check to check your speech on a regular basis. Always look behind the words to see where the contamination is. James chapter 3 ends with a very difficult verse and moves right into James 4. The question it raises is this: �Is your life producing peace or conflict?� �Peace or Misery?� Look at Matthew 12:33-34. If you want to know what�s in your heart, listen to what you are saying. READ On �Matthew 12:35-37 Why am I going to be condemned or justified by my words? Because it shows what�s in my heart. Look at the way you�re living. Look at the way you�re talking. Look at what you�re saying to your children when no one else hears. Look at how you treat your husband- your wife- Look at what you�re saying about people- then examine your heart. Is your well contaminated? Or God owned � God directed � fully engaged in a �joint effort opportunity?� READ Matthew 15:18-20 The Pharisees were all caught up in ceremonies and outward expressions of keeping the law. The Pharisees even added to the law (as if there weren�t enough rules and regs to last forever already) � and in the process missed the whole point � it wasn�t about �being good enough� � dotting all the �I�s� and crossing all the �t�s� � it was about the �heart.� If there�s yelling � if there�s criticism- if there�s constant judgment � if there�s constant negative comments about others � if there�s constant swearing � if there are constant obscenities � if there are off colored remarks and jokes � if there�s a lot of deceit � a lot of complaining � a lot of �tearing down,� � if the jokes are constantly at another person�s expense�and any or all of this is pouring out of your mouth..you have a problem � it�s a �sin problem.� The question is � have you been �born again?� Have you 1) confessed your sins to God 2) asked Him to forgive you 3) Experienced repentance: deep deep regret for the way you�ve lived your life �enough so to turn and engage in a joint effort opportunity � walking and living a different way: one of holiness? Phillipians 4:8-ing your words and behavior? Is Jesus truly in control of who you are? If you have no control over your mouth � if it�s the constant habit of your life to �spill out� swearing, complaining, grumbling, jealousy..and the list goes on � I would earnestly warn you to check your heart and see if you�re truly saved. If what�s coming out of your mouth is not constant � is not a �habit of life� � if you find yourself in a state where you start criticizing for awhile � where you start judging for awhile � where you start tearing down your spouse fo awhile � tearing down your friends for awhile � tearing down your kids for awhile �or, if you find yourself starting to talk sensually and making off colored jokes for awhile� You have strayed from truth. Something has happened to your heart. You�re in trouble with �sin� somewhere. You�re either harboring anger, or resentment, or bitterness- or you�ve not forgiven � or you�re struggling with pride issues- or perhaps you�ve been into pornography or indulged in some kind of sensual lust that has gained a position in your heart. Ok � here�s the kick. Don�t deceive yourself and think it�s �ok� with God. It�s NOT. It�s deadly to all that you are and to all that you will become and God knows that. He does not tolerate sin of any kind. It�s important to distinguish �sin and the issue� from �you-� Those, are two separate things. God deeply loves you � His intolerance is of the �sin� you�ve gotten in to. THAT, is what needs to be dealt with. If it�s not, God has to judge you. Are you always fighting with others? Tearing them apart? Saying you wish they were dead? That�s anger � bitterness- murder in your heart � you need to do a heart check. How? Time out on your knees. Psalm 51:6- In the hidden part Thou wilt make me know what? �wisdom� � That, is where we�re going next- That, is also, a �heart indicator.� READ ON � Psalm 51:10-12 I would encourage you to pray this prayer today- Asking God to reveal any sin in you that needs to be removed and any areas of your life that need to be cleansed. Confession of sin is a painful process � but there is nothing that will liberate you more. Many times we walk in sin and don�t even know it. When you �clean house,� it�s important to ask God to make sure you don�t miss any of the corners. He�ll always find some that you don�t seem to be able to see. It�s in the corners we can�t see that oftentimes much of who we are comes under �lock down.� We live our lives �harnessed� instead of �released.� As you pray this prayer, if and when God brings sin to the front in your life don�t hesitate to open your hands and release it. Freedom is on the other side. Remember, He paid for it � it�s not yours to hang on to. Let go. Loving you, Robin �Jim and Robin Hibschman 2001 |
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