* Accept & Agree

 

I am a firm believer that if we are to affect the world in a relevant way, we must love like Jesus.

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.  Ephesians 5:1-2

We are to be imitators of Jesus in everything we do; that’s how we represent our heavenly Father as his sons and daughters.  In order to do this, to represent Him well, we must come into agreement with everything He says in His word and not only that, everything that He speaks through His spirit to us.

For example, if we continue to read Ephesians 5, it tells us things that as sons and daughters of God we should not do.  Every last one of those things listed –

·         sexual immorality, lust, greed

·         filthiness, foolish talking, jesting

 

– we must first accept them as God’s will, then, we must come into agreement with it which means to obey it.  There is a difference in accepting something and coming into agreement with that same thing.  Signing a contract indicates acceptance, following the content of contract demonstrates agreement.  For example, the bible says that

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.  James 2:19

Demons accept that there is one true God; meaning they believe it; but they don’t agree with it; otherwise, they would be submitted to God.  When you think about Lucifer rising up against God, there were 1/3 of the angels who were not in agreement with the sovereignty of God because they were cast out along with Satan.  A similar example is the man with the demon-filled child.  He accepted that Jesus was a healer but was not in full agreement that Jesus could meet his personal need (Mark 9:23-24).  So, acceptance is not enough, we have to be in total agreement; meaning that we do whatever our handbook, which was written through the inspiration of God, tells us – our following it is evidence of our agreement with it.  If we continue on to verse 20 of James 2, it says as much:

But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?  James 2:20

In other words, your faith or belief must be tangible; meaning your acceptance is tangible through your agreement.  Let’s look at what Apostle Paul says.  He tells us we are to yearn for all that is above, because that’s where Jesus sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  Colossians 3:2

We may accept this as truth, but are we in agreement with it.  I dare say that not all of us are because we have some heart issues that won’t allow us to come into agreement.  We have too much stuff weighing us down.

It is easy to accept something and yet not be in agreement with it.  To say that we are followers of God without the action to back it carries no weight with God.  It’s a heart thing, we have to mean it in our heart.  That’s why we pray for a pure heart.  The bible says blessed are the pure in heart – they are the ones that will see Him.  It is often, more times than not, that our hearts won’t allow us to come into agreement with God’s word or His will.  We have things embedded within us that makes us cringe at what we are to do or not to do according to the word of God.  We have issues –

Ø someone hurt us and now our heart is guarded against love and loving others;

Ø someone misused or took advantage of us and now we can’t trust,

Ø someone abused us and we shut our self-off from others,

Ø someone introduced us to perverseness and now we’re hooked.

Ø Someone mistreated us and now that’s all we know to do 

 

These are things that touched us at the core of our being.  But God, the Great Physician, has a cure for all of that!  We can’t follow Him as dear children or represent Him well with no love, no trust, standoffish, perverse or divisive in our actions.  Therefore, we must get our hearts right with God.  How do we do that?  Well, in the natural, when we get sick and go to the doctor, we have a pretty simple agenda. We want to know the answer to two questions: “What is wrong and how can I get healthy?” In order to accurately treat a sick patient, the doctor’s first goal is to determine what is causing the unhealthy symptoms. Sometimes it’s an easy diagnosis, and sometimes tests, x-rays, biopsies and scans are required. But, no matter what, the root of the symptoms must be revealed. This is true for our physical bodies and it’s true for our spiritual lives.

 

These unhealth symptoms are blocking our spiritual growth.  In the natural, being pumped up with pain pills and other remedies to alleviate the symptoms only masks the condition, it does not cure it.  Just as practicing or participating in certain church practices doesn’t cure the ailments of our heart conditions.

  

→       We have to get to the root (to what is causing the symptoms)

Some of the things listed above got buried in our subconscious and festered.  The bible tells us:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

The good thing is God knows it and only God can fix it.  When we’re sick, the symptoms of our illness tend to show up way before the root is exposed. This is not only true of our physical illnesses but also our emotional state.  We may have symptoms such as paralyzing anxiety, anger out of control, marriage in distress, financial chaos, and much more. We lack peace and look for relief where ever we can find it. Where does this pain or chaos originate? Our Great Physician; not man, like Luke who was referred to as a beloved physician, but God, the true and living God, offers us great clarity, help, and deliverance.  He tells us to pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being – our heart, because from there flows the wellspring or fountain of life.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23 [New Living Translation]

→       Our heart determines the course of our life. 

God reveals that the condition of our hearts will determine the course of our lives. What is inside your heart is taking you somewhere!  Look at it like this:

Sick heart = sick life. Healthy heart = healthy life.

If you want a health life, guard your heart.

→       In this regard, your heart is highly valuable. 

And because it is so valuable, we must protect it; guard it.  We don’t guard something that’s worth nothing.

However, I would never intentionally leave anything of value sitting unattended on the street; I’d never leave my car unlocked with the keys in it because it’s too valuable; it’s my only means of transportation.  When something is valuable, we guard it. We protect it. Your heart is of HUGE VALUE.  And God says guard it! But why would we need to guard our hearts?

→       Guard your heart because it is constantly under attack. 

Just like a bacteria can attack our physical bodies, there is a real assault on our heart. The very nature of the words “guard your heart” indicates that there’s something we have to guard against. The Bible is clear that we have enemies that are always on the prowl looking to attack us.  Peter said:

. . . your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; 1 Peter 5:8

Sometimes we are under an invisible attack:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Ephesians 6:12 

Not only do we face the enemies around us, being attacked from the outside, but God reveals perhaps the greatest battle lies within us.  Jeremiah described it this way:

It   . . . is the most deceitful of all things, and it is desperately wicked.    Jeremiah 17:9 

→       We have a HEART PROBLEM.

We have a heart problem that Jesus defines for us:  He says,

 Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:  There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:  All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.  Mark 7:14-15, 21-23 

If we misunderstand or ignore the root of our problem, we’ll miss TRUE and COMPLETE healing!  It’s like trying to treat a cold with a Band-Aid. More often than not the  first line of attack is to address our thoughts. Yet Jesus just told us that our sinful, unhealthy thoughts originate from our sick hearts! Our hearts are ground zero.

If not careful, we can make the common mistake of tackling the thoughts but missing the heart. It’s like fidgeting with the smoke alarm when it goes off instead of tackling the fire that the some alarm is warning us about.  Do we understand?  Working on the fire alarm won’t put out the fire.  In the same manner, we become aware of our messed up thinking, but we never stop to examine what’s behind the messed up thinking! We set out on a mission to deal with our thoughts and if we’re not careful we fall into one of two common traps:

*        The “More Knowledge” Trap

We set out on a knowledge quest. We read every self-help and insight book we can get our hands on. We are seeking content, content, content. We want a quick fix, a 1,2,3 fix. Just give me the information so I can follow it. We wear our eyes out watching every social media self-help person, preacher, prophet and evangelist we can. We may even turn to the Bible and attend multiple Bible studies, but we see no results. Don’t be mistaken, knowledge of God’s word is CRUCIAL. We must be people who discover the truths God has for us so we can learn to identify the false beliefs that lead us to pain and heartache.  For example, the bible demonstrates to us that healing comes through faith in God not through paying religious leaders.  But more knowledge is not the ultimate answer.

*        The “More Willpower” Trap

When it comes to our thought life, we determine that we must have more self-control. We begin the quest to obey God and “take captive every thought” as it comes into our head. We fight to replace the false with the truth. We determine we will not give in to the destructive patterns and behaviors of our past. Yet we continue to fail.

We cry out in desperation wondering why am I still failing?  Why do I keep repeating the same behaviors? But, until we deal with the root of our problems, we will find ourselves exhausted, frustrated and defeated relying on our own self-will instead of the strength of God.

→       So how do we have to get to the root?  The bible says:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

That is a healing process!  God is our Creator and the Great Cardiologist; he specializes in heart issues.  He has the ability and power to forgive our sins and heal our lives; to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. He loves us and desires that He be our first love. We must go to Him with our sick hearts. We must ask Him to reveal the ROOT of pride, lust, selfishness, envy, adultery, bitterness, idolatry, past hurts, injustices, disappointments or any other thing making our hearts sick. Confession of sin unlocks healing in our lives. God wants our hearts. God wants our love.

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.  Luke 10:27

God wants our healing.  When it comes to living this life, we have to understand…

→       The healthiest people are the ones who realize how sick they are.

And they run to the Savior. He is our Healer. There is no more room for wallowing in shame and condemnation. Earlier we said that we run after knowledge and while it is true, we need to know the word of God; God’s truths, but we need to apply them to our lives; that’s part of the cure – that we accept and agree with the truth.  When you’re sick in the natural, you call the doctor.  Likewise, when you’re sick spiritually, call on the chief physician, Jesus Christ, through prayer and supplication.   In the meantime, begin to come into agreement with the word of God; don’t just accept that it is God’s word, but come into agreement with it.  Begin to apply all of it to your life even as you pray for healing of your damaged heart.  Trust God to do the work!