HAVING THE HEART OF JESUS (God looks at the Heart)
HANDOUT FOR SERMON JULY 31ST, 2021: GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART. Learning to Have the Heart of Jesus in You.
INTRODUCTION: It’s so easy for humans to focus on the outward things. Even in the realm of faith and religion people have the tendency to “judge” others by outward appearance. God address this issue in the Bible. God warns us about being too rash and quick to judge others and reminds us of the importance of keeping our “eyes” on ourselves. We should be good and fair and honest judges of ourselves. The only one who can have perfect judgment of others is God. The reason being God is the only Being that can investigate and read people’s hearts and know their motives.
What is the greatest commandment? Read Matthew 22:37-39 From this passage God tells us what our relationship with Him and our eternal future revolves around these two fundamental teachings of God. We are taught to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. That should be the foundation for everything I do in my walk with Christ.
As believers we should have the heart that cries out in Psalm 51:10-12 for God to create in us a clean heart and to renew a steadfast spirit within us! Is this your daily prayer? Do you believe God can do this for you? Our lesson today will deal with how to develop a heart for God and a heart that pleases God.
LESSON:
1.THE HEART THAT GOD LOVED THE MOST, THE HEART OF JESUS. Jesus became flesh for our benefit. He came to reveal the nature of God to us and He came to be an example for us. There is no doubt that the heart of Jesus in the flesh is the heart God is most pleased with. We are told to follow Jesus and to walk in His footsteps. We are to imitate Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God.
Scripture: John 1:1-18, Matthew 4:19, Matthew 10:38, 1 Peter 2:21, 1 Corinthians 11:1
God declared His love and appreciation for His Son on several occasions: Matthew 3:16-17, Matthew 12:18, Mathew 17:5, 2 Peter 1:17, Isaiah 53:2, 1 Samuel 16:7
“The Lord does NOT look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
KNOW THE HEART OF JESUS. We are to be the children of God and we are to reflect the goodness and glory of our heavenly Father. How can I do this? You start with truly knowing and understanding the heart of Jesus. Jesus is one with the Father and the Spirit, they all have that same heart or same kind of heart!
Scripture: Exodus 34:6-7, Jeremiah 9:24
We are commanded to conform to the total image of Jesus Christ that include not only His actions or commandments but also His Heart: Romans 8:29, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:1-2, Colossians 1;15 Philippians 2:5, 1 John 2:6.
How well do you know Jesus? I fear we know His commandments much better than we Know Jesus and His heart. Without truly knowing Jesus and understanding His heart – we will not know and truly understand the value of His commandments or teachings.
The Heart of Jesus, scripture reveals:
A heart of humility, gentleness and care. Matthew 11:28-29
A heart of compassion: Matthew 9:34, 14:14, 15:32
A heart of love: John 3:16, John 15:13, Ephesians 5:2
A heart of sacrifice: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
A heart of mercy & grace: 2 Corinthians 13:14, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Matt, 23:37, 20:33-34
GOD CAN CREATE SUCH A HEART IN YOU! Do not underestimate the power of God in the lives of people. The Bible speaks of the transforming power in the word of God, Romans 12:1-3. Remember the power of grace in the lives of others that caused a complete turnaround in the individual views, ideas, deeds and lifestyles! Consider the people on the day of Pentecost, the man Saul of Tarsus, and many others in the New Testament writings.
Scripture: Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 24:7, Psalm 51;10
ALL YOU NEED IS A PURE AND COMPASSIONATE HEART. If you truly want to make it to heaven all you need is the proper heart, the heart of Jesus within you! The heart is what makes us who we are. All our thoughts, motives, words, and actions are governed by our heart!
Scripture: Proverbs 3:5, Proverbs 4:23, Psalm 97:11. Psalm 125:4, Romans 10:9-10, 1 Peter 1:22
CONCLUSION:
YOU must remember God looks at YOUR HEART!
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:7, Psalm 139:1-4, 1 Chronicles 28:9, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Jeremiah 17:10
My prayer for you is that you will never forget how much emphasis is placed in scripture on the heart! Why is this the case? Meditate upon that. Learn to spend more time working on your heart and less time focusing on action and works. When you develop the “heart of Jesus” within your heart the result will be amazing, and you will be the busiest person in the kingdom of God! If the heart is right, the works will be right and accepted by God.