For several weeks now we've been discussing the subject of HARDNESS OF HEART. It's very rare to hear a teaching on this topic but it's mentioned (along with DULLNESS OF HEART) more than 15 times in the New Testament. It was so important to Jesus that He rebuked His hand-picked, personally-trained disciples for their HARDNESS OF HEART on several occasions (Mark 8:17-21, 16:14 and others). Question: why are we spending so much time discussing this subject? Following are the most relevant reasons:
> Jesus considered this subject to be important, so we should too.
> It disconnects us from the things of God.
> It reconnects us to the World.
> It makes it difficult to perceive and understand the Word.
> It deprives us of wisdom and judgment.
> It makes us depend on the five carnal senses instead of FAITH.
> It hinders the process of MIND renewal.
HARDNESS OF HEART is a serious condition in the Body of Christ and our churches would do well to spend some time bringing it to the attention of their people. The truth is a LOT of folks these days are walking around in defeat and spiritual apathy not realizing that they're being bogged down by a spiritual condition that THEY have to address so the Word can produce the VICTORY that ALL Believers have been created to receive. It's a simple fact: if we're walking around in HARDNESS OF HEART, we'll never be able to manifest the VICTORIES of life God has intended for us to have.
What to Do about It
Now, God doesn't put HARDNESS OF HEART on believers under the New Covenant and it's OUR responsibility to initiate the correction in our own lives. We've done this to ourselves and we have to be the ones that set in motion the process for getting out of it. Everyone has some degree of HARDNESS OF HEART. We can beg and plead with God to do something about it, but He already has; Jesus went to the Cross so that we could, among other things, overcome HARDNESS OF HEART by initiating the recovery process. It's our responsibility to see about overcoming it so the Word of God can produce the renewal in our MINDS that we need. We have to take the initiative and then the Holy Spirit will be there to teach us ALL things (John 14:26) in response to our desire to change things and get the victory.
HARDNESS OF HEART comes because we've CONSIDERED the wrong things (Mark 6:52 KJV). Whatever we do NOT "consider" we become HARDENED to and conversely we become SOFTENED to the things we DO consider. What do we put our MINDS on regularly? What do we think about and evaluate and mediate on most of the time? The things we do NOT give attention to are the things we become HARDENED to.
We have HARDNESS OF HEART about spiritual things because we don't CONSIDER them enough. We're HARDENED to the Word of God because we neglect it. When we're hardened to the Word the result is that our FAITH is weakened. The only way I can receive God's GRACE is by FAITH. His GRACE is my empowerment so I won't be fully able to overcome life's trials and problems if my FAITH is weakened. But I can reverse all this by giving more quality attention to the Word. Why do so many Christians try to get by in life with just the minimum effort to read and meditate on the Word? It's a nearly a fruitless exercise and the result is ALWAYS defeat because of increasing HARDNESS to the Word.
We're also HARDENED to the supernatural, which is where the things of God operate, because we've only CONSIDERED things by the natural carnal senses. Either we're going to assess things by the natural senses or by FAITH. If you can see or taste or feel something, you don't need FAITH. But FAITH is required to please God (Hebrews 11:6) and FAITH is required to receive GRACE. You overcome your HARDNESS to the supernatural by trying to live by FAITH instead of by the natural senses. Choose to agree with the Word of God instead of only what your natural senses can confirm. Consider the supernatural as something superior to the natural and ask the Holy Spirit to help you operate there. He will help you and as you CONSIDER the supernatural instead of ignoring or disregarding it, you'll become more sensitive to it and in turn more HARDENED to the things that have only been confirmed by your natural senses.
In sum, we have to keep our MINDS stayed on the Lord instead of on the World. There are just NO options: to put your MIND on the Lord is to disconnect from the World as much as possible. But to put your MIND on the Lord is to become HARDENED to the things of the World because you're no longer CONSIDERING it. You want to become HARDENED to the World so you can become softened to the Word and to the things of God because out of the things of God come the favor and the GRACE we need to produce the victories.
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on August 28. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), pushing you to VICTORY in every area of life!
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be your Lord, you can do so today by believing and saying out loud the following simple prayer:
Jesus, I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and I believe that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven for all time and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed, God has already come into your life and you're a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
When you get a moment have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer and believing what you said:
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
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