February
11, 2007pm The Heart of
the Matter. Jeremiah
17
By
Ronald E. George Jr. at the
Half-Hearted
Clearance
Some Christians are like the man who wrote the office of Internal Revenue stating: “I can’t sleep; my conscience is bothering me. Enclosed find a check for $50. If I still can’t sleep, I’ll send you the balance!”—Myron S. Augsburger[1]
The Heart
The heart is a hard-working marvel. It can keep on beating automatically even if all other nerves were severed. And what a beat! It beats an average of 75 times a minute, forty million times a year, or two-and-a-half billion times in a life of 70 years. At each beat, the average adult heart discharges about four ounces of blood. This amounts to three thousand gallons a day or 650,000 gallons a year—enough to fill more than 81 tank cars of 8,000 gallons each. The heart does enough work in one hour to lift a 150-pound man to the top of a three-story building, enough energy in twelve hours to lift a 65-ton tank car one foot off the ground, or enough power in seventy years to lift the largest battleship afloat completely out of the water. [2]
Scripture
Text: Jeremiah
17:5 (NIV) This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in
man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the
LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity
when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land
where no one lives. 7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose
confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends
out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are
always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear
fruit." 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can
understand it? 10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to
reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds
deserve."
God
looks at the Heart.
10 "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a
man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."
The
heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Everyone needs a new heart. When
was the last time you had a heart examination?
1.
A Heart of Stone or a Hard hearted man.
Who is He? The one who trusts in man. He depends on flesh for his strength.
He turns his heart away from the lord.
What will happen to him? He will be like a bush in the wastelands. He will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert. He will live in a land where no one lives.
2.
A Heart of Flesh or a Soft hearted
man.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Trust for your life, eternity, help, hope, problems, finances, children, job, wife, church, town, school.
Who is that person who trusts in the Lord? It is a person who:
No worries about the heat and drought. He is always green. He always bears fruit.
No worries about the heart. It is not easily controlled. The Lord rewards a man according to his conduct. According to what his deeds deserve.
III.
God will Give you a new heart.
Ezek
36:26 (NIV) I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will
remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful
to keep my laws.
Let God Give you a
new direction.
Let God Give you a
new desire.
Let God Give you a
new destination.
Let God Give you a
new
[1]Tan, P. L.
(1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : [a treasury of
illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and
Christian workers].
[2]Tan, P. L.
(1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : [a treasury of
illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and
Christian workers].