The Combination to Your Heart

Every heart has a combination.  Everyone has something or someone that unlocks their heart.  It's like the master password that protects the financial and other identity information on your computer or smartphone.  When that person or thing collides with your heart it reveals what's really inside.

In Mark chapter 14 we discover the combination to the heart of one of the 12 disciples.  Judas had spent almost every waking hour for three years of his life with Jesus.  Yet, when the right combination collided with Judas' heart it revealed a rotten core.  What was the combination to Judas heart?

In Mark 14:1-9 Judas witnessed a woman pour a very costly oil on Jesus.  As keeper of the money bag, Judas chastised the woman for wasting the oil when it could have been sold to help the poor.  After witnessing this event Judas when straight to the religious leaders and offered to deliver Jesus over to them in exchange for... you guessed it, money.

For three years Judas ate with Jesus, he ministered in Jesus name and even cast out demons in His name.  Yet, he was bought off when the right combination collided with his heart.

What's the combination to your heart?  Let's face it, Judas isn't the last person to exchange Jesus for money.  What will you give up Jesus in exchange for?

Another way to look at it is by asking this question: Where do you draw the line in following Jesus?  You may not verbalize it, but there are many who think things like: "I'll follow you Jesus unless 'this' happens or unless 'that' happens."  or "I'll follow you Jesus, as long as it's convenient for me but the moment I have to step out of my comfort zone I'm done."

Here's what you need to do: Put your heart on "trial."  The purpose of going before a judge or jury in a "trial" is to try and reveal the truth.  Sometimes our human courts get it right and sometimes they fail miserably.  There is One Judge that never get's it wrong, God.  Psalm 139:23-24 says, "Search me, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts."

Ask God to put your heart on "trial," so that your true heart might be revealed.  I'm warning you from personal experience.  It may be painful...It will be hard...but it will be worth it.  Getting the correct combination to your heart will enable you to "live the life" God has called you to live. (Eph. 4:1)

(This post is based on the sermon I preached at Geist Community Church on October 28, 2012.  You can listen to/watch it or download the notes here.)

Know the Truth; Live by the Truth

A couple weeks ago my two kids and I were out in the backyard.  Grant (five) was swinging on the swing set while three-year-old Grace decided to grab a spray bottle filled with water.  She was spraying the flowers, patio, grill and anything else that crossed her circuitous path.  I knew what she was plotting as she inched closer to her brother sitting innocently on the swing. 

Grace glanced back at me, knowing that dad had told her she could spray anything in the backyard except for her brother.  She knew if she squirted him the spray bottle would be taken away just as dad had promised.  Yet, like Eve in the Garden of Eden, she couldn't resist the ONE thing she wasn't supposed to do.  Grace knew the authority, she knew the consequences of her disobedience, yet she chose to allow her own desire to trump the authority of her father.

In Mark 12:18-27 we read about a group of religious leaders who were acting very much like my three year-old daughter.  They allowed their own interests and desires to trump the authority of God's Word in their lives.  In the middle of that section Jesus zeroed in on two reasons they failed to submit to the authoirty of God's Word:

(1) "you know neither the Scriptures" - They didn't know the Bible!  The Sadducees only viewed the first five books of the Old Testament (the Books of Moses) as authoritative, so they really didn't know and understand the truth of the entire Old Testament Scripture.

(2) "nor the power of God" - Since they didn't know the Bible, they failed to know it's Author, God.  If the Sadducees would have truly known the Scriptures, they would have understood and believed that God can do anything - including raising people from the dead.

May we not stumble down the same path as the Sadducees; failing to know the power of God because we fail to know His Word.  We must know the Truth and we must live by the Truth.

          "The law of the LORD is perfect,
                  reviving the soul;
            the testimony of the LORD is sure,
                  making wise the simple;
           the precepts of the LORD are right,
                  rejoicing the heart;
            the commandment of the LORD is pure,
                  enlightening the eyes; "
                                        - Psalm 19:7-8