Title: THE HEART THAT IS NOT RIGHT
Scripture Reading: II King 10:15
And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab, the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
Background of this scripture text
The statement ‘Is thine heart right?’ is a question we should often put to ourselves. Is thine heart right today before God. You have made a profession of your Christianity but right now at this present moment, ‘Is thine heart right?’ Are you sincere outwardly and inwardly with God today?
Proverbs 4:23 ‘ guard our heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.’
The heart is the reservoir, and change must begin there.
The Bible warns us to avoid a double heart, a hard heart, a proud heart, an unbelieving heart, a cold heart and an unclean heart
Satan keeps special watch over our heart, so we must keep special watch as well
If the heart is captured, the whole man’s affection, desires, motives, pursuits – will be handed over.
Compare your heart and its conditions, with that moment you accepted Christ and the present heart: now.
One of the great enticements to the way of wicked is that it is fun, pleasant, and will bring some sense of happiness. This is a lie. Sin is pleasurable but only for a season.
‘Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him. And before he was not he had this testimony that he pleased God.’
Walk with God is a daily relationship and a consistent communion with God. The word ‘walk’ is the biblical expression of ‘fellowship and obedience’ with God that results in the rapture. The word ‘pleased’ refers to the manner of life of a person living in nearness to God.
And only a heart that is right can make the rapture. So, we must constantly come out of the busyness of life and the pollution of this world and sit in a moment of stillness in the church, like right now, filled with the stillness of the Holy Spirit and check our heart
‘Wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee.’ (Psalm 86:6)
‘Re’ mean ‘again’
‘Vival’ mean ‘life’
Revival is coming to life again.
4 things that a heart can be not right with God.
- When it is not right with men
Our heart is not right with God when it is not right with men.
IF you have ill will with people, you cannot enjoy the presence of God because the spirit of God cannot dwell with an unforgiving heart. Many of us doesn’t even know that our spirituality had been sapping away so long already because of unwillingness to forgive someone.
Jesus said it so clearly, ‘When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any, that your Father, also which is in heaven may forgive ye your trespasses.’ That implied that if you do not forgive, God will not hear you and will not have communion with you.
Today, if we really want this church to move to a higher level, there must be forgiveness. Don’t let the devil have the upper hand. Be like Jesus; he knew what was in men and yet he said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ His Spirit was so right that it pleased God though it seemed Jesus was at the losing end.
- When the thought life is not right with God
The second cause that our heart is not right with God is manifested in our thinking life.
The bible says, ‘in the last days, sin will abound, and the love of many will wax cold.’
Thoughts are habitual. Just as habits are formed by repeated actions, so is negative thinking. Wrong thinking always leads us down to the wrong paths in life. Wrong thinking leads to wrong choices, wrong actions, wrong words and wrong believing. What can wrong thinking lead to:
- Violent acts, aggression, or causing harm to other people
- Becoming an immoral person
- Sexual acts
- Hurting yourself
- Anxiety
- Depression
- OCD (oppressive compulsive disorder)
- When there is unbelief
Unbelief is a slap into the face of God. It is telling God, ‘I don’t think you have the power and capability to provide for my needs.
Unbelief is also telling God that you don’t trust what he promised he would perform. Unbelief is calling God a liar.
Unbelief is deadly and harmful.
Unbelief is the unwillingness to put ourselves entirely into the hand of God.
Unbelief is a sin.
- Our lifestyle is not right with God
Many of us Christians were once on fire for God. Then slowly we faded into obscurity. Why? Simply because we refused to change our lifestyle.
If you don’t want to change your lifestyle, you will go nowhere, lose out in life, waste your life and in the end lose out with God.
Some of us did not grow up spiritually not because you don’t love God. But you have the problem of disciplining your lifestyle.
In conclusion, Jehu asked Jehonadab, whether his heart is right with him. But we have a greater Jehu, whose heart is totally right with God and men. Actually we will discover later in life that Jehu heart turned evil. But Jesus’ heart has never turned evil and away from us. When we failed in our relationship with men, Jesus at the cross of Calvary said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, When our thought life become wrong and evil, Jesus kept his mind towards God until the end. When there was unbelief in us, Jesus totally believed in God and said, ‘Father in thine hand, I commit myself to thee.’ When our lifestyles became so wrong and evil, Jesus went about doing good. But more than that, He went to the cross and was punished for our unforgiveness, our wrong thought, unbelief and evil lifestyle. And God forgave us of all these wrongs because of Jesus. But more than that he came looking for you and reconcile you back to God so that your heart can be right with God once again.
