Grieving God's Heart
Grieving God's Heart
In the first Six chapters into the Bible, and only three chapters after Adam and Eve committed the first sin against God; the hearts of humanity have turned in on themselves. They turned away from God.
They had a desire to please themselves by themselves.
Result: God’s heart is broken.
Listen to the narrative in Genesis 6. It’s a remarkable glimpse into God’s emotional life.
Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
Gen 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Gen 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
What breaks and grieves the heart of God?
1. When we willfully disobey His guidance
2. When we don’t appreciate him fully
3. When we take him for Granted
4. John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” And so He wept. This broke His heart, and it still does.
5. Unbelief and rejection breaks God's heart, because He knows the consequences.
6. All Sin breaks God’s heart.
7. God’s heart breaks for those who are in bondage and addictions.
More than 2,600 years ago when the prophet Jeremiah grieved over the people of God.
(Jeremiah 8:21-22).
“Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”
8. Read God’s words in Ezekiel 6:9. “I was crushed by their adulterous heart.”
Understanding our hearts
It determines man’s moral nature and spiritual life, his reason and will. His desires, thoughts, consciences, and intentions
Understand the importance of keeping a pure heart
How does a worm get inside an apple? Perhaps you think the worm burrows in from the outside. No, scientists have discovered that the worm comes from the inside. But, how does he get in there? Simple, an insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats his way out.
Sin, like the worm, begins in the heart and works out through the person's thoughts, word and actions. For this reason, David once wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, O God."
Victor Sterling, a very rich contractor, was shaken by the doctor’s diagnosis. The physician said that unless Victor had a heart transplant, he had only weeks, perhaps days, to live. Fortunately, advised the doctor, there were several hearts available, although each was quite expensive.
"How much?" Victor asked.
"Well, I’ve got one heart of an individual who was thirty-five years old," said the surgeon. "He exercised moderately and never ate fatty foods. It’s in pretty good shape and goes for only one hundred thousand dollars."
"What else do you have?" Victor asked, "Anything better?"
"There is the heart of a twenty-year-old Olympic decathlon winner. He never smoked or drank. He was in perfect physical condition. That one will cost $250,000."
"Look Doc, this is my life," said the patient. "What’s the best you got?"
"Well there is one heart, very rare but the very best. It belonged to a sixty-five-year-old man. He drank and smoked to excess, he was thirty pounds overweight and he never exercised. His cholesterol count was over three hundred. This heart goes for one million dollars."
"Why is it so expensive?" asked the patient.
"It’s the heart of an attorney," explained the surgeon. "It’s never been used."
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Control your heart with what you feed it with your MIND
To keep your heart out of the gutter, than keep your mind out of the gutter
Guarding your hearts and minds
Our minds are constantly being assaulted by far more information than they can process adequately, so they have the ability to lock on to important information and lock out interference. e.g.,
Locking on: a mother picks out the sound of her baby crying in the midst of 20 fussy infants;
Phil 4:8 KJV
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Mans Evil heart
Mark 7:20-23 KJV
20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
Solomon said: "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Pro 23:7)
The heart is the sum total of the personality, the essence of the individual
Seeking a perfect heart
Without an authentic relationship with God, we are left empty and detached. There is in all of us, at the very center of our lives, a burning in the heart that is deep and insatiable.
Most often we try to quench that yearning with a human relationship. We try to fill the gap in our existence with a friend or lover. But no human relationship – no matter how wonderful – can ever complete us.
God is in the business of touching people
When you have been touched you will be changed.
- Jacob wrestled with God until he was touched
- No longer was he “deceiver” But now he was Israel, “Prince of God”
- He was never the same.
Types of hearts
A Decorated heart Empty heart
There are many people today who are religiously decorated. These decorations deceive the owners into believing they are Christians, that they are born-again believers.
A Christ like heart, A heart filled with the Holiness and beauty of God
There is one additional factor that will enable us to know Christ "as he is," and that is "we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2).
A Broken Heart
Happy is it for them that “the LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Ps. 34:18).
Summery
The importance o f a pure heart.
X THE outward life of Christ was true to His inward Heart
X John Wooden former UCLA basketball coach,
Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.
What percentage of your thought life would you estimate is spent focusing on negative aspects of life:
worrying about finances, fuming over the comment your spouse made on the way out the door this morning, grumbling about your son’s lack of respect, berating yourself for missing your devotional time this morning, etc.?
Gods desire is a heart transplant for his people
’A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you’ (Ezek. 36:26).
