Scripture: Jeremiah 18:1-4
Step1 - Different lumps of clay
Step2 - The potter's wheel
Step3 - Shaped
Step4 - Life on the shelf
Step5 - The furnace
Scripture: Isaiah 61:1
Bringing to the conclusion of the series, Ps Michael shared the 3 things that we need to do in aligning our hearts to God:
- Pay attention to your heart
- Use the 'nevertheless' principle
- Partner with God. Fight for your heart.
Scripture: Isaiah 55:8-9
Aligning our hearts with God's heart: His truths and strategies
God's big Truths - a pathway to living fully and freely from your heart
- God's grace is sufficient for me
- God cares about every detail of my life
- God will give me success and keep me on track
- God knows everything from beginning to the end
- God is good all the time
God's big Strategies - a pathway to living fully and freely from your heart
- Live vulnerably
- Face reality
- Pursue discipleship
- Depend
- Acknowledge and manage your emotions
- Integrate
- Simply serve
- Partner with God
- Abide
- Heal
Scripture: John 3:16
Good Friday: Jesus died on the Cross for our sin so we may live.
Holy Saturday: Jesus laid dead for our sin so we may live for God.
Easter Sunday: Jesus rose from the dead for our sin so we may live forever with God.
Scripture: Jeremiah 17:9
4 Questions of the heart:
- Is God good all the time?
- Am I good even when I'm flawed?
- Are others good even when they're broken?
- Is life good even if it's difficult?
The answers to these questions:
- Don't let exceptions in life be the rule
- Don't let negative experiences of life be the rule of your heart
Scripture: Matthew 12:20
Viktor Frankl - "between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is the power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
How to tame your sore spots:
- Fear - reflect not react (Psalm 16:8, Joshua 1:9)
- Insecurity - appreciate and accept yourself (2 Cor.3:5)
- Shame - know who you are in Christ. Know whose you are (Psalm 31:1)
- Rejection - rejection as redirection (Zeph.3:17)
- Undervalued - remember you're God's beloved child (Jer.31:3)
- Pride - don't let your become inflated (James 4:6, 10)
Scripture: Psalm 139:23-24
Steps to living fully in our hearts:
- Accept 100% what happened. Respond 100% to what happened.
- Acknowledge how pain entered our hearts. Accept how it hindered us.
- Recognise the sore spots in your life and deactivate them.
Six Sore Spots from Life's Negative Experiences
- Feeling fearful
- Feeling inadequate/insecure
- Feeling shame
- Feeling rejection
- Feeling unworthy
- Feeling pride
Signs you have sore spots:
- Pain
- Overreaction
- Underreaction
Scripture: Matthew 12:34
What is the shape of our hearts? There are 4 kinds of hearts from the parables of the sower.
- Footpath - hard heart
- Rocky soil - shallow heart
- Thorny soil - half-hearted
- Good soil - wholehearted
Apart from God, 3 other influencers of our lives.
Targets of influences: Primary objects in Life
- Family
- Everyday life experiences
- Defining moments
- Our nature
- Sin and evil
Secondary objects in Life:
- Unrenewed Mind
- Entangled emotions
- Unsurrendered will
- Misbeliefs. Faulty beliefs
- Wounded self concept
Scripture: John 10:10
Life is for Living. But how do we live it to the fullest?
- Make the most and best of God's love
- Make the most and best of our impact
- Make the most and best of our Godly character
- Make the most and best of our strength and faith
- Make the most and best of our connection and alignment with God