Merritt Opening Song: #27 Rejoice Ye Pure in Heart Title: Heart Transplant
Scripture: Mark 12:33, To love him with all your heart is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.
A protestant moved into a completely Catholic community. Because they were good Catholics they did not eat red meat on Fridays. When their neighbor barbecued steaks for Friday supper, they began to squirm, so annoyed, they went to talk to him. After much lecturing, they convinced him to become Catholic. Next Sunday, the priest sprinkled holy water on him saying, “You were born Protestant. You were raised Protestant. But now you are Catholic!” So next Friday, as neighbors sat down to eat their fish, they were disturbed by smell of roast beef coming from his house. They went over to the new Catholic because he knew he wasn’t supposed to eat beef on Fridays. When they saw him, he was sprinkling ketchup on the beef saying, “You were born a cow. You were raised a cow. But now you are a fish!”
Behavior modification is actually simple. To change behavior, what you want must be reinforced and what you don’t want must be punished. If a person is reinforced every single time she does something good, eventually it loses its power. So with your coworkers or family, at first reinforce what you want consistently every time, then as they respond, give reinforcement every third time they do it right. For example, if you want your husband to open the car door for you, first find a situation where he has to open the door, such as when you’re holding groceries. Once he opens door first time, tell him a sincere thank you, letting him know how much you appreciate him. Experts say, “Don’t connect the comment to the door opening, but make sure the comment directly follows good behavior.” It might take some time but eventually he will open the car door regularly. Once that happens, do not compliment him every time. Instead reinforce every third to seventh time he opens the door. Behavior modification is obedience training.
It is used for financial behavior to make people act smarter about money, to help people change eating habits and lose weight, to teach people how to relax and deal with stress, to change people’s phobias so they can fly in an airplane, to discipline troubled teen- agers, to stop smoking, etc. I have learned God doesn’t want behavior modification but Heart Transformation. The heart is steering wheel of every human being. What we do is shaped and controlled by what our heart wants. Greatest problem is sin that resides in our heart. Sin says I want my way not God's.
Are sinful men and women changed into new creatures by our own efforts and striving? Is it God working in you to will and to do what He asks, or is it YOUR human strength and willpower? Good news is God transforms hearts.
The Bible is very clear God wants our hearts, Matthew 22:37-39. Lasting change comes only through a heart devoted and surrendered to Jesus. Heart is Seat of thoughts and understanding, center of our will, source of feelings and emotions, inmost center of our being, as well as physical organ of the body. 1Peter 3:4, But let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. Remarkably, God deals with the inner man not the outer man. Ephesians 3:16-17, That He would grant you, according to riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love.
SONG: I HAVE DECIDED
The part of our heart that needs purifying is our thoughts. James 4:8, “And purify your hearts, double minded ones!” We are double-minded; part of our thinking lines up with God’s Word, while another part does not. We need daily renewing of the mind. The Bible uses heart for place of deepest desires. God transforms people who were once hard-hearted into people who care. How many church members does it take to change a light bulb? Whaddaya mean CHANGE??? That light bulb was given in memory of my grandma! My father installed it with his bare hands! He donated his time AND use of his ladder to do it! My family's been members of church four generations! And if you think you're gonna come in here and make changes all of a sudden, you've got another think coming!
Who do you love and cherish most? Who in the world means most to you? Jesus’ word into our hearts begins our relationship with Him. Otherwise we are just going through motions of religion that has no power to transform. Pharisees tried hard to be holy, keep the law, impress God. Jesus said they were white washed outside, but inside dead with cold hearts. When God healed someone on Sabbath they criticized God. It’s easier for us to have a relationship with law than to have relationship with Jesus. We choose to struggle while searching for perfection, or we surrender to Jesus. God is not in behavior modification business. God is in heart transformation business. He transforms us into new creatures that fly free from prison cocoon of our past. Zechariah 10:6, Message Bible says, “I know their pain and will make them good as new. They'll get a fresh start as if nothing had ever happened. And why? Because I am their very own God.” Renewal can never be accomplished by our efforts, only by Jesus.
When we trust God and take Him at His Word, we give Him permission to transform our hearts and minds. But this change does not happen all at once. Transformation is a process. We allow Him into our heart then HE changes us. Transformation means we look beyond people as they are and see each as a child of God. We see beyond the circumstance and see God’s hand at work. We look past the panic to prayer. We don’t pine for where we could be; we trust God is with us where we are. God is CEO of our company. God is CEO of our life. God gives Christ-like sensitivity that revolutionizes the way we react. God transforms our thoughts, emotions, desires, and aligns our heart with heaven’s treasure.
Heart transplants are not simply replacing an organ that no longer functions. Heart is considered source of love, emotions, and focus of personality traits. Do transplant patients feel change in personality after receiving a donor heart? 47 patients who received heart transplants during a 2 year period in Vienna, Austria, were asked for an interview. Three groups of patients were identified. 79% said their personality had not changed at all after heart transplant. In this group, patients showed big defence and denial reactions by quickly changing the subject or making the question ridiculous. 15% stated their personality had indeed changed, not because of the donor organ, but the life-threatening event. 6% reported changed personality due to their new hearts. These ones felt forced to change feelings and reactions to accept those of the donor. Statements of the heart transplant patients show they all had a problem accepting their heart transplant because they consider heart as center of feelings and personality. I think you can receive a heart transplant and still be your old self when the doctor does it. But when God gives us a heart transplant, our whole life changes.
Every issue we have in life is because of our heart. People say, "Just follow your heart." Well, that is dangerous. Jeremiah 17: 9, The human heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can understand it? Proverbs 20:9, Who can say, “I have made my HEART CLEAN, I have cleansed my own heart”? The heart is you with everything else stripped away. The heart is what God sees. Heart is you with no fig leaves standing before God. Proverbs 4:23, Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life, from it flow springs of life.
SONG: RIVER OF LIFE
The world says the solution is behavior modification. We struggle with our weight, so we go on a diet. We can't eat this, we can only eat so much. There is nothing wrong with that, but rules don’t deal with the source issue. It may change eating while on the diet, but we go back to potato chips, cookies, pie and ice cream. We change our eating behavior on a diet, but it doesn’t fix the problem. We can see this easily in parenting.
Children will not do what they know they should do. The parent uses rules. The child may obey, but wait until they are out of the house. We adults aren’t much better. We’re taught to address behavior, stop drinking too much, stop eating too much, stop work addiction, stop road rage, stop spending too much. We go out in our boat and net up those issues, but we look a few days later and our river is a mess again. God doesn’t do behavior modification; God does heart transplants. GOD WANTS MORE FOR YOU THAN TO BE A GOOD PERSON. He wants you to be pure in heart. God gives a heart that can love God. Behavior modification will never cause you to love the people who are mean, cruel and thoughtless towards you. Only a heart from God can pray for those people, forgive, be kind to them.
Matthew 6:21, For where your treasure is, there will YOUR HEART BE ALSO. We don't have a spending problem, budgeting problem, wages problem, credit card problem. We have a heart problem. Luke 6:45, For out of the abundance of the HEART the MOUTH SPEAKS. When people say mean things that injure people, the problem is the heart. We can get books, CDs, go to seminars teaching how to control behavior. We focus on behavior, but seldom look within for the true problem. We need to ask God, "Why am I thinking these thoughts? Why do I do these things?” Psalm 139: 23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Ezekiel 36:26-27, And I will give you A NEW HEART with new and right desires, and I will put a NEW SPIRIT in you. I will take out your stony heart and give you a new heart. And I will put MY SPIRIT in you so you will follow My teachings. We cannot give ourselves a new heart, but God does. It's not by gritting our teeth and bearing it, by strong will power, by forcing our self to do our duty. No, it's deep loving desire when Jesus lives in our heart. Strange things happen. You become a radical person who realizes the heart of God. You hunger to know Him. Your heart cries out to God. Your feelings are moved by God’s love for you. When you hear God’s word, it goes past your head to your heart.
Many people who go to church have never had heart transformation. They pray, they operate in behavior modification, in obedience training, treadmill of trying to be good, striving to be perfect when everyone around can see they aren’t, they appear decent, pious outside, they may even look good. A man is rushed to emergency after a heart attack. He will not survive without a heart transplant right away. Doctor says, "Good news- two hearts just became available, so choose which one you want. One belongs to a lawyer, the other to a social worker."
The patient picks, "The lawyer’s."
Doctor says, "Don't you want to know a little about them before you decide?"
The patient says, "We all know social workers are bleeding hearts and the lawyer probably never used his heart!"
Offer God your heart and surrender it to Him. Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart. God is after your heart. Romans 2:29, But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart. 1Peter 3:4, Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. My parents fought constantly in their arranged marriage then they divorced. I said, “I will never let anybody get close enough to hurt me like that.” I hardened my heart, was so bitter, I even asked God to stay out of my life, built so many walls around me, I wouldn’t allow anyone to know the real me. If you have been hurt by life, you can wrap your heart inside a box, lock it up and throw away the key, but life will be cold, heartless and meaningless. God never stops loving you, never gives up on us, offers everything to us in Jesus. And one day God melted my heart. God’s love stormed my walls that I had built around my heart. I learned that Jesus always has a place for us in His heart. And His heart has a place that no one else can fill but you.
Body of David Livingstone was buried in England where he was born, but his heart was buried in Africa he loved. Foot of a tall tree in an African village the natives dug a hole and placed in it the heart of this man who they loved and respected. If our heart is buried in the place we love most, where would it be? In our pocketbook? Down at the office? A devout soldier of Napoleon's army was wounded one day by a bullet that entered his breast above his heart. As the surgeon took out the bullet the soldier said, "An inch deeper and you will find the emperor who lives in my heart." If our heart were laid open, would Jesus be found there?
SONG: DRAW ME CLOSE