DEFIBRILLATION & ABLATION OF THE HEART

DEFIBRILLATION & ABLATION OF THE HEART

By Kelly Dunn

Atrial Fibrillation or A-FIB: misfiring of the electrical impulses in the heart causing a rapid heart rate with a high change of stroke or death.

My dad had A-Fib. It caused him to have a heart attack and a stroke. He had to get a pacemaker and still had to deal with the A-fib misfires in his heart.

Spiritual A-FIB: things that have been done to us or we have done to ourselves that cause a misfire in our spiritual heart that can lead to a spiritual stroke or even spiritual death.

God’s intention was and is for us to have a healthy spiritual heart.

(use pumping hands to illustrate this)

So let's take a look through the Bible and see what causes these spiritual misfires (A-FIB) and what we can do to fix them so we don’t end up with a spiritual stroke or even spiritual death.

Adam & Eve, first sin (Gen 3:1-7)

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.Genesis 12

Cain, the first born human being, murdered his brother. (Genesis 4:8)

8 One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.

Noah, the last righteous man on earth at the time, was a drunk who slept in the nude. (Genesis 9:20-21)

20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 21 One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers.

Abraham, the forefather of faith, let other men walk off with his wife on two different occasions. (Genesis 12 and 20)

Sarah, the most gorgeous woman by popular opinion, let her husband sleep with another woman and then hated her for it. (Genesis 16)

Isaac, who was nearly killed by his father, talked his wife into concealing their marriage. (Genesis 26)

Lot, who lost his father early in life, had a serious problem with choosing the wrong company. (Genesis 18-20)

Rebekah, the first “mail order bride,” turned out to be a rather manipulative wife. (Genesis 27)

Jacob, who out-wrestled God, was pretty much a pathological deceiver. (Genesis 25, 27, 30)

Moses, the humblest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:13), had a very serious problem with his temper. (Exodus 2, 32:19; Numbers 20:9-12)

19 When they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the dancing, and he burned with anger. He threw the stone tablets to the ground, smashing them at the foot of the mountain.

9 So Moses did as he was told. He took the staff from the place where it was kept before the LORD. 10 Then he and Aaron summoned the people to come and gather at the rock. “Listen, you rebels!” he shouted. “Must we bring you water from this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”

Aaron, who watched Jehovah triumph over Pharaoh, formed an abominable idol during an apparent episode of attention deficit disorder or perhaps colossal amnesia. (Exodus 32)

Miriam, the songwriter, had sibling jealousy and a greed for power. (Numbers 12)

Saul, the first and powerful king of Israel, was apparently a psychotic with manic bursts of anger, episodes of deep depression and traces of paranoia, too. He committed suicide. (1 Samuel 16, 18, 19, 31)

David, the friend of God, concealed his adultery with a murder.

(2 Samuel 11)

Solomon, the wisest man in the world, was arguably the world’s greatest sex addict with 1,000 sexual partners. (1 Kings 11)

With rare exception, all the kings that followed Solomon had mammoth issues in their lives.

Elijah, fear and lack of trust caused Elijah to run to the hills to save his own skin. (1 Kings 19)

Job, supposedly a contemporary of Abraham and the epitome of faith, suffered from the nagging of a faithless wife. (Job 2:9-10)

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

Peter, Loud and impetuous, when Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him, Peter proudly dismisses it. (Matt. 26:34-35) But that very night Peter denies him three times-the third time cursing his accusers. (Mark 14:66-72)

Paul (Saul), was a terror to the early church. His pious attitude caused the deaths of many Christians including Stephen, the first Christian martyr. (Acts 7:57-8:1)

John Mark, somewhere along this missionary journey decides that he’s had enough and quits when the going gets rough. (Acts 13)

ATRIAL DEFIBRILLATION AND ABLATION

Back to my dad’s story, the doctors tried to defibrillate (shock his heart) back into the correct rhythm. It worked for a while but his heart went back into A-Fib. Finally the doctors went in and did an ablation. An ablation burns the spots in the heart that are causing the misfires. This did the trick and my dad hasn’t had a problem with A-Fib since.

SPIRITUAL DEFIBRILLATION AND ABLATION

Our hearts are in spiritual A-Fib before we know Jesus. When we turn to the Lord for salvation He defibrillates or jump starts our heart into rhythm with His heart. But if we don’t deal with the issues that cause the A-Fib in the first place (those misfires caused by others or ourselves) our hearts will jump back into spiritual A-Fib again. The Lord uses the Word to perform an ablation on our hearts. We need to KNOW who we are in Christ and that our enemy is DEFEATED because the Word says we have power over the enemy.

WHO I AM IN CHRIST

I am complete in Him Who is the head over all rule and authority—of every angelic and earthly power (Colossians 2:10).

I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).

I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).

I am far from oppression, and will not live in fear (Isaiah 54:14).

I am born of God, and the evil one does not touch me (1 John 5:18).

I am holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4;

1 Peter 1:16).

I have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).

I have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding

(Philippians 4:7).

The Spirit of God, who is greater than the enemy in the world, lives in me

(1 John 4:4).

I have received abundant grace and the gift of righteousness and reign in life through Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

I have received the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, the eyes of my heart enlightened, so that I know the hope of having life in Christ (Ephesians 1:17-18).

I have received the power of the Holy Spirit and He can do miraculous things through me.I have authority and power over the enemy in this world (Mark 16:17-18; Luke 10:17-19).

I am renewed in the knowledge of God and no longer want to live in my old ways or nature before I accepted Christ (Colossians 3:9-10).

I am merciful, I do not judge others, and I forgive quickly. As I do this by God’s grace, He blesses my life (Luke 6:36-38).

God supplies all of my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

In all circumstances I live by faith in God and extinguish all the flaming darts (attacks) of the enemy (Ephesians 6:16).

I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ Jesus who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13).

I am chosen by God who called me out of the darkness of sin and into the light and life of Christ so I can proclaim the excellence and greatness of who He is (1 Peter 2:9).

I am born again—spiritually transformed, renewed and set apart for God’s purpose—through the living and everlasting word of God (1 Peter 1:23).

I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ to do good works that He has prepared for me to do (Ephesians 2:10).

I am a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In Christ, I am dead to sin—my relationship to it is broken—and alive to God—living in unbroken fellowship with Him (Romans 6:11).

The light of God’s truth has shone in my heart and given me knowledge of salvation through Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6).

As I hear God’s Word, I do what it says and I am blessed in my actions (James 1:22, 25).

I am a joint-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17).

I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me (Romans 8:37).

I overcome the enemy of my soul by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony (Revelation 12:11).

I have everything I need to live a godly life and am equipped to live in His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4).

I am an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20).

I am part of a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a purchased people (1 Peter 2:9).

I am the righteousness of God—I have right standing with Him—in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit; I belong to Him

(1 Corinthians 6:19).

I am the head and not the tail, and I only go up and not down in life as I trust and obey God (Deuteronomy 28:13).

I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

I am chosen by God, forgiven and justified through Christ. I have a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness and patience

(Romans 8:33; Colossians 3:12).

I am redeemed—forgiven of all my sins and made clean—through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7).

I have been rescued from the domain and the power of darkness and brought into God’s kingdom (Colossians 1:13).

I am redeemed from the curse of sin, sickness, and poverty

(Deuteronomy 28:15-68; Galatians 3:13).

My life is rooted in my faith in Christ and I overflow with thanksgiving for all He has done for me (Colossians 2:7).

I am called to live a holy life by the grace of God and to declare His praise in the world (Psalm 66:8; 2 Timothy 1:9).

I am healed and whole in Jesus (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).

I am saved by God’s grace, raised up with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:5-6; Colossians 2:12).

I am greatly loved by God (John 3:16; Ephesians 2:4; Colossians 3:12;

1 Thessalonians 1:4).

I am strengthened with all power according to His glorious might (Colossians 1:11).

I humbly submit myself to God, and the devil flees from me because I resist him in the Name of Jesus (James 4:7).

I press on each day to fulfill God’s plan for my life because I live to please Him (Philippians 3:14).

I am not ruled by fear because the Holy Spirit lives in me and gives me His power, love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).

Christ lives in me, and I live by faith in Him and His love for me

(Galatians 2:20).

When we feel that slight twinge of heart wanting to misfire, we need to go back over these verses and remember that we are children of the Most High King and He desires a close and intimate relationship with each one of us. He wants our hearts in sync with His beating as one.

SPIRITUAL A-FIB

Scripture List

Gen 3:1-7

Genesis 3:6

Genesis 3:12

Genesis 4:8

Genesis 9:20-21

Genesis 12 and 20

Genesis 16

Genesis 18-20

Genesis 27

Genesis 25, 27, 30

Numbers 12:13

Exodus 2, 32:19

Numbers 20:11

Exodus 32

Numbers 12

1 Samuel 16, 18, 19, 31

2 Samuel 11

1 Kings 11

1 Kings 19

Job 2:9

Matt. 26:34-35

Mark 14:66-72

Acts 7:57-8:1

Acts 13