Purpose in Your Heart
Notes
Transcript
Good morning, everyone! My name is Thomas Hale and I am the Pastor of Allons Baptist Church. I want to thank you all for allowing me to be here with you this morning and share the Word of God with you.
I want to talk to you today about having purpose in your heart.
As we look throughout Scripture, we can find several examples of young people, people who were about your age and even younger than you, that were forced to make some serious decisions in their lives.
The first one I want to show you is Daniel:
1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it.
2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,
4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king.
6 Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel was forced into a bad situation because of other people’s decisions.
Daniel was still a young man at this point. He was a teenager. Daniel did not decide to go to war, or even want to go to war, but nonetheless, here he is. He is a prisoner of war. The King of Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar, has conquered Israel and taken captive all of those who survived. Daniel and his three friends are among those who were taken captive.
Many times in life, you are going to find yourself in tough situations. Sometimes it will because you yourself have made some bad decisions, but many times, it will have nothing to do with you at all. It will be because others have made bad decisions, and you just so happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It is not a matter of if this will happen to you, but a matter of when this will happen to you. At some point, you will find yourself in the middle of a bad situation. And here is the thing: if you have never given this situation a lot of thought, you are much more likely to make a bad decision in that moment. If you have not already settled in your heart what you will do, the peer pressure weighs on you so much more, the pressure to be liked, or to be accepted, is so much more.
But if you have already weighed out this scenario beforehand and decided exactly what you would do in a situation like that, you are much more likely to make a better decision.
Daniel Purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel knew who he was. He was a child of God. According to God’s standards at this time, there were certain kinds of food that he was not allowed to eat because it would defile him spiritually. Those meats were unclean in the eyes of God. So Daniel, even though he was a prisoner of war, purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with things that would separate himself from God.
Not only did Daniel know he was, he knew who he wanted to be. He did not want to be like so many of the others who had made bad decisions. He wanted above all else, to live faithfully for God. With this purpose in his heart, it tells us throughout the rest of this chapter of how Daniel was able to persuade his commanding officer to allow him and his three friends to eat only food that was spiritually clean. God blessed Daniel’s efforts to remain faithful and caused him and his three friends to grow in wisdom and knowledge far beyond their peers.
Some of you may say that these things you are faced with are not life and death like Daniel’s was, but I want to try and get you to see that that is not exactly the case.
Michael Blanchfield.
Because I was able to witness the damage that Michael’s decisions caused to my family, I purposed in my heart at that very moment in my life that I would never touch drugs. I was offered them several times by others, but I had already decided that that road is one I did not want to travel. So I didn’t.
Daniel was targeted because he was a “young man”.
3 Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles,
4 young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.
The King targeted the young ones because they are more likely to be persuaded. Usually speaking, older individuals, who have lived several years in this life and been through some stuff, are somewhat set in their ways. How many of you would say that your parents are stubborn or set in their ways? It’s ok to answer, I promise I won’t tell them.
Most of the time, they are set in their ways because they have already lived this part of life that you are now living yourself. They have already experienced all the same things you are experiencing now. You are still figuring out who you are and what works for you and what doesn’t work for you, but they have already settled those things in their hearts.
They are much less likely to be tempted by things because they have already decided for themselves who they are going to be.
Satan will destroy anyone and everyone he can, but he targets especially the young ones. You are in the cross-hairs of Satan’s scope. He knows that if he can get you while you are young, that there is very good chance he will have you for forever.
So how do I do this?
First, you have to be a child of God. The Bible tells us:
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
This world is going to challenge you in some awful ways, but those who are in Christ will be equipped to overcome the worldly temptations of life.
We are all born will a propensity towards sin. It is part of our nature to do so.
You don’t have to teach little kids to sin, you have to teach them to do right.
Jesus came, lived a perfect life free from sin, and conquered sin on the cross.
When we place our faith in Him, it allows His presence, to transform us into something new. We now have a longing to be what God wants us to be, to where before we longed to be what the world wanted us to be. This new faith in our hearts allows us to overcome the things of this world.
First, you have to give your heart to God.
You have to lean into God as close as you can.
This is done by reading the Bible, praying, going to church, and spending time with other Christians. The more time you spend with God, the more of a desire you will have in your heart to live a life that is pleasing to Him, and the more you will see Him working in your life.
I know it seems trivial. Surely it can’t be that easy....right? Wrong....it is. A relationship is formed as you spend time with someone. The way you spend time with God is through reading His word, praying to Him, and surrounding yourself with other Christians who will challenge you to be better. It helps you to understand the will of God for your life. It helps you to know exactly what He expects of you.
You have to purpose in your heart now the things you are not willing to do.
Now is the time for you to decide exactly what you will and will not do.
I will never do drugs / I will never drink alcohol / I will never have sex outside of marriage / I will never take God’s name in vain......You have to purpose it.
What if I have already given in to some of these things? Is it too late for me? Absolutely not! Just because you have chosen to make a mistake, does not mean that have to continue making that same mistake over and over.
Ask God’s forgiveness for the sins you have committed and ask Him to help you never to make those same mistakes again. Again, purpose it in your heart.
