Healing the Broken Hearted
Healing the Broken Hearted #3
6/16/2001 and 6/17/2001
Introduction and Review:
A few weeks ago I preached on FORGIVENESS and how important it is to DE-TOX your heart and soul. (From the story of Philemon.) In the process of that I felt the Lord leading me to follow up with HEALING. Specifically we focused on BEING WHOLE and dealing with the inside. (We used the story of the madman of Gadara.) It seems as if the Lord is trying to do a lasting healing that goes further than just our bodies to our inner most being.
All of us walk and live in the world so it is easy to have things stick to us. I heard about a man who woke up in a strange city wanting to kill himself for no reason, he prayed and it went away. We have to be able to resist the devil as well as conquer our worst enemy, our flesh.
Jesus would often say,
“Wilt thou be made whole”
Paul said to the Thessalonians:
“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus.”
John said:
“ Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
Pr 14:30 ¶ A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
(NIV)
-God cares about all of you and in order to be whole we need to deal with the root of our problem.
-Often we don’t deal with reality because we feel that faith ignores anything negative.
-Sometimes it has to be cut out like a cancer so the rest of the body can function normally.
JESUS HEALS BROKEN HEARTS AND RESTORES BROKEN LIVES
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ANTIDOTES TO BEING BROKEN HEARTED?
1. WALK IN THE TRUTH
3 John
4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
-In order to walk and live healthy, we have to walk in truth.
-We have to see the truth about God/ the truth about ourselves/ the truth about others.
-If we doubt the goodness of God or His love for us, we treat ourselves and others differently.
-You can never accurately see yourself if you misunderstand God.
-We love because He first loved us.
-Love is of/from God.
From Worry Free Living: (Minirth/Meyer/Hawkins)
“As Christians, our most important goal in life is to become more like Jesus. We do this in two ways: we spend a great deal of time studying Him and a certain amount of time studying ourselves to see how we measure up to Him. Dwight Moody once said that the best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick alongside of it. Jesus is our straight stick.”
-We have to deal with reality. Face the truth because no matter how ugly or bad it is, GOD IS BIGGER AND GREATER!
-God loves you and He wants you whole and well.
2. KEEP YOUR CONSCIENCE CLEAR
-A heart at peace gives life to the body.
1 John 1
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
5 ¶ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 ¶ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
-When we are walking in the truth about God and ourselves, continual cleansing flows from the presence, the river of God to us.
INNER HEALING DEFINITION:
Having more faith in the blood of Jesus to cleanse you than you do in a past or present sin to stain you. It is accepting in your mind and emotions the forgiveness that has already been given to you.
Ro 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Righteousness-right with God
Peace-right with yourself
Joy- right relationships
-The definition of INTEGRITY is singleness of heart.
-The Psalmist asks for an UNDIVIDED HEART.
-Accept forgiveness and the healing and restoration that go with it.
3. DON’T BE DISTRACTED
1 Peter 5
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
-The word here is MERIMNA. It means DIVIDED MIND.
Luke 10
38 ¶ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
41 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Luke 8
11 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
13 Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
-Worry and anxiety is literally a distraction that keeps your focus on your problem rather than on God and the truth.
-We have examples of people in the Bible who God used greatly then they focused on themselves and away from God.
-ELIJAH was greatly used then he went away to have a pity-party.
-He looked away from God and way distracted.
-JONAH was used by God and then he went off into a depression when he lost God’s perspective.
Philippians 4
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
*Don’t be anxious
*Pray instead of worry
*Give God thanks
*Control your thoughts
-Paul is a good one to compare to the Old Testament prophets.
2 Corinthians 4
8 ¶ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
-We see Paul in prison in Philippi PRAISING GOD AT MIDNIGHT.
-Why is that important?
-That is the last point.
4. REGAIN YOUR DIVINE FOCUS
Hebrews 12
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
-NKJV says, looking unto Jesus.
-The word for looking is aphorao. It means undivided attention. It means looking away from all distractions in order to fix your gaze on one object.
-The word wealth says “ having eyes for no one but Jesus.”
-Paul and Silas looked away from their circumstances and looked at God in Worship.
-Worship is the highest type of faith because it have to look away from all distractions in order to look at Jesus.
-WORSHIP is putting God in His rightful place in your life.
-Your life then adjusts to that REALITY.
Psalms from David where he is pouring out his heart to God.
NIV:
Psalm 31
Psalm 42
Psalm 43
WALK IN AND PURSUE THE TRUTH
HAVE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE
DON’T BE DISTRACTED
REGAIN YOUR DIVINE FOCUS WITH WORSHIP AND THANKSGIVING