Change of heart, change of Life

EnglishRose says: The thing that stood out for me was verses 5-8.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding

fault, and it will be given to you

6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave

of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind

7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is

double-minded and unstable in all they do.

EnglishRose says: So why is doubt like a wave of the sea and why does double

mindedness cause us to be unstable?

To me this is precisely what hardness of heart is. To be double minded means to be in two

minds about something. How do we know if we are double minded?

WatchmanPeter says: oh Lord dispel my unbelief

oatker says: amen

EnglishRose says: It could be that…1. I have my thoughts, and God has His and I

doubt what He says and I chose to believe my own version of the

2. Or my faith is tested and I interchange between what the world requires of me and what the

Lord requires of me.

WatchmanPeter says: when you pray for healing and don't get it

EnglishRose says: Then this goes onto to say:13 When tempted, no one should say,

“God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed

15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives

birth to death.

EnglishRose says: so unbelief cause sin and sin cause death

EnglishRose says: Do you think that some times when we don’t see our provision we

blame God and say He must have caused our lack? Because He is ‘testing’ us? Or it isn’t God

will for me?

EnglishRose says: No way, and James puts us straight!

EnglishRose says: 16 Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every

good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who

does not change like shifting shadows.

EnglishRose says: 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we

might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Doubt is unbelief, if we doubt the word then we aren’t agreeing with it and therefore we will not

receive in full our blessings.

EnglishRose says: Now when the Lord was helping me prepare last week I did not

realise that He was also answering 2 of my prayers.

EnglishRose says: The first prayer I have been seeking Him for some time now, I

didn’t know why I struggle to receive healing when I believe whole heartedly that He healed me

on the cross.

EnglishRose says: The other was for how I could help other faith walkers see their

own healing realised. I did not realise that the topic the Lord had given me would lead to my

prayers being answered.

EnglishRose says: If you haven't guessed already, this weeks study is on hardness of

heart: some people call it not having a pure heart.

EnglishRose says: How do we know if we have a hard heart ?

EnglishRose says: Mark 6 – Jesus had just fed the 5,000 with five loaves, and two

fish. After they had all eaten until they were full there were still 12 baskets full of food left.

oatker says: gosh

EnglishRose says: are u ok oat?

oatker says: yep its challenging rosie go on

EnglishRose says: 45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go

before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He

had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.

Mercy says: ostker im here its ok hugs

EnglishRose says: 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the

sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was

against them.

EnglishRose says: Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them,

walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the

sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out;

oatker says: awwww

EnglishRose says: 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He

talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went

up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased

EnglishRose says: And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure,

and marvelled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was

hardened.

EnglishRose says: They were amazed and shocked that Jesus was walking on water.

But they just watched Him feed 5,000 people with food left over!!!!!!

EnglishRose says: We should not be shocked when God does miracles. Jesus never

said wow it actually worked! But I'm sure He was blessed by seeing His fathers work.

oatker says: good point

EnglishRose says: Now I have myself received healing for things, but later lost it.

Why? Well I believe that this is what James meant by tossed by the waves in the sea. I got into

being natural and doing things myself.

I've heard people say that if you can live with it then u probably will! It is true, I let things creep

in and did not rebuke them.

EnglishRose says: I had responded to the natural world and then I couldn't

understand why my healing left. I had inadvertently taken my focus off of God and looked at

my circumstance.

EnglishRose says: This is why the bible tells u to be in the world but not of the

world.

oatker says: so hard rosie

EnglishRose says: If we aren't seeing all the blessings of God in our life or we are

surprised when we do see our blessings, then we probably have a hard heart.

yes oat

EnglishRose says: What causes a hard heart?

EnglishRose says: bascially sin and any thing that distracts us from the Lord.

oatker says: unbelief

EnglishRose says: yes

EnglishRose says: Not all Christians believe in healing for example. When they hear

someone talk on healing as part of the atonement or salvation, they either reject it outright or

are not sure if to believe it (become double minded as in the book of James) this allows the

enemy to come and steal the word.

EnglishRose says: The issue is the hardness of the person’s heart. Being in a natural

world, and / or a materialistic person, makes our hearts hard to God and His word. We learn

instead to rely on ourselves.

EnglishRose says: Also we have become accustomed to our 5 senses: taste, touch,

sight, feel, and smell. This reliance on only what we can perceive will limit Gods blessing and

will cause our hearts to be 'waxed gross'.

EnglishRose says: The expression 'waxed' came from candle making. They dip the

wick in wax. Once its cooled they dip it again. Overtime as they keep dipping it, the wax gets

thicker and thicker until it becomes a candle. This picture to describe what happens in people’s

hearts.

EnglishRose says: Let Jesus' light melt ya hard heart!

EnglishRose says: Now I don't want anyone to get into condemnation here. Your

actions do not change how God feels about you.

EnglishRose says: But your actions do affect your natural self. If you don't seek God

or have no family of holy spirit filled Christians then you are going to be more natural than

supernatural.

Lilly1974 says: Amen EnglisRose

EnglishRose says: this doesn't mean that we shouldn't ignore non believers. We

need to pray and ask for wisdom. But please know that God loves you based on what Jesus has

done for you and that is nothing to do with performance!

Mercy says: oh amen on that

EnglishRose says: Have a think about what your focus is.

oatker says: amen

EnglishRose says: Challenge anything that effects the norm of our life and causes it

to be more natural than supernatural

WatchmanPeter says: amen

EnglishRose says: If we don't seek God then we will become insensitive to the Lord.

Not because He has stopped blessing us but because we have stopped hearing.

What we think is what we are. Most people pray for an outward circumstance to change when

actually it is an internal thing that needs to change, i.e our heart.

Lilly1974 says: Amen

EnglishRose says: so i want to leave u with 2 verse from proverbs

EnglishRose says: Proverbs 4:2323 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it

spring the issues of life.

oatker says: so so good rosie

EnglishRose says: Your heart is what determines how your life goes.

EnglishRose says: Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “ Eat and

drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

EnglishRose says: The way that your heart is going is the way your life is going.

When we pray for healing or another need. Often we look for God to change our outward

circumstance (the result) with out stopping and asking Him to change our heart.

We try to get an outward answer without an inward change. This doesn’t help. Things in life

build up and snow ball until we are in a circumstance that causes an outward manifestation

Change your heart and you will change your life!

that is what the Lord has asked me to share with you today