Petra Nuggets - Wednesday, Mar 26 “Understanding the heart of the matter - pt 2.” Monday we looked at the first function of our heart - our values. I brought out to you some of the main core values that we must have in our hearts to live a victorious life in the Kingdom. Once again, our values - whether good or bad - are the guiding principles that will dictate our behavior and action. Therefore if our values are based from earthly things - like other people, money, etc. - then we will always end up frustrated, disappointed and confused in trying to live the life which God has ordered for us. Only as one lays up the treasure of God’s Word in his heart can he live the life that God has planned. Today I want to explain the second function of our heart - our perceptions. Look again at what Jesus said about this in Matt 6:22-23 - “22 The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Notice that the word “eye” here is singular. Jesus is referring to one’s point of view - his perception. Our perceptions create the reality that we live in. So depending on the light-source of our perceptions will become the reality that we live in. For many believers, they have the light-source of darkness as their eye. This light-source is called FEAR - F alse E vidences A ppearing R eal - and this FEAR produces the reality that they live in. For few believers, they have the light-source of Light as their eye. This light-source is called Love. Only Love can produce God’s reality in one’s heart. The truth of this is that if Love is not our light-source, then FEAR will be the light-source. With that in mind, I want to give you 4 very important perceptual guidelines every believer must have to live in the Kingdom (always remember that ONLY Love’s Revelation can give you these guidelines). I’ll talk about 2 of them today and 2 of them tomorrow. Perception #1 – We must perceive the differences between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Of course I will not explain all of the differences between the 2 Covenants, but the main difference which I will bring out to you is that the Old Covenant was never a “finished” Covenant - man had to continually keep it. But the power and glory of the New Covenant is that it is a “done deal” - made between God and Jesus and established by Jesus’ Blood. This is Paul’s meaning in Gal 5 between the fruit of the Spirit and works of the flesh. Notice that “fruit” is singular, because it is the results of the implanted seed of the Word at the New Birth, as “works” is plural, implying a continuation of one’s own efforts and attempts to bring pleasure to God - which is doubt. Look at what we read in Heb 8:13 - In that He says, A new covenant, He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. That last phrase gives a perfect image of the believer who lives by the FEAR-perceptions of his heart in trying to please God by what he does. See the Old Covenant of works has not “vanished away” from his mind because it is still established in his heart. Jesus fully accomplished everything that was required under the Old Covenant and has set it aside. Through the Love-perceptions of our heart, one sees this and therefore, it vanishes away from their mind. Perception #2 – We must perceive that our complete victory is IN us and not OF us. Our victory in Christ is in us and flows from us, but it is not of anything that we may muster up to get it. This is a matter of our identity with Christ, not our dissimilarity of being without Him. Paul said it this way in 2Cor 3:5 - Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. The sufficiency-image of our hearts must be from the sufficiency of what Jesus has done in us and only Love can bring this reality-perception to one’s heart. Once again, this perception can only come through the Revelation knowledge that Love-control produces. Notice how Paul beautifully described this sufficiency-process at the end of chapter 3 - “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” God’s word to you- I am your portion and I am your Source, says the Lord, but do not look to Me for more answers about your situation when you have not done what I have already told you to do. It has always been line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. This is how I perform My counsel in your life; for I am the God of order. You have thought that I deserted you in this matter, but you are the one who has deserted My counsel that I gave you and therefore, you have forsaken the very waters of your deliverance. Remember that it is the small foxes which spoil the vines and the enemy has sifted you away from My truth by his distractions. Learn to appropriate what I have shown you to do in your situation and as simple as it may seem, once it is executed, it will bring swift deliverance to many. There is nothing to big for Me to handle; so step out into the deep waters of My mighty Spirit through your obedience to My every step and I shall flood your heart with the peace that you have been searching for.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:58:57 +0000
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