Thank you for visiting our web site.At Heart Changing Ministries, we believe the name says it all. We desire to see Hearts changed and people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We believe that only as our hearts are changed can we truly be servants of the King.
In Psalms 51 King David asked the Lord to "create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." This work of seeing hearts changed therefore must begin in us as individuals. In Ezekiel 26 God says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you." When our hearts are changed our spirits will be changed and we will begin to serve the Lord with greater determination and greater joy.
David also said in Psalm 51 that after God gave him a clean (new) heart, "then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will be converted to you."
It is with excitement that we are serving the Lord in these turbulent times, and count it a privilege that God has allowed us to be part of the body of Christ. We are a group of ordinary people, but we serve an extraordinary God. May you be blessed as you serve our Lord.
Below is a sermon that will continue on the next pages if you will click the link to continue reading on. I pray you will find it helpful and be blessed by it."Don't get caught in the riptide"
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Paul wrote 2 Timothy, according to Bible scholars, in the Fall of AD 67 while in a Roman prison, 1,941 years ago if my math is correct. It could have very well been yesterday. Everything he talks about in these scriptures, we see today.
We live today, in uncertain times, in perilous times. In a world full of turmoil. We have lost faith in our Government, our financial system. Our Government has had to bail out Wall Street to keep us from a recession. It seems as if every day we read or hear of another big company filing bankruptcy, or closing and people losing their jobs. Oil prices have just gone crazy, prices have gone crazy, and really there seems to be no end in sight. I heard someone describe this as the "perfect storm" that everything was aligned just right for the storm.
Bea and I were speaking of this the other day and she mentioned the waves crashing on shore during a storm. I saw the waves crashing and receding and as they were receding I could see the rip current they were making and how this sucks us out in the deep ocean. It's hard to get out of the grip of a riptide, and if you don't get out you will drown. And I see that in the Church today we have these waves of uncertainty and turmoil, unrest, fear, complacency crashing upon the Church and the rip current dragging us out. One of the things Bea said was she saw the world as "out of control" and there was a tsunami coming. Our scripture this morning, I believe, describes a world out of control, or should I say "out of God control". The Book of Judges speaks of a time when the world was out of control, in chapter 21:25, it says, "In those days there was no King (no established authority) in Israel. Everyone did what was right in the sight of their own eyes." Consequently they suffered from turmoil, unrest, uncertainty, much as our world today.
There was a cartoon in Fridays paper that showed an alien coming up to a man who I believe was reading the paper, the idea was the alien was asking him, take me to your leader, the man was replying, "we have no leader. "an indication of all the turmoil and uncertainty we have in the United States, even the World right now. But take heart, there is a constant in all of this that everyone seems to be overlooking, even the church……..Jesus Christ.
In John 14:27 Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. He begins chapter 14 by saying to his disciples; "let not your heart be troubled; you believe in god, believe also in me."In Malachi the Bible says in 3:6 "I am the Lord, I do not change."
Let the storms come, the financial crisis, the turmoil the uncertainty. Let the wave's crash and the wind howl, let the rip currents just try and drag us out. If we are in Christ, attached to him, we will not be drug out to sea. When Bea and I were in Florida and Tropical Storm Fay was closing in we were trying to jump ship and the Lord spoke to both of us, "are you going to trust Me or not?" That's my question for us today, are we going to trust Him or not?
Listen if your foundation is built on Jesus Christ, on the "rock", then let the rains of uncertainty descend, let the floods of turmoil come, let the winds of unrest and fear and complacency blow and beat on the house, it……will…… not……. Fall, you will not be carried away by the riptide. Christians have allowed our government, our elected leaders build to our house on the sand, and scripture says, "it will fall, and its fall will be great."
Isaiah 25 verse 1 and 4 says, 1. Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.4. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
We must stand on the faithfulness of God and the truthfulness of His Word.
Do you know how to have peace in all of this that is surrounding us today? All the uncertainty, and turmoil, read Isaiah 26:3,4. We must realize without a doubt that God is our source, a lot of us quote that, but we don't live that. I think of the disciples in Matthew 8, they had been with Jesus for a while now, heard Him teach on several key issues, seen Him heal a leper, heal a centurions servant, with a word, seen peter's mother-in-law healed, when the storms come, when we lose hope, we must look to the only one who can get us safely through.
Romans 15:13 says, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
In these uncertain changing times, these perilous times, we must look to Him who does not change but remains constant, Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever."
Everything around us may change, the stock market may crash, financial instructions fail, money might get funny, we can lose faith in our government but Jesus Christ remains a constant, He….. Does….. Not….. Change! If He healed yesterday, He will heal tomorrow, if He spoke a word yesterday, He will speak a word today, if He got you through a storm yesterday, He will get you through a storm today. If He blessed you yesterday, He will bless you today. If He saved you from the riptide yesterday, He will save you from the riptide today. If He delivered you yesterday, He will deliver you tomorrow.
Somebody needs to shout!
I thought of the verse where Jesus was talking with his disciples and many people had walked away from Him; let's pick up the conversation in John 6:60-69
60. Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?
61. When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62. What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto Me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
69. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Listen I believe Jesus Christ has the answer to everything we need in life, every problem, every storm, every fear, every turmoil, every uncertainty, anything we are or will go through, we only need to trust Him. I think it's about time that we, that Christians, began to live our life as if we really believed His Word.
2 Peter says, "As his divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue; by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
There was a song Amy Grant sang some time back, some of you will remember it, "I have decided" some of the lyrics said, "I have decided, I'm gonna live like a Believer, turn my back on the deceiver, I'm gonna live what I believe."
It's well past time for the Church to live, what it not only believes, but preaches. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the Church saying, oh woe is me, what are we going to do?
We are going to trust Jesus that's what we have needed to do for quite some time now. Job said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust him." Let me close with this scripture from Matthew 14:22-2722. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.<[> 23. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Do You need to trust him today?
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