Deuteronomy 8:12-14 NIV“Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” 

Recall with me how we learned one of the largest obstacles to having a discipled and teachable heart was pride.  It’s ironic how the topic of a proud heart follows last week’s.  There must be a lesson God wants me to learn.  The topic of pride keeps surfacing throughout scripture.   

In the KJV, verse fourteen says, “Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God,” 

The Lexicon Transliteration for “lifted up heart” comes from the Hebrew word ruwm which means to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted.  Notice when all is well the human heart has a tendency to grow prideful, lofty and exalted. 

Let us spend some time studying the words proud and pride to see what scripture has to say about it.  The word proud is mentioned 47 times in the NIV with the opening scripture being the passage I opened this note with.  The word pride is used 63 times, the first in the following passage: 

Leviticus 26:19 (New International Version)

“I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze.”

The Lexicon Transliteration for “pride” comes from the Hebrew word ga'own, which basically means arrogance.  The heaven being referred to as Iron represents harshness for the prideful.  Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary says figuratively, a yoke of iron (Deut. 28:48) denotes hard service. 

The ground being referred to as brass for the prideful is interesting.  In searching for deeper meaning into this I found that, according to The Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary, brass was made from metal alloys consisting mainly of copper and zinc.  It was used for fetters, pieces of armor, musical instruments and money.  It is a symbol of insensibility and obstinacy in sin, and of strength.

A prideful individual must then feel trapped.  If for them the heavens are as iron and they are walking on brass, there must not be much peace.  As trapped individuals, they turn inward, making the issue of pride and proudness compound on itself.  I also conclude that their prayers are hampered, if not completely blocked, since heaven is as iron to them.  Not a pretty picture, is it? 

Two questions worth asking before we conclude this writing:

How does a heart grow proud?

How does one keep from getting a proud heart?

According to the opening scripture passage, the heart grows proud when man forgets what God has done and continues to do for them.  Times of abundance are perfect soil for the heart to grow roots of pride. When man’s focus is removed from God, it has a tendency to turn inward and take on a thinking of self; self sufficiency, self dependency.  It ultimately turns into a form of idolatry. 

An unexamined life is also conducive for growing a prideful heart.  There’s not a single person I know that is exempt from needing Godly accountability.  Sadly, there are many who choose not to humble themselves and honestly seek it out.

Personally, I’ve found I have to have individuals in my weekly accountability group and serving on the board of PureHeart that will examine me, my words, my actions and my life.  I have heard it said that pride is very similar to bad breath and body odor.  Everyone knows who struggles with it except the individual! 

This week join me in praising and praying for the following:

1.      Praise Him for His Word that we can study and apply to our lives.

2.      Praise Him for ministry opportunities.  I could share story after story with you on how He is faithful.  Continue to pray for the young men that come to PHM. 

3.      Pray for individuals to rise up and serve God where they are.  Economically we are in a season of “not.”  Not times are prime time for ministry opportunities.

4.      Pray for those individuals who are hurt, broken and greatly needing what PHM has to offer.  Pray for men and women to step up to the plate and find their specific areas of ministry.  Pray that those individuals will find a body of believers, churches, that will embrace them with arms opened wide. 

5.      Pray for the PHM leadership team, our board of directors and our team of prayer partners.  I can not share with you how important our prayer team is to the victory over sin in a ministry such as PHM. 

Sharing from the Heart;

Steve  

Deuteronomy 8:5 NIV“Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.” 

Deuteronomy 8:5 KJV“Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, [so] the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.”

According to the Lexicon Transliteration, chasten is derived from the Hebrew word yacar and means to chasten, discipline, instruct, admonish.  Yacar is a verb and involves actions.  One could literally say it means to chasten, to admonish, to instruct, to discipline or to let oneself be chastened or corrected or admonished. 

There are two different directions one could take on this week’s note.  To be honest, I’m not sure my thinking is on the right track with this passage.  I could head down a path of how the LORD disciplines those He loves or I can discuss what it means to have a disciplined and teachable heart.  I’ll choose the later. 

What does it mean to have a disciplined, teachable heart?

According to the Dictionary.com Unabridged, disciplined means training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior; especially training that produces moral or mental improvement.  

Some of the most successful people are disciplined individuals.  It helps if your personality lends itself to allowing and being disciplined. Others are not so disciplined.  It is not different with our hearts.  In ministry and with my interaction with men, some are very disciplined and teachable, some not so.  I would be wrong if I failed to mention that humility plays a humongous role in determining if one’s heart will be disciplined and teachable.  From what I can tell, that five letter word pride stands in the heart’s gateway and determines just how disciplined and teachable the heart will be.   

What prevents one from having a disciplined teachable heart? 

Echoing the words of the profit Isaiah, Matthew says in 13:15 the following words:  (NIV)  

For this people's heart has become calloused; 

 they hardly hear with their ears,  

     and they have closed their eyes.   

 Otherwise they might see with their eyes,  

     hear with their ears,  

     understand with their hearts  

  and turn, and I would heal them.' 

This passage does a very good job explaining what prevents one’s heart from being teachable and disciplined.  

 Many things can cause a heart to become calloused.  However, pride has to be at the top of the list. 

 Pride says, “I will no be broken.”

Pride says, “It has to be my way.”

Pride says, “Not only is it my way, there no room to even consider yours.”

Pride says, “I’m right.”

Pride says, “I can continue in my hidden sin and it will never become known and it’s no body’s business.”

Pride says, “I’m am one person at church and another one in the business world.”

Pride says, “I know what scripture says but that portion does not apply to me.”

Pride says, “In my important position, there are times I must do some things behind closed doors that are not moral, ethical, biblical and legal…but it’s ultimately for the Kingdom.” 

Pride says, “I don’t care who I hurt on my way up the corporate and religious ladder of success.”

Pride says, “It’s everyone else’s heart issue.”

Pride says….we could go on and on but I won’t. 

The point is, the eyes of our hearts must be open to who we are in Christ and our ears open wide to hear His directions.  Until those two conditions are met, you and I will not have a disciplined and teachable heart.  Without it, my friend, we will never be the child of God He desires us to become.   

Join with me to praise God for the following and to pray for the following:

1.      Praise God for His faithfulness.  Even in our Faithfull less, He is faithful and is pressing, molding and forming PureHeart Ministries for this time, this generation and this season.  Praise Him for what our God can do when we let Him.

2.       I praise God for ministry opportunities he provides. 

3.      Pray for the men partnering with us in ministry.  Pray they will have their eyes and ears of their hearts opened.  Continue to pray for the men who have since graduated and are serving in ministry from coast to coast.  There is never a time in which man does not need the open and honest transparent accountability they experienced while partnering with PHM in Bartlesville. 

4.      Continue to pray for Ryan, Brad and me.  Pray for our marriages, our children and our homes.  Pray against anything that comes against God’s plan and will for us as men and ministry leaders.

5.      Pray for me.  I’m undertaking a monumental task in 2009.  I’ll share more at a later time.  Pray for continual anointing, guidance and openness as I proceed. 

Sharing from the Heart;

Steve 

Ps.  I have to share a recent event that took place with you as our prayer partners since you were indirectly involved in a massive way and deserve the “thank you” too.  I had a spouse of one of our young men thank me for my influence in her husband’s life.  She shared with me the openness, honesty and transparence he experienced with PureHeart continues to bless their marriage!  Through tears, I simply said, Thank you.  I repeat the same words to you, faithful prayer warriors: “Thank you for your faithful prayers though the years.”

Transforming the hearts of man…

Fighting for the Heart of the Few...

An All Heart

Deuteronomy 6:5 (New International Version)
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Four times in the Bible you will find this passage.  The first is found in the above passage and then again in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.  This week we are going to look at what I am calling an “All” heart!  

These days there are not much “All” anything.  Watch the news at night.  There are reposts on corporate crime, political corruption, domestic violence and the like.  From which we can conclude the only “All” is all self centered and self focused.  

However, this is not what the Israelites are being instructed to do.  Read this again and allow the words to pierce your mind.  “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  To me, it is only reasonable that the LORD is asking the Israelites to love Him with their All!  He was the one who lead them out of captivity, provided for the day and night and displayed His majesty and wonder before their very eyes.  

Four times in scripture this passage is used!  I want to study this since it’s the first mention of this string of words.  In doing so, I find in Deuteronomy chapter five where God had met with Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments.  I did a complete Bible Study on the passage from the gospel of Mark titled, “The Greatest Commandment, A Living Reality.”  We spent a year breaking this apart and applying it to our daily lives.  We do not have the time or space to do that here.  However, one thought I want to explore is this:  In order to have an All heart, completely saturated with the LORD, the LORD must be our heart’s priority.  That means the LORD must be in our everything.  He’s in our waking up, our quiet times, our working times, both Christian and secular, our attitudes, our recreation, our family times and in our “All” times.  

In order for this to happen we must follow His commands.  For when we do there is nothing else left, we’ve put our all into this relationship with our LORD.  I suppose an “All” heart individual would be one that the world would look at and not be able to determine where the individual person began and God ended.  Can you imagine?  That would be an “All” relationship that would impact a lost and hurting world in a God-sized fashion.  

Does that describe you?  I have to be real and say, “No.”  But I want it to.  I think most of us would have to honestly quote the verse with words like these:

“I love the LORD God with most of my heart, some of my soul and a sliver of my strength.”  Do you agree?  

However, I find hope and strength in knowing that the process in which one obtains the “All” heart is exactly that, a process.  It is a journey that takes a lifetime to achieve.  I praise God we serve a God that is so in love with us that He willingly loves us on this journey.  What a journey it is, an “All” journey that leads us to an intimate personal relationship with the One and Only!  

My prayer for each of you is that nothing would stand in your way of having an “All” heart.

Join with me praising God for and Praying for the following:

1. Pray that we would be individuals making up the body of Christ that are purposefully willing to surrender that portion(s) of our hearts that prevent us from having an “All” heart.
2. Pray for the young men that we are ministering to on a weekly basis.  Pray for their hearts, souls, minds and strength to surrender to God and live fully for Him.
3. Pray for the PHM leadership team.  Pray for us as we balance marriage, family’s and careers.  Pray for balance, focus and a common sense of direction as we following what God has given us.
4. Pray for the body of believers in which we each worship.  If there were ever a time for an “All” heart, it is now.
5. Pray for each other.  I know standing the gap for PHM is tough prayer work.  I very much appreciate your role in this ministry.  Hold each other up so none of us grow weary of our callings.
6. Continue to pray for our upcoming leadership retreat.  It is challenging to find a time in which we can all set aside for such an event.  

Thank you so much for your faithfulness to PureHeart Ministries.

Sharing from the Heart,

Steve