Your Heart in the Refiner's Hands

[Music] how great thou are how great thou are and when I think that God is some not SP sent him to die I scarce can take it in that on the cross my bird and gladly bearing he bled and died to take away my sin then sings my soul my savior God to the How Great Thou Art How Great Thou Art then sings my soul my savior God to thee How Great Thou Art How Great Thou Art when I shall come with shout of acclamation and take me home what Joy shall fill my heart then I shall bow in Humble adoration and then Proclaim my God how great thou art then sings my soul my savior God to thee How Great Thou Art How Great Thou Art then sings my soul my savior God to thee How Great Thou Art how great [Music] thou be singing bless the Lord oh my soul [Music] bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before Oh oh my soul I'll worship your Holy Name the sun comes up it's a New Day Dawning it's time to sing your song again whatever may pass and whatever lies before me let me be seen singing when the evening comes bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before Oh My Soul I'll worship your holy name you're rich in love and you're slow to anger your name is great and your heart is kind for all your goodness I will keep on singing 10,000 reasons for my heart to find bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before Oh My Soul I'll worship your holy name and on that day when my strength is failing the end near and my time has come still my soul will sing your praise unending 10,000 years is there forever more bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before Oh My Soul I'll worship your Holy Name bless the Lord oh my soul oh my soul worship His holy name sing like never before Oh my soul I worship your Holy Name praise the Lord brothers and sisters for this beautiful morning that God has given us that we can all come here together today and uh hear his word today and praise His name and I want to read a Bible verse in Isaiah 43 uh verse two and it says here when you pass through the waters I will be with you and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you when you walk through the fire you will not be burned the Flames will not set you Ablaze praise God and I also want to announce our program for this morning and we will just be having brother Vlad saying his word uh and his message for today God bless praise God once again brothers and sisters um I don't know if you guys can get the slides up but I'll just start off by saying my sermon uh it's a two-part series actually I'll be leading this Sunday and then the next as well um but it's called your heart in the Refiner's hands and um today we will flow from the heart to the mind and then to the body and uh there's a little story I wanted to open up with about a guy called Roger banister and uh for decades experts said experts said it was uh physically impossible to run a mile and under four minutes and coaches scientists and athletes all agreed that it couldn't be done and the four-minute mile was seen as a wall that nobody could break you know but Roger bister a 25-year-old British med student he didn't buy it and he trained during breaks uh between Hospital shifts you know his methods they were different it was less volume more intensity and people called it unorthodox but day after day he kept pushing and uh you know physically and mentally and then came May 6th 1954 you know windy afternoon Oxford track um banister lined up ready to chase the impossible and he did it he did it in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds and uh he shattered the barrier and just 46 day days later uh somebody else broke his record why is that um it's because once someone proves it's possible others follow and what's the point of the story sometimes the biggest limits are the ones that you know we accept in our minds and Banister Story shows the power of daily focused effort and if that's true for a race on a track how much more in our walk with God you know and he calls us to run our race to trust him and to press be beyond what we think we can do so why does this idea of discipline you know heart mind body really matter for us Beyond just checking religious boxes because biblical discipline isn't about following rules for the sake of rules it's not about looking good or trying to impress God and others with our self-control um it's it's about becoming more like Jesus and discipline is the pathway to transformation into christlikeness so let's dive into the heart mind and body starting with the heart and let's read read from Psalm 51:10 creat in me a pure heart oh God and renew a steadfast Spirit within me what is the backdrop on this verse so this prayer comes from one of the Bible's most heartfelt expressions of repentance and King David wrote it after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sin with basiba and David had committed adultery and arranged for be sheba's husband to die in battle and despite being a man after God's Own Heart David was still capable of horrible sin and when he realized the depth of his wrongdoing he didn't just say you know Lord I messed up he cried out for a thorough cleansing a a cry of repentance from the deepest deepest part of his soul and David's plea was not just forgive me but cleanse me fully and notice the wording create in me a clean heart and the Hebrew word for creates it's it's B is the same uh used in Genesis 1 implying uh a Divine act something only God can do and David doesn't just want a quick fix or a uh super super uh natural pardon or superficial pardon he wants transformation from the inside out and why is a clean heart foundational if your heart remains unrepentant or hardened no amount of Good Deeds or external discipline can lead to authentic spiritual growth and and why is that because your motivations your desires and your intentions all flow from your heart and if the heart is polluted eventually everything else you know your thoughts your words your actions they become polluted as well and and God he desires inner transformation from us we could try to modify or hide our symptoms like how we look in our outward appearance we might look very nice dressed nice we might look professional and clean but our hearts they could be a mess they could be in sin they could be dark um and God needs to change the problem at its source and we can ask him to deal with the root of the issues you know whether it's Pride it's lust it's anger selfishness selfishness whatever it is um God can help us with that and why does this inner transformation matter because God's care about who you're God cares more about who you're becoming not just what you do and in 1st Samuel 16:7 it reminds us that while people look at outward appearance the Lord looks at the hearts and I I'd like to read that as well it's 1st Samuel 16:7 but the Lord said to Samuel do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him the Lord does not look at the things people look at but look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart so what is the practical application that we can apply to our lives you know this can be daily repentance like doing something as simple as taking 2 to 5 minutes or or something like that each night or morning to pause to reflect and to confess any known sins we can ask the holy spirit is there anything in my heart that's dishonoring to you or or hurtful to others and God can open up uh that that to us and in Psalms chapter 13923 I won't read the whole thing but basically it says search me oh God see if there's any Grievous way in me you know we can make something like this our own daily prayer and why does something like that help regular repentance keeps our hearts sensitive to God's conviction and it prevents small compromises you know the very smallest things from growing into significant barriers between us and the Lord and I'd like to just bring up a a little analogy and uh we can think of a fresh spring high in the mountains and we can go on to the next slide here uh fresh spring the mountains and if the source becomes contaminated at the very top everything that goes Downstream still gets polluted and no matter how much you try to filter the water further Downstream the C the contamination it keeps coming from the top and um it it doesn't stop so if our hearts remain unclean the stream of our thoughts speech and actions they will eventually reflect that impurity and as it says in Proverbs 27: 19 as water reflects the face so one's life reflects the heart and when we let God uh purify the source our hearts the rest of our life and our actions reflect that as well now that we've seen how crucial it is to start with the Clean Heart uh let's take the next step which is renewing our mind because Without A Renewed mind even a repentance Hearts can get pulled back into Old patterns and I'd also like to read another place it's going to be Romans 12 verse two do not confirm do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind then you'll be able to test and prove what God's will is his good pleasing and perfect will we either conform to the patterns and values of the surrounding culture or we choose to be transformed by God's truth there's no neutral ground you know our minds they're always being shaped by something and Paul's emphasis is uh Paul Paul doesn't just say uh just try harder to be good he instructs Believers to undergo a renewal almost like a metamorphosis you know like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly and how we think and how we perceive reality and the renewal it's an ongoing process you know it doesn't happen once at conversion uh but we must let God's truth rewire our thought uh thought patterns daily and I'd also like to read Proverbs 4:23 Above All Else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it and the the Hebrew idea actually when when this was being written the Hebrew idea of heart often includes our mind our will and our emotions as well not just uh our our physical heart or how you think of heart normally uh so guarding the heart means watching over what influences your innermost self and what is warp thinking this arises when our minds they Feast on negative or unbiblical influences whether that's social media obsession a bad circle of friends or addictions or something else and over time these influences can distort our perception of Truth uh leading us to justify sin or adopt worldly values and what is also Prudence this means choosing wisdom Clarity and alignment with God's word that's also very important and a prudent mind is alert and intentional about what it consumes and Prudence some people might confuse it with paranoia but it's not actually paranoia it's a spiritually aware uh like alertness you know it's like a alertness that enters our minds and it shapes our hearts and decisions so what are some practical steps to uh renew the mind the first can be daily scripture intake it can be reading plans whether you follow you know a Bible in a year or you know you plan to focus on several books uh the goal is just to stay consistent uh or you could do verse by verse study you know dig dig deeper into smaller section understanding the context and application or it could even be memorization hiding God's word in our hearts as it says in in the Psalms uh but it helps you combat Temptation and recall real truth in moments of doubt and also another practicable step can be to evaluate your media diets as I like to say you know what do you watch what do you listen to uh what do you scroll through daily the question is is this leading me toward christlikeness or is it pulling me away and we don't have to abandon all entertainment you know but we need to be selective and wise in our choices and briefly it says in Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 whatever is true whatever is Honorable think about these things you know actively we have to fill our mind with things that encourage uh faith hope love um and that that's what really starts to transform our mind and I like metaphors uh because I like to picture things visually and I spoke on this one topic before but it's an illustration of a garden so we can picture a garden uh when it is left unattended weeds and pests they invade very quickly and those weeds they symbolize toxic thoughts worldly influences and lies that can choke out faith and truth and we must intentionally remove them through repentance prayer and active choice to to reject these harmful influences or uh like you can say weeds and from that we need to plant good seeds uh we don't just you know stop bad thinking we replace it by planting scripture praise uplifting fellowship and godly mentors into our uh mental workspace and you know it's an ongoing process gardeners they don't just pull weeds once you know once and it's all done but you know you look a week later two weeks later and there's a bunch of weeds again you know so they they do it regularly and similarly renewing the Mind demands regular attention and perseverance and you know we can assess for ourselves what are the top three influences in our mind every day you know what are the things that kind of uh take up our mind space that we kind of meditate on when we're not really doing something or even you know when we're sitting and we're listening to the preacher what are we kind of thinking about you know if they're mostly negative or unhelpful we can ask the holy spirit for wisdom to uh reduce or replace those with good ones and why does this matter you know when our minds are renewed we see the world differently and we start to desire what God desires we start to think as he thinks and make choices that honor him and the renewal is crucial for the next step as well which is uh bodily discipline because without Clarity and conviction in our minds it's easy to slip back into Old physical patterns and habits and with a clean heart and mind that's constantly being renewed the next natural step is to discipline our physical actions and our bodies the habits and behaviors that we live out every day must also come under God's Authority if we want to experience the fullness of life that he offers so uh moving into disciplining the body um 1 Corinthians chapter 9: 24 I'll let you guys open up to that 1 Corinthians chapter 9: 24 do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize run in such a way as to get the prize everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training they do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly I do not fight like a boxer beating the air no I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I've preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the prize so Paul here he compares the Christian Life to athletic training and just as an athlete subjects their body uh to strict discipline that's how also Paul is describing it and also another quick place I want to read Philippians chapter 3: 13- 14 brothers and sisters I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining forward straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus Paul he underscores the forward intentional nature of the Christian walk and it is not passive or accidental it's pressing it's striving and moving with purpose and what are the key themes that that we see here so the first is intentional self-control you know we don't just drift into Holiness if we're casual with our habits the flesh it takes over and like a marathon runner who trains diligently we must be P purposeful in disciplining our bodies and the second is making the body a Slave as Paul says um you know subject impulses like lust anger laziness um we can subject those to the holy spirit's Authority and to be clear Paul's strong language making the body a slave it emphasizes bringing our desires under God's higher purpose and not abusing ourselves okay so there's uh there's a big difference there and some practical steps that we also see here are fasting you know not just about food fast from anything that distracts you from God and it helps us to say no to ourselves and yes to God's promptings and we can set aside time for prayer and scripture you know physical health is also uh important it can support spiritual alertness um even though you know some people might not agree with with that but uh physical health it also helps the mind and the body um we can also plan time for worship Fellowship uh personal growth and another thing it can be accountability you know we can seek Partners who will encourage and correct us and when we stumble accountability keeps us moving forward in Christ you know when there's something so hard that you're battling and it just feels like you can't do it yourself seek seek a brother or a sister you know seek an account ability partner they might be able to help you uh to move forward in that and another illustration we can look at is an athletes training regimen professional athletes they sacrifice comfort completely they they wake early they follow strict diets and endure tough workouts to excel to become better than all their opponents and us as Christians we are aiming for an eternal Crown like like it also States in First Corinthians uh but with the end goal in mind we willingly surrender certain Comforts to pursue God's best like we're almost like spiritual athletes and disciplining our bodies or any areas of our life it's more than just outward rule keeping God he calls us to a transformation fueled by his grace and it's not just a list of dos and don'ts you know so we also need to understand another point which is uh transformation versus legalism like I like to call it and legalism it's it's almost like a spiritual checklist uh and transformation is God's spirit changing us from the inside out and to give you some examples on how that might look for example Bible reading uh legalism would be you force yourself to check off daily chapters so you can just say I did it you know if you miss a day you feel guilty or you worried that God's angry uh but the transformation side when the Holy Spirit Works in you you open scripture asking the Holy Spirit to speak and reading even reading fewer verses God can change your heart because you're looking for truth you're not just taking a box okay I read this amount of chapters I'm a good Christian but when you really ask the Holy Spirit to open it up to you that's when change really starts to happen in your heart and another example can be Sunday church attendance you know the legalism version can be you attend Services simply so people can see you there and you're more concerned about your image than worshiping God or fellowship with Believers and the transformation side you know the Holy Spirit side can be you go eager to meet with God and learn from his word and the focus is on growing in faith and loving your church family and it's not about being seen as spiritual and another uh another just example I can bring up is uh prayer life the legalism side can be you pray at set certain times every day because you feel obligated you know reciting the same words almost like a robots uh and you believe missing prayer time makes you less holy but the transformation side can be you approach prayer as a conversation with your father while you you may keep a routine your heart is open to hearing Scot's voice and responding genuinely so those can be the differences and another thing is Grace it also empowers discipline you know all of the biblical discipline it relies on God's grace not just uh brute willpower because if we try to do it ourselves we will always fail you know with the power of the Holy Spirit and God's grace that's the only way that we can do this and in Titus 2:1 11 to2 it says for the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people it teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in the present age so we almost have to see this as like a partnership with the Holy Spirit you know we choose obedience but the Holy Spirit supplies the power to sustain it and a discipline it's a part parip and when we say yes the holy spirit gives us that full strength we're not just trying with our own strength and our ultimate goal it is reflecting Christ you know and that's through discipline whether it's Hearts Mind Body it is about reflecting Jesus more fully and God he provides us every single tool he provides us every resource that we need to do that you know his word his spirit his grace to help us become more like his son and brothers and sisters we've seen how our hearts uh must be cleansed our mind renewed and our body disciplined and this isn't about following a checklist of religious rules it's about inviting God to transform us from the inside out through the power of His Holy Spirit and when we also partner with his grace daily surrendering our thoughts our actions and desires Our Lives they begin to reflect Jesus to um a worldly or our lives they begin to reflect Jesus to a word hungry for genuine hope and change so where do we go from here I challenge you to pick one area in your life the heart the mind or the body where you sense God calling you to grow in discipline and committed to prayer for a week you know let the holy spirit guide you and remember that it's his strength and not yours that makes lasting transformation possible and um next week we'll take a step further seeing how God uses trials and challenges to refine us even more deeply and until then may our hearts stay surrendered our minds stay fixed on truth and our bod stay under the loving authority of our savior amen let's pray e and we'll be singing All to Jesus I Surrender All to Jesus I surrender all to him I freely give I will ever love and trust him in his presence day daily live I surrender all I surrender all all to thee my blessed savior I surrender all All to Jesus I Surrender humbly At His Feet I bow worldly pleasures are forsaken take me Jesus take me now I surrender all I surrender [Music] all to thee my blessed Savor I surrender all All to Jesus I Surrender Lord I give myself to thee fill me with thy love and power let thy blessing fall on me I surrender all I surrender all all to thee my blessed savior I Surrender [Music] praise God church it was a good message a good lesson about uh brother Vlad the reason why I like when he uh preaches is because he's very simple to understand and very practical sometimes we preachers like to make things up but uh brother V had a a very uh strong message and I just wanted to read from Psalm uh 71:16 I will go in the strength of the Lord I will make mention of your righteousness of yours only and today we heard about the message that when we submit our heart our mind and our body to Jesus Christ he has the strength to renew us he has the strength to renew you and to renew me our heart our mind and our body and when we uh try to do it on our own it don't work too well we might be doing good for one day two day but the Temptation might be stronger and today the message may it enter into our heart Hearts may it enter into our mind and renew our body in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and I would like also to pray for some needs that we have um brother Doug was here last week um after his surgery he was recovering he came I spaced it um I didn't announce uh that he came back but but he did and I talked to Lisa today and she said that uh his uh his hand is not healing too well it's his foot it says okay an incision opened up in the foot so so the hand is fine the hand is doing awesome okay so we'll pray for for Doug's foot okay and uh Gwen's also Health she um she had something happen this week and she asks us to pray for her health and also Sylvia has a need for her um for a person in the in the re the senior living house her friend salinda she tried to make it here today but she couldn't and to pray for Linda's son and her roommate passed away so we're going to pray for that as well and Sylvia is also asking to pray for Tina and Kevin that's her daughter sister and um her husband and her children and also to pray for her does anybody else have any needs yes yeah so uh Richard he they they found a tumor and um was it in your spine my l in his lung in his lung and so we're going to pray for that as well because we believe in the healing power of God Amen to that and uh before we do pray for the needs I just want to make a short announcement that this Saturday we are going to proceed with the baptism it's going to be a 2:00 at Esther Simplot Park um 2:00 Esther Simplot Park uh we're going to have a couple of our people drive down to the shelter at 1:00 and uh pick up anybody that wants to come so so keep that in mind so Saturday at 2:00 we'll be uh proceeding with the baptism at the Esther Simplot Park but with that let's pray amen amen Lord God Lord God we thank you we thank you for the message that was spoken today Lord and there's somebody that needed to hear it Lord because you are the one who can renew our mind our heart and our body Lord and help us to submit under your rule under your like your name God that that you can start doing your work in our lives God you see those God that are broken Lord God you see those that are weak and we ask for the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and the strength of you to come into them and to start God uh transforming their lives into the image of your holy son my father my king Lord God and we also pray God for the needs for Doug's uh incision that opened up Lord God we pray for healing we pray for healing Lord God because we believe in your healing power and may you heal him God May that wound be be healed Lord God yes touch him Lord God in the foot Lord Jesus we also play God uh pray for Richard Lord God you see that he has a tumor on his lung but we believe in the healing power like in the name of the Lord Jesus we believe in your healing power and we ask for full healing on Richard Lord God May that tumor God leave him in the name of your in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Lord God we also pray for 's Health Lord you see God that that she's she's been uh struggling with her health this week God but we also pray for her that you heal her as well Lord God and we also pray for Sylvia's need God for for uh selinda and her children Lord God and for Sylvia's sister and her husband and her children we give it on to your hands God you bless them God you God you uh give them strength to uh walk in your ways God and bless the rest of this day lead us in your spirit and let the word that was spoken today do its work in our lives in jesus' name we pray amen Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from the evil one for your kingdom your power and Glory forever are yours amen be blessed