Introduction
It's great to be here with you, and have people that are hungry for these things. It's stirring, and we need to be stirred, don't we? We need to be really stirred up inside; so again, we're going to go back, and just start off by just referring to that first scripture we started with, which is the theme: what the world is waiting for, is the manifestation of the sons of God, who are in intimacy with their Father, who accurately represent their Father - having a servant heart, an honouring heart and a powerful anointing. Sons who understand their assignment, and stay within the boundaries of that, and don't mess around with someone else's.
That's why Jesus said: "I've finished My work". He finished the things that the Father gave Me to do. There were still lots of people weren't delivered, still lots of people weren't healed - but that wasn't His assignment. He was assigned to certain ones; He came to the nation, so everyone who came to Him, He ministered to them and healed them. Those who didn't come to Him, He empowered His disciples to carry on the same work.
Main Message
This time I'll talk about: Sonship and Heart Transformation, because part of being a 'son' means that we need to accurately represent the Father.
1 John 3:2 - "now we are the sons (that's children of God, meaning we haven't fully grown to maturity) and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But when He appears, we shall be like Him".
So that speaks to me, you and I are on a journey of transformation, that should be ongoing. If you are not continuing in personal growth, you are stagnating. If you are stagnating, you're living out of yesterday's experience and anointing. We cannot stagnate! We must continue to grow in God; and the growing in God comes by intimacy. So intimacy opens up the parts of our heart where we're blocked, because those are the parts where you're lonely, are bound, are locked up. Those are the parts where love doesn't enter, and love doesn't flow - and we bring those things into our marriages, into our churches, into our leadership... So as leaders, we should model then, that we're on a journey of transformation that will go on all our life; and it will only go on as long as you cooperate; let the Holy Spirit have access, and you are a willing participant in it. If you're not willing to participate, then you'll find yourself allied with a spirit that controls, and shuts down the supernatural, and also steals legacy and other things. I'll talk on that tonight.
I want to focus on the heart; and transformation of the heart. So why is it then, that the heart is so important? I want to give you a number of reasons why the heart of man is so important; and we're going to look at some heart conditions. and why it gets like that; and then the journey or the process of getting out of that place.
So first of all, why is the heart so important? Most churches are concerned with behaviours, but behaviours are the fruit that point to a hidden root. So whatever you see happening outside reflects something from the inside; it is the fruit. The behaviour is the way we do life and relationships, and that flows out of something within us. So even if you take yourself somewhere else, you'll still manifest the same kinds of things around you, because if they're in you, they'll keep producing fruit. So God's interest is always on the root, never just on the fruit. He is not worried about the funny behaviours, and the weirdness that we get up to. He's more concerned about the transformation of the heart, because if you've got the heart, you've got the person. So let me share with you several reasons why the heart is so very important.
When did you last hear someone preaching on the heart; or how the heart gets into bondage, and how to recognise it's in bondage, and how to minister healing to the heart? The church has become motivational. There's nothing wrong with motivational, but if the heart isn't transformed, then it's like wheel-spinning - you get revved up, but you can't go anywhere, because you soon run out of steam. You still go back to the old patterns, the old things, because the structures of bondage are still in place. It's like a riot in a prison camp - at the end, when it's all over, you're still in a prison camp. You're not free! That make sense? A lot of stuff that goes on is like that!