Grace the Power to Change Part 18

Grace the Power To Change

Part 18

Touching the Heart

Why do we face the same problems and issues over and over in our lives?

Because our life is never a product of what we do, it is a product of what we believe. We might momentarily rise above or sink beneath the level of our heart, but we will always return to what we believe inside.

With man’s wrong belief about sin, why with this belief are we unable to conquer sin?

We do not see sin as destructive and painful. We see it as a list of all the pleasurable things that God will not allow us to do. We consider living a godly life as dull, unfulfilling, limiting, and painful. This is why we habitually gravitate back to sin. When we come under stress, or when hardship, pressure, or difficulties enter our lives, we begin to desire something pleasurable. Since we believe in our hearts that sin is pleasurable, we pursue sin instead of God. Then when the pain and destruction of sin begins to work in our lives, we think God is bringing that pain to bring us back in line. We will never conquer sin with this type of belief system.

How we avoid pain and seek pleasure and its result.

We don’t sin because of the pain it brings, but because of the pleasure we hope to achieve. We don’t desire money for the sake of the having green paper in our pockets, we desire the things that the money will bring us and the pleasure we hope to find in it. Drug addicts don’t desire the pain or results or side-affects of those drugs, they desire the pleasurable feeling they think it will bring.

Repentance, what does it mean?

The word repentance literally means a change of mind. What you change your mind from (repent from) is not near as important as what you change your mind to. Repentance deals with what you start believing, not what you stop doing.

What one thing should motivate every decision we make?

All of our decisions should be made based on the truth of our righteousness in Jesus. If we make decisions based on what is right or wrong we can be deceived and led into destruction. When we make an absolute decision in our hearts for righteousness, the grace of God will flow forth from our hearts to make us able to live what we have decided.

Think back over your life. Think about the things you stopped doing after you became a believer. Make a list of those things. Then, beside that list, write down why you stopped doing each of those things. What pain were those things bringing into your life? More importantly, think about what you started to “do” and how that made the things you “stopped” so much easier.

Do you find yourself afraid of God? Is your relationship with God based on your belief that He is forever loving?

The real emotion that drives us much of the time is fear – fear is at the heart of unbelief. When you believe that God truly loves you, fear disappears. “There is no fear in love”. When fear is removed, you are free to enjoy a loving relationship with God.

Questions to ask yourself:

What pain are you experiencing in your life?

Can you link the corresponding belief or behavior that is bringing that pain into your life?

Can you make a list of those things and then list the pleasure that you could derive from changing that behavior?