Leon Fontaine - The Heart-Mind Connection
As a young man, as a child actually, my mom and dad, they raised us and taught us the Bible in different ways for different ages. I remember as a little boy, my mom and dad teaching us, I have four brothers so there's five of us boys, so sometimes we'd be together, other times it would just be us, you know, in our bedrooms. And mom or dad would teach us Bible stories. And you know, we're living in a world where, sometimes Christian kids only know Disney stories. And she would teach us Bible stories. And you know, from those stories, God can speak to children. Because all of these stories hold principles. As I got older, I remember dad and mom teaching me how to memorize scripture. And so I would memorize scripture.
And then as I got into my, you know, pre-teens, dad would pay me to memorize scripture. And, I said that in the first service and one, one kid in the front turned to his parents like this. And dad would pay me a nickel a scripture. And I remember like, finding all the short verses like Jesus wept, pray without ceasing, you know, and then after I used up all the short verses, I had to start memorizing all the longer verses. And, I never realized what an astounding, brilliant thing it was to teach the Word like that. Until I got older. And, before I was married in my late teens, early twenties. I began to work out of a hospital and be trained as a paramedic, and, and there I saw such suffering and heartache and brokenness. Going to accident scenes, and deaths, and rapes, and murders, and. And just doing your best to maximize survivors. Had a, a brutal effect on me. And I remember just crying out to God and saying God, like, there used to be so many miracles and I know that miracles are for today. And God, I want to, I want to pray with people.
Now you had to do it secretly because they wouldn't let you do that. In hospital, in the hospital room or the ambulance. But, something begin to change in my life as I begin to study the Word and recognize that, knowledge of the scripture didn't necessarily cause miracles to flow in your life. And it begin to bother me so I begin to go back into the Word. And say, God, if, if miracles are for the church. And the Bible's very clear on that. The day or miracles is not over. Yet we live in a world that sees few miracles. God, why is that? Because I've now, in a career, in a job, that needs tons of them. And as I begin to go into the Word, something started in this area of, moving God's Word from knowing it, to where it begin to establish in my heart.
I recognize there's a process. And that, as you give your life to Christ, and you begin to serve Him, that we are filled with beliefs. We're filled with the ways we think. We're filled with doubts. We're filled with, with, with just a low identity as to who we are, and what we can do. But when we give our life to Jesus, we become a brand new creation. But yet, I wasn't seeing the incredible favour and miraculous blessing of God like I wanted it to. I remember reading a book by an author, it was an Eastern pastor, and you know much of the Eastern church has a different way of looking at the Word. Not wrong, but just a different way of looking at it. And he begin to talk about the fourth dimension. And how the Bible says that, don't look at the visible, look at the invisible. Because the invisible is where eternal life is. And it is what comes into the visible world. Which I know because the Bible says in Genesis, and God said let there be, and all of a sudden things came into existence in the visible world. But God is in the invisible world. We can't just see Him in a visible form.
And so as I begin to look I thought okay, so all the power that, that is needed to change a body from sick to healthy. To begin to stop the enemy from taking us out early when God promises you a long life, it's in the Word. And I begin to recognize that, studying Jesus' teaching, He shows us how to get miracles. And it comes down to this. There's a part inside of you, the Bible calls the heart. Now you cannot take Webster's Dictionary to define a Bible word. Because the word 'heart' for us would be your physical heart. Or if you saw a football player just going for it, man that guy's got heart. But that just means passion. It just means, you know, not go, unstoppable. The Bible has a different definition of the word 'heart'. And that this centre of our being seems to be a mixture of your mind, and your spirit.
Now when you're born again, your spirit is perfect because Jesus is there. And you're a brand-new creation, you're forgiven for everything. But the problem lies in our memory banks. And that we have been taught all of this stuff. We've been taught to doubt. We've been taught things that are wrong. We have doubts, unbelief, misbeliefs. And so when we go to believe God for something, the Bible's very clear in Romans 10, it says that even being born again, you must speak with your mouth, and believe in your heart. Not your head. And if that, and I begin to look at this because there was verses about the mind, and then I read another one. And it talked about you begin able to speak to situations in your life in prayer, and that it must obey you. Well it's not obeying me.
And then I read this little line. If you do not doubt in your heart. And I thought okay, well, that just, to me heart just kind of meant a deeper level of thinking. That's about it. But when I begin to recognize that the heart is literally the autopilot of my future. That the heart is so stunning, that if you can take and use the process God gives us to take His Word, His way of thinking, His way of believing. And if you can begin in a very simple, quick process, to move it from your head to your heart, that your heart begins to flow into your life. So powerfully, now get this. In Matthew 12, it says there that, a good man from the good treasures of his heart, not his mind. The good treasures of his heart, brings forth good things. That an evil man from an evil treasure, brings forth evil things. And I begin to look at that and thought, okay I always thought you just prayed to God, God decides. But in the new covenant, all of it has been decided.
Jesus died, He has given you all His promises. And so all you have to do is believe from the heart. Then as I begin to look at the Old Testament, it says if you can't control your life or yourself, it says you are like a city with broken walls. That intrigued me. A city with broken walls. And the more I begin to examine the scriptures, I realize that my mind, is the walls of my heart. Why? Because in the old days, if you wanted to live protected in your city, you would build great walls. And those walls would stop armed invaders from coming through. And you could defend from those walls. And, so I thought okay so, if I want to be in control of my life, and not you know, lose all no self-control. But, I needed to have great walls.
Well that means I need to have a great mind. And then the New Testament teaches it through the apostle Paul in a different way. It says, to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, in Ephesians 6:10, and put on the whole armor of God, that you can defeat. And like, it says all the schemes of the devil. Wow. So, in the Old Testament it talks about the walls of a city, in the New Testament it talks about the armour that you must put on. And that when the armour is on, it stops the fiery darts of the devil.
Now let me say something to you. If you do not grow in the Word, and get it in your heart, meaning where it begins to write on the tables of your heart, it's planted deep like Mark 4 in your heart. Something beautiful begins to happen. You see, as worries and concerns and doubts and fears begin to come at you, if you have to deal with every one of them in your head, can you imagine how busy your head's going to be, if you've got ten kids and a couple companies, and, and, and, and, and? It's just wah! But the Bible says, that the walls of that city, stopped the attack. It doesn't get in. That the armour that we can wear, is a supernatural armour not of this world. Jesus wore it, and we can have it, and it begins to explain how that each piece of the armour, is a revelation of truth in God's Word.
Now I'll show you what I mean. I'm going to give you an example. For all of you who've given their lives to Christ and spent time in the Word, I'm going to, I'm going to say a lie to you. Let's see how long you think about it. Ready? Here we go. God is dead. You won't even think about that for three seconds. You won't agonize over this, this afternoon. You won't go to bed tonight going, Leon said God's dead. It's, you're not even going to think about it. Do you know why? Because the Word that you already have in you, has created the armour that stops that temptation to doubt that God is alive. Now I can go on and say, you're not forgiven. And if you've got any Word in you, you're not going to worry about this. In fact, the words I just said just boop, it just like bounce off. Gone. Teflon. Why is that? Because that is in you, it bounces off the lies and the doubts and the fears.
So, as you begin to learn in God's Word how that Jesus qualifies you and the enemy comes at you and says, you haven't been good enough. God's not there for you. And it's one person going, okay what am I going to do? You won't, because it bounces off the revelation of the Word. God's Word is so powerful. It is so amazing. And to the most mature believer here, there'll never be a time where you shouldn't feed on God's Word. Because the Bible says that, God's Word is the bread of life. It brings energy and life and the other thing that it does, is that it builds an armour that is impossible for the temptation and the lies of the devil to get through.
And so when you look at this heart, the mind is the protection for the heart. The walls. It is the armour. And so, as you begin to just feed on His Word, just chill out. Relax. The Word begins to get planted. Now, at first nothing seems to happen. In Mark 4:27 and on, it says this is the way the kingdom of God works. The man plants seed in the ground, goes to bed, and it grows while he's sleeping. And it doesn't just grow while he's consciously watching it. Wouldn't that be annoying? We planted two sections. We're just standing here making sure it keeps growing. You go to bed, you can leave, go on holidays for a few weeks to the lake. And that soil will keep growing that seed. Because the soil's designed to do that. You can lift a fence post up, and in the hole of the fence post, is moisture and nutrients. It's trying to grow the fence post. The soil will grow whatever you put into it.
And so, this ability to just kind of enjoy God's Word. I love listening to teachers. Okay? I love reading books that teach the Word of God because many men and women are gifted to teach the Word, and you can learn from 30, 40 years of their experience. And then I'll go to the Word as I'm following along, and I'll study it for myself. And something begin to happen to me. My boundaries begin to go bigger. My cords lengthened. My stakes strengthened. And what was hard to do, just to believe God to put shelter over Sally and I's head, and, and just to get any kind of a car. In the financial world, I begin to see things happen, the favour of God.
In our relationship, it was fun, we were married and we've got kids, and there's things you're working out for. But as the Word of God came in, I became at such peace, that even when I would go to a call because I was married even for a while, for seven years as a paramedic. I would go to a call in the early years, I was a mess. I mean, to pull the sheet over different ages of people, not be able to help some. I'd go home and just burst into tears, I was. And then as I begin to get the Word in me, my mind begin to stabilize in a way I have never experienced before. See, the Bible says, that in Timothy, that I have not the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and then it says something interesting. A sound mind.
Now this word 'sound mind' means a disciplined nature. Disciplined way of thinking. An ability to walk through incredible storms and be at peace. And if Jesus is our example, he's in the bough of the boat sleeping, while fisherman are freaking out. How bad of a storm does it have to be for a guy who lives on the lake, and he's freaking out? And Jesus at total peace. And He shows us, and then Jesus says, my peace, I leave it with you. Well you don't need peace when things are going good. You need peace, when things are going crazy. And, all of us, as we begin to, feed on God's Word each day. And trust and believe Him.
It first it seems like nothing is happening. If you go out and look at the crop, yeah, we just put that section into oats. Oh I don't see anything. Yeah, you have to trust me, I put it in. Well I don't even know you, how do I know it's in? Well you won't know for a while. What do you mean I won't know for a while? It's just black dirt all I see is black dirt. There's oats there. No there's no... this farmer's going to be arguing with this city boy going there's oats there, trust me. That's like you and the Word. As you just get out and hear God's Word, grab some time each day to feed on the Word. You're going to find that something begins to grow out of you.
Now, you didn't solve any problems. You haven't got some new kind of doctrine in your head. You're just finding that peace begins to grow. You can have a song in your heart. You begin to be thankful, and happy. And energized, and healthy. What's going on? The Word has taken root. And the enemy will try to attack you, meaning, he brings tribulation. The Bible says that when persecution arises for the Word's sake, many quit. But don't stop in God's Word. Don't stop getting out to church. Because something miraculous, something amazing begins to take place. As all of a sudden, presence of God, from the Word that is planted in you, renews your mind. Transforms you to a peace like Jesus had. Transforms you to hear His voice.
Did you know that, one of the reasons peace is crucial, is that you won't hear or sense God's voice if fear, anxieties, worries, attack your head. You won't sense. Holy Spirit is the great persuader. When you give your life to Christ, and He comes within you, He'll persuade you of how special you are. He'll persuade you of how much God loves you. He'll persuade you each day, that you can run through a troop and leap over a wall. He'll persuade you each day, his Word jumping and laughing and rejoicing, because ahead, nothing by any means can hurt you. And He begins to persuade you of God's Word. That's when it goes from the mind to the heart. And the walls of protection begin to go around your heart. That armour begins to rise up. Your mind begins to be renewed.
Knowledge is not what it's talking about. Knowledge is of the mind, is an important step in the process. But until there's transformation, keep going, that's all. Just keep going. Don't say well I tried it and it doesn't work. That's like a farmer that goes out there, and he plants his oats all over this quarter section, and he goes out, and he goes, look it. Look at all the work I did. Nothing! I've got nothing here. Honey, pack your bags. We're out of here. Let's go for a four month holiday somewhere. While he's out going somewhere, the earth will produce by itself. First the blade, then the ear, then the full head and the ear, and then it's harvest time. If we can learn to protect His Word, to keep feeding on it, especially in the areas that you are struggling with. Matthew 12 teaches us that you can find the areas you have misbeliefs.
You see, your heart has beliefs that you didn't put there. Your misbeliefs will come from your upbringing, your culture, grandparents, school, coaches, traumatic things that happened to you. Et cetera. And so as you keep feeding on the Word, the Bible says in Romans 8:24 and on, it talks about how Holy Spirit searches the hearts. Why is He doing that? He's going to find things that were placed there, that are misbeliefs. That are doubts. And He's going to guide you in the Word, so the Word just chokes it out, and takes its place. The Bible teaches that in Hebrews 4:12, that the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Able to divide between the body, the soul, and the spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
Wait, wait, wait. You mean there are thoughts and intentions in the heart? And there are thoughts and intentions in the head. So I'm confused. No you're not. Just feed, just renew your mind with the Word. And you're going to find Holy Spirit will begin to work in your life. And your ability to lengthen the cords of your tent, to strengthen the stakes. To expand the boundaries, until you see the favour and the blessing of God in the land of the living. And the things you only dreamed of, begin to happen in your life. Not because God likes you more, because He's blessed us all with the Word. And He's blessed us all with answers to prayer. No, all that's going on, is it's growing on the inside of you. And you're saying well what should we, what should we plant today?
Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about peace and joy in our marriage. Okay, great. Find some scriptures about that. Meditate on them, pray them, and they begin to get planted on your heart. You know, I think I need healing in my body. Let's, literally, the kind of seed you want to plant, is the kind that you need. This process, renews the mind, and establishes your heart in grace. Which is a new covenant principle. Many of you people who've been raised in faith, we, our faith is not in a specific verse. In the new covenant, our faith is in the finished work of Jesus. Which why, is why Holy Spirit's job is to reveal Jesus. I used to think that okay we've got, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, He's revealing Jesus so He's humble, I guess Jesus must be proud.
I mean, why is the Holy Spirit revealing Jesus? I begin to walk through all these doc... and then I begin to recognize, it's what Jesus did on the cross that is the very anchor of your faith. It's done. Bought and paid for, by Jesus. And as you spend time in the Word, Holy Spirit will reveal how loved you are, how special you are, and as you begin to focus on His Word, He will help you to dream the dreams of the future. No, one person said well I've got my pallbearers picked out, good. Everyone's going to have a funeral one day. And I know who I, good, good. I said, now, what are you dreaming about for your future? That. Well, the Bible says where there is no vision, people perish. What's your vision to live? Do you have one?
If you're here today, you don't have a vision for the future, and you might not have any problems going on at all. This lack of vision, of dreaming and speaking and declaring and knowing that my future's going to be better than my past. I'm more loyal to my future than I am to my past. Wow, this year's going to be the best ever. Someone Leon, what was the best day of your life? I always say tomorrow. Why am I going to camp on something that's happened before? Ahead of me is the best days of my life. And God and I are going to go forth. It, as you begin to change the way you think, the way you believe, the way you talk. Man, does it happen quickly in our lives. Because it's the process, it renews the mind and establishes the heart.
With every head bowed for just a moment. For those that are here that would say you know Leon, I'm not sure that, that I'm a Christian or that I'm a believer. I want to lead you in a powerful prayer. It's a prayer that I've prayed, changed my life. You see, God is never going to force Himself into your world. He gave you freedom, and He will wait until you ask Him and want Him in your life. For those who are watching by television, wherever you are on this planet, pray with us. This entire auditorium's going to pray this prayer out loud, with these wonderful people who are making a decision for eternity. Let's all pray this out loud. Just say:
Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus. He died in my place. He qualified me, to be in Your family. Forgiven, and clean because of Him. Come into my heart, Jesus. As my Lord and Saviour. Amen.