Steven Furtick - A New Strategy For Your Mind
This is an excerpt from: Tune Your Heart To Truth
In our culture we will see a very different definition and relationship to what’s called the heart. I’m going to define it in just a moment, but I’m not talking about the organ. We see a very different definition than we see scripturally in our culture today. In our culture today, the heart is a master to be obeyed; therefore, we give advice like, «Okay. Follow your heart».
In the Scripture it’s a little different. In the Scripture, the heart does not seem to be a master to be obeyed. Heart represents the center of your internal life. You’re like, «What are you talking about, my 'heart'? I mean, that could mean a lot of different things. Are you talking about my ability to love? Are you talking about my excitement? Are you talking about my passion? Are you talking about my conscience»? Yes. All of those things are embodied in the Hebrew idea of the heart. It is the center of your internal world, and in the Scripture the heart is capable of incredible generosity. One man said to his fellow comrade, «Do all that is in your mind. I am with you heart and soul». From the heart flow the issues of life.
So, one Scripture writer said, «Guard your heart». That’s really different than «Follow your heart». Follow your heart means my heart is leading me. The only problem I have with my heart leading me is that is a limited resource, because sometimes I feel like following Jesus; sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I feel like forgiving; sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I feel like turning the other cheek, and sometimes I feel like kicking… My heart needs to be guarded. So, let’s go back to Colossians 3 for a moment, and then I’ll bring you to David, and then I want to show you this in a visual form. In Colossians, the apostle Paul says, «Since, then, you have been raised with Christ…» Question, class. «You have been raised with Christ». Past tense or present tense? Since that happened (raised with Christ), «…set your hearts on things above». Past tense or present tense? Okay.
I’m pointing this out to you not because I think you need a grammar lesson but because I want you to understand your soul can be saved and your heart still has to be set. The language here is active, not passive. «Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, follow your heart. The heart wants what it wants. Give it what it wants». You don’t do that with a 2-year-old. The 2-year-old would have their tongue in a light socket. And you watch the 2-year-old because you love the 2-year-old. The 2-year-old is not your enemy. Neither is your heart. Your emotions are not your enemy. Neither is your 2-year-old. The point I’m trying to make here is that your heart, while not an enemy to be defeated, because God gave you that heart and he will speak to you through that heart and he will move in your heart… Sometimes people will say, «Furtick is just an emotionalist. He’s just an emotional preacher».
What do you want me to be? Do you want me to be an Ambien preacher and put you to sleep and stand up here and drone on and on and not move you? When God found David he said, «I found a man after my own heart». God is after your heart. God wants you to feel for him. God wants you to praise him with enthusiasm for your future and with an excitement about who he is. Quiet Christians, take note. You’ve got something to shout about if you want to. Yet the word set drew my attention, because the idea that I have been raised with Christ… Jesus did that for me. Come on. Jesus did that for you. He died for you. Jesus gave you a new heart. The Scripture speaks about a stony heart and a heart of flesh. One is the old covenant (keeping the commandments) and one is the new covenant, established and ratified by the blood of our very own Savior whereby he makes you new on the inside. Yet this new heart I have still has to be set, because it is not like the infomercial used to say: «Set it and forget it».
I promise you if you take that approach to your own spiritual life and your attitude and your mindset… I don’t care how much blood of Jesus covers you. If you don’t take responsibility for setting your heart… That is a decision, not a default. If you don’t do it, the Devil will. If you don’t do it, disappointment will. If you don’t do it, stress will. The heart is not an enemy to be hated. You can enjoy the emotions God gave you, and that’s wonderful. The heart is neither a leader to be followed. I’ll tell you why the heart is not a leader to be followed. I want you to say this to your neighbor, because it’s going to sound mean and I want you to be in on it with me so we all get in trouble together. Look at your neighbor and say, «Your heart is a liar». It’s not a whole conversation. That’s all you’re supposed to say. We don’t have time for any response. All right? No rebuttal. We will take our questions at the end of the class.
Okay. Look at your other neighbor so they don’t think you were picking on them and say, «Your heart is a liar». «I don’t appreciate this. I came to be uplifted and encouraged by the Word of God». All right. Since you want to talk about the Word of God, Jeremiah 17:9: «The heart is deceitful…» Now you understand why I can’t let my heart be my leader. I found out my heart is a liar. I think we have enough liars for leaders without electing our own point of view to call the shots, without electing how I feel at 3:00 p.m. to call the shots, without waiting to see if I’m in the mood that I need to be in to do the thing I said I would do last week. My heart can’t be my leader because my heart is a liar. Don’t get me wrong. My heart is also an incredible asset to show me in moments, «This is what God cares about». You know, we say, «My heart goes out to you». It means, «This is one of the ways I feel guided to help people».
That’s how I know to give that waitress a $50 tip, because something in my heart… That’s how I know to overlook the offense and just see what’s going on beneath, because my heart… I’m thankful for it. It’s not my enemy, but it’s not my instructor either. Instead, I think we need to look at our heart as an instrument. Now I want to move into my picture from David’s life and from my life. Go ahead and bring out the guitar. I’m going to play it. You’re going to be nice to me when I do. I’m not professional, but I get by. I decided to do this illustration myself. I’m going to do my own stunts today. When I thought about it… David is praising God, and the first thing he said…
Back to Psalm 144. He said, «God trains my hands and my fingers for battle». So, I’m imagining David writing this probably later. You know, he’s talking about subduing people, so he’s currently a king, but he’s remembering that he wasn’t always a king. He’s remembering that there was this champion Philistine warrior who dared to defy the armies of the living God. He was bigger than David, greater than David, more skilled and seasoned than David, and had greater weaponry and artillery than David. But when God trains your fingers, even a slingshot with a smooth stone will bring down the biggest giant. David had heart. He wraps his fingers around that sling. I mean, I tried to take tennis lessons, and it took him three weeks just to get my grip semi-correct. My grip for a tennis racket. Imagine what it takes to be a skilled slinger.
David said, «I trained to kill lions and bears. I trained. God showed me how to grip it so that when I got in a fight, he gave me the victory». But then the language changes. The language changes from fighting to flowing. The language changes in verse 9. David, after talking about how God is fighting for you… I want you to remember this week God is fighting for you. Tell your neighbor, «God is fighting for you». Tell them, «God is bigger than it». God is bigger than that report. God is bigger than that obsession. God is bigger than that thing. God is bigger than that night terror. Yet he gives a strategy in verse 9 that is connected, but you just have to have ears to hear and a heart to receive. He says, «I will sing a new song to you, my God». «I will sing from my heart».
David was a praiser. Yes, he was a fighter, but he was also a lover. He had heart. He could take down an enemy, but he also understood intimacy. That’s why he said, «I have trained fingers for war, but the Lord is the love and the refuge of my life». He had trained fingers that knew how to grip a sling when he needed to fight a giant, but watch this. He said, «I will sing praise to you, God; on the ten-stringed lyre…» Earlier, when I said, «Your heart is a liar,» I was setting you up for a double entendre to show you that David here in the midst of a battle… You say, «How do you know he’s in a battle»? Go to verse 11. He says, «Deliver me; rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies…» He’s fighting lies. Are you fighting lies…the lies they told about you, the lies you told about you, the lies they spoke over you that have grown into insecurities that followed you into your adult life?
Everybody under the sound of my voice is fighting a lie that you’re not enough, that God is but you’re not. But guess who made you? If he made your mouth, he’ll fill it. If he put you there, he’ll grow you there. Hallelujah! I’m fighting these lies. So, I was surprised that David fought lies with a lyre. Now I have two «liars» in the passage. One is an instrument. A lyre is just a harp. They were slightly different, but they’re used interchangeably. The Hebrew Scriptures give three different types of instruments they would go and worship with in the temple: the percussion instruments, like the cymbals and the timbrels and the tambourines; the wind instruments, the ram’s horn, the trumpet, the flute… They used a flute more in Egypt. That wasn’t really the Israelites' jam, but they put the flute in there sometimes. Just every once in a while over in 808 when they were really wanting to party. Then the stringed instruments.
Did you see verse 9? He said, «I will praise you on the lyre from my heart, the ten-stringed instrument». Ten strings. I didn’t want to bring a lyre to church. It felt inefficient to roll a harp out here, seeing as I’ve never played one, but we have so many guitars around this church I thought we could use it for an illustration. First of all, a few words about this guitar. This is a Martin guitar, and that is a good company to make guitars. I’m saying it’s a nice guitar. One thing all of these musicians who are on this stage would tell you is, first of all, the instrument can never exceed the quality of the musician who plays it. I could hand E a $10 guitar. This one is not $10. I don’t know how much it costs, but it’s not $10. The $10 one would sound better with him than this one with me. I’m not being self-deprecating. If he were preaching, I’m a better preacher than him. He’s just a better guitar player than me. Okay?
But look. I’m going to sing you a hymn where I got the title of this message, Tune Your Heart, from. This hymn was written in the 1700s. If you know it, you can sing it. The words are on the screen. Come thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above; Praise the mount, I’m fixed upon it, Mount of thy redeeming love. I got my title from that first line. Listen to it again. Come thou fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace… It’s amazing when you’re in tune with the grace of God. It’s amazing when you’re in tune with the voice of God. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I don’t have to fight so much. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I don’t have to manipulate so much. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I don’t have to defend myself; you fight my battles. When I’m in tune with you, Lord…
Somebody say, «Lord, I want to be in tune with you». When I’m in tune with you, Lord, my problems look small. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, it feels like all things are possible. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I can scale a wall. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, the giant looks like an opportunity, not a problem. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I’m able to laugh at what used to make me cry. When I’m in tune with you, Lord, I’m able to cry and know that tears don’t last always but joy comes in the morning. When I’m in tune with you, Lord. It’s a beautiful thing to be in tune. I think we wouldn’t have to use our sling as much if we used our strings a little more. If we would learn to worship God in quiet and in private, some of the things that wear us out he would work out.