I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes. Why are people overweight? They think too much about eating. Why is a person not overweight? They do not think too much about eating. Why is a person an alcoholic? They think too much about drinking alcohol. Why is a person not an alcoholic? When we think too much about anything it controls our worlds and we become what we think, or what we think about. Why is a person addicted to pornography? They think too much about sex. Is it wrong to think about sex? I hope not, but if I allow these thoughts to consume my thought life, it will cause me to become something unhealthy.
ISSUES OF THE HEART
By Delbert Young
I Am What I Think, Period
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Scriptures: Proverbs 4:23, Proverbs 23:7, Matthew 12:35, Matthew 15:7-8, Matthew 15:17-20, Hebrews 4:12, Luke 4:18
Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Quick Review
We began looking last time at The Issues of the Heart and we saw that God looks on the heart, not the outward appearance. Furthermore, we noted a few things that God will see when he looks on the heart. God will see our destiny. David was chosen because of his heart. David’s destiny was in his heart. David would fulfill all the Lord’s will. It was not that David would always be perfect and never mess up. It was that when David would mess up, he would get up and continue to fulfill all the will of God (Act 13:22). We also saw that the Lord will also see the issues of our lives (Pro 4:23). The issues that we face in life, good or bad, come from the heart.
We also saw that the Lord came to heal the brokenhearted (Luk 4:18). Also, we mentioned that the Lord will see the thoughts as he analyzes our hearts (Pro 4:7). It is at that point we will begin today.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
We Need To Analyze Our Heart
The context is a warning that we should not associate with evil people. What we can all learn is that our thoughts make us what we are. It is from the heart that thoughts come. When the Lord looks on the heart, he analyzes the way we think. We too can do this. We need to analyze what we think about. What captures most of our thoughts? The answer will tell you what you are. As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
So Are We
We see that our heart contains the way we think. If we learn to analyze our hearts, we can eliminate the need for psychiatric counseling. As a person thinketh in his (or her) heart, so is he (or she). Do you think you will never get out of debt, so are you. Do you believe you will never overcome that habit, so are you? Or, do you believe you can’t change that weight problem, so are you? Or, do you believe your husband will never change, so are you? Do you believe your wife will never change, so is she?
Say It Another Way
Let me do it another way. Why are people overweight? They think too much about eating. We do the “Weigh-down” class here. The emphasis is to help you stop thinking about eating. Why is a person not overweight? They do not think too much about eating. Do they think about eating? Yes, they think about eating, but it is within boundaries. Why is a person an alcoholic? They think too much about drinking alcohol. Why is a person not an alcoholic? Why is a person a work-oholic? They think too much about working. We all need to think about working, but when we think too much about anything it controls our worlds and we become what we think, or think about.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Why is a person or family in debt with maxed-out credit cards? They think too much about spending money. We all spend money, but if we think only about spending and never about saving, we will create a terrible world. Why is a person addicted to pornography? They think too much about sex. Is it wrong to think about sex? I hope not, but if I allow that to consume my thought life, it will cause me to become something that is not healthy.
We can go on and on. The basic thought is that we are what we think. It’s not we are what we eat. It is we are what we think. It’s not I am what I think I am. It is I am what I think. The Lord came to heal the brokenhearted (Luk 4:18). One way the Lord will heal the brokenhearted is to heal the way we think.
Scientist, Doctors, Psychiatrists, Christians
Scientists say something in our DNA determines our life. It determines if you are overweight or not. It determines if you are homosexual or not. Also, it determines if you get too angry or not. Furthermore, it determines if you are an alcoholic or not. Moreover, it determines if you are lazy or not. That’s not what God says. As we think, so are we.
The body is in control the physical doctor says. We inherit high blood pressure or diabetes. Therefore, we are what we are because we inherited it. The first thing they will have you do if you go to a doctor is to fill out a form telling them about your parents’ and grandparents’ ailments. What we all inherited from our parents is a way of thinking. We were raised in an environment that taught us a thought process. It’s not that we need to settle for their ailments. It’s that we often think like they think so we get what they got. As we think in our hearts, so are we.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
The psychiatrists say it is the mind that controls what we are they say. They think if they can get the mind right through counsel or chemicals, then they can fix our lives. I am aware that all the psychiatric counseling in the world will never help unless a person learns to deal with the heart. As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
Christians say it is all in the spirit dimension.
It’s the devil, that’s the problem the Christian says. If we can just get enough of the Holy Spirit, we can fix your life. If we can get you filled with the Holy Spirit and talking in tongues, that will fix your life the Christian says. How many know that talking in tongues does not change what I am? People can be saved for fifty years and never change. They will go to heaven, but they continue to live in hell on earth. They never analyze their hearts and change the way they think. As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
So, some believe that DNA determines what we are. Some believe that it is all mental. Some believe that it is all spiritual and we need to get the spirit right. While there may be partial truth to each and a good argument for each, God says it’s our heart. As we think in our hearts, so are we. We create a good world, a mediocre world, or a hell on earth from our hearts. Let me show you.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Matthew 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Evil Treasures and Good Treasures are in our Heart
Some evil things become treasures to us. We may call them addictions. Nonetheless, we cherish some things that we know are really bad for us. Let’s list a few: smoking, drinking, adultery, pornography, eating or eating disorders, etc. We cherish these things. They become treasures to us and exist in our hearts. When the Lord looks on the heart, he can see our treasures! We need to do this also.
Let’s make the passage a little more relevant to us by changing the word evil to mediocre. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and a mediocre man out of the mediocre treasure bringeth forth mediocre things. The angry man out of angry treasures brings anger. The fearful person out of the fearful treasures brings . . . The poor man out of the poor treasure… The sick man out of the sick treasure. …The prosperity man out of the prosperity treasure… The happy man out of the happy treasure…
Most often our lives have good things and evil or mediocre things. Some things in our lives we would never change. If you will analyze that good thing, you will see that you have proper thinking concerning it. On the other hand, if you analyze the way you think about evil or not-so-good thing, you will see that you have an improper way of thinking about it.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Matthew 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Confession, Prayer, Singing, but no Change
In Matthew chapter fifteen, Jesus was being questioned by religious people as to why his disciples did not ceremoniously wash their hands before they ate. He took the opportunity to tell the Pharisees that they were hypocrites and their real problem was their heart. They did not analyze their hearts. They go through the motions and they sing the songs and pray the prayers. Furthermore, they do the stuff but never analyze their hearts. Their hearts were far from him.
We lift our hands. We cry and we sing in tongues. Also, we come down for prayer and say we will change, but where is our heart? With our mouths and lips, we say we will change, but we never get to the real problem which is the heart.
Jesus went through the teaching telling them they taught man’s traditions as God’s commandments. They had removed the ability of the word to deal with the heart by teaching their traditions. His disciples came and asked him about what he had said.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Matthew 15:17*20
17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Jesus replied to them, Do not ye yet understand . . . ? And we don’t. We want to blame our husband or our wife. We want to blame the boss or the pastor. Or, we want to blame the president or Congress. We want to blame our DNA or our parents or the devil. Or, we want to blame something “out there” when the problem is the heart.
We are the product of the thoughts from our hearts. Jesus said that out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. Thoughts come from the heart. A murderer is a murderer because of the thoughts from their heart. An adulterer is an adulterer because of the thoughts from the heart. A fornicator (homosexual) is a fornicator because of the thoughts from the heart. A thief is a thief because of the thoughts from the heart. It’s not the DNA that caused the problem. It’s not what you inherited from your parents that is the problem. All the psychiatric counseling in the world will not help unless the heart is dealt with. It’s not the devil. It is the heart.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
A person is a liar because of the thoughts from the heart. And these Pharisees were blasphemers because of thoughts from the heart. As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
We must analyze our hearts. What are we thinking about? As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
The Solution
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The word is the divider of soul and spirit and the discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart. From the heart come the thoughts and intents. From the heart come the issues of life and from the heart come evil thoughts or wholesome thoughts. In the heart are the thoughts and intents. They can be bad thoughts and intents, i.e. evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: Or they can be wholesome thoughts and intents, i.e. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.
Thoughts and intents are of the heart. The tool given to us to discern our thoughts and intents is the word of God. The Greek word translated discerner is kritikos (Strong’s #2924) meaning skilled in judging. The word of God is skilled in judging our thoughts and intents. When we compare our thoughts and intents with the word of God we can judge to see if we are walking in belief or unbelief (Heb 4:11). The context of the verse is the people of God existing in the wilderness when they could have gone into God’s rest. We ask, “Is this thought and intent a thought and intent that will bring me into the rest that God has for me, or is it a thought and intent that will keep me in the wilderness?”
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
If we analyze our hearts, which includes analyzing our thoughts and intents, we can correct the issues of life.
Someone would say, “Well, I don’t know the word of God that well.”
That’s the problem or part of it. I know people that can quote the word, but continue to live in the wilderness with tremendous issues. The answer is not in knowing the word. The answer is in doing the word (Mat 7:24-27). If a person does not know what the words say about an issue, they should find someone they know does know and ask. Purchase a tape series. Buy a book. Discover what the word says.
Last week we identified some issues of life. These were:
SPOUSE/MARRIAGE (BOYFRIEND OR GIRLFRIEND)
WORK/SCHOOL
FINANCES
HEALTH
RELATIONSHIPS
RAISE CHILDREN
What does the word say about responding to our spouse? How is a marriage to be conducted according to the word? Are we told? What are the guidelines for selecting a boyfriend or girlfriend according to God’s word? How am I to respond to my place of work or school? What does the word of God say about finances? Is there anything in there about health? Does the word teach about relationships? Am I instructed about raising my children?
I cannot discern if the thought and intent is me, something the world has put inside me, or God unless I know what the word of God says about it. Then and only then can I make a proper judgment. Then and only then can I rest and experience the peace of the kingdom of God.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted…
The Lord came to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Within that gospel are the answers to issues. Those answers will heal the brokenhearted. The word of God within the gospel will provide the answers we need and heal the broken things in our lives. Healing requires time. A broken arm is not healed in a day. A broken heart will not be healed in a day. Healing is a process. Allow the anointing to work.
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
I Am What I Think, Period sermon notes
Other Related Sermons:
Disobedience In Joshua Chapter 7
Anger How It Works – sermon video audio notes
Our Thoughts sermon notes audio
Three Thoughts About The Resurrection
As A Man Thinks In His Heart sermon
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