Pastor's Blog: Fresh Start, New Heart Volume 2

Submitted by Pastor Kevin on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 15:33

From the Pastor’s Pen

Volume 2

Fresh Start, Broken Heart

 
There’s an old song that my mother used to love when I was a teenager. I’ve tried to find the words and music but, as I recall, it goes something like this: “a broken heart I gave, a worthless thing, and empty life was all, was all that I could bring. . . then Jesus filled my life, with love divine, he healed my broken heart, now I know he’s mine.” 
 
A heart can be broken in many different ways. Usually, we think of a broken heart in terms of a romance gone sour. But, a mother’s heart can be broken by the sins of her child. A father’s heart can be broken by the unwise decisions of his son. The Pastor’s heart can be broken by the many poor choices he sees the adults in his congregation making which will not lead to spiritual success but rather difficulties. A broken heart is a personal matter, but not a private matter. A broken heart can only be healed with the help of another.
 
And yet, the only way to find real success and peace is to come to God with a broken heart: a heart that is wide open, with nothing to be hidden, nothing to be proud of, nothing to be glorified and everything to be healed; A broken heart that is exposed to the probing eyes and hands of the divine surgeon. 
 
To have a true fresh start, we need to present ourselves, with a broken heart. We need to come before God and before our fellow believers with a heart that is a completely exposed and in need of repair. The problem is, because of our natural instinct to harbor pride, even when our hearts are broken we do not want to lay it bare and ask for repair. The only answer, I assure you, is to come, broken hearted, ready for God to do anything that he, as the master surgeon determines is necessary and appropriate to fix the damage. As long as you deny that there is damage, he will not be able to fix it. Only when we are ready to admit he is the master surgeon and give him complete and absolute control over our life and future, can fresh start happen.
 
Whether or not a victim of heart damage due to a virus, accident or disease survives the surgery has nothing to do with what he desires. When the surgeon begins to work on it, the patient’s future is in the surgeon’s hands . If the surgeon is successful, new life begins. If not, the patient will die.
 
Are you willing to pray this prayer with me: “O’ my Lord God, my heart is broken before you. You can explore every nook and cranny, every secret niche, every single part of my heart. You can remove what is necessary and you can put in what is needed. I hold nothing back from your examination and I leave you with complete authority over my life and my future. Heal my broken heart and give me a fresh start. I agree with your recovery plan to change my behavior and my desires in accordance with your word. I trust you to do a perfect job so that I am restored to full health and fellowship with you in the days ahead. And God, since you’re going to heal my heart will you help me to change so that I can help others in their journey of recovery.”
Until next time,              Pastor Kevin
 
 Please do not copy these blog entries in any way without permission from Pastor Kevin Chapman

 

 

 

From the Pastor’s Pen

Volume 3

Fresh Start, Changed Heart
In the introduction to this series, I acknowledged that no one dislikes change more than I do. A review of my own life reveals that we don’t like a changed heart anymore than we like anything else being changed. When God speaks to us sometimes we wonder if it’s really Him or our own emotions. We wonder if we are being pressured by the circumstances or maybe even by the way we feel that day. But to get a fresh start, we really do need a changed heart.
 
When I think of a changed heart, I think of a repentant heart. In English, and to “repent” primarily means to feel or express sincere regret or remorse. However, the biblical understanding of repentance is multifaceted. It has many dimensions and concepts rolled into one word. Biblically, repentance really means to change your mind about something. However, you cannot change your mind about something without sufficient information.
 
Based on that new information on that subject, you can decide that your previous thinking was wrong and your current or soon-to-be current thinking is correct. Theologians often suggest that repentance means that you agree with God about what he thinks about the sin your life and knowledge that sin really is sin. However, that’s only part of the theological understanding of repentance. It is inconsistent, intellectually, to say that you have changed your mind about something without that change of mind affecting your behavior.
 
Therefore, I believe that we need a Fresh Start with a Changed Heart. A heart that is changed by the influence of the Holy Spirit –  A heart that is changed because we’ve acknowledged that we have been wrong in our thinking – A heart that is changed because the things that we assumed to be true and the things that seemed to work in the past aren’t true and don’t work now. But if our definition is to be consistent, the changed heart must come with changed behavior. If we are successful in changing our thinking about the way God thinks about the sin in our lives, we will see change in many areas.
 
A changed heart will by necessity force us to recognize the old. One of the significant problems in the Christian walk is that we get used to our circumstances. We forget where we could’ve been and where we have come from. “Change” means an awareness of the past. By being aware of our past, we can focus upon the changes that God has brought into our lives and then avoid patterns of life that would lead us back into the old ways.
 
If you have a flat tire in your car, you pull to the side of the road and change it. You will put the flat tire in the trunk of your car. IF you forget that the flat tire is in the trunk, the next time you have a flat you will be stranded. Don’t go back to the old ways! Remember where you came from and consider where you could’ve been. Be prepared to change your heart.
 
            Are you willing, with me, to ask God to do an evaluation of your thinking, your praying, your Bible reading, your evangelistic efforts, your work habits, your attitudes about your fellow believers, your church family and others? And will you, with me, ask HIM to change it, all, so it conforms with His viewpoint? Will you ask Him for a changed heart, a repentant heart?

 Please do not copy these blog entries in any way without permission from Pastor Kevin Chapman

 

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