— Brother Phil Enlow: I confess, I was waiting for Brother Steve to come up, and he’s sitting there saying, oh no! He shared a wonderful thought with me before the service and I thought that he was going to feel free to get up, but maybe this isn’t the time. I don’t know. But, I just, I’ll share the germ of a thought.
I don’t know how long this is gonna go. It may just…it may be just something short. But Steve was mentioning something about the heart and how critical it is that we be turned to the Lord. It’s a very simple thought.
You know what the Lord is looking for from each of us is a lot simpler than we often make it. You don’t have to be a theologian to be a Christian. You don’t have to be a Bible scholar. You don’t have to have a long doctrinal statement and just get every little thing in exactly the right place. God is looking for a certain kind of people.
And you can be one of those people if you’re very small, very weak, don’t have any strength, don’t have any human resources. In fact, you’re better off if you don’t. If you have human resources that the world values, the chances are about 100 percent that if the Lord brings you to Himself, He’s gonna have to do something about that, because, we can’t come into the Kingdom of God and function based upon what we are naturally. We just haven’t got it. And, the sooner we realize that, the better off we are, the freer we are.
What a burden it is to carry the idea with us that I have to come up with something. I have to be strong. I have to measure up. I have to do this and not do that. I have to know this, and oh my God, I didn’t know that! Lord have mercy! You’ll wear yourself out!
And the Lord is looking for the simplest of things from every single one of us and it’s simply our hearts. And I thought of, as Brother Steve was sharing what he shared…I won’t go to the scripture that he particularly used, but it reminded me of something that happened be in my Bible reading today, and it had to do with the life of Asa.
And Asa was one of the early kings of the Southern Kingdom. You remember how Solomon went off track and because of that, the Lord allowed the kingdom to split? The northern tribes went off and did their thing and never did serve God after that. A remnant, interestingly enough, a remnant of the people in the north that actually wanted to serve God migrated south, became part of the Southern Kingdom.
And, where they had serious ups and downs, they had some kings that did serve the Lord. And Asa, at least for a while, was one of them. And early in his…ministry…his kingdom, he faced a tremendous challenge from…I think it was the Cushite army…I didn’t look up any of this, so I’m kind of getting back into what I read this morning. But basically, he faced an incredible army.
It sounds a lot like Jehoshaphat. You know, we talk about that particular incident in the scriptures. This was sort of like that…an overwhelming force that came against him. And Asa, in 2 Chronicles 14, verse 11, “...called to the Lord his God and said, Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty.” (NIV). That’s an interesting thought. I mean, you think in terms of a great battle, but every one of us fights battles. If you’re a kingdom…if you are one of His children, if you’re part of the Kingdom, you’re in a battle!
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If you’re His, you have battles. This thing we call the Christian life is not a cakewalk, as we say, it is warfare. And the warfare is not against flesh and blood. It’s not even against, entirely, against our own nature, although it certainly is, we absolutely war against the powers, and they’re very real, that rule this planet.
Do you see them getting loosed and more and more in control of people? Every single day the headlines tell us that. But anyway, the thought out of this particular scripture, at this point, is a very simple one. Do you feel powerless tonight?
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Yeah! I think we can all put up two hands, if we’re honest. If you’re thinking about things that God seemingly requires of us, we are powerless. So, God is not looking for power from you, or me. That’s a freeing thing, if we can realize it. He’s not looking for any kind of, like I say, human resource from you. So, if you’re weak, that’s not against you, that’s actually for you.
“Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord, you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.” Whoa! That’s a strong prayer, isn’t it?
( congregational amens ).
That’s a good one. We can come in the spirit of that in a lot of situations…as we gather as a church and we sense the devil trying to come against us in some fashion, trying to divide, trying to bring down.
You know, Sunday we made a point of praying one for another and resisting the devil, because we are in these battles. But you know as we do that, we need to realize that we’re not just sort of throwing words into the wind. We are talking about a very real God who has won, through His Son, a very real victory that He wants us to experience in a very practical way!
But oh, does He respond to a heart that says, oh Lord, You are our God, we rely upon You! I mean, it’s more than just a doctrine. This has got to be something that proceeds from your heart, not just from your lips. These are not magic words.
But if this represents your heart, then that is everything, folks! You are in a position above the greatest theologians on the planet, the most religious people, the strongest, the wisest. God didn’t call that kind, did He? He called the weak and the mighty…I don’t guess the mighty. He called the weak…don’t mind me, just don’t get old.
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He called the weak to show up the strong. You remember the scripture anyway, in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And, how God chooses the weak things of the world, things that are despised, to bring to…things that are.
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That’s right. To bring to nothing things that are. Because everything we have is what we have in Christ, and that absolutely levels the playing field. We may be different in our function, in our calling, but everyone who is part of the Kingdom of God stands on the same ground! It’s the ground of what God did through His Son, and if we rely upon that, we are in a position of strength, in this hour, regardless of what happens in the world around us. Folks, that’s what God is looking for and I pray that that describes you tonight.
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Because if it is, boy you are in a favored place. So anyway, you go on and you read how God struck down the enemy and they had a tremendous victory. And down in the next chapter, “The Spirit of God came on Azariah son of Oded. He went out to meet Asa and said to him, Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you when you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” That’s real simple stuff, folks!
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We’re living in a world of people with divided hearts, at best. At best! How many people in the world want God, in some fashion? I mean, many are just turning altogether. But I mean, even those who are religious and want God, in some fashion, many of them—most of them, I would say, are hanging on, in some way, to their own life, their own will, their hearts are attached to things in this world, and the devil has a wide-opened position—he’s in a wide-opened position to absolutely bring them…bring people down, bring people into total captivity.
Folks, I want to be in that safe place. There is a place of safety. There is a place where I don’t care how small, how weak you are and what happens to you in this world…they could kill us, and we’d be the winner for it!
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Because, we serve One who’s already defeated death! Death is not our enemy anymore!
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I’ll tell you, sin and carelessness and a divided heart, that’s the greatest enemy that anyone of us could have. We need a heart that says, God, I am Yours come hell or high water, sink or swim, I’m Yours, Lord! Just take my heart and mold it. Give me that new heart that You promised, that’s really…that is the heart, literally, of the New Covenant.
Oh, what a better Covenant that is than a bunch of laws that we can’t keep anyway. But a new heart and a new spirit that God supernaturally puts in us? Man, that is everything! And you’ve got everything that there is if you have that! And you lift up your…you lift up your heart to God…if you’re feeling your weakness tonight, you lift it up and get your eyes off of that, onto the One who gives you strength.
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I’ll tell you, one of the things I’ve had to learn, in a new way, I think, in a deeper way. It’s something that I’ve known for years, theoretically…that’s our problem, we know a lot of things, but to learn them? One of the things I’ve learned is what Paul learned in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, that, “…when I am weak, then I am strong.”
It’s one thing to say, I’m weak, but I guess it’s okay. I know, God, what you said. I don’t like it much but…you know, think of how Paul reacted to that. He came to the place where he gloried—gloried in his weakness! You want to find something to boast about? That’s not human nature, is it? But folks, I am so glad tonight to tell you that I am weak and helpless in myself!
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But I’m gonna tell you, I’ve got a mighty Savior! I’m not trusting in what I am. I don’t care what your need is tonight. God will meet your need and He will draw near to you if your heart gets undivided, if you’ll just give it to Him. What are the issues that the devil would use to pull on your heart and say, no, you need to be attached to this? You need to be attached to this. You need to worry about this or worry about that. Give it to God!
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What did he say in 1 Peter chapter 5, was it? “Humble yourselves…under the mighty hand of God…” (KJV). And He will lift you up at the proper time. I’m paraphrasing a little bit. But then he also says…I can’t even remember what he says now.
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Yeah, the next thing is, “Casting all your care…” Casting how many of your cares?
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“…All your care upon him…” Cast them upon Him! Praise God! Just, here it is, Lord, I’m not gonna carry that anymore. That’s up to You. You handle that.
We aren’t very good at doing that. We’re very good at affirming that idea, but doing it is another story. But oh, God wants us to be free! Are you free tonight? We can occupy a place of freedom.
And, as I say, I think the Lord has helped me, in a measure, this year. I’ve experienced a lot of weakness, and yet, I feel more peace than I’ve had in a long time. Just to say, Lord, it’s okay. I get it. I see what this is doing. I see what it’s about. And I’m thankful to You for it. Lord, I’d like to feel differently. I’d like things to go differently, but, the thing that matters most is my heart and Your plan and what Your purpose is. It’s not so that I can be something. It’s so You can be something in and through me. That’s the only thing that matters.
Oh, God wants to take our lives and make something out of them, but He needs our hearts, doesn’t He? Praise God! Praise God! Well, you know Asa went along pretty good for a while. He responded to what the Lord had said and anyway…I haven’t read all of this…I guess I went through it this morning, in a different translation. But anyway, toward the end of his life things changed. You know, I want to finish well, don’t you?
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We have a tendency to kind of let down, and kind of go off a little bit when we get older. God wants us to be stronger in our spirits as we get older, even when our flesh gets weaker. Do you know we can if we’re willing to humble ourselves under His hand and say, God, I want Your program? I want Your plan for my life, whatever it is. Whatever it is, Lord, do what You have to do in my life to make me what You want me to…that’s the only thing that matters! I don’t care what your heart is attached to in this world, it will burn up!
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It’s so simple, but we don’t see it that way! God wants to open our eyes to where we can say, nothing here really matters! Yes, I have responsibilities. I’ll take care of them, but that’s not where my heart is. Didn’t Jesus say, where your heart is...or, “…where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” I got it backwards. Praise God! I think Jesus knew what He was talking about, didn’t He?
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So anyway, we come down toward the end of Asa’s reign, and all of a sudden, he has a problem with the Northern Kingdom. They come attack him, and things aren’t looking so good. So, what does he do? Does he run back to the Lord and say, oh Lord, this is your battle? No, he didn’t do that, did he? He made his own plan.
He got a bunch of the treasures that belonged to the kingdom and shipped them off to a heathen king and said, hey king, we need some help here. Here’s a bunch of gold and silver. Will you please change sides and help us against this enemy? And he said, yup, I’ll do it. And so, he came and absolutely he attacked the enemy, the Northern Kingdom, and the battle went the way it was supposed to.
Verse 7, “At that time Hanani…” (NIV). This is in chapter 16. I don’t think I said that. “At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: Because you relied on the king of Aram and not on the Lord your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.
Were not the Cushites and Libyans a mighty army with great numbers of chariots and horsemen? Yet when you relied on the Lord, he delivered them into your hand.” Real complicated stuff here, isn’t it? “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
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What a simple principle! I’ll tell you, if people understood the real heart of what God was saying, through the prophet right here, wouldn’t everything kind of fall into place? The answer is, yes. Praise God!
Is your heart divided? You know, we’ve mentioned, several times recently, we’ve called attention to that scripture in James, where James asked, does any of you lack wisdom? Well, what was the principle that was enunciated there? Yeah, you better…if you’re...basically, to paraphrase, if you want God’s wisdom and you’re asking it, even if you ask Him, you better ask with an undivided heart.
Because…I’ve said this…I’ve put it this way several times, who are we to think that we can get God to lay His cards on the table? Here is my plan. Can I get You to agree to it? Who are we…
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...To have a plan, is right, but to question the Almighty God? And it’s not just that He’s so great and grand, but that He’s a loving God. He’s revealed the kind of a God He is, that all…that His heart is for us, to bring us to the greatest place that anybody could ever reach, and here we are, needing wisdom, and we’re basically saying, I’m not 100 percent sure I want His plan. I’m asking for wisdom here, but I’ve got my ideas, too.
God, I want Your plan, period! And I want it in such a sense, my heart is so pure about this, I agree to it before I even know what it is. That’s faith. That’s trust. Do you trust Him that much?
I’ll tell you, if we will open our hearts as He begins to deal with us, He will begin to give us the ability to do that. You know, the heart is something that needs to be molded, and we need to learn how to walk in truth and in victory. But I’ll tell you, God…I mean, you and I…the heart we’re born with is wicked, isn’t it?
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There’s nothing good about it. And if you think differently, God has to open your eyes. You don’t see yourself as God sees you. I’m so thankful He loves us anyway, aren’t you?
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But oh, my God! We need to come with our heart and say, God, I don’t even see my…I don’t understand my own heart. I don’t trust it. Didn’t Solomon say, “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” (KJV). Whoso trusteth...you know, you listen to Hallmark…follow your heart.
Well, I like some of their movies, but I see past a lot of their theology, if you want to call it that. Praise God! I need to follow His heart. He’s got the heart that knows everything, loves beyond my ability to imagine, and is He not worthy? We sang the song. Is He not worthy of our trust? Is He not worthy of just handing our hearts over to Him, and giving Him a blank check to do what He needs to do in our lives?
Wouldn’t that be a good thing, right now, just to be able to say, Lord, here’s my life, here’s my heart? Take it. I give You a blank check. Do whatever it takes to make me what You have designed me to be so that I can be that with You forever! One day you and I will walk with our Savior, in a brand-new creation! He will be forever our elder brother and together we will worship God…
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…From whose heart all of this came! But oh God, May He lift our vision from all this nonsense that’s going on in this world, and all the things that would appeal to us, on the natural level, and say, God, I want my heart undivided! Give it to me! Work it in me! Do whatever You need to do! Praise God!
I wasn’t even planning on getting up tonight, so maybe that’s all that’s necessary right now, and maybe there are others who will weigh in. But, what a simple thing, isn’t it?
Sometimes I think the devil tells us we just need that other secret little revelation. Maybe that’s the problem. I’m missing out because there’s some secret, wonderful, new revelation that God’s gonna give, and then we’ll be able to…He just needs our heart! Praise God! You can chase revelation all you want to. If God says something real, that’s one thing. But I don’t need to chase secret knowledge. I just need Him! He has everything I need! He is everything I need! Whatever I lack, He is!
No one else has ever lived the Christian life. Jesus has! His plan is to live it in me, but I’ve got to give Him my heart for that to happen. And I believe He’s gonna be faithful to every one. There are people here that have needs. You’ve come here with needs. I have.
We’ve got Somebody Who’s right here, and His eyes are ranging across this congregation, not just around the world. What does He see when He looks at your heart? Good question to ask, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just say, Lord, You see even what’s wrong with my heart, but, even with what’s wrong I just give it to You, Lord. Fix it! Fix my heart! Do what You’ve got to do! I do what I know to do. I just give it to You.
That’s all we can do. Can’t we just give up and trust in Him? What else is there to salvation when you really break it down? Isn’t it just handing over our lives to Him and trusting Him to do what we can never do?
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Does that not put us, as I say, all in exactly the same place? It doesn’t matter, whether in the eyes of men you’re big, or little, or strong, or weak, or pretty, or ugly, or whatever. None of those things matter. God doesn’t look at any of that. He looks at one thing, looks at your heart. What does He see?
And I think I’ll just leave it at that, and just trust God to convict and encourage and do whatever He needs to do based on individual lives and hearts, because He knows what He’s doing! To Him be the glory!
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Praise God!
