WEBVTT - Stepping Up to a Clean Heart -Part 2 0:00:00.620 --> 0:00:03.680 Today on Bold steps, Mark Jobe shows us how we 0:00:03.710 --> 0:00:05.899 can purify our hearts. 0:00:06.230 --> 0:00:09.770 If you're not careful and you allow bitterness, or you 0:00:09.770 --> 0:00:13.340 allow some sort of carcass around your heart and you 0:00:13.340 --> 0:00:16.820 don't take it out, what happens is that carcass is 0:00:16.820 --> 0:00:20.270 going to cause your heart to grow hard and contaminated. 0:00:20.420 --> 0:00:25.040 A contaminated heart will cause you for a season to 0:00:25.070 --> 0:00:26.570 fall away from God. 0:00:38.659 --> 0:00:41.750 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is the 0:00:41.750 --> 0:00:44.660 president of Moody Bible Institute and the senior pastor of 0:00:44.659 --> 0:00:48.589 New Life Community Church in Chicago. And I'm Wayne Shepherd. Today, 0:00:48.590 --> 0:00:50.930 as we move forward in our study on living higher, 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:55.460 we're continuing our discussion on stepping up to a clean heart. Today, 0:00:55.460 --> 0:00:57.620 Mark is going to show us how we can purify 0:00:57.620 --> 0:01:00.650 our hearts and deal with the things that cause us conflict. 0:01:00.660 --> 0:01:03.300 We started this message last week, but if you missed 0:01:03.300 --> 0:01:05.789 the first two points, you can catch up online when 0:01:05.790 --> 0:01:09.390 you visit. Bold steps org. Let's not delay any longer. 0:01:09.390 --> 0:01:12.690 Here's Mark Jobe with today's bold steps. 0:01:13.980 --> 0:01:18.060 Jesus talks a lot about being peacemakers. Blessed are the peacemakers. 0:01:19.110 --> 0:01:22.830 It's our job to pursue peace, to chase after peace, 0:01:22.830 --> 0:01:26.250 to do what's in our power, to make things right 0:01:26.250 --> 0:01:29.880 with people that were in conflict with. That means that, listen, 0:01:29.910 --> 0:01:37.080 we are peace initiators. Some of us find ourselves wanting peace, 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.390 but we set back with our arms crossed and think, 0:01:39.390 --> 0:01:42.300 I'm not going to do anything. They need to come 0:01:42.300 --> 0:01:47.850 to me. I'm just waiting. I believe as followers of Jesus, though, 0:01:47.850 --> 0:01:51.120 we need to be peace initiators. That means that we 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:55.410 take the initiative to pursue peace, that we are the 0:01:55.410 --> 0:01:58.020 ones that if there's a conflict, if there's something wrong, 0:01:58.020 --> 0:02:01.340 if we're not in the right place with someone else 0:02:01.340 --> 0:02:07.340 that we actually take the first step to make things right. 0:02:07.610 --> 0:02:11.600 Romans chapter 14, verse 19 says, let us therefore follow 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.650 after the things which make for peace, and the things 0:02:15.650 --> 0:02:21.410 wherewith 1st May edify one another. Matthew chapter five, verse 0:02:21.410 --> 0:02:26.570 23 and 24 Jesus is speaking, and he says, when 0:02:26.570 --> 0:02:29.989 you come therefore to present your offering at the altar. 0:02:29.990 --> 0:02:32.089 In other words, when you're in church and you're about 0:02:32.090 --> 0:02:35.150 to present your offering to God, and it may be 0:02:35.150 --> 0:02:38.450 the offering of worship, or it may be coming, presenting 0:02:38.450 --> 0:02:41.690 your heart before God. And there you remember that a 0:02:41.690 --> 0:02:46.460 brother has something against you. Leave your offering there at 0:02:46.460 --> 0:02:50.990 the altar and go your way. First, be reconciled to 0:02:51.020 --> 0:02:55.940 your brother, and then come and present your offering. In 0:02:55.940 --> 0:02:59.750 other words, what God is saying is that if you're 0:02:59.750 --> 0:03:01.410 in the house of God, if you're trying to live 0:03:01.410 --> 0:03:05.040 for God and you know that there is something wrong 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:09.600 between you and someone else and you haven't attempted to 0:03:09.630 --> 0:03:13.290 make it right, then leave whatever you're doing there, go 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:15.750 make it right and then come to God so that 0:03:15.750 --> 0:03:19.500 there can be a flow in your life. Now here's 0:03:19.500 --> 0:03:21.870 what I want you to understand. I want you to 0:03:21.900 --> 0:03:26.310 understand that not everybody we attempt to make peace with 0:03:26.310 --> 0:03:32.070 will want to have peace with us. So Jesus doesn't say, 0:03:32.100 --> 0:03:35.790 be at peace with everybody. He says, make an effort 0:03:35.790 --> 0:03:40.050 to be at peace. I may go. I may apologize, 0:03:40.050 --> 0:03:43.619 I may initiate a conversation. I may say I'm sorry, 0:03:43.860 --> 0:03:47.370 or we have a bad tension here. And they may say, well, 0:03:47.370 --> 0:03:49.140 I don't care. I don't want to have anything to 0:03:49.140 --> 0:03:52.470 do with you. Then I can't make them be at 0:03:52.470 --> 0:03:55.650 peace with me, but I can do my part in 0:03:55.650 --> 0:03:58.050 releasing them. Are you with me? Are you hearing me? 0:03:58.050 --> 0:04:01.070 This is really important. I don't want you to be 0:04:01.070 --> 0:04:04.910 under false guilt, because some people feel if someone's if 0:04:04.910 --> 0:04:07.460 someone has something against them, that they have to make 0:04:07.460 --> 0:04:11.180 it right. Sometimes you'll do everything in your power. You'll apologize, 0:04:11.180 --> 0:04:15.050 you'll extend a token of peace to them. And they 0:04:15.050 --> 0:04:18.740 don't want it. They're still angry. If they're angry and 0:04:18.740 --> 0:04:22.489 they're full of resentment and bitterness, that's up to them. 0:04:22.490 --> 0:04:24.950 And God, all you can do is try to make peace. 0:04:24.950 --> 0:04:27.619 But you can't force someone into peace. They have to 0:04:27.650 --> 0:04:30.169 want it. But as long as your conscience is clean, 0:04:30.170 --> 0:04:32.810 as long as you've said I'm sorry, as long as 0:04:32.810 --> 0:04:35.029 you've made an effort to talk, as long as you've 0:04:35.060 --> 0:04:38.960 extended the branch of peace toward them, that's what's important, 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.109 because what they do between them and God, you can't 0:04:42.110 --> 0:04:48.680 force them into peace. Jesus had a lot of enemies, 0:04:49.820 --> 0:04:54.620 and sometimes they were enemies because they they didn't like 0:04:54.620 --> 0:04:57.050 the fact that he was light and they were darkness 0:04:57.890 --> 0:05:03.570 and refused to follow after that. Number four deal with 0:05:03.570 --> 0:05:11.850 the roots of bitterness before they spread contamination. Verse 15 says, 0:05:11.850 --> 0:05:16.770 see to it that no one misses the grace of God, 0:05:16.770 --> 0:05:19.589 and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble 0:05:19.589 --> 0:05:23.310 and defile many. See to it that no one misses 0:05:23.310 --> 0:05:25.890 the grace of God. What is the grace of God? 0:05:26.370 --> 0:05:30.690 It's the favor of God. Listen to what he's saying. 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:36.270 See to it that no one misses the favor of God. 0:05:36.300 --> 0:05:40.980 Because they allow a root of bitterness in their heart. 0:05:41.370 --> 0:05:46.500 When you become bitter, then the favor of God cannot 0:05:46.500 --> 0:05:50.820 flow on your life because God's favor can't be poured 0:05:50.850 --> 0:05:55.500 out on a bitter person. See to it that no 0:05:55.500 --> 0:05:58.740 one misses the grace of God, and that no bitter 0:05:58.740 --> 0:06:03.349 root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Let 0:06:03.380 --> 0:06:05.330 me tell you something about bitterness. The best time to 0:06:05.330 --> 0:06:07.429 deal with bitterness is when it's a root and not 0:06:07.460 --> 0:06:15.380 when it's a plant. When you get hurt and you 0:06:15.380 --> 0:06:21.860 feel yourself angry, and then you feel yourself turning resentful 0:06:21.860 --> 0:06:28.100 toward someone. Sometimes we want to nurse it. We want 0:06:28.130 --> 0:06:31.070 to protect it. We feel like we have the right 0:06:31.070 --> 0:06:36.890 to become angry. We've been hurt. We've been damaged. We 0:06:36.890 --> 0:06:40.730 like to keep that resentment. And that little plant starts 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:45.020 growing up, and it gets bigger and bigger, and it 0:06:45.020 --> 0:06:48.739 grows seeds. It grows fruit. And that fruit has seeds, 0:06:48.740 --> 0:06:51.529 and it spreads into our life. And guess what? It 0:06:51.529 --> 0:06:57.170 tends to spread into other people's lives as well. And 0:06:57.170 --> 0:06:59.090 pretty soon before we know it, our whole life is 0:06:59.089 --> 0:07:01.710 affected by that bitterness and the people that were that 0:07:01.710 --> 0:07:05.340 are around us are, are affected by that bitterness as well. 0:07:05.339 --> 0:07:09.990 And that's why the writer of the Hebrews says, make 0:07:10.020 --> 0:07:15.360 sure that the root of bitterness does not grow up 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:22.530 and cause trouble and defile many. I've seen so many 0:07:22.530 --> 0:07:30.630 people lose their way because they allowed bitterness to spring 0:07:30.630 --> 0:07:33.660 up in their heart and rob them of so much 0:07:33.660 --> 0:07:38.280 that God had for their life. I've seen people fall 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:42.990 away from God, fall away from the family, make a 0:07:42.990 --> 0:07:46.590 lot of bad decisions because they held resentment against someone 0:07:46.590 --> 0:07:48.840 in their life, and it just did not let them 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.800 go forward in their walk with God, in their relationship. 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:56.430 I've seen roots of bitterness cause marriages to go down 0:07:56.430 --> 0:08:01.250 the route of divorce. I've seen roots of bitterness caused 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.540 children to reject their parents and not have anything to 0:08:05.540 --> 0:08:09.500 do with them and go down a different path. I've 0:08:09.500 --> 0:08:14.450 seen roots of bitterness contaminate people's lives and grow up 0:08:14.450 --> 0:08:19.100 and spread the people around them as well. It's a dangerous, 0:08:19.100 --> 0:08:27.230 dangerous thing. And then, number five, don't allow your heart 0:08:27.230 --> 0:08:33.829 to get hardened and lose out on your destiny. In 0:08:33.830 --> 0:08:36.530 verse 16, he goes on and he says, see that 0:08:36.530 --> 0:08:42.050 no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.650 who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as 0:08:45.650 --> 0:08:49.760 the oldest son. Afterwards, you know, when he wanted to 0:08:49.790 --> 0:08:54.680 inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about 0:08:54.710 --> 0:08:59.150 no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.690 The fifth thing I want you to understand about keeping 0:09:03.690 --> 0:09:07.530 your heart clean is that if you're not careful and 0:09:07.530 --> 0:09:12.599 you allow bitterness, or you allow some sort of carcass 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:16.470 around your heart and you don't take it out, what 0:09:16.470 --> 0:09:19.290 happens is that carcass is going to cause your heart 0:09:19.290 --> 0:09:23.730 to grow hard and contaminated. And if you're not careful, 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:28.559 a contaminated heart will cause you for a season to 0:09:28.590 --> 0:09:33.750 fall away from God. This is what happened with Esau. 0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.130 Esau allowed his heart to get hard. He was a twin. 0:09:38.670 --> 0:09:43.199 His brother was Jacob. He was Esau. But he allowed 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.590 some contamination in his heart, and that contamination allowed his 0:09:46.590 --> 0:09:50.010 heart to grow hard. And during the hardness of his 0:09:50.010 --> 0:09:54.300 heart he made poor choices about his life. And those 0:09:54.300 --> 0:09:58.800 poor choices affected the rest of his life. Look up 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:00.810 at me because this is really important. I want you 0:10:00.809 --> 0:10:05.400 to hear this. God is a God of second chances. 0:10:06.870 --> 0:10:09.359 No matter where you've been or how long you've been there, 0:10:09.390 --> 0:10:12.420 or how far you've fallen, or what mistakes you've made 0:10:12.420 --> 0:10:16.890 or failures you've had in your life, God can always 0:10:16.890 --> 0:10:21.150 restore you, forgive you, cleanse you, and make you new. 0:10:21.179 --> 0:10:25.830 He has the power to do so. He has that power. 0:10:29.190 --> 0:10:31.290 And if you've been at this church for some time, 0:10:31.290 --> 0:10:33.390 you've heard me preach that because we have people from 0:10:33.390 --> 0:10:39.570 every walk of life. I've heard about every kind of 0:10:39.570 --> 0:10:42.150 story you can imagine, and I have seen lives that 0:10:42.150 --> 0:10:45.270 people would have given up on a long time ago, 0:10:45.270 --> 0:10:48.000 and I've seen them turn around and accept the grace 0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:50.729 of God and forgiveness of God. And now you look 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:52.710 at you look at some of these people that had 0:10:52.710 --> 0:10:55.590 a really, really rough background and you see the the 0:10:55.590 --> 0:10:59.100 joy in their heart, the fullness, the compassion, the mercy. 0:10:59.100 --> 0:11:03.300 And you could never believe that they were who they were. 0:11:03.330 --> 0:11:08.880 Because God has brought about an incredible, miraculous, powerful, transformational 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.540 change within their lives. And we believe that. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:21.809 If. You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark job, Mark 0:11:21.809 --> 0:11:24.059 will be back to continue today's message in a moment, 0:11:24.059 --> 0:11:25.920 and let me remind you that you can find all 0:11:25.950 --> 0:11:29.010 of these daily lessons, along with other faith building tools 0:11:29.010 --> 0:11:33.390 and resources, by visiting Bold Steps. Org. In fact, there's 0:11:33.390 --> 0:11:36.420 one resource that thousands of listeners are enjoying every week 0:11:36.420 --> 0:11:38.910 that you can get for free. And Mark, that's the 0:11:38.910 --> 0:11:41.250 weekly email devotional, The Bold Step or weekly? 0:11:41.250 --> 0:11:42.929 That's right, Wayne, the Bold Step. 0:11:42.929 --> 0:11:46.860 Or weekly goes out every Monday morning to help our 0:11:46.860 --> 0:11:51.360 listeners be able to start their week out with Christ 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.800 at the forefront. Typically, you'll have a devotional, some thoughts 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.439 from our ministry. And what I love about this as 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:02.630 well is that now you have the availability to just 0:12:02.630 --> 0:12:06.560 listen to it. If you're driving or at work and 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:09.230 you can't read it, you can just listen to it. 0:12:09.230 --> 0:12:12.920 And also we have a Spanish written version of it. 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.100 So our desire is just to get you going in 0:12:16.100 --> 0:12:19.970 the right direction, making sure that you are living for 0:12:19.970 --> 0:12:23.360 Jesus and taking bold steps all the way. 0:12:23.390 --> 0:12:25.310 Yes, and you can sign up for The Bold Stepper 0:12:25.309 --> 0:12:29.660 weekly by visiting our website bold steps org. Thank you. Mark, 0:12:29.660 --> 0:12:31.400 let's go back to your message now for today. It's 0:12:31.400 --> 0:12:34.370 titled Stepping Up to a Clean Heart. Once again, here's 0:12:34.370 --> 0:12:35.390 Mark Jobe. 0:12:41.390 --> 0:12:46.220 But I want to remind you that although God can 0:12:46.220 --> 0:12:53.360 change and restore at every season, there are certain things 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:57.439 during times of being away from God or falling away 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:04.680 that we may lose, that we can never recover again. Esau. 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:09.450 He knew God. He was raised in the ways of God. 0:13:09.510 --> 0:13:12.480 But he allowed himself to grow hard towards the things 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.870 of God. And so he didn't value spiritual things when 0:13:15.870 --> 0:13:19.800 his heart was hard. And so he sold his inheritance 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:24.510 for a bowl of soup. He didn't care about his inheritance. Why? 0:13:24.540 --> 0:13:27.689 Because all he cared about was the flesh at the moment. 0:13:27.690 --> 0:13:31.050 He cared about immediate gratification. If it feels good, I 0:13:31.050 --> 0:13:36.000 do it. His spiritual inheritance was really important. It was 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.670 about his destiny. But at the moment, all he cared 0:13:38.670 --> 0:13:42.000 about was the bowl of soup. I don't care about 0:13:42.000 --> 0:13:45.030 my inheritance. I'm hungry. If I'm hungry. Now I want 0:13:45.059 --> 0:13:47.189 to eat it. Give me my bowl of soup. Sure, 0:13:47.190 --> 0:13:50.790 you can have my inheritance. Later on, when he started 0:13:50.790 --> 0:13:54.120 getting on track with God, he realized he had given 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.840 up his inheritance and he wanted to regain it. And 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:00.770 he cried for it and begged for it, but he 0:14:00.770 --> 0:14:04.219 could not regain what he had lost during that season 0:14:04.250 --> 0:14:08.929 of time. And that's why, he says, see to it 0:14:08.929 --> 0:14:13.219 that no one is sexually immoral or godless like Esau. 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.949 There are many people that grow up in the faith 0:14:19.340 --> 0:14:24.110 and go through prodigal seasons in their life. And praise God. 0:14:24.110 --> 0:14:28.370 I've heard so many stories of restoration after being a prodigal. 0:14:28.490 --> 0:14:30.380 And I know so many of you here. How many 0:14:30.380 --> 0:14:33.440 of you know that God rescues the prodigal? How many 0:14:33.440 --> 0:14:36.380 of you know that? Yeah. Because so many of us 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:40.850 have had to go through prodigal seasons. But can I 0:14:40.850 --> 0:14:44.540 tell you this? I don't believe that everybody has to 0:14:44.540 --> 0:14:49.340 be a prodigal. I don't believe that everybody has to 0:14:49.370 --> 0:14:54.170 fall away from God before they really understand the things 0:14:54.170 --> 0:14:59.030 of God. I don't believe that everybody has to go 0:14:59.030 --> 0:15:02.560 out there, and I believe there's things that we lose 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.830 in our prodigal state that sometimes it's hard to regain. 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.570 I've heard so many stories of restoration of God, but 0:15:10.570 --> 0:15:13.300 I've also heard a lot of stories of people losing 0:15:13.300 --> 0:15:19.120 things they could never regain again. The young man that 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.360 goes out, and maybe he's raised in the church and 0:15:23.020 --> 0:15:25.960 raised in the things of God, and he reaches college 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.530 age and and thinks for a time, I'm away from 0:15:29.530 --> 0:15:32.500 my family and I'm going to just so my wild 0:15:32.500 --> 0:15:34.960 oats and do my thing. And I haven't given up 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:37.900 on God, but I really don't want to live restricted 0:15:37.900 --> 0:15:40.270 in my life. I want to have fun with my friends. 0:15:40.270 --> 0:15:43.420 And he goes out there and ends up finding a 0:15:43.420 --> 0:15:48.400 girl that doesn't share his faith and cross his line, sexually, 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.240 finds out she's pregnant, and next thing you know, he 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:57.430 feels compelled to marry her. And and three years down 0:15:57.430 --> 0:16:04.400 the road, he's a Father, married to a woman who 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:07.700 has resentments about the fact that she had to marry him, 0:16:07.700 --> 0:16:12.680 and who doesn't share his faith. Maybe his dream was always, 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:15.410 I want to have a family that that I can 0:16:15.410 --> 0:16:18.170 pray with my wife and I can raise my kids 0:16:18.170 --> 0:16:21.080 the right way, and we share the same values. But 0:16:21.080 --> 0:16:27.950 he finds himself going to church alone. With a wife 0:16:27.950 --> 0:16:33.890 that resents him, who can't pray with them, who thinks 0:16:33.890 --> 0:16:37.880 you're a hypocrite? You say you had faith, you got 0:16:37.880 --> 0:16:40.100 me pregnant. Here's where we're at, I resent. And so 0:16:40.130 --> 0:16:44.540 he he restores his heart to God, and he comes 0:16:44.540 --> 0:16:47.420 back to God and he's worshiping. But he's lost something 0:16:47.420 --> 0:16:50.900 in his prodigal years that can't be recovered. He's lost 0:16:50.900 --> 0:16:53.660 the dream of a godly home. He's lost the dream 0:16:53.660 --> 0:16:57.560 of a partner that shares the values that they could 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:00.180 share together, and the family that they could raise together. Oh, 0:17:00.210 --> 0:17:03.660 he's restored his soul. But he's lost something that he 0:17:03.660 --> 0:17:07.950 may beg and cry and call out to God for. 0:17:07.950 --> 0:17:10.560 But he's lost it. Oh, I'm not saying that God 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:12.600 can never reach her. And I'm not saying that her 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.359 heart could never turn around, but he has to live 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:19.620 for a season without someone that's worshiping with him and 0:17:19.619 --> 0:17:23.790 living with him and following God because he. During a 0:17:23.790 --> 0:17:27.480 season of being a prodigal of a heart hearted season, 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:33.810 he gave up something that he can't recover quickly. For 0:17:33.810 --> 0:17:36.330 the young woman, young girl that's raised in church and 0:17:36.330 --> 0:17:38.969 she knows about the things of God, and she grows 0:17:38.970 --> 0:17:40.979 up and she has a heart, and it's there and 0:17:40.980 --> 0:17:48.240 she's always been around. But then. In her 20s, after college, 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.280 she decides, you know, I'm going to take a break. 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:54.540 I don't know, I'm I believe in God, but becomes 0:17:54.540 --> 0:17:58.560 hardened somehow. Maybe someone disappointed or maybe someone didn't follow 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:01.399 up and maybe she gets a little attitude towards church 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:03.619 people or someone hurt her and it was a hypocrite. 0:18:03.619 --> 0:18:06.979 And now she's 26, 27 and decides, I'm just going 0:18:07.010 --> 0:18:09.080 to do my thing. And she goes out there and 0:18:09.080 --> 0:18:12.560 she lives a life that in her eyes is the fun. 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:16.129 Life is the is the what all her friends are doing. 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.680 And everybody else is kind of living this life and 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.580 and doing her thing. And she goes to the doctor 0:18:22.609 --> 0:18:24.320 and wakes up one day and finds that she has 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:29.389 a venereal disease. And then starts making her way back 0:18:29.390 --> 0:18:34.910 to God. But she still has the regrets of crossing 0:18:34.910 --> 0:18:38.420 the line, of being used, of going down that road. 0:18:39.290 --> 0:18:42.740 She meets a young man that really wants to follow 0:18:42.740 --> 0:18:44.600 God and decides, you know, I really want to do 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.119 things right and goes down that road and they're in 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.600 premarital counseling, and the day comes where she has to 0:18:51.290 --> 0:18:53.450 before it gets too far. She has to sit down 0:18:53.450 --> 0:18:56.000 and say, listen, there's something you need to know about me. 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:58.820 I went through a prodigal season. I went through a 0:18:58.820 --> 0:19:02.320 bad stage in life. And before we get married, I 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:08.050 want you to know I have a venereal disease. Oh, 0:19:08.050 --> 0:19:10.480 can God restore her heart? Oh, yes, he can restore 0:19:10.480 --> 0:19:15.250 her heart. But you see, she's lost something that she 0:19:15.250 --> 0:19:20.410 can never recover again. And in our season of hardness, 0:19:20.410 --> 0:19:25.840 of heart, there are things that we may lose. Decisions 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:30.700 that we may make, choices that we may have that 0:19:30.700 --> 0:19:35.500 affect the rest of our life. You know how many 0:19:35.500 --> 0:19:40.030 women I've talked to here at this altar that with 0:19:40.030 --> 0:19:48.310 broken weeping hearts, have confessed to abortions? I've had those 0:19:48.310 --> 0:19:50.919 weeping conversations with women that look me in the face 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:53.110 and say, you know what? No one else knows about this. 0:19:53.109 --> 0:19:59.440 But every year at this month, I think he would 0:19:59.450 --> 0:20:05.810 be 15 now. I wonder what he'd look like. He'd 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:09.229 be a sophomore in high school. And every year, I 0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:14.780 feel the incredible guilt of having taken the life of someone. 0:20:15.980 --> 0:20:20.179 It could have been my son. My daughter. Because at 0:20:20.210 --> 0:20:24.320 that time, at that season, I just didn't know what 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.440 I was doing. I was far from God. I wasn't 0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:33.500 thinking straight. My spiritual life was a mess. You see, 0:20:33.530 --> 0:20:37.160 God can restore them. But there's things that happen during 0:20:37.160 --> 0:20:42.110 our hardness of heart that, like Esau, we cry out 0:20:42.109 --> 0:20:47.929 for but can never return again. And so my challenge 0:20:47.930 --> 0:20:52.220 to you today, my exhortation to you, is that you 0:20:52.220 --> 0:20:56.120 would do a close audit of your heart. My challenge 0:20:56.150 --> 0:20:58.700 is that you would walk around the fountain of your 0:20:58.730 --> 0:21:01.859 the spring of your heart right now, and you would 0:21:01.890 --> 0:21:06.210 examine the spring of your heart and you would ask yourself, Lord, 0:21:06.210 --> 0:21:11.970 is there any carcass? Is there any carcass here that 0:21:11.970 --> 0:21:17.010 is poisoning or contaminating my heart? Is there anything that 0:21:17.010 --> 0:21:19.080 I need to drag out of the fountain of my 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:21.450 life and say, you know what, if I let this 0:21:21.450 --> 0:21:23.790 stay in my life, it's going to poison me and 0:21:23.790 --> 0:21:27.510 poison my destiny and poison my relationships. And so, God, 0:21:27.510 --> 0:21:29.820 I know this can't be there. I don't want it 0:21:29.820 --> 0:21:32.820 in my life. Lord, I'm willing to take this carcass 0:21:32.820 --> 0:21:35.129 and get it out of my life. Because I want 0:21:35.130 --> 0:21:38.129 my destiny to flow in life and not to flow 0:21:38.130 --> 0:21:38.970 in death. 0:21:45.900 --> 0:21:48.960 Well, the Bible teaches it, and it's true. Your heart 0:21:48.960 --> 0:21:51.449 determines the course of your life. Thank you, Mark, for 0:21:51.450 --> 0:21:54.629 this message today. It's all about guarding our hearts, isn't it? 0:21:54.660 --> 0:21:59.130 It is, Wayne. And it's so easy for us to 0:21:59.180 --> 0:22:03.770 allow something to pollute the well of our life. And 0:22:03.770 --> 0:22:07.340 this passage, really? You heard this message, and I'm wondering 0:22:07.340 --> 0:22:10.400 if some of you feel the conviction of the Holy 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:16.940 Spirit that you've allowed a bitter relationship, a undealt with 0:22:16.940 --> 0:22:20.270 issue in your life, that every time you come into 0:22:20.270 --> 0:22:22.490 the presence of God, every time you open your Bible, 0:22:22.490 --> 0:22:25.639 every time you worship, there's a spotlight that the Holy 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.850 Spirit puts on and deal with it. Deal with it. 0:22:29.090 --> 0:22:32.060 If you don't, it's going to continue to pollute the 0:22:32.060 --> 0:22:33.770 rest of your life. So I want to pause right 0:22:33.770 --> 0:22:38.120 now and pray with you if you would join me. Father, 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:42.020 I pray for that man, that woman right now that 0:22:42.020 --> 0:22:46.219 feels under conviction that as this message was being preached, 0:22:46.250 --> 0:22:52.670 you brought something specific, very real, specific, tangible to mind. 0:22:52.970 --> 0:22:58.010 I pray, father, that you would give them, even right now, today, 0:22:58.010 --> 0:23:01.200 the boldness to say, God, I will not go one 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:04.740 more day without dealing with this in my life. So 0:23:04.740 --> 0:23:08.369 give the power to repent, the courage to take a 0:23:08.369 --> 0:23:13.740 bold step, the willingness to go to the hard places. Father, 0:23:13.770 --> 0:23:17.040 I thank you for this person listening right now that 0:23:17.040 --> 0:23:20.280 you want them to live in joy, restore the joy 0:23:20.280 --> 0:23:22.859 as they deal with this issue that you've been convicting 0:23:22.859 --> 0:23:26.580 them about for a long time. Father, give them grace 0:23:26.580 --> 0:23:31.710 and power to move forward. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. 0:23:31.740 --> 0:23:35.129 Amen. Thank you Mark. If you're looking for tools and 0:23:35.130 --> 0:23:37.590 resources to help you make a heart change, we'd love 0:23:37.590 --> 0:23:41.730 for you to go online. Explore our website at bird-stamps.org. 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:45.660 You'll find videos and articles in our latest Bold Step gift. 0:23:45.690 --> 0:23:47.730 You know, it's fair to say the past few years 0:23:47.730 --> 0:23:51.150 have been somewhat unpredictable and filled with a lot of change. 0:23:51.180 --> 0:23:53.610 The world we live in today looks much different than 0:23:53.609 --> 0:23:56.220 it did even just a few decades ago, and sometimes 0:23:56.220 --> 0:23:58.770 it feels like everything we knew about leadership and ministry 0:23:58.800 --> 0:24:02.720 no longer applies. Well, that's why the book A Non-anxious 0:24:02.720 --> 0:24:06.530 presence is such a timely resource. Mark Sayers helps us 0:24:06.530 --> 0:24:09.320 understand how to lead effectively in a world where the 0:24:09.320 --> 0:24:12.710 old rules no longer work. He explains how periods of 0:24:12.710 --> 0:24:16.669 disruption often prepare the way for spiritual breakthrough, and shows 0:24:16.670 --> 0:24:18.800 us how to spot signs of renewal, even in the 0:24:18.800 --> 0:24:22.070 midst of turmoil. This is our bold step gift, and 0:24:22.070 --> 0:24:24.859 you can request it today and discover a fresh approach 0:24:24.859 --> 0:24:27.889 to leadership in changing times. We'll send you a copy 0:24:27.890 --> 0:24:30.020 of this relevant book when you give a donation of 0:24:30.020 --> 0:24:37.580 any amount. Call us at 800. D.L. Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 0:24:37.580 --> 0:24:41.330 or give online at Bold Steps. Org. You can also 0:24:41.330 --> 0:24:43.370 send your gift through the mail by writing to us 0:24:43.369 --> 0:24:49.370 at bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten. 0:24:49.460 --> 0:24:52.340 And when you commit to becoming a bold partner today 0:24:52.340 --> 0:24:55.639 by giving a financial gift of $30 or more each month, 0:24:55.670 --> 0:24:58.370 you'll not only be investing in a worthy cause that 0:24:58.369 --> 0:25:01.470 will have an impact on generations to come. But we 0:25:01.470 --> 0:25:04.350 will send you a signed copy of Mark's book, Unstuck 0:25:04.380 --> 0:25:08.639 and Access to the Bold Partner post, and encouraging and 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:12.450 inspirational biweekly email and video message from Mark. So sign 0:25:12.480 --> 0:25:15.959 up today at Bold Steps. Org and thank you for 0:25:15.960 --> 0:25:19.980 your generous support of Bold Steps. Real quick, before we close, 0:25:19.980 --> 0:25:22.350 I want to invite you to download our Bold Steps app, 0:25:22.350 --> 0:25:24.900 now available in your app store. We've got a range 0:25:24.900 --> 0:25:27.750 of really cool videos and insightful teaching series available for 0:25:27.750 --> 0:25:30.030 you there, so be sure to download and check out 0:25:30.030 --> 0:25:34.020 the new Bold Steps app today. I'm Wayne Shepherd inviting 0:25:34.020 --> 0:25:36.000 you to join us again next week when Mark explains 0:25:36.000 --> 0:25:39.030 how you can step into your calling. It's a message 0:25:39.030 --> 0:25:42.240 from our series Step Up and it's coming Monday here 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:46.889 on Bold Steps with Mark Jones. Bold steps is a 0:25:46.890 --> 0:25:50.729 production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.