Welcome to another Upstream blog post. This week, we continue with our guest speaker, Barry Bennett, and his brilliant series entitled 'An Established Heart'. What a blessing it's been, I'm sure you'll agree. Do share this blog with someone. It always amazes me (although perhaps it shouldn't!) how appropriate and timely a shared message can be. It's almost like the Holy Spirit knows ahead of time what will work for someone. Don't ignore that prompting! Hit that share button.
We’re talking about 'The Established Heart', Psalm 112; the righteous man is established and he shall not fear. The established heart lives in a place of peace without fear. And this week we are looking at The Heart That Seeks. It amazes me how many Christians don’t seek the Lord. They seem to stop after the born again experience and they never go further. Let's read Psalm 34:4.
Did you know that fears can dissolve when we seek God? How? Because we become established in His Word, we get hold of the revelation of our righteousness in Him and those things will deliver you from your fears. Fear is still a massive problem in the body of Christ. Christians who’ve been born again for 30 years are still living in fear. They're reactionary, emotional, up and down, involved in unhealthy relationships, the list goes on. That’s a heart that’s not established. It's a house built on sandy land! If you were seeking God, those things wouldn’t be your perpetual state of life, you would’ve moved on, your house would be on the Rock, and that’s our goal.
Seeking Him will establish your heart free from fear. The rollercoaster, up and down, bitterness, strife-filled way of life will not be yours anymore. God has more for you than that. That is not the abundant life that Jesus promised us. God wants you free from fear, filled with peace, living the love-life of God. That love that can forgive quickly and give joyfully. Those are powerful truths. This will happen as we seek the Lord. But only when you seek Him. For He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently - Hebrews 11:16.
Psalm 34:10 says; The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Any good thing! The young lions are the strong, vigorous ones. Even they lack and suffer hunger. No matter who you are, you will run out of your own strength at some point. Walking in your own strength, thinking you're smart enough, charismatic enough, intelligent enough, whatever, will lead to burn out, eventually. But those who seek the Lord shall not lack ANY GOOD THING!
But you will only seek that which excites you. What do you think about it when you wake up in the morning? God never gets stale. His Word can never be mined to it’s full potential. Barry writes: 'Having come so close to death recently, I’ve become so thankful for the little things in life. I don’t take anything for granted now. Life excites me. But it was the Word that saved me, the grace of God, and being established in the Word, in righteousness and because I’m seeking the Lord constantly. It’s not that I don’t take vacations and play with my grandkids and all that stuff of life, but I’m still thinking about the Word, about the promises of God, while I do anything and everything.'
Psalm 27:14 says;
Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
That word; 'Wait' means to be bound together with. It doesn’t mean to be passive, but to be bound together with the Lord. It’s like a dog who’s asleep in the house. The minute she hears her food being prepared in the kitchen, she’s up and running! She sits at the feet of her owner and she watches every single move her owner is making. Her eyes are fixed on the owner and watching every move. She’s excited and is fully attentive to her owner. That’s what it means to 'wait on the Lord'. Attentive and excited about the things of God. I know some of you are thinking, I just don’t have time for this. You don’t NOT have time for this!! There is great reward; wisdom, light, every benefit in seeking God. Why wouldn’t you want to? The abundant, peace-led, joyful, love-life is available to you. Why wouldn’t you want that? The question is; where are you going to establish your values? What are you going to cherish more?
We are talking about The Established Heart and it's to be found in the continual seeking of God. Seeking God once in your life is not enough. It’s an ongoing, continual, exciting pursuit of the One Who gives life. If that doesn't excite you, I'd say you don't have a revelation of Who God is and all He has for you. You have the Promises of God, but you have to seek Him! This should be what we hunger and thirst after, the things of God. We need to be the ones who are never shaken. The Established Hearts that can look any storm in the face and say; 'My God is greater, I shall not be shaken.'
Yours Fixedly,
Upstream Ministries
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