Soften My Heart with the Word

Soften My Heart with the Word

By Pastor Gary Wayne

In the tabernacle of Moses, the first piece of furniture you came to was the “Brazen Alter.” This was where the blood sacrifice was shed. “Salvation.”
Then you came to the “laver” – made from mirrors.
This was where after sacrificing the animals for a sin offering, the priests would wash with water.

This is interesting – blood deals with sin, but there was still a need for the water to clean them.
Eph 5:26 “that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word…”

Sometimes we don’t need the blood re-applied to our lives, we need the Word applied to our lives. We need the Water of the Word to cleans us from the contamination that happens as we walk through a toxic world.

At the end of a hard day, we can feel like we did something wrong, but we don’t necessarily need the blood, we need the Word to cleans us.

Text: Mark 6:39-52, Mark 8:6-21

Ver.52 – What causes our hearts to harden?

Mar.8:6-21
Jesus was teaching them about spiritual things, but they were stuck on a physical mindset problem.

Jesus was using a physical thing to illustrate His point, but they responded in confusion because they didn’t have enough for lunch.

V.17, "Why do you reason because you have no bread?”
This word reason comes from the root word that is found in 2Cor.10:5.
We cast down - imaginations, speculations, reasoning, high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God.

Jesus asked, “Why is your reasoning at war with My world – with God’s Word?”

V.17 “Is your heart still hardened?”
Hardened = to petrify, form a callous, make hard.

Unless my heart is continually softened with the Word, it gets callused.

Jesus is challenging their way of thinking.
God is not just interested in the individual thoughts, but He is interested in the process of thinking, the way we think, the way we view things around us.
This second time the disciples were in a boat, the most pressing thing on their minds was about not bringing bread.

Jesus is asking: Why is this your thinking when you just witnessed the miracle of multiplying the bread and fish – for the second time?
Why does your imagination differ from the reality I exposed you to?
Why does your imagination, your reasoning start from the negative with what you don’t have?

How many have been in a financial crises and God did a miracle and provided for you, then after that financial crises, you had another one and even thought God answered the first one, you were just as nervous the second time as you were the first one?

That’s the point here. Why did you reason – from a negative stance?
Why didn’t you change the way you think because you saw the nature of God?

After experiencing God’s provision, and my knee jerk reaction is still anxiety or fear it lets me know there is a stronghold of thought process that has been established in my life from the enemy.
A stronghold built on ideas and a foundation of belief that is contrary to God’s truth.

My sin has been cleansed at the Brazen alter, but I need the Word to cleans my mind.

If after God has made Himself real to me, I continually default to fear, I need His Word to change the way I think.
Rom.12:2 “…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

When I experience a problem, and I don’t see God moving, am I going to let the absence of immediate answer change my revelation of God’s nature?
Imaginations are high things that the demonic realm exalts to be in competition with what God knows to be true.

Casting down imaginations is an aggressive action, a violent action.
I need faith-based imagination to kick in – to be my default reaction.
Col 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…”

My heart is made soft towards God by exposing myself to His Word.