BREAKTHROUGH – Part 1 – Break Up Your Hard Ground

GETTING STARTED:

Having a stone heart usually is not a good thing. Cher had a line in a song that said: “Don’t you wish sometimes you had a heart made of stone?” Having a heart made of stone is not exactly something we should long for.

ONE BIG IDEA!

OUR GOD CAN MAKE A MIRACLE OUT OF A MISTAKE. 

STUDY:

JEREMIAH 4:3-4 – “³ This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and Jerusalem: “Plow up the hard ground of your hearts! Do not waste your good seed among thorns. ⁴ O people of Judah and Jerusalem, surrender your pride and power. Change your hearts before the Lord, or my anger will burn like an unquenchable fire because of all your sins.” (NLT)

LEARN:

HOW CAN YOU IDENTIFY A HARD HEART? (Psalms 139:23-24)

Jesus was really hard on the Pharisees, and the main reason was because of their hardened stone hearts. It blows me away how people that possessed so much knowledge about God, and a people that did so much in the name of God, could have hearts as hard as they had. The Pharisees had hearts of stone. They could find joy in the disgrace of a woman caught in the act of adultery and take pride in the fulfillment of the law to stone her to death. They could look at the situations of Jesus doing good and find fault in them. Their hearts were made of stone.

HARD-HEARTED PEOPLE are not easy to identify. Just because a person is doing certain things that we think are good, DOES NOT GUARANTEE that they are not hard-hearted. Being hard-hearted does not mean that you are an evil person; it doesn’t necessarily mean you are immoral. Maybe, you are doing the right things, but your heart just feels cold. God calls us to more than just going through the motions. The good news is that the heart problem is TREATABLE and the CURE exists.

SYMPTOMS OF A HEART OF STONE

1. LACK OF COMPASSION FOR THE SICK, HURTING AND SINNER

One of the earmarks of our faith is the COMPASSION that we should have for other people. How do you feel when you learn that a brother or sister in Christ is living in sin? Do you respond hoping that judgment will be served on them? Maybe today, you have lost your sense of compassion for the hurting. How do you respond to a sinner coming to Christ? Do you still have a passion for what is going on around the world? Our hearts should break over the very things that break the heart of God. We should be moved to ACT on our compassion.

People with a heart of stone are not moved or affected by people in need of compassion. Perhaps today you have lost your sense of love and burden for the sinner, which shows a stony heart. That needs to be chiseled.

2. LOST DESIRE TO GROW AND DO GOD’S WILL

As Christians, we are in the process of being CHANGED and TRANSFORMED into the image of God. Over time, however, many lose their desire to continue to grow in their faith and to do God’s will. It is when we stop growing and stop caring to grow that we can tell that our hearts have become CALLUSED.

People with a stony heart are APATHETIC. They do not care about spiritual growth; they are perfectly content where they are in life. People with stony hearts think that they are okay because of their past victories, because of how spiritual they used to be or how faithful they once were, but they are forgetful of what their heart condition is now. Perhaps, you have lost your desire to grow, perhaps you are apathetic toward learning God’s Word. Maybe, you long for excuses not to attend church or LIFE group.

3. LOST EXCITEMENT IN THE WORK OF GOD

Another way to diagnose a stony heart is when one losses excitement in the work of God. Christians should be excited about hearing stories of victory in the kingdom, of souls saved, of lives being changed. Christians should be excited to serve God and to be used by Him.

HOW DO OUR HEARTS TURN TO STONE?

1. CONTINUED PRACTICE OF SIN

One thing that will harden a person’s heart faster than anything else is the continued practice of sin. Usually sin starts out with something small and grows and matures into something bigger. There is an old saying that says: “Sow a THOUGHT, reap a DEED. Sow a DEED, reap a HABIT. Sow a HABIT, reap a JUDGMENT.” (James 1:14-15)

REMOVAL FROM GOD’S PRESENCE AND PEOPLE

Here’s what I have observed: When you remove one log from the group of logs, the fire on that one log will soon die out. It is the same with us. When we are away from the presence of God and His people, we’ll soon become cold in our relationship with God. I know a lot of Christians who put their going to church as last of their priority.  Let me inform you:  Stay out of church and your heart will harden sooner than you expected.  Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another (NIV).” Our gathering with fellow Christians is important in our spiritual growth.  They will be our shoulders to cry on.  They will also be our accountability partners.

HOW DO WE SOFTEN A HEART OF STONE?

Let God Chisel Your Hard Heart Through The:

1. Spirit of God

One of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to bring conviction to people’s hearts. It was the Holy Spirit working on the hearts of the Jews on Pentecost when they said, they were pierced to the heart. I pray that the Holy Spirit is working in your heart and bringing conviction through the Word of God. People would respond in all sorts of ways when they hear the word of God. Some people shove it off and do nothing about it. While others would heed that word of God, be thankful to God, and change their wicked ways. I hope you will let God remove the ROUGH EDGES in your life.

Word of God

The Word of God is one of the most powerful things there is. The Word of God is called the SWORD of the Spirit. The Bible is our weapon against the Devil. The Word of God tells us what is expected of us as Christians. We recognize right from wrong and we learn God’s standard. The Bible tells us what’s right and wrong.  It tells us how to flee from evil.

Fellowship of the Saints 

The gathering with fellow Christians is one of the solutions to hardened hearts. If your heart is hardened, one of the best things you can do is consciously make a choice to be where God’s people are. Find opportunities to fellowship. Today, get involved in a ministry.  Join a LIFE group. When you’re with fellow Christians, they will help you walk on the right path.

Guarding your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it (NIV).”  Our heart is deceiving so we have to guard it.  In Matthew 12:34b-35 Jesus said, “³⁴…For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. ³⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him (NIV).” We have to watch the words that are coming out of our mouth.  It will reveal the content of our hearts.

Repentance of Sin

The best way to soften a hard heart is through repentance of sin. 1 John 1:9 – “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (NIV).” Through repentance, we have the promise of wiping our slate clean and being made right. We have the promise of forgiveness of sins.

Has your heart become hard? I want to encourage you today to repent. Repent of the sin that has held you back from God. Break up the hard ground. Let God RENEW your heart. Let God TRANSFORM you to become new. Repentance is not just feeling sorry for the sins that you have committed. Repentance is feeling sorry and having the conviction not to do it again.

GROW:

APPLICATION QUESTIONS:

1. What is your state of heart and relationship with God right now?
2. What is stunting your spiritual growth? What is stopping and choking the life of the seed – the word of God to you? What bad habits? What bitterness or unforgiveness? What areas of pessimism or laziness? What coldness or hardness of heart? What is stopping you from becoming soft and responsive to the word of God?
3. In the symptoms of a heart of stone, what category do you think your heart is right now?