See the world through His heart… what a blog title! This blog was started because of the Mango Cheese Cake made by my wife. I could still recall that moment while I was enjoying my Mango Cheese Cake, the Lord spoke in my heart with the verse from Mark chapter 16 verse 15: And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. While looking at the pieces of MANGO slices in the cake, my heart connected with His prompting as MANGO..., "MEN GO" into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation...! My first blog post was the picture of that Mango Cheese Cake made by my wife Penny, and I called that Mango Cheese Cake an Evangelistic Cake.
As I walk and grow in the Lord through this blog, I was amazed to realize that as I learnt to see this world through His heart, I started to see thing the way He see and the whole Bible become real and alive…. So with this insight of the function of our heart and seeing thing through His heart, I recompile and post this revelation under the title of "SEE THE WORLD THROUGH HIS HEART".
I have been wondering and asking the Lord why is that some believers who have tasted His grace and still shy away from Him after a short period of time… With this question, He is not slow in revealing the answer to me. To my surprise, His answer has become a series of my preaching in 3 separate sessions.
Ever since He started to reveal His answer, He has been showing me the biblical truth in respect of our mind and our heart.
Way back in the Garden of Eden, we could find the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In the wilderness, we could see the Israelites asking for the two tablets of Stones even though they had the leading of the Lord. Even in this dispensation of grace ever since the resurrection of our Lord, we, the believer, the temple of the Holy Spirit, have been using our mind instead of our heart.
The Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, two tablets of Stone and our mind have the same characteristic, whereas the Tree of Life, the Lord’s leading and our heart are of the same characteristic. With the help from the structure of the tabernacle, we can actually see the picture of the two Trees at the outer court, the two tablets of Stone and God’s leading at the inner court and our mind and heart as the Holy of Holies.
In the outer court, Adam and Eve had chosen the wrong Tree and were driven out of the Garden. In the wilderness, the Israelites had chosen the two Tablets and they took forty years to complete an eleven days journey. My oh my… in this dispensation of grace, believers are using their mind, intellect, and their head knowledge to walk with the Lord. These three eras shared the same consequences which gave birth to human religions…
2 Timothy 1:9 -10 ~ who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
It is NOT only those who preach GRACE is under GRACE... GRACE is not for Christians only, but as long as you are a human being, you are under His GRACE. As long as you are born after the death of Christ, you are under this Grace Dispensation! Believers of Christ are no more under law but under grace. Believer did not invite Moses into their heart to be their Saviour... Believer has invited Jesus into their heart, and Jesus is their Saviour. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time...!
From the picture of the tabernacle, we could understand that Jesus’ death had already positioned us in the Holy of Holies where we can freely commune with Father God. The problem with many believers is that, we are using our mind, intellect, and our head knowledge to dwell in the Holy of Holies. As a result, we are moving the furnitures that are supposed to be in the inner court into the Holy of Holies. We are practising the rituals of the inner court in the Holy of Holies. We are still abiding to the law even though we are now in the dispensation of grace.
Because of these reasons, the Lord pointed me to a verse in Philippians chapter 3 and reminded me to watch out for dogs. Yes..., He meant dogs… dogs that bark, and there are two dogs!
Philippians 3:2 ~ Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.
Although the Lord had used this verse to speak to me before and warn me to be aware of those who used the Law to bind believers, but He regards that incident as in the outer court when I was still in “Babylon”. He wanted me to look at this verse again from a different point of view in the Holy of Holies.
I then realized that He was referring these dogs as our brain. Our brain has the shape of the two tablets of Stone brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai. Our brain is the storehouse of our memories, rules and regulation, our intellect and etc… Our desire to work and to abide the law is from our brain. Our brain is also our religion stronghold. Our brain barks at us whenever we made mistake… and we might consider this as self checking. Our brain pushes us to do well… Accuse us of our failures… condemn us of our pass mistakes, sins, failures… and even condemn others! Our brain is actually the shadow of the two tablets of Stones. Our brain is also the shadow of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
If we associate our intellect with what Apostle Paul called flesh, we will have a better understanding on what Paul meant by living according to the sinful nature and according to Spirit.
Romans 8:1 ~ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (using their intellect), but according to the Spirit (using their heart).
We are under the dispensation of GRACE. We are already in the Holy of Holies. We cannot use our intellect anymore; we have to use our heart…Or else, we can never walk in His grace and we can never walk with Him. Grace is not in line with our logical mind. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal His grace to us. Can you still remember the moment when you decided to put your faith in Our Lord Jesus, you invited Him into your heart...!? From that moment onwards, He has given you His own heart and His heart is the way of grace.
In respect of the revelation on our hearts that He has given me, the Lord used the Chinese’s writing character of LOVE (爱) to show me His heart.
In the old way (I see it as Old Covenant) of writing this character of LOVE (愛), there is a heart (心)in it… But in the new way (I see it as New Covenant) of writing LOVE(爱), it is without a heart (心). This is the question I have been asking the Lord for a long time; and He answered my question with a revelation of His heart.
Matthew 22:37 ~ Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
In respect of the Old Covenant writing on LOVE (愛), The Lord said we have to use our own heart to love God… that is why there is a heart(心)in the old writing. But for the New, He said He had already help us to love God with all His heart and with all His soul, and with all His mind. We cannot find the heart in the new way of writing (New Covenant) because He has given us His own heart.
Ezekiel 11:19 ~ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.
Our heart that is now beating is the heart from our Lord. By the grace of God, He has given us His own heart for us to believe in Him. It was this heart that healed the sick. It was this heart that casted out demons. It was this heart that feed the multitudes. It was this heart that sympathized our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. It was this heart that accomplished all the written code of the Ten Commandments. It was this willing heart that sent Him to the cross.
It is this heart that understands the grace of God. It is this heart that understands the will of God. It is this heart that is full of love and compassion. It is this heart that Jesus has given us. He has given us a new heart…. In this mortal body of ours, only our hearts are new and living. With this statement from the Lord, He led me to a deeper understanding on what the Bible meant by "Do not walk in flesh but walk in the Spirit".
Our mortal bodies are subject to death. Apostle Paul was actually struggling in Roman chapter 7 and his struggle ended with him asking WHO would rescue him from this body of death not how or what he could do. He did not ask HOW but WHO. By asking WHO, the WHO, Who is always faithful, revealed to him that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The Who did not revealed to him that he must repent… The Who revealed to him that there is now no condemnation. Who would have known that Paul condemned himself because of the tenth commandment which was nailing his innermost being? It was the dogs (his brain) barking at him... The 1st to the 9th commandments are of external behavior, while the 10th deals with the hearts of men.
From here, the Lord asked me to add the word “brain” in bracket after the flesh and the word “heart” in bracket after the Spirit.
In the Garden of Eden, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened. Their minds were activated by the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When their minds were activated, they started to see their nakedness. They started to see their lack and fear came into them.
On the road to Emmaus, the couple by the name of Cleopas, ate the bread broken by the Lord and their eyes were opened too, but they see the Lord and their heart was burning. The Lord said "Shalom...!"
Romans 8:1 ~ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (our brains) , but according to the Spirit (our hearts).
The revelation from the Lord at this point of time becomes very clear and easy to understand. If we walk according to our flesh (using our brains) condemnation will come! Remember the Lord reminded us to beware of dogs? Our brains are the shadow of the two tablets of Stone and they bark at us when we fall short. If we walk according to the Spirit (using our heart), there will be no condemnation. It is so clear that under the dispensation of grace, we cannot use our brains anymore. To walk in flesh (to use our brains) is death; to walk in the Spirit (to use our hearts) is life. After all, when we put our faith in the Lord, we never invited Him into our brains but into our hearts.
Our whole body is death… there is no life. In this resurrected body, only our hearts are new and are from the Lord. But the hope is found in Romans 8 verse 11 where we can find the Trinity God appears together in one verse…
Romans 8:11 ~ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (our heart), He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (our heart).
Oh Hallelujah! The power that gives life to our mortal bodies is in our hearts! He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in our heart. It is all by grace through faith, not of us; grace and faith are gifts from God not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.
We can do nothing. We are human being not human doing. We don’t do good deed to become a believer but as a believer, we produce good deeds. The Lord did not ask us to do anything. He said He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in our heart. Being in Christ alone, is already doing our good work because we are His workmanship, created in Him to produce good work...!
Proverbs 4
20: My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
21: Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22: For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
23: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4
20: My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
- Romans 10:17 ~ Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.
We can only listen to the preaching of the Gospel of Grace. Let His living water washes our feet day in day out. This Gospel of Grace will point us to see Jesus and His finished work. We are then transformed from glory to glory by beholding our wonderful Lord Christ Jesus. We can do nothing but give attention to His words; incline our ear to His sayings. Let His living water washes our feet...; It is finished,,,!
21: Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;
- On the road to Emmaus, Jesus expounded the Word from Moses to the Prophets things concerning Himself, He broke bread and their eyes were opened to see Jesus and their heart was burning.
When we read the Word be it Old and New Testaments, we must find out the Spirit of Jesus. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom.
22: For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
- Romans 8:11 ~ But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.
He has given us His own heart. That is the fountain of life, the abundant life that He has promised.
23: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
- Matthew 12:35 ~ A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.
A verse before this is “Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” His definition of good and evil is : When you trust in His grace that is good. If you trust in your performance by abiding the law, He calls that evil. There is nothing good coming out from our performance through obeying the Ten Commandment because a man of sinful nature can never abide to the holy standard of the commandments.
Coma patients have non-functioning brains yet as long as their hearts are still beating, they are considered alive. Heart Attack patients are dead because their hearts stopped beating... Patients suffering from Heart Attack are certified dead once their hearts have stopped beating...and Heart Attack is caused by stress and the root of that lethal stress is from our mind...
Matthew 6:34 ~ Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.
Faith is to depend on Jesus' performance while work is to depend on our own performance. The Lord said, "It is finished...!" It had all been taken care of... It had all been done by our Lord Jesus... ! Go now, and preach this God's news, i.e. the Gospel, the too good to be true news. Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation... and see the world through the heart that He has given you.
Amen Brother Alan,
ReplyDeletePlease allow me to add a few words to it... Grace is received through Faith in Christ and by the Fruit of Grace... we witness to the world with Love (the first fruit).
The work of faith that we do on earth is by the fruit of the Spirit... It is the work of the Spirit, not the work of our flesh. It is the work of heaven on earth through us... Abide in Him and we shall bear much fruit and without Him, we can do nothing!
The question is... Are we doing out of His Fruit or out of our flesh? If it is of His Fruit why then text everyone to confirm coming to Narnia? Why are we concern of the result as if He isn't in control?
Sorry Alan, don't mean to abuse your blog and please don't get me wrong. By the same Spirit, you know I'm not talking about you but the Truth must be revealed!