The Heart Is Sick

Sunday morning was quite busy...

God said,

"The heart is sick"

The heart is sick?


"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:9-10 NASB

This reminds me of how/what started all of this-

Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. Isaiah 1:5 NASB

If you continue to read in that chapter-

"So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good... Isaiah 1:15-17 NASB


In the Bible, the words "Heart" and "spirit" can be readily interchanged.

All of this is referring to the spiritual condition of the people.

These staunch warnings keep coming and the worship is confounded in the house of God.

Someone said that they kept hearing a trumpet when God was speaking-

'They have blown the trumpet and made everything ready, but no one is going to the battle, for My wrath is against all their multitude. 'The sword is outside and the plague and the famine are within... Ezekiel 7:14-15 NASB

This goes back to what God was saying on December 4th; it starts in Ezekiel 7, is reiterated in Ezekiel 21, and is broken down for the New Testament church in Hebrews 12.

I don't know how else to say this-

But you have forgotten that the Scriptures say to God's children, "When the Lord punishes you, don't make light of it... Hebrews 12:5 CEV

We have all been warned.

God says "Take heed"

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If "The Head" Is Sick, What Is "The Head"?

Previously, God had said the "head is sick" (Isaiah 1:5) then, "go to the potter's house" two days later (Jeremiah 18:4).

Today I got an explanation of what "the head" is.

"For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body." Ephesians 5:23 NASB

So the "head" is the husband, and he is sick. This is not a physical sickness, but a spiritual condition.

AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. Mark 10:8 NASB


Husbands and wives become one in marriage. The head or husband is sick. Since they are now one, the whole thing is sick...

"But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make." Jeremiah 18:4 NASB


Is this making sense?

Our marriages are no good; they are not what God designed them to be.

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 NASB

According to the passage in 1 Peter, the condition of our marriages may be the hindrance in our prayer time. 

So, the problem is in the home; it is a top-down problem. We need to let God take the marriage, destroy it, then remake it.

Can anybody say OUCH!?

Marriage was given to us to be an example of our relationship with Jesus Christ, and fathers are supposed to be representative of our Heavenly Father.

How can we expect to be effective in church work or doing anything for the cause of Christ if our marriages and homes are an abomination to God?

Husbands, get right with God!

Then, get right with your wives!

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The Head Is Sick

Sunday morning God said,

"the head is sick"...

That is Isaiah -
"Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil."  Isaiah 1:5-6 NASB

There is a problem. The head is sick and the body is feeling the pain.
One rendering of the passage puts it as the body has been punished so much there isn't a fresh spot to scourge; the continual punishment has beaten it to a pulp.

Joel comes to mind. Joel 1:16 says gladness and joy have been cut off from God's house.

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments." Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God? Blow a trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, proclaim a solemn assembly, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and the nursing infants. Let the bridegroom come out of his room And the bride out of her bridal chamber. Let the priests, the LORD'S ministers, Weep between the porch and the altar, And let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, And do not make Your inheritance a reproach, A byword among the nations. Why should they among the peoples say, 'Where is their God?'" Joel 2:12-17 NASB

That sounds like a great game plan, but it doesn't jive with the first chapter of Isaiah.

"What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me?" Says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams And the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-- I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Isaiah 1:11-15 NASB

As I was waking up Tuesday, God said,

"go to the potter's house"

"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you." Jeremiah 18:2 NASB

 Here is the answer-

But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Jeremiah 18:4 NASB

The head is sick, the vessel is spoiled.

We must let God make us a new vessel, in whatever manner pleases Him!

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YouVersions 2011 Top 10 Bookmarked Bible Verses

YouVersion's Top 10 Bookmarked Bible verses for 2011

http://blog.youversion.com/2012/01/

1) 123,035 

Philippians 4:6  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

2) 100,044

Jeremiah 29:11  'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
 

3) 97,758

Proverbs 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
 

4) 95,804

Romans 12:2  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
 

5) 87,120

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
 

6) 83,193 

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

7) 78,491 

Romans 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

8) 74,770

Proverbs 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

9) 73,544

Matthew 6:33  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
 

10) 71,923

1 Corinthians 13:4  Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
 

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