Emotional Freedom: releasing the heart

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When I think of essence, I picture a lot of parts boiled down to its highest concentration. Essential oils is an example. It takes pounds of a plant to yield a small amount of oil.

Ecclesiastes 10:1 says, “Dead flies putrefy the perfumer’s ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; so does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor.”

In using essential oil and a dead fly as an example, I want to look at John 6:63. Jesus’ words to me are the essence of nothing. It says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits NOTHING. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Anything we do in our flesh is like a dead fly in ointment. It is fouled up and has to be thrown out! Isaiah 43:7 says that we are created for His glory. Our fleshly reactions, doing things independent of the Lord, and our exaltation of self dishonors the Lord.

Romans 8:6 says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Verse 10 says, “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” We can couple verse 10 with Romans 6:6. It says, “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”

We are not slaves of sin. Verse 1 says, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” We were set free from the slave-block of sin at salvation.

Progressive sanctification is learning to say ‘no’ when confronted with the temptation to sin. All sin is done in the flesh (which profits nothing).

Nothing means that it is futile. Here is Strong’s definition of futile: fruitless, empty, hollow, unreal, unproductive, lacking substance, ineffectual, void of results, and worthless. Hmm. Why would we want that?

How then shall we live? Romans 6:11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Dead to sin means that we have no response to its temptations. The only recourse satan has over the life of a believer is when they are in their flesh.

Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Ephesians 4:22 says, “That you put off, concerning your former conduct…” Verse 23 tells us how, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” Verse 24 says, “And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”

Note how verse 23 is sandwiched between verses 22 and 24. We put off, renew our mind, and put on. We shed any thought of the flesh by renewing our mind with truth. We fight our flesh with God’s word hidden in our heart. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”

Here is another nothing. It smacks our fleshly spirit of independence. John 15:5 says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Nothing is so all inclusive. It means that not one thing we can do in our own strength will glorify God. Think about a fruit tree. It cannot produce fruit on its own. It requires soil and water so its roots will grow deep, strong, and tenaciously hold their ground. That is a picture of abiding faith. I’m not a arborist so I won’t go any further with this picture. I hope that you get the idea.

Paul understood. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” He wrote that after he explained how he had learned to be content. He experientially knew that whether he was full or hungry, abounding or suffering need, the Lord’s power would sustain him.

He also wrote verse 7. From his own experience he mined this truth that he wanted his readers to grasp. It says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

Let nothing cause anxiety? Whew! We live in troubled times. It is worldwide. It is important to remember that we have His irrevocable gift of peace within. It cannot be taken away. Yet, we maintain it in our hearts through our focus. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus, anxious thoughts may crowd in. Peace is not circumstantial. No matter what is taking place in our lives, we can remain in peace.

Here is another ‘nothing’ that is so amazingly precious. Romans 8:38-39 says that nothing can separate us from God’s love. Not one thing. Our past is under the shed blood of Jesus. He bought our redemption. However a significant part of our progressive sanctification is to keep short accounts with God. Entertaining worry, anxiety, or thoughts of fear is sin and needs to be confessed.

Today, as you go about your day, I encourage you to ‘dwell’ in His word that will help you maintain peace in your heart, draw deep from the wells of your salvation, and rejoice in your dependence on the Lord! May the Holy Spirit sensitize us to the buried things that trigger ‘self’ to race to the rescue in our times of need.

Jesus saw satan coming towards Him. John 14:30 says, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” Jesus was not born with a sin nature like you and I. He had no past. Psalm 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or every You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

There was nothing in Him that could give satan any influence. On the other hand, that is not true of you and I. Ephesians 2:2 says of every one born, “In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.”

How do we know if there is something in us that would allow satan’s influence? Jeremiah 17:10 says that our hearts are deceitful. James 1:22 gives us a clue. It says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

What part of the word are we only hearing but not doing? That is where we begin. Verse 23 is very explicit. It says, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror.” God’s word is our mirror. It perfectly reflects our progress of sanctification. Any fleshly reaction reveals that there is ‘something’ still within us that does not exemplify Jesus.

Please understand that I am not talking about perfection, but rather maturity. Everything in our life boils down to the essence of our relationship with the Lord. 2 Peter 1:3 says that through our knowledge of Him, His power is activated. Verse 8 says that when we add the inner grace gifts to our faith, “…you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit what is IN you that blocks you from reflecting Jesus when your will is crossed, your rights are violated, you are in pain (emotionally or physically), you are frustrated, someone cuts in front of you too close as you are driving, etc. You can add your own triggers.

What triggers a fleshly reaction in the present, is a strong indicator that there is something that needs to be confessed and released. Unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, or buried offenses all feed into our thoughts processes. They are called unresolved issues.

Proverbs 4:23 helps us in our progressive sanctification. This is a ‘doing’ verse. It says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”

Here is another ‘springing up’ verse. Hebrews 12:15 says, “Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many are defiled.” God’s word is our shovel to uproot and destroy strongholds in our mind that negatively influences our character. Let us be doers of His word and not hearers only.

A temptation is designed with a conception, embryo, and birthing. James 1:14-15 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”

We crush a temptation before it appears. Note how James highlighted own desires. Buried fleshly desires are self-serving. Even though they are ‘buried’ they enter into our thought process.

I have never drank, and I have no hidden desire to drink. However I am tempted by another, I will not be enticed. Why? There is no seed of conception that could develop into an embryo.

Don’t get me wrong. There may be other seed-desires planted in my heart. With the right enticement I might be drawn away. I am writing this to remind us of the progression.

David wrote Psalm 51 after the fact of his self-serving conception, embryo, and birth that brought forth death. Verse 10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Psalm 119:10 says, “With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.” How do we not wander? Wanderlust begins with a thought. The true definition for a wanderlust is a strong desire to travel and explore.

In a spiritual sense, it means to go beyond God’s prescribed way. We can easily travel in our minds and explore worldly pursuits. It is a mental dialogue that births the temptation, bringing it into full-grown spiritual death.

Our spirit man needs spiritual food to thrive. That starts by reading God’s word daily to observe to do it. His word remains only print-on-a-page until we inculcate it into our hearts. His digested manna will sustain us so we can readily rise up to say ‘no’ when a juicy temptation is presented.

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” As we delight in Him, new desires are conceived and grow into a heart full of thoughts that please Him.

Every temptation is an invitation to sin. We must never forget that Jesus paid the price for our freedom from sin with His blood. No temptation has a sign, “Beware! Temptation Ahead” because satan uses deception.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says that our temptations are not unique to us. They are totally normal to mankind. Listen now to God’s escape plan. The verse says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

Picture this lesson from nature. I have read that a bird who eats dead animals will peck at their eyes first. They want to make sure there is no reaction. Dead things have no response. Our temptations are just satan ‘pecking’ to see if we will respond to his deception.

Romans 6:11 says, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Verse 2 was the answer to Paul’s question. It says, “Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Verse 4 is a picture of what takes place at salvation. We die with Christ. It says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

We turn our temptation to sin into triumph by remembering what Jesus did. In the face of a temptation, we stand firm in our salvation. We remember that we are DEAD to sin, and therefore have no response to it. Just as Jesus triumphed over satan, we too will triumph when we take up our cross. We crucify out flesh when e deny the temptation to sin that would dishonor the Lord. We are created to glorify Him in all that we do and say.

Here is another way we are to be like Jesus. Isaiah 11:3 Amplified says, “And shall make Him of quick understanding, and His delight shall be in the reverential and obedient fear of the Lord. And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, neither decide by the hearing of His ears.”

Multiple times in my life I have jumped to conclusions based on what I saw or heard. 1 Corinthians 4:5 is a verse to help us corral that fleshly reaction. In verse 4 Paul clarified that the Lord alone is to be our Judge. He said, “For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” Verse 5 says, “Therefore judge nothing before the time…”

Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

Here is another corral verse. 2 Corinthians 5:16 says, “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.”

When we judge by what we see and what we hear, it is backed by our flesh. John 6:63 says that our flesh profits nothing. Judging with a critical spirit is the same as looking down our nose at someone. It is pride!

James 4:12 says, “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?” When we judge another through a jaundiced eye, we are usurping God’s place as judge.

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram fleshly judged Moses. Then the Lord stepped in and judged them. He split the ground. The earth opened up and swallowed them. Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Here is our stance. Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

As we read His word, and observe to do it, the truth we take into our hearts will sharpen our discernment. We will judge rightly because we have fed our spirit man solid food. Following the Holy Spirit moment by moment will give us wisdom for all our interactions with others.

Psalm 101 was written by David. It sounds like an oath of office. Verse 3 says, “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” The Hebrew for wicked is: worthless, good for nothing, unprofitable.”

Verse 6 says, “My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me.”

Since we are in this Psalm I want to continue. Verse 7 says, “He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.” Oh that this would be the case right now in our nation!

Let me remind you that David got into serious sin because of what he saw. He didn’t catch a glimpse, and turn immediately away. He gazed upon Bathsheba as she was bathing. That wicked experience brought severe consequences.

Habakkuk 1:13 was speaking about the Lord. Let’s emulate Him. It says, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and You cannot look upon wickedness…”

Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Does what you look at purify your heart or defile it? Psalm 18:26 says, “With the pure You will show Yourself pure…”

Matthew 6:22 says, “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.” What we gaze upon affects every aspect of our lives. What we read and what we watch brings light or darkness into our heart. Our eyes reflect what is in our heart.

Psalm 121:1 says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills–from whence comes my help?” What did Abraham see when he lifted up his eyes. Genesis 22:13 says, “…and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket…” He saw God’s provision for an acceptable sacrificial offering.

What do we see when we gaze upon the Lord? How does it affect us in every aspect of our lives? It brings inner transformation. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In 1987 we went to Jamaica on a short term mission trip. We were pressed through multiple times of waiting. By the time we got through customs we were tired and hungry. As we boarded our transport bus we heard our first Reggae music. Our driver was blasting “I Waited For The Lord On High.”

I bought the cassette and used to blast it through my house whenever I was pressed in waiting. Why? It reminded me to be patient. The song came from Psalm 40:1 which says, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.”

Luke 21:19 says, “By your patience possess your souls.” James 1:4 says, “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

Trials reveal the hidden dross of impatience. It doesn’t have to be an intense trial. Being late for an appointment because there is a traffic jam is a great example. Are you patient or impatient?

We miss hidden blessings when we fail to wait in patience. Isaiah 64:4 says that God acts for those who wait. Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

We glorify the Lord as we wait in patience. You see, it is not about us. It is about Him. He, through our patience, is exalted. He displays His character through us. The next time you have to wait in line, for a traffic light, or for your water to boil: take the time to praise Him!

Here is David’s testimony. Psalm 27:13-14 says, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Waiting requires control over our wayward, negative thoughts. We corral our thoughts and bring them into a progression of tangible truth. God is in control of ALL circumstances. He has ordered my steps. His timing is impeccable. Truth will stabilize our thoughts and direct out hearts to praise Him Who is Worthy.

Tangible truth, in my mind, means that I can wrap my life around it. There is substance that has deep meaning. Let me take Psalm 9:9 for an example. It says, “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”

Let me lead you in a thought progression. Refuge in the Strong’s means: a shelter, protection, fortress, a hope, a place of trust, a shelter from storm. From this definition of refuge nine verses came to mind.

Before I go further I want to go to James 2:15. It says, “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them…be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?” It doesn’t, unless you give them something tangible.

If I am outside and it starts to rain, it does me no good to say words but I don’t move out of the rain. However, if I run under a shelter I won’t get drenched. To say, “God is my refuge” but continue to worry, doubt, or negative dialogue, what does it profit?

I have to move my present destructive thoughts to wrapping my mind around Tangible Truth. In that case I would repeat my truth, “You are my Refuge” and immediately lay hold of the Lord through the reservoir of verses that are hidden in my heart. I would ‘dwell’ in them through faith, declaring their truth in my heart to bring it up into my thought process.

Our heart is our belief system. If what I believe does not match with the truth of God’s word, I need to throw it out! I do that by renouncing it, which means to disown it. LIke Paul with the deadly serpent, I need to ‘shake it off’ so that it doesn’t continue to cling and permeate with its poison.

Psalm 71:3 says, “Be my Strong Refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress.” I capitalized the way I would think about God as my Refuge.

Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our Refuge and Strength, a Very Present Help in trouble.” Saying the words profits nothing, unless we wholeheartedly believe that the Lord truly is One we can hide in. We ‘dwell’ through our thoughts fully engaged by the power of His word that will not return to Him void.