A Heart Free to Worship

By Dan Hinkle

Every message that God has given me to preach, he has allowed me to put a little comedy into it.  Every preacher has a certain style that helps him to present the word to the church, and comedy is style.  Today, however, he has given me a very serious and sincere word that he wants me to deliver.

When God gives me a message to preach, He ask the same of me when I hear it for the first time as he ask of you when you hear it for the first time.  He ask us to respond to His word,  to His love,  and to His mercy.  When I responded to today’s message,  I had to do something first, and I would like for everyone to do the same.  If everyone would please bow their head and shut their eyes.

God wants to do something awesome today, but before he can, we have to be prepared to accept it.  In order to do that we have to be totally focused on him this morning.  So I want to clear your mind and just focus on God for a moment. Forget about what you planned to doing after church, where you are going to eat, things you need to do, everything that is on your mind except God.  Focus on God. 

Now we need to clear our hearts.  Any sin that you know that you know that you know you have in your live,  God is asking you to give it to him right now and he will forgive you for it.  Any worries that you carried in here with you,  God wants you to give it to him, so he can take care of it for you.  Anything that you might think could hinder you from hearing God’s voice this morning,  He wants you to give it to him,  so your spiritual ears will be opened to the sound of his voice talking to your heart.

(Prayer)

Are you ready?

How many came expecting to see God do something awesome in someone’s live this morning?  How many came expecting God to do something awesome in your live this morning?  If you did, God isn’t going to let you down, and if you didn’t,  God has a awesome surprise in store.  God wants to do something awesome for us.  He wants us to come to him with loving hearts and just spend time with him.  He wants to help us and do things for us.  And that is what he wants to do this morning.

What is it he wants to do?

What does he want to do that is so awesome you might ask.  What is it he wants to do that has got Daniel all excited?  He want to free our hearts.  He wants to free us from the struggles and emotions and feelings that Satan has got us all bonded up with.  He wants to remove the chains of bondage that is wrapped around our hearts.  What is bondage?

Bondage is defined as the state of one who is bound as a slave;  A state of subjection to a force, power, or influence.

When we allow Satan to chain us up in our emotions and sin,  we become like slaves to those emotions or sins.  And that feeling allows Satan to us that to influence our day-to-day lives.  We find ourselves always asking forgiveness for it, but we fall right back into it.  We start to feel like that we can live with it, but we can live with out it.  But the Bible tells us that is not true. 

2 Corinthians 4:8&9 reads

            We are hard pressed on every side,  but not crushed;  perplexed,  but not in despair;  persecuted,  but not abandoned;  struck down, but not destroyed.

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As hard as Satan comes at us and tries to make us think that these emotions and sins own us,  they don’t.  They don’t own us,  don’t control us,  don’t rule us,  can’t destroy us, and most importantly are not us!  The only power that this bondage has over us is the power that we allow it to have, and that is what God wants to change today!

Things that Satan Uses

Let’s talk about just a few of the types of bondage that Satan tries to wrap us up in.

1.)  Depression - Depression is a feeling of gloom due to disappointment, loss or failure.

            We have all felt depressed at some point or other.  The boss chews us out at work,  someone who you thought was very close to you tells you what they really think about you,  anything that happens that causes our self-esteem to drop straight to the ground.  Or maybe it was something else that happened to you.  Maybe you were abused in some way when you were a kid.  Maybe you are being abused right now.  Maybe someone close to you has passed away and you still haven’t learned to deal with the grief.  It could be any number of things that could make someone feel depressed,  and over time that depression begins to take over you life and over your heart.  But this isn’t what God wants for you.

Psalms 34:18 says

            The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

You mean something to God.  He loves you.  He cares for you.  You are important to him.  You are his child, and He is your father.  He has a plan for your life that only you can fulfill.  He doesn’t want you to suffer, but wants to save you from the suffering.

2.)  Anger - Anger is A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility.

            Now I know that we have all been here before.  We get angry when we feel like we or someone close to us has been done wrong.  We get angry at changes that makes us feel uncomfortable.  We can get angry at anything and slowly it begins to take over our lives and our hearts and we do something or say something that we know we shouldn’t, but we can help it.

Ephesians 4:26&27 says

            In your anger do not sin.  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Anger is a very dangerous thing because it is so easily gotten out of control,  and that causes us to sin.  If we store it up inside and don’t deal with it, Satan has a foothold, a chain to bind around us.  God doesn’t want us to hold on to anger in our hearts, but hold on to peace and love. 

3.) Anxiety: Anxiety is a state of uneasiness and apprehension, as about future uncertainties.

To put it simple…we worry.  We worry about money, time, food, clothing, everything that we think we need and don’t know for sure where or how we are going to get it.  We think about it constantly as soon it takes over our life and our hearts and that is all we think about throughout the day and everyday.

            Luke 12:22-26 says

            Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.  Life is more than food and the body more than clothes.  Consider the ravens;  They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn;  yet God feeds them.  And how much more valuable are you than birds!  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Since you can not do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

We are not in control, God is.  We can’t make a difference in this world or our own lives for that matter by standing around worrying about every little thing, and it’s a good thing we can’t because God doesn’t want us to worry.  He wants us to trust him and know that he has our backs!  He is our provider.  Everything good that we can say that we have was given to us from God.  Once again,  God has a plan for our lives and he will provide for us as long as we pick up our cross and follow him.

These are just a few things that Satan uses to put us in bondage, but what is it he trying to keep us from?  What is it that this bondage keeps us from doing?

Let’s read Matthew 22:34-38

            Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.  One of them, an expert in the Law, tested him with this question:  “Teacher,  which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

            Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God  with 90% of your heart, and with 85% of your soul, and with 75% of your mind;  this is the first and greatest commandment.

Isn’t that what it says.  No!  It says with ALL you’re your heart and with ALL of you soul, and with ALL of your mind.  God wants our heart, our souls, and our minds to be free to love him as he loves us.  But how can we do that if our hearts, souls, and minds are in bondage to worldly emotions and desires?  We can’t.  We have to give the full 100%,  we have to go the full mile. Let me give you an easy example.  If a man is crawling through the desert and is dyeing of thirst.  And he sees a glass of water 100 yards away.  How far does he have to go to get the water.  Will he get a drink after 80 yards,  90 yards?  No.  He must go the full distances. 

Guys, we are dieing if our thirst for God is not satisfied.  And the only way that will happen is if we are freed from the chains that Satan has put around our hearts and go after God 100%.  And that is the awesome thing that God wants to do for us today!  He wants to free our hearts from the bondage of this world, so that we may be close to him.