The Month of Tammuz | Exodus 32
As we enter into the month of Tammuz, we set our hearts to worship God, expecting Him to challenge some of those areas in our hearts that are telling us a story that’s different than what God says. Our hearts are our filters. We can all hear the same truth and because it goes through the filter of our heart, we all hear it differently. Sometimes it’s filtered through pain, offence, disappointment, twisted by the enemy who has a legal right to meddle. Every time we get healing and are washed by the blood and the Word, our hearts are cleansed and we can see and receive in a new way. When we leave our hearts untended, whatever is in there becomes the default way of viewing the world and – for better or for worse - it feels so right to us.
But let’s remember that it also felt right to the Israelites to make a golden calf all because the story they believed was that Moses wasn’t coming back. That God had abandoned them because it was taking too long. This wasn’t a new story – it was an old one that had yet to be eradicated. God wants to give us blueprints this month, but we will reject them, just like the Israelites did if our hearts aren’t prepared to receive them.
So, let’s ask Holy Spirit to reveal if there are any stories hidden in our hearts that are telling us something contrary to what He is saying. Let’s ask, then let’s wait for Him to answer. No making a golden calf, no giving in to impatience, but waiting to hear His voice, even if it takes longer than we’d hope to hear Him.
Walking in Our New Nature | 2 Peter 1:1-15 |1 John 4:19-21
As Dan shared on Sunday, I was encouraged about how he talked about walking in our new nature. It’s not laboursome, though it takes work. It’s not a life of striving, though it’s not a life of passivity either. There is a place that we are invited to live in the Lord where we are at rest in the security of who He is, so we can advance, grow, do, work. But if it comes out of a place of insecurity (not able to believe who God is for us) then it will always look like we have to perform, strive, earn, do more. In those areas where we are living this way, it’s because we aren’t secure in our relationship and in the experiential knowledge of who God is.
This is why, as we allow Holy Spirit to look at our hearts this month of Tammuz, the stories we believe about God or the filter we view Him through in our hearts dramatically affects the way we will (or won’t) rest in the security of who He is. This secure place is where circumstances won’t sway you – affect you, yes – but not cause you to close and harden your heart towards God and others.
Let’s take a look at the progression that we unpacked on Sunday in 2 Peter. The scripture tells us that we begin with faith in who Jesus is and what He’s done.
Add to that virtue - righteousness, inner strength of the Holy Spirit within you
Then add to that knowledge - that translates to practical wisdom for your life; a knowledge that you practice, not just know.
Then add to that self-control - the ability to manage yourself in any circumstance that’s rooted in knowing that God has all things in His hands so we can let go.
Then add to that perseverance - the ability to not give up based again on the truth that God has all things in His hands.
Then add to that godliness - the continual awareness of God’s presence that is marked by leading with your heart; if you’re leading with your heart, you will feel something, be affected by the things that affect God; He moves us not just by commands, but by desires and by allowing things affect us.
Then add to that brotherly kindness - when we show love to others, God’s love is made complete in us. It’s the culmination and maturation of love. 1 John 4:19-21
Then add to that love – agape love that originates in the One who loved first; unconditional, steadfast, not based on the person who is on the receiving end, but on the giver themselves.
As we walk in our new nature, we become more like Jesus and are able to live in and extend the agape love of God towards others – unconditional, steadfast, never wavering, complete.
Walking in our new nature isn’t a checklist of things to do, but rather a lifestyle that unfolds as we purpose to follow, stay connected to and aware of the Holy Spirit within and around us. It’s an overflow, not an attempt. It’s not something that’s manmade, but it’s a lifestyle of learning to follow the prompts of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who causes fruit to grow in our lives as we surrender to Him, partner with Him and let Him do the work in our hearts. He confronts, we let His conviction affect us and we ask Him to help us adjust. It should grieve us, not condemn us, that we can go the whole day and not really be aware of Holy Spirit’s presence.
Q Does the thought of missing something that Holy Spirit has for you affect you? How?
Q What is the difference between the feeling of condemnation and conviction?
Guarding our Hearts | 2 Peter 1:8
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If these qualities are yours and are increasing, you will be fruitful in the knowledge of Jesus. That means if they aren’t, we can have a lot of knowledge of Jesus but be unfruitful in it. That means we can know all about Jesus but still not be bearing fruit. Ouch. The scripture shows us three specific ways of how this happens, how our hearts begin to grow cold. Let’s take a look and then spend some time letting Holy Spirit search us and bring awareness to the places where we have knowledge but aren’t walking in the reality of it.
· Blindness and forgetfulness – We’ve let the gospel grow cold in our hearts. It’s stopped influencing us, so our vision is cloudy. We’ve forgotten what Jesus did in a way that it no longer affects us.
· Shortsighted looking at earthly values - Getting sidetracked by earthly pursuits rather than the spiritual realities; Looking at our own two feet; spending so much time in our own world, pursuit of our own temporal things.
· Forgetting we are cleansed – This either results in paralyzing shame or debilitating pride. Either we aren’t clean because of the bad we’ve done, or we are clean because of the good we’ve done. Both are symptoms of forgetfulness of where our cleansing actually came from.
God wants to bring us into a place of security this month. He wants us to know, by experience, that He’s got everything in His hands. That we can trust Him. That He is trustworthy. He wants to come and re-orient our lives around Jesus, the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and accomplishing the things that He has placed in our hearts to accomplish for the Kingdom.
Personal Reflection
Q Ask Holy Spirit to show you where you were once on fire and aren’t anymore. Notice where your heart is shut off, where you feel stingy with your affection, passion and engagement. As you surrender it to the Lord in prayer, He wants to minister to this place in your heart.
Q Is there something that you know should be affecting you and isn’t? Talk with Jesus about it. He wants to bring you a revelation of the gospel in a new way to soften your heart again.
Q When your heart is truly invested, you feel the (healthy) weight of what’s happening around you. Where are you not feeling the weight anymore. Are you relieved or are you burdened?
Q What does it look like for you to keep the reality of the gospel in front of you? Keeping this alive in our hearts will lift our eyes from our own small world up to the Kingdom realities around us. It keeps our hearts soft and sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
Q Are you more familiar with shame or pride when it comes to your cleansing? Not clean enough, or clean in your own strength? Ask Holy Spirit to come and wash you again, let the reality of what Jesus did penetrate your heart in a new way.