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Grace takes you from where you are to where God wants you to be.
Romans 8:6 says, For to set the mind on the flesh is death but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace
When you set your mind on the Word of God –
1. It changes your understanding. Your thinking patterns are transformed. When you understand you will be able to stand. You will know the truth and understand the truth.
2. It is written on t he tablet of your heart. The Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45) The Word will become the confession that you confirm. Proverbs 3:1,2 says My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you.
3. Your heart becomes a storehouse
The human heart/mind has the ability to store millions of memories, words and events. You can never forget however hard you may try. So, you need to store the Word of God in your heart because the Word alone can give you the right perspective on the memories that are stored in your heart and mind. The Holy Spirit can bring the Word of God to your remembrance as the situation demands. That is the confidence we have. How does this happen ? As you meditate on the Word, it is stored in your subconscious. At the right moment, the Holy Spirit will bring it to conscious memory. Then when you begin to act on it, according to the Word, restoration takes place.
What is stored in the storehouse ?
Luke 2:19,51 “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart… And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart”.
At the birth of Jesus, the angel Gabriel, shepherds and wise men came and spoke and Mary treasured all their words and pondered them in her heart. Later Jesus spoke about the work that He had come to do. Mary treasured:
1. Things that had been said about her child, Jesus Christ.
2. Things that Christ Himself had said.
Thus you need to treasure what is said about God and what God has said to you.
Your heart can either be a treasure house or a trash house. Acts 8:21–23 describes a heart that is a trash house.
1. A heart that is not right before God. (vs 21)
2. Wrong intentions of the heart. (vs 22)
3. A heart filled with bitterness. (vs 23)
Only God can see the condition of your heart and only He can bring about a transformation.
Are you storing treasure or trash in your heart ?
At some point in your life, people will say wrong things about you. If it hasn’t happened yet, it will at some point in the future ! When this happens, the tendency is to ponder about what has been wrongfully said, until it becomes a part of you. The moment you see that person you only remember what he/she has said about you. This is when you begin to store trash in your heart. Though you may want to erase all the bad memories you cannot because the heart has the tendency to store. Instead you can replace them with greater memories. Focus on what God has said about you and your future. That is how you can change your heart from a trash can into a storehouse filled with valuables from God Himself.
Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is there your heart will be also”.
Banks have vaults and lockers. Whatever you value, you keep it in the vault for safekeeping. If you don’t value something you won’t treasure or protect it. Unfortunately we don’t treasure the things that are truly valuable, like God’s Word and the people He has placed in our life. We live in a consumerist, use and throw culture and we apply that philosophy in our relationships as well. We use, crush, and throw people. In the old days it was said, Use Money, Value People. Unfortunately, the opposite is true today; we use people and value money.
Your heart is a vault and your treasure is stored there. What is treasured in your heart today ? Here’s a simple test to examine your heart and determine what you value the most:
1. What takes up most of your time ?
2. What fills your thoughts ?
3. What takes all of your money ?
4. What consumes all your effort ?
This is your treasure.
David prayed, “Take not Your Holy Spirit from me”. (Psalms 51:11) He valued the presence of God more than his position. What do you value the most ? Is it money ? Remember, what money can give, God can give, but what God can give, money can never give. Your possessions and money can never give you joy and peace. Your heart needs to be a treasure house, not a trash house.
How can you make your heart a storehouse of treasure ?
Psalms 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”. The Psalmist is saying that he has treasured God’s Word. Why ? So that he might not sin against Him.
Sin is missing the target. God’s Word keeps you from missing the mark. You might be overwhelmed by the pressure of circumstances sometimes and feel like giving up. But through God’s Word, which you have treasured in your heart, you will not miss the target. The Word will never lose its power. Colossians 2:3 says, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. Wisdom and knowledge are indwelt in Christ. John 1:1 says, “…the Word was God.”
The Word makes you wise unto salvation. To know the Word of God from a young age is a great blessing. Knowledge of the Holy One of God is of infinite value. Ask your family what God spoke to them through the sermon. Start a conversation about God’s Word. Bring your children to church. You might think they are too young to understand, but the Holy Spirit will bring the Word to their remembrance after many years. Allow the Word to soak into their souls.
So if you are in Christ i.e. all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in you, then why are you struggling and unable to handle your circumstances ?
Matthew 13:51,52 says, “‘Have you understood all these things ?’ They said to Him, ‘Yes’. And He said to them, ‘Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old”.
You need to understand the teaching before you can teach others. Store the teaching/ Word in your heart. Meditate on it. And as you study the Word, God will give you deeper understanding. And these treasures from His Word will enable you to handle any situation or circumstance that you face. Old and new understanding of the Word will enable you to then counsel others and bring them out of their misery and circumstances. When you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, how He brought you out of your misery, you can share that with others.
Instruction = Teaching
Training = Facing difficult situations in real life and applying the teaching
Ezra 7:10 explains this – “For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to do it and to teach His statutes and rules in Israel”.
Ezra prepared his heart to –
1. Study/ research the Word
2. Practice the Word
3. Teach the Word
You need to research scripture. As you research (i.e. search and re-search) you will receive revelation. The more revelation you have, the more your heart is transformed from a trash house into a treasure house. Psalm 119:18 says, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law”. There are wonderful things hidden in the Word of God. Only when your eyes are opened can you see them.
Storehouse, Treasure house, Powerhouse
2 Corinthians 4:6–11 states For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
The God who spoke light into existence and removed darkness is the same Word. The moment the light of God’s Word shines into your heart i.e. your treasure house, the darkness is expelled. When the light is shining, then there is a change in the way you think, a change in the way you speak, and a change in the way you look at your problems. In fact you will no longer see a problem, but an opportunity for God to use you and manifest His glory.
The knowledge of God is not only the treasure, but also the power of God in your life. You may be afflicted, but you will never be crushed (vs 8) You will not be driven to despair. What is despair ? Despair is suffering without purpose. As a Christian you have the assurance that suffering leads to sanctification and glorification. So there is a greater purpose behind it. Hence you need never despair. You may be struck down, but you will never be destroyed because the power of God in you will enable you to overcome any circumstance. Even when you fall, rest assured that you will rise again. God will make you stand.
Your heart is not only a treasure house it is also a powerhouse. Remember, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4) Amen.
