Series Verse:

John 8:31-32 (NLT) Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Your Heart

Matthew 12:34b-35 (NLT) For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV) For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Proverbs 4:20-23 (NLT) My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. 21Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, 22for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. 23Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NLT) The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
 

Four Blockages of the Heart

Selfishness

James 3:14-16 (NLT) But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

- Complete Surrender

Philippians 2:13 (NLT) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

Bitterness

Luke 17:1 (NLT) Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come…

Proverbs 18:19 (NLT) An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

- Forgiveness

Rejection

Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Ephesians 5:26 (NKJV) …that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word…

- Words of Life

Evil Thoughts

Mark 7:20-23 (NLT) And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

- Cleansing

Three Steps to Transforming the Heart

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NLT) And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

#1 - Invite the Holy Spirit to show me.

Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

#2 - Invite the Holy Spirit to change me.

Psalm 51:10-11 (NLT) Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

#3 - Invite the Holy Spirit to fill me.

Matthew 12:43-45 (NLT) “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. 44Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. 45Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation.”

Ephesians 5:18 (NLT) Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Next Step: Make heart adjustments daily.