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Jesus Never Said That: Just Follow Your Heart Ep3 of 10 Series · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  You've heard it at church, and if you've seen it online, maybe you've even said it yourself.
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  It sounds biblical, but is it?
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  Welcome to Jesus Never Said That, a special series from Half-Faith, Let It Begin.
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  I'm Angel Santana, and today we're going beyond the quotes, cliches,
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  and assumptions to discover what God's Word actually says.
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  So grab your Bible and bring your questions. Have Faith Let It Begin starts right now.
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  Have Faith Let It Begin when it starts right now.
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  Welcome to Have Faith. Let it begin. Here's your host, Angel Santana.
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  Good morning, everyone, and welcome back.
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  Today, we're talking about advice that is everywhere.
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  Movies tell us, songs tell us, motivational speakers tell us,
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  social media definitely tells us.
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  When you don't know what to do, just follow your heart.
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  Yep, that's what I'm saying. Quote, just follow your heart, end quote.
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  Sounds beautiful. sounds free right when you think yeah sounds like something
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  that you would rewriting or written underneath a sunset on an instagram,
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  and sometimes our hearts do point us towards something meaningful compassion,
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  love a burden to help somebody a desire to pursue something god may actually
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  be calling us toward so i'm not here to tell you never listen to your emotions nope.
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  But i do want to ask a different question this morning.
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  Should my heart be the final authority for my life? Because Jesus never said, follow your heart.
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  Jesus said, follow me. I want to repeat that. He never said,
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  follow your heart. He said, follow me.
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  And those are not always the same direction. Here's a heart check for you.
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  Let's get personal for just one second. Have you ever really wanted something
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  and later realized that, well, it wouldn't be terrible for you?
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  Come on. At the time, you were convinced this is it.
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  This is the person. This is the opportunity. This is what I need. Maybe you even prayed.
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  Maybe you said, God, please give me this. And then later you look back and thought,
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  thank you, Lord, for saying no.
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  Because our feeling can be powerful. But powerful doesn't always mean trustworthy.
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  So here's today's heart check.
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  When my feelings and God's word disagree.
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  Which one gets the final say? That's where this gets very uncomfortable.
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  Because following Jesus is pretty
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  easy when Jesus is doing and going the direction I already wanted to go.
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  But what about when he's not?
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  The conversation happens to happen, right? I mean, I think when we need to make
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  an important distinction, feelings aren't evil.
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  Emotions aren't sinful. just because they're emotions.
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  God created us with the ability to feel, and Jesus felt compassion.
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  Jesus grieved. Jesus wept. Jesus experienced anguish. Jesus expressed joy.
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  So as a Christian, Christianity is not about becoming emotionally numb,
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  but there's difference between acknowledging what I feel and allowing what I feel to control me.
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  I can say I'm angry without saying, therefore, whatever my anger tells me to do must be right.
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  I can say, um, I'm attracted to this without saying, therefore, this must be God's will.
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  I could say, I'm afraid, without concluding.
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  Therefore, I shouldn't take the step God is asking me to take.
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  Feelings tell us something, but they don't tell us everything.
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  And that's where follow your heart starts getting a little shaky.
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  Here's a biblical perspective. In Jeremiah 17, verse 9, it says,
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  The heart is disciple above all things and beyond cure.
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  Who can understand it?
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  That's a pretty strong warning. Scripture isn't telling us that every feeling,
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  we ever experience is automatically wrong.
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  It's telling us that the human heart has been affected by sin.
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  Our desire can become disordered. Our emotions can get mixed up.
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  We can even convince ourselves that something is right simply because we want it badly enough.
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  Proverbs 14, verse 12 says, there is a way that happens, well,
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  excuse me, there is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, it leads to death.
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  Notice that phrase, appears to be right.
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  That's the scary part. Not everything that leads us away from God looks obviously evil at first.
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  Sometimes it feels right. Sometimes it makes perfect sense.
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  Sometimes everybody around us approves and still it can be the wrong road what
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  Jesus is actually telling us and he's actually saying now compare follow your heart.
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  With the actual invitation of Jesus. So let's dive into Matthew chapter 16, verse 24.
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  Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
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  There it is. Jesus doesn't say, follow your heart. He says, follow me.
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  And sometimes following Jesus means saying no to something my heart desperately wants.
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  That's discipleship. There are moments when my heart says, get even.
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  Jesus says, forgive. My heart says, put yourself first.
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  Jesus says, serve. My heart says, they don't deserve your love.
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  Jesus says, love your enemies.
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  My heart says, stay comfortable. And then Jesus says, take up your cross.
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  If I follow my heart every time, Eventually, my heart and Jesus are going to disagree.
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  And when that happens, somebody has to lead. But God doesn't throw away the heart.
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  Here, here's where I think this gets beautiful. God answers to an unreliable heart.
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  Hmm, let me think I can rephrase that. God answers to an unreliable heart, isn't it?
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  Well, stop having heart. It's transformation.
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  Psalms 51.10, create me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spread within me.
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  David doesn't say, God, help me trust my heart more. No, he says, God, change my heart.
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  And Ezekiel 36.26 gives us this promise.
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  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you see god cares deeply
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  about our hearts he doesn't always well he just doesn't leave them untouched,
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  he definitely shapes them,
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  he corrects them he softens them and he convicts them and through the holy spirit
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  he begins teaching our desires to look more like this and more like his,
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  so maybe our goal isn't follow your heart Maybe it's give your heart to Jesus and follow him.
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  I'd like to give you a personal perspective.
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  I think this hits me because there have been times when I wanted to do something
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  so badly that I started looking for God to agree with me. You know what I mean, right?
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  Instead of praying, God, what do you want?
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  Sometimes our prayers become, God, here's what I decided. Please bless it.
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  And I've had to catch myself there many times because sometimes I can confuse
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  excitement with confrontation or confirmation for that matter.
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  I can confuse fear with a warning from God and I can confess that,
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  well, what I want with what God wants.
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  And that's why discernment matters.
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  Sometimes I need to slow down and pray.
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  I open up scripture. I talk with people I trust and give God room to tell me no.
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  Because if God can only tell me, yes, I'm not really asking him to lead.
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  I'm asking him to approve. And that one sits a little differently.
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  So how do we live this out? So if we're not supposed to be blindly following
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  our hearts, what do we do with our feelings?
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  Well, first, name them.
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  Don't pretend you don't feel what you feel. God, I'm angry.
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  God, I'm afraid. God, I really want this. God, I am hurt.
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  God can handle honesty.
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  Second, test them. Ask, does this desire to agree with Scripture?
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  Does this move me toward Christ?
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  What kind of fruit will this decision produce?
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  Am I seeking God's will or God's permission for something I've already decided?
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  Third, surrender them. This might be the hardest one.
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  God, this is what I want, but I want you more. And that's a very different prayer.
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  So here's your faith challenge for this week.
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  Before making a decision based purely on how you feel, pause and ask three questions.
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  Number one, what am I feeling?
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  Number two, what does scripture say? And number three, where is Jesus leading me?
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  And if those answers don't line up immediately, don't rush, give God room and pray.
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  Listen, seek wise counsel, open the Bible, because sometimes faith means moving forward.
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  And sometimes faith means waiting until our emotions stop shouting loudly enough
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  for us to hear God's direction. Amen.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us with hearts that can love,
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  grieve, hope, dream, and feel deeply.
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  But Lord, we confess that our desires don't always lead us toward you.
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  Sometimes we want, well, sometimes we want what isn't good for us.
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  Sometimes fear controls us.
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  Sometimes anger speaks louder than wisdom.
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  Sometimes we decide what we want and then ask you to approve it.
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  Forgive us, create in us clean hearts, shape our desires, renew our minds,
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  give us wisdom to recognize the difference between what feels right and what is right.
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  And when our hearts pull us in one direction while you call us in another,
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  give us courage to follow you.
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  Jesus, we don't want our emotions sitting on the throne of our lives.
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  That place belongs to you.
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  So take our hearts, transform them, teach them, and lead us.
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  In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, that's the episodes. I'm hoping that you
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  enjoy it. And this is our takeaway.
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  Should all of us follow their hearts, not blindly, your feelings are real,
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  your emotions matter, your desires are worth paying attention to, I should say.
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  But they were never meant to be your savior. Jesus didn't say,
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  follow your heart. He said, follow me.
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  So here's today's takeaway. Don't follow your heart wherever it wants to go.
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  Give your heart to Jesus and let him teach it where you go.
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  This has been an episode and this has been episode 3 of Jesus Never Said That,
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  and this has been a continuing special series from Have Faith,
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  Let It Begin we still got 7 episodes to go,
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  so remember it sounds good it might even sound Christian but it's actually biblical,
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  before you let a quote shape your life open the Bible and before you let your
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  heart choose the direction.
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  Make sure Jesus is the one leading I'm Angel Santana,
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  and never forget, to have faith, let it begin.
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  Coming up Monday, next episode, episode number four.
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  Next time we're tackling one of the most common things Christians say when somebody is overwhelmed.
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  God won't give you more than you can handle. But wait a minute.
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  What happens when life is more than you can handle? What happens when you're
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  exhausted, when you're overwhelmed, when you reach the point where you have nothing left?
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  Maybe the promise was never that you'd be strong enough to handle everything,
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  And maybe the point is discovering that you were never supposed to handle everything without god,
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  That will be episode four on monday on jesus never said that because it sounds
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  good It might even sound christian, but it's actually biblical have faith.
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  Let it begin. Have a great weekend Yeah.