Rocky Heart

When Jesus Christ asked Peter thrice if he loved Him, Peter was quite offended as will so many of us if we were in his shoes. After all, he and Jesus were ‘tight’! Jesus Christ was pointing out a foundational fact if missed can make a mockery of our professed faith in Him: our love for Him cannot be based on carnality! The Gospel of John chapter 3 verse 5 says except a man is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. By verse 5, it reads, except a man is born of water and the Spirit such cannot enter the Kingdom of God. This is not confusing but very straight forward: a paramount need to grow and mature in the Lord, it is not how long or how ‘tight’ you are with Him. The truth of this is that whatever is born of flesh is flesh and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Thus, to serve God, we must serve Him in spirit and truth. No man can do this except he is truly born of the Spirit. In chapter 4:23, Jesus reiterated that those born of the Spirit are the ones that can serve God acceptably, in fact, those are the ones He seeks. 1Corinthians 1:11 tells us that no one can know the concerns of God except the Spirit of God, it then follows that if we are born of the Spirit of God, then we will truly know and be able to access the concerns of God. The reason is found in verse 14 that says the carnal man can never understand the things of the Spirit because they are foolishness (unrealistic) to him. Please note that the carnal man been spoken of here is not an unbeliever but one that professes Christ but refuses to take the next step of being born of the Spirit and water. Carnal men cannot understand the things of the Spirit neither can they obey it. The Lord emphasized this in the Parable of the Sower. The Gospel of Mark chapter 4 talks about the Sower and the seed, verse 5 says some seeds fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil for the seed to properly grow, thus, when the sun came out it was scorched and it died. The Lord explained in verse 17 that they had no root in themselves subsequently, the seed was short lived. Friend this is a dangerous and terrible state for a heart to be in! Such a heart receives the word with joy, shouts and dancing. Once there is a testing of the word especially in the areas of delay, such hearts question the word. In fact they enter into a war mode with God and the people of God. Unfortunately, you find such hearts on the pulpits and in the pews. From questioning they begin to doubt the word. Some become very hypocritical at this stage as they teach, pray and counsel others whilst they are the greatest unbelievers. It is a matter of time, you see them slip into depression, and except by the mercies of God do they manage to remain in the fold. You may ask, what exactly went wrong? The truth is that according to the scriptures, these ones had no root in themselves. They are yet to anchor their souls to the Lord; yet to be born of the Spirit of God. If they were, they would have known and understood the reason why God had done what He did, but since they are yet to be born of the Spirit they could not discern because these things are spiritually discerned. You might say, but they speak in tongues? So? Even the devil and his agents speak in tongues. Friend, don’t be deceived, if you are in this situation ask the Lord to birth you with His Spirit and your expectations from that point on will be beautiful to His Glory. God bless you.