Message Notes:

Byron began his message with a classic story that illustrates the importance of one’s heart (or inner life):

•Sometimes people look good on the outside, but are corrupted on the inside.

•Quote: “You are not right with God, until/unless you are right with God in your heart.”

1 Samuel 16:7 — “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Proverbs 4:23 — “Above all else, guard your HEART, for everything you do flows from it.”

This brings us back to the SHEMA (and our scripture focus for the entire series) Deuteronomy 6:4-6

•4 HEAR, O Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD alone.

•5 You shall LOVE the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your soul and with all your strength.

•6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your HEARTS.

•In other words: God wants His Word “in us,” and He wants a relationship with us driven by an authentic, internal love for Him.

If one were to do a word study of “heart” in the Bible, you would see that the ancient Hebrew people understood the heart in four primary ways:

•The heart is a physical organ in the human body that sustains life. (1 Samuel 25:37)

•The heart is a where we think. There is no Biblical word for “brain.” (Prov. 14:33; 1 Kings 10:24)

•The heart is the seat of our emotions. (1 Sam 1:8; Her 15:16)

•The heart is where we make choices/decisions (2 Sam. 7:3; Psa. 119:11)

Jeremiah 17:9 — “The heart is deceitful above all things”

Psalm 51:10 — “Create in me a clean heart.”

Ezekiel 36:26 — “I will give you a new heart…”

Hebrews 3:15 — “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”

Discussion Questions:

The Greek word for “hypocrite” is a word that literally means — “behind a mask.”

•Would you agree with the assertion —we all wear masks sometimes?

•When are most people most likely to fake it?

•When are you most tempted to wear a mask and conceal the truth about yourself?

•Can you think back to a time when you were “blinded” to the truth about yourself (but eventually awakened to it)?

How do you feel about Byron’s assertion — “You are not right with God, until/unless you are right with God in your heart.”

Read the following verses, meditate upon them and make application to your own life:

•Jeremiah 17:9 — “The heart is deceitful above all things”

•Psalm 51:10 — “Create in me a clean heart.”

•Ezekiel 36:26 — “I will give you a new heart…”

•Hebrews 3:15 — “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”