Rewire Your Heart youversion study

Mayflower said:

@Hidden In Him wanted me to tag you. I'll start posting them here in a couple days.

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Heart2Soul said:

I get alot of argument about this scripture but the Holy Spirit is who told me this is what it meant...
Psalms 37 (KJV)
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³ Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
⁴ Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

So I desired a new car...then the Holy Spirit said...He will give you His desires and put them in your heart..changing your desires from worldly to spiritual.

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Mayflower said:

Your Affections Are Restricted
What causes us to sin? What moves us to holiness? What part of us initiates belief? What is it inside of us that generates doubt? There is only one thing - our hearts.

So what is the main problem in our fight against sin and our lacking in faith? Paul says it like this in our passage for today:

“You are restricted in your own affections.”

In this short, seemingly off the cuff comment, Paul cuts to the heart of everything - the heart.

In this chapter, Paul is pleading with the Corinthians to believe the Gospel. He has done everything in his power to share the good news of Jesus with them, but there are people still dragging their feet. Why?

Their affections are restricting them.

How can our affections restrict us? It’s simple really. We don’t do anything we don’t want to do. We only ever do what we want.

Now, that doesn’t mean we only do things we like or prefer. It means that our actions always follow the prevailing desire of our heart. That is why, throughout the Bible, God is chiefly after our hearts.

Our affections restrict us all the time. Our hearts are not all-in. That is why we sin. That is why we doubt. That is why we struggle with our faith and walk.

So how can we change? How can we beat sin and live for God? We must take the restrictions off our affections.

The only way to do this is with the Gospel. Only the Gospel is beautiful enough to change our hearts and produce in it all the affections that will cause us to live new lives.

Reflect on all God has done for you in Christ. Rejoice in the fact that your sins are forgiven by the precious blood of the Son of God. Revel in the truth that you have been adopted into God’s family at the high price of the cross.

When we do this, new affections will spring to life in our hearts. We don’t fight sin by stifling our desires and feelings. We fight sin by taking the restrictions off our affections. We need to feel more, not less. And these feelings need to come from the Gospel.

Throughout this study, we will see how everything comes down to the heart. For more information I invite you to get my full book on this topic: Rewire Your Heart.

Verses:

"Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections. Now in a like exchange—I speak as to children—open wide to us also."
2 Corinthians 6:11‭-‬13 NASB1995

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Hidden In Him said:

I read through it, and it's a very unique application of the passage. The primary meaning here was of Paul telling them that he was bearing his soul to the Corinthians and being completely open with them, and that they should do the same, only their own hearts were restraining them from doing so.

But then the study writer uniquely applies it to defeating sin, suggesting that if we open up more to others in love that this empowers us to live more godly lives...

The thing that comes to mind for me (if I am understanding the study right), is James 5:13-16:

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed... (James 5:13-16a)

I fully believe in this principle. Scripture says we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and Jesus told the crowd, "Whoever is without sin cast the first stone." So we all have sins we are dealing with. And it is by being willing to open up to others and trust each other that we can be delivered from the guilts that Satan always wants us to keep concealed. I know of Pastors that say not to air your dirty laundry, but I sometimes wonder if that's the best approach. Certainly there will be some in the church that will try to rub your nose in it, but the Lord defends His own, at least for those who can trust Him. But then, some are very weak and sensitive to criticism and rejection. Maybe for these it may not be such a great idea to "bear all," or at least not to every believer they happen to meet, expecting total acceptance. Maybe this is why James said to call for the ELDERS of the church. In context, these are the ones the believer would be opening up to and confessing their sins to.

But I believe fully in the principle of being open. How can we ever know we are accepted and loved by others if we never open up to them and trust them enough to find out.

Those are my thoughts.

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