WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.480 Good morning. Good morning, everyone. My name 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:06.400 is Marissa Cantu, and I've been here at the house 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.320 for a little over four years now. And I'm so 00:00:09.320 --> 00:00:12.099 honored for the opportunity to share a message 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:17.699 today in the But Then Jesus series, right? So 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:23.280 before we start, I want you guys to imagine this 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.559 scripture in a social context where we are now. 00:00:26.969 --> 00:00:34.030 Like iPhones, social platforms, comments, sharing 00:00:34.030 --> 00:00:37.409 clicks, all of those things exist while I read 00:00:37.409 --> 00:00:40.950 the scripture, right? And it's important because 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:44.750 it's a story about Jesus. And it's a story about 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.170 what he was doing. And then there was followers, 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:50.250 right? So just kind of imagine like if iPhones 00:00:50.250 --> 00:00:54.219 were around. I know we catch people recording 00:00:54.219 --> 00:00:56.600 things instead of actually helping sometimes, 00:00:56.780 --> 00:00:59.859 but in this case, we're recording for good reasons, 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.040 right? So imagine today's social context while 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:09.200 Jesus is doing what he's doing, okay? So one 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:12.040 day Jesus was teaching, and the Pharisees and 00:01:12.040 --> 00:01:15.079 the teachers of the law were sitting there. They 00:01:15.079 --> 00:01:17.439 had come from every village of Galilee and from 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:22.599 Judea and Jerusalem. This is from Luke 5. Verses 00:01:22.599 --> 00:01:25.599 17 to 26, so forgive me for not telling you the 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:29.799 context. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:33.319 to heal the sick. Some men came carrying a paralyzed 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:35.840 man on a mat, and they tried to take him into 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.879 the house to lay him before Jesus. And when they 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:41.280 could not find a way to do this because of the 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.420 crowd, they went up on the roof, and they lowered 00:01:45.420 --> 00:01:47.959 him on his mat through the tiles into the middle 00:01:47.959 --> 00:01:51.379 of the crowd. Pretty outrageous, right? Right 00:01:51.379 --> 00:01:54.319 in front of Jesus, they did this. And when Jesus 00:01:54.319 --> 00:01:57.459 saw their faith, he said, friend, your sins are 00:01:57.459 --> 00:02:00.239 forgiven. And the Pharisees and the teachers 00:02:00.239 --> 00:02:02.640 of the law began thinking to themselves, who 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:05.640 is this man speaking blasphemy? Who can forgive 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:10.099 sins but God alone? And they were just thinking 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:12.199 that. They hadn't said it out loud. They were 00:02:12.199 --> 00:02:15.439 just thinking it. Jesus knew what they were thinking, 00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:18.099 and he asked, why are you thinking these things 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:21.430 in your heart? Which is easier to say, your sins 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:25.490 are forgiven, or to say, get up and walk? But 00:02:25.490 --> 00:02:27.969 I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority 00:02:27.969 --> 00:02:32.310 on earth to forgive sins. So he said to the paralyzed 00:02:32.310 --> 00:02:36.370 man, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:39.449 home. And he immediately, he stood up in front 00:02:39.449 --> 00:02:41.949 of them, and he took what he had been lying on, 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:45.310 and he went home praising God. Everyone was amazed 00:02:45.310 --> 00:02:48.919 and gave praise to God. They were filled with 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.939 awe, and they said, we have seen remarkable things 00:02:51.939 --> 00:02:56.120 today. Can you imagine that in today's social 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:58.840 context? Can you imagine, like, they went up 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:00.939 to a roof, they cut a hole, they brought the 00:03:00.939 --> 00:03:03.680 man down. Like, I'm sure people would be recording 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:06.900 this and going live, right? They would be thinking, 00:03:06.939 --> 00:03:09.979 like, whoa, this is really happening in front 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:12.580 of us. And not only are they doing this big gesture, 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.840 they're, like, lowering him down into the house. 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:18.590 And then Jesus is saying, hey, you're forgiven. 00:03:18.870 --> 00:03:21.110 Get up and walk. And he actually gets up and 00:03:21.110 --> 00:03:24.650 he walks. It's a miracle, right? So in today's 00:03:24.650 --> 00:03:27.110 context, that would be like pretty amazing. I'm 00:03:27.110 --> 00:03:29.810 sure there would be lots of videos, lots of likes, 00:03:29.870 --> 00:03:33.030 lots of comments, lots of sharing. But then there 00:03:33.030 --> 00:03:35.789 would be the naysayers saying, who does this 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:40.490 man think he is, right? So let's just pause for 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.050 a minute because there's a lot to break down 00:03:43.050 --> 00:03:46.919 from these scriptures, right? And before we continue, 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.500 let's just pray so that God could continue to 00:03:50.500 --> 00:03:55.659 give me wisdom as I continue to share. Father 00:03:55.659 --> 00:03:57.780 God, we just thank you so much for who you are 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:00.740 in our lives, for who you have been and what 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:04.120 you continue to be in our lives now, Lord. I 00:04:04.120 --> 00:04:06.539 pray that we're able to focus on you this morning, 00:04:06.699 --> 00:04:09.639 that we're able to see what your scripture has 00:04:09.639 --> 00:04:12.979 to say to us, and that we're able to be changed 00:04:12.979 --> 00:04:16.100 in this very moment, Lord. that we're changed 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:18.439 in positive ways, that we're changed in good 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:20.899 ways, that we're changed in inspiring ways, Lord, 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:24.259 because of your word. In Jesus' name we pray. 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.819 Amen. If you guys can get up with me, if you're 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:30.899 able to, and we're going to read another scripture 00:04:30.899 --> 00:04:36.079 together. And this scripture is going to be out 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:42.600 of Luke, chapter 6, verses 6 through 10. Please 00:04:42.600 --> 00:04:45.329 hold on to those thoughts about... the first 00:04:45.329 --> 00:04:49.910 scripture that we read. Luke chapter 6, verses 00:04:49.910 --> 00:04:56.370 6 through 10. On another Sabbath, he went into 00:04:56.370 --> 00:04:59.350 the synagogue and he was teaching. And a man 00:04:59.350 --> 00:05:02.310 was there whose right hand was shriveled. The 00:05:02.310 --> 00:05:04.470 Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking 00:05:04.470 --> 00:05:07.550 for a reason to accuse Jesus. So they watched 00:05:07.550 --> 00:05:10.410 him closely to see if he would actually heal 00:05:10.410 --> 00:05:14.860 on the Sabbath. But then Jesus knew what they 00:05:14.860 --> 00:05:18.139 were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:21.000 hand, get up and stand in front of everyone. 00:05:21.560 --> 00:05:25.480 So he got up and he stood there. Then Jesus said 00:05:25.480 --> 00:05:28.980 to them, I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath, 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:34.319 to do good or to do evil, to save life or to 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:37.459 destroy it? He looked around at them all and 00:05:37.459 --> 00:05:40.560 then said to the man, stretch out your hand. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:44.360 And he did so. and his hand was completely restored. 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.519 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:50.620 were furious and began to discuss with one another 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:53.980 what they might do to Jesus. Amen. You may be 00:05:53.980 --> 00:05:58.860 seated. So we're going to take a look at two 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:01.480 different things. We're going to look at how 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:06.899 God knows what we're thinking. In both of these 00:06:06.899 --> 00:06:10.199 scriptures, the Pharisees weren't saying things 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:13.470 out loud. They were just thinking them. And God 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:16.430 knew what they were thinking, right? And we're 00:06:16.430 --> 00:06:19.069 also going to look at how God sees our motives 00:06:19.069 --> 00:06:22.750 and our intentions and our thoughts, how he sees 00:06:22.750 --> 00:06:27.430 our heart, okay? And this is probably the wordiest 00:06:27.430 --> 00:06:29.769 message that I'll ever share with you because 00:06:29.769 --> 00:06:33.769 there's so much psychology that has to do with 00:06:33.769 --> 00:06:36.769 our thoughts and how it correlates with our heart 00:06:36.769 --> 00:06:42.009 and then how our thoughts turn into action. And 00:06:42.009 --> 00:06:46.089 how you can't really have a motive without thoughts 00:06:46.089 --> 00:06:49.410 going into action, right? Who likes those movies 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:52.730 where they're like, what was their motive? You 00:06:52.730 --> 00:06:55.089 know, and they're like going to court, and they 00:06:55.089 --> 00:06:56.949 don't know exactly what their thought process 00:06:56.949 --> 00:07:00.009 was, but they're like, they had a motive, right? 00:07:00.529 --> 00:07:04.230 So the cool thing about God, before we dig in, 00:07:04.269 --> 00:07:08.899 is that God knows our thoughts. And I want to 00:07:08.899 --> 00:07:12.160 just drop this as a little nugget because I'm 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:15.899 not going to preach on it. But Satan does not 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:19.000 know our thoughts. Only God knows our thoughts. 00:07:20.100 --> 00:07:24.420 So when we're claiming things and when we're 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:26.939 claiming things back, sometimes we need to say 00:07:26.939 --> 00:07:30.060 those things out loud because Satan doesn't know 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.050 our heart. Satan doesn't know our thoughts. Only 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:37.310 God does. And so when you're rebuking something, 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:39.410 when you're wanting something out of your life, 00:07:39.490 --> 00:07:41.670 when you're claiming victory, you have to be 00:07:41.670 --> 00:07:43.810 saying those things out loud so that Satan can 00:07:43.810 --> 00:07:46.149 hear them. Because he doesn't know our heart 00:07:46.149 --> 00:07:48.209 and our thoughts. Just wanted to drop that little 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:52.110 nugget before I continue. So the beautiful thing 00:07:52.110 --> 00:07:55.430 about what we're talking about today, and if 00:07:55.430 --> 00:07:57.629 you see me toggling back and forth between my 00:07:57.629 --> 00:08:00.310 laptop and my phone, it's because I don't trust 00:08:00.310 --> 00:08:06.589 slang. and it freezes up, so excuse me. All right, 00:08:06.649 --> 00:08:08.629 so the cool thing about what we're talking about 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:11.850 today and God knowing our thoughts is that it's 00:08:11.850 --> 00:08:14.709 a beautiful thing that only he can do for us 00:08:14.709 --> 00:08:19.129 and not anyone else. So when the Pharisees and 00:08:19.129 --> 00:08:24.290 the teachers were looking for a reason to follow 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:30.230 God and follow Jesus, I'm sorry, they were there. 00:08:32.529 --> 00:08:37.070 as onlookers, as followers, but were they really 00:08:37.070 --> 00:08:40.370 there with good intentions? The scripture in 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:43.730 and of itself says that they were there looking 00:08:43.730 --> 00:08:48.690 for reasons to fault Jesus. Okay? So that one 00:08:48.690 --> 00:08:51.190 part of being there in that moment and following 00:08:51.190 --> 00:08:55.330 someone in that very moment means that it was 00:08:55.330 --> 00:08:57.450 clear that they weren't there for the right reasons. 00:08:59.049 --> 00:09:01.429 They were there looking for a reason to fault 00:09:01.429 --> 00:09:12.350 Jesus. Sorry for these technical difficulties, 00:09:12.470 --> 00:09:23.990 guys. So the easy claim in that moment was that 00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:28.049 Jesus said, your sins are forgiven. That didn't 00:09:28.049 --> 00:09:31.830 require any visible proof. It just meant that 00:09:31.830 --> 00:09:34.490 anybody could say your sins are forgiven, right? 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:38.250 But then Jesus said, get up and walk. And he 00:09:38.250 --> 00:09:45.990 invites those words to the test. And he actually 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:49.210 gets up and he walks. So there's this correlation 00:09:49.210 --> 00:09:54.470 of saying something and then also making the 00:09:54.470 --> 00:09:59.870 action come behind it. So by following with the 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.049 forgiveness part, it was a successful physical 00:10:02.049 --> 00:10:05.149 healing. Jesus demonstrates that his visible 00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:08.210 divine authority is actually real in that moment, 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:13.990 right? But then Jesus says that this means Jesus 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:16.169 didn't need them to explain themselves. He already 00:10:16.169 --> 00:10:19.009 knew what they were thinking. This is important 00:10:19.009 --> 00:10:21.549 because sometimes we tend to hide our thoughts 00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:24.950 from people, but we can't hide them from Jesus. 00:10:26.830 --> 00:10:30.850 Sometimes we can be smiling on the outside while 00:10:30.850 --> 00:10:35.250 questioning God on the inside. We can say praise 00:10:35.250 --> 00:10:38.610 the Lord while carrying resentment in our hearts. 00:10:39.750 --> 00:10:43.149 We can do something that looks spiritual while 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:47.570 our motive is pride. But Jesus sees beyond the 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:53.309 action. He sees our hearts. Before we ever say 00:10:53.309 --> 00:10:56.940 it, Jesus knows it. And before we ever act on 00:10:56.940 --> 00:11:02.019 it, Jesus knows the motive behind it. See, in 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.240 this story, the problem wasn't necessarily that 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:08.759 Jesus, what he did. The problem was who Jesus 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:12.159 was in that moment. They weren't watching Jesus 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:18.539 to praise him. They were watching Jesus to doubt 00:11:18.539 --> 00:11:22.159 him. They were watching him looking for something 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:28.929 to criticize, and Jesus knew it. This should 00:11:28.929 --> 00:11:32.549 cause us to examine our own hearts. How are we 00:11:32.549 --> 00:11:35.570 looking at Jesus? Are we looking for reasons 00:11:35.570 --> 00:11:39.610 to trust him? Or are we looking for reasons to 00:11:39.610 --> 00:11:42.990 doubt him? How many times in our lives do we 00:11:42.990 --> 00:11:46.129 set up questions and doubts for Jesus? Jesus, 00:11:46.330 --> 00:11:50.269 if you do this, then I'll believe in you. Are 00:11:50.269 --> 00:11:53.190 we looking for reasons to doubt him? Or are we 00:11:53.190 --> 00:11:58.559 looking for reasons to trust him? Are we looking 00:11:58.559 --> 00:12:00.899 for what God is doing in our lives or are we 00:12:00.899 --> 00:12:03.639 so focused on what we think God should be doing 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.200 that we miss what he's already doing? I'm going 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.019 to say that again. Are we looking for what God 00:12:10.019 --> 00:12:14.159 is doing or are we so focused on what we think 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:19.600 he should be doing that we miss what he's already 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:25.899 doing? See, two people in this room can sit here. 00:12:26.490 --> 00:12:28.570 hear the same words, and experience the same 00:12:28.570 --> 00:12:31.610 presence of God, but have completely different 00:12:31.610 --> 00:12:35.370 responses because our hearts might be in different 00:12:35.370 --> 00:12:43.730 places. Jesus knows the difference. When the 00:12:43.730 --> 00:12:47.409 Pharisees were looking for wrongdoings and what 00:12:47.409 --> 00:12:51.149 Jesus might be doing wrong, do you think that 00:12:51.149 --> 00:12:53.950 it stopped Jesus from continuing to do miracles 00:12:53.950 --> 00:12:59.139 and continuing to share? what he was doing across 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:06.539 Galilee, do you think that it stopped him? We 00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:10.379 can't allow somebody else's wrong motives to 00:13:10.379 --> 00:13:14.740 stop us from hindering and hiding what God has 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:18.679 called us to do. People might misunderstand you. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:22.580 People might question you. People might belittle 00:13:22.580 --> 00:13:26.879 you, criticize you. People may even watch you 00:13:26.879 --> 00:13:30.519 hoping that you fail. But if your heart is right 00:13:30.519 --> 00:13:35.480 before God, you have to keep obeying God. And 00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:38.639 Jesus knows your heart. So I doubt that Jesus 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:43.419 even flinched for one second, paused for a second, 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:46.539 when he knew their thoughts were to accuse him 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:52.320 and to find wrongdoing. And like I said before, 00:13:52.379 --> 00:13:56.700 there's something powerful about... Jesus not 00:13:56.700 --> 00:13:59.779 only knowing and hearing us not only hearing 00:13:59.779 --> 00:14:05.019 us but the Bible tells us that he knows what's 00:14:05.019 --> 00:14:07.879 happening in our hearts and how does our heart 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:11.460 and our thought like go together why why do our 00:14:11.460 --> 00:14:14.360 thoughts why does him knowing our thoughts connect 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:18.799 to him knowing our heart in a Christian context 00:14:18.799 --> 00:14:24.750 the mind and the heart are deeply linked The 00:14:24.750 --> 00:14:27.809 Bible views the heart as the core of your inner 00:14:27.809 --> 00:14:31.649 life, where your thoughts, your feelings, and 00:14:31.649 --> 00:14:35.429 your choices start. What you think shapes your 00:14:35.429 --> 00:14:37.470 heart, and the state of your heart drives your 00:14:37.470 --> 00:14:42.610 thoughts and your actions. The Word of God says 00:14:42.610 --> 00:14:47.049 that the heart controls the center of your person. 00:14:47.090 --> 00:14:49.330 It holds all your thoughts and all your desires 00:14:49.330 --> 00:14:54.500 and all of your beliefs. Proverbs 4 .23 tells 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.360 us to guard our heart above all else. It says 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.860 that everything you do flows from your heart. 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:05.700 Proverbs 23 .7 says that as a person thinks in 00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:08.600 their heart, so are they. Your inner thoughts 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:12.980 define your true character. And Matthew 15 .19 00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:16.000 says that Jesus teaches that evil thoughts, murder, 00:15:16.179 --> 00:15:19.500 and lies, all of those evil things come from 00:15:19.500 --> 00:15:23.110 the heart too. So just like beautiful things 00:15:23.110 --> 00:15:26.570 come from our thoughts and our heart, so do evil 00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:31.409 things, right? And just bear with me because 00:15:31.409 --> 00:15:33.669 I said this is the wordiest message that I've 00:15:33.669 --> 00:15:39.350 ever shared, but I wanted to look into how our 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:43.509 thoughts and our hearts work together. What you 00:15:43.509 --> 00:15:47.210 choose to think about grows roots in your heart. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:50.899 The things that you literally sit there day to 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:54.220 day and think about grows a deep root in your 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:57.039 heart. If you're thinking about negative things, 00:15:57.179 --> 00:16:00.240 you're sowing and you're reaping negative things 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.100 in your heart. Those are roots. If you're thinking 00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:06.240 about positive and great things, you're sowing 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.559 positive and great things in your heart. It's 00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:12.080 the root, right? Good thoughts build a pure heart, 00:16:12.139 --> 00:16:15.259 and sinful thoughts, they stain it. It ruins 00:16:15.259 --> 00:16:18.289 it. It's like putting weed eaters. Into your 00:16:18.289 --> 00:16:23.049 heart, like you're defeating the purpose. You're 00:16:23.049 --> 00:16:26.289 putting weed eater into the roots instead of 00:16:26.289 --> 00:16:32.090 fertilizer that builds the roots. The heart drives 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:34.090 the action, then a heart full of faith leads 00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:36.710 to loving thoughts and kind deeds, and a bitter 00:16:36.710 --> 00:16:39.769 heart leads to angry and harmful thoughts. So 00:16:39.769 --> 00:16:43.149 your motives and your thoughts and everything 00:16:43.149 --> 00:16:46.389 that leads to what you're thinking. They all 00:16:46.389 --> 00:16:54.690 need action. So the motive is the why. And intentions 00:16:54.690 --> 00:17:00.590 are the what. And then the actions remains the 00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:03.190 final thing that you've actually done. Right? 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:04.890 So you have a motive, you have an intention, 00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:07.829 and then you have an action. And so while you're 00:17:07.829 --> 00:17:10.150 sitting there doing all of these things in your 00:17:10.150 --> 00:17:15.779 mind, God is seeing all of it. God knows all 00:17:15.779 --> 00:17:17.779 of it. He knows what you're thinking right now. 00:17:17.960 --> 00:17:21.380 He knows if you're thinking about lunch, if you're 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:23.839 hungry. He knows if you're like, man, this is 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.480 a little too wordy. I'm not following along. 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:28.440 It's okay. We'll get to the end here in a little 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:31.140 bit. He knows your thoughts. He knows everything 00:17:31.140 --> 00:17:34.779 that we're thinking in every moment, right? And 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:40.779 so while motives fuel the intentions and then 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:46.950 intentions turn into actions, What are those 00:17:46.950 --> 00:17:49.789 actions? Are they good ones or are they bad ones? 00:17:50.609 --> 00:17:52.809 What are your motives and your intentions? Are 00:17:52.809 --> 00:17:55.769 they good or are they bad before they turn into 00:17:55.769 --> 00:17:59.670 an action? So that's one of the reasons why I 00:17:59.670 --> 00:18:01.789 shared what is the last good deed that you did 00:18:01.789 --> 00:18:07.130 for someone? What was the motive behind it? Was 00:18:07.130 --> 00:18:12.630 it to gain popularity? Was it recorded and shared 00:18:12.630 --> 00:18:15.049 on Facebook like we see a lot of those things? 00:18:15.230 --> 00:18:17.410 on social media. How many of you guys always 00:18:17.410 --> 00:18:19.650 see those videos where there's people doing great 00:18:19.650 --> 00:18:22.190 things, giving out money? You guys see those? 00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:28.670 Well, I saw a reverse one. I saw a man who's 00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:31.170 usually giving out money, and he pretended to 00:18:31.170 --> 00:18:35.490 be blind outside of a store. And this man comes 00:18:35.490 --> 00:18:39.609 up to him, and he asks them, hey, do you need 00:18:39.609 --> 00:18:42.309 anything? And he said, well, today's my birthday. 00:18:43.219 --> 00:18:45.400 And I don't have anybody to celebrate it with. 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:49.720 And the man says, I'll celebrate it with you. 00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:51.440 And he said, really? You don't even know me. 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:53.740 Why would you celebrate it with me? And he said, 00:18:53.900 --> 00:18:57.779 this morning I asked Jesus to put someone in 00:18:57.779 --> 00:19:01.559 my heart, in my path that I could bless. And 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:04.559 he said, and I believe that this person is you. 00:19:05.980 --> 00:19:08.019 And he's like, let me celebrate your birthday 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:09.900 with you. I'm going to go inside and I'm going 00:19:09.900 --> 00:19:12.799 to buy you a birthday cake. celebrate your birthday 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:15.579 together so he goes in he buys a birthday cake 00:19:15.579 --> 00:19:19.400 he comes out with a balloon too and a candle 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:22.440 and he sits with this man who is saying he's 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:25.440 blind and he sings happy birthday with him and 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:27.819 he also ends up praying over him and blessing 00:19:27.819 --> 00:19:33.039 him and the man takes off well the man stands 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.680 up and he puts the cane down and he tells the 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.519 man I'm not blind and the man goes it's okay 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.240 It's all right. God still loves you. And he said, 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:48.779 but it's not my birthday today. And the man continues, 00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:52.400 it's okay. It's all right. God still loves you. 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:54.259 I'm still here for you, man. Whatever you need, 00:19:54.380 --> 00:19:56.240 I'm still here for you. I'm praying with you. 00:19:56.900 --> 00:20:01.339 And then the man turns around and he says, because 00:20:01.339 --> 00:20:04.420 you blessed me, I want to bless you in return. 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:08.640 And he offers him $1 ,000, right? And he says. 00:20:10.779 --> 00:20:14.259 no, that wasn't my intention. That's not the 00:20:14.259 --> 00:20:16.500 reason that I did what I did with you today. 00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:19.400 And another woman comes up in the middle of their 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:23.519 conversations, and she offers the man $5 and 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:26.380 tells him happy birthday. And the man says, thank 00:20:26.380 --> 00:20:29.299 you. And the man that actually prayed with him 00:20:29.299 --> 00:20:32.319 and got him that birthday cake, he says, why 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.880 don't you give that money to that woman? She 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.519 might need it for something. And I was like, 00:20:39.829 --> 00:20:42.130 in the middle of this week's sermon, and I see 00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:46.970 this message, and I said, God, thank you so much 00:20:46.970 --> 00:20:50.890 for making that visual very clear. This man did 00:20:50.890 --> 00:20:54.309 something from his heart without any intention 00:20:54.309 --> 00:20:58.150 of receiving anything in return. This man blessed 00:20:58.150 --> 00:21:01.569 someone else without the intention of being blessed 00:21:01.569 --> 00:21:03.869 back. He didn't know that the camera was recording. 00:21:03.910 --> 00:21:07.720 It was like from a distance. And, you know, you 00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:09.599 can believe anything on social media. It might 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:11.559 have been fake or whatever, but it worked for 00:21:11.559 --> 00:21:13.440 the purpose of what I'm sharing with you today. 00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:16.140 The camera was far off. The man didn't know that 00:21:16.140 --> 00:21:18.319 he was being recorded. And it was a beautiful 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:22.720 thing that he said, no, that is not my intention 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:27.019 of blessing you today. So how many times have 00:21:27.019 --> 00:21:30.279 we been in a space where we've done something 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:35.099 kind for someone for the right intention? Or 00:21:35.099 --> 00:21:38.160 we've done something kind for someone for the 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:42.539 wrong intention. For the likes or the clicks 00:21:42.539 --> 00:21:45.160 or feeling good about ourselves. And there's 00:21:45.160 --> 00:21:48.200 nothing wrong with doing kind things to feel 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:50.119 encouraged and motivated that we're doing the 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:51.519 right thing. There's nothing wrong with that. 00:21:52.299 --> 00:21:56.240 But where is our heart and where is our motivation 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:03.710 for all of those things? Pure motives. bring 00:22:03.710 --> 00:22:07.490 clarity. When they're driven by love and honesty 00:22:07.490 --> 00:22:11.250 and genuine care, the heart weighs options clearly 00:22:11.250 --> 00:22:16.049 and it makes choices that last. And they build 00:22:16.049 --> 00:22:19.890 and they edify. Selfish motives cloud our judgment. 00:22:21.549 --> 00:22:25.309 And selfish motives are led by fear. They're 00:22:25.309 --> 00:22:29.390 led by pride. They're led by the need to control. 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:36.039 And they really end up being irrational and harmful 00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:42.299 thoughts. Doing a kind thing for approval leaves 00:22:42.299 --> 00:22:45.359 a heart empty, while doing it from compassion 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:52.220 brings fulfillment. So pure motives have connection, 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.680 peace, openness, honestness, reflection, emotional 00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:00.960 health, and it builds trust in selfish motives. 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:08.380 They bring validation. They're blinding. And 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:14.579 it leads to burnout. So while people see our 00:23:14.579 --> 00:23:18.500 actions, Jesus knows our motives. People can 00:23:18.500 --> 00:23:21.700 judge what we do, but Jesus knows why we do it. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:28.400 And in the sense where these Pharisees were following 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:35.200 Jesus, technically they were following him to 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:39.480 see what he was doing wrong. And I want to share 00:23:39.480 --> 00:23:43.500 with you guys that regardless of who's following 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:47.460 you for what intention and what motive, our calling 00:23:47.460 --> 00:23:50.960 is to continue to do the work of the Lord, the 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:55.799 work of Jesus. And when God ends up knowing your 00:23:55.799 --> 00:23:59.900 heart and he knows where your heart is and where 00:23:59.900 --> 00:24:02.759 your heart belongs, then he's going to bless 00:24:02.759 --> 00:24:09.500 you in return regardless. Proverbs 16, 1 through 00:24:09.500 --> 00:24:12.019 8 says, The plans of the heart belong to man, 00:24:12.259 --> 00:24:14.900 but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:18.500 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:23.059 but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work 00:24:23.059 --> 00:24:25.819 to the Lord, and your plans will be established. 00:24:26.599 --> 00:24:29.220 The Lord has made everything for its purpose. 00:24:31.369 --> 00:24:34.210 for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant 00:24:34.210 --> 00:24:40.990 in his heart is an abomination to the Lord. Be 00:24:40.990 --> 00:24:44.490 assured he will not go unpunished. By steadfast 00:24:44.490 --> 00:24:48.069 love and faithfulness, iniquity is atoned for, 00:24:48.170 --> 00:24:50.430 and by the fear of the Lord, one turns away from 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:55.430 evil. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes 00:24:55.430 --> 00:24:59.859 even his enemies to be at peace with him. Better 00:24:59.859 --> 00:25:03.380 is the little righteousness than great revenues 00:25:03.380 --> 00:25:07.119 with injustice. A lot of people have turned the 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.680 scripture into bad. But when I read it, I hope 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:13.819 that you receive it as something that's beautiful, 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.119 that God is seeing your heart and he's weighing 00:25:16.119 --> 00:25:18.500 what's in your heart. And he's looking at your 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:31.210 ways to be turned towards him. I'm going to end 00:25:31.210 --> 00:25:40.450 with this here. Sometimes we need to be careful. 00:25:41.970 --> 00:25:45.630 Am I doing the right thing? But the deeper question 00:25:45.630 --> 00:25:49.549 should be, why am I doing it? We can serve God 00:25:49.549 --> 00:25:52.589 for the wrong reasons. We can sing for the wrong 00:25:52.589 --> 00:25:54.589 reasons. We can preach for the wrong reasons. 00:25:54.930 --> 00:25:57.490 We can give for the wrong reasons. We can help 00:25:57.490 --> 00:26:01.220 people. because we want recognition. We can pray 00:26:01.220 --> 00:26:03.619 because we want people to think that we're spiritual. 00:26:03.779 --> 00:26:06.539 We can be in church because we want people to 00:26:06.539 --> 00:26:09.720 think that we go to church every Sunday, but 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:11.980 we could be criticizing the whole time, right? 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:15.839 We can do good things because we want applause, 00:26:16.019 --> 00:26:21.559 but Jesus knows our motives. In Matthew 6, Jesus 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:23.740 warned us about doing righteous things to be 00:26:23.740 --> 00:26:27.019 seen by people, but God isn't only looking at 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:31.480 the deed. He's looking at our hearts. The truth 00:26:31.480 --> 00:26:35.079 is that God knows when our heart is sincere. 00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:39.839 Sometimes people will misunderstand you, and 00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:41.960 they may think that your intentions are wrong. 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:45.039 They might judge you without knowing your whole 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:50.180 story. They might look at you and what you did 00:26:50.180 --> 00:26:52.299 and assume that they know why you did it, but 00:26:52.299 --> 00:26:55.839 Jesus knows the truth. He knows when your heart 00:26:55.839 --> 00:27:00.130 is sincere. He knows when you're trying to obey 00:27:00.130 --> 00:27:04.910 him and do your best. He knows the sacrifice 00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:09.329 that nobody else sees. So just knowing everything 00:27:09.329 --> 00:27:12.730 that we do and everything that we say in all 00:27:12.730 --> 00:27:16.390 of our actions, God knows our motive. He knows 00:27:16.390 --> 00:27:19.390 our intentions behind it. He knows when we're 00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:22.630 being sincere. He knows when we're judging. He 00:27:22.630 --> 00:27:25.829 knows when we're being supportive. And he knows... 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:29.799 Every reason that we do what we do. And I just 00:27:29.799 --> 00:27:34.880 encourage you guys to continue to seek the Lord. 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:37.960 If you want to turn your heart and your thoughts 00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:40.680 into a different direction, continue to seek 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:44.400 the Lord and his thoughts and his ways. Amen? 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:49.380 Let us pray. Father God, thank you so much for 00:27:49.380 --> 00:27:54.480 your message this morning. We pray that we really... 00:27:55.440 --> 00:27:58.700 Turn our thoughts to you every single day, every 00:27:58.700 --> 00:28:02.579 morning that we wake up. Align our thoughts and 00:28:02.579 --> 00:28:06.480 our heart, even when it's a struggle, even when 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:08.740 there's things that are difficult around us. 00:28:10.339 --> 00:28:12.839 Help us to be the person that you intend us to 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:17.180 be. Help us to be kind, to be loving for the 00:28:17.180 --> 00:28:19.759 right reasons. In Jesus' name we pray.