BROKENNESS

To rekindle your “first love” for Jesus Christ, rekindling the fire of devotion that once burned brightly in our hearts, reconciling broken relationships, and rebuilding these parts of our lives that are in a state of despair: IT ALL BEGINS WITH BROKENNESS AND HUMILTY. No exceptions, no shortcuts, no substitutes. How can you tell if you are truly broken unto God? Often lives appear to be spiritually prosperous but the truth that is in our hearts is hollow and hard. We are spiritually starved. We are great at religion but our relationship with Jesus suffers. 2 King 5 the OT story of Naaman, he wanted to be healed but not at the expense of his pride. Many of us may have spiritual leprosy and we need to be healed. But you have to do it God’s way. Issues of the heart, all spoken to God’s people. Jer. 5:23 tells us, “they had a defiant and rebellious heart.” Jer. 4:14, “ O Jerusalem , wash your heart from wickedness.” Jer.16:12, “Each one follows [walks after the stubbornness] of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me.” Matthew 15:7-9, “ Hypocrites!...They draw near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me.” All about the issue of the heart. If their hearts were not right, they were not right. Good news is of the Gospel is Jesus made a way, the Greta Physician made a way, to cure our deceived, diseased hearts. Ezek. 36:25-27 What is the condition of your heart? Have you just been going thru the motions, playing church, pretending all is well? When the truth is you need a heart transplant. Ps. 13923, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” Roy Hession said “To be broken is the beginning of revival. It is painful, it is humiliating, but it is the only way.” We have more tools and resources available for our questions and hurts and needs than any other time in the history of the church. How to books… So why do so many Christians live frustrated, defeated, empty, barren lives? We long to experience a greater reality of Gods presence and power in our lives. Our hearts need to be revived. Scripture is clear about the kind of heart God revives. Is.57:15, “For thus says the High and Lofty One, Who inhabits eternity; whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” To what kind of person does God draw near? What kind of person does He rescue and deliver? Those who have a broken and contrite heart. Ps 51:16-17 Mt.5:13 blessed are those who recognize they are spiritually destitute and bankrupt. In our culture we want gain w/o pain. Resurrection w/o the grave… You and I will never meet God until we meet Him in brokenness James 4:8-10 Misconceptions About Brokenness People think of brokenness as being sad or gloomy. Or morbidly introspective ..woe is me. Shedding of tears, having a deep emotional experience. Hurts and tragedies True brokenness is not a feeling or an emotion. Rather, it requires a choice, an act of the will. This choice is not a one time choice or experience, though it may be a life changing turning point. True brokenness is an ongoing constant way of life. It is a lifestyle. Brokenness is the shattering of my self will. It is the absolute surrender of my will to God. Yes Lord, no resistance, no stubbornness… Contrite is an OT word used to speak of brokenness. It suggest something that is crushed or ground to powder, as a rock is pulverized. God wants to pulverize our self will. Ill: of a horse being broken Brokenness is the striping of self-reliance and independence from God. You have no confidence in your own righteousness or works. Brokenness is the softening of the soil of my n heart. It is breaking clods of resistance that keep the seed from penetrating and taking root. You ae then receptive and responsive to truth. To be easily molded by God. Brokenness in the life of the believer has both a vertical and a horizontal dimension. A broken man walks in transparent honesty and humility with God. We walk in the light. Nothing between my soul and my savior. A broken man will also be humble and broken before others. Biblical Portraits of Broken and Unbroken Two Kings: Saul and David 1 Sam 15:30 Ps 32 and 51 Pharisees and Sinners, Luke 18 two who prayed Two people at the banquet, Luke 7 Two sons and their Father, Luke 15 Broken or unbroken…the higher up we find ourselves in terms of power, influence and wealth----the more people look up to us--- the more venerable we are to pride and self-deceit, the more prone we are to be blind to our spiritual needs and deficiencies. Am I A Proud Or Broken Person… List of 35, it is not an exhaustive list. THE BLESSING OF BROKENNESS 1.God draws near to the broken. Scripture teaches God “resist the proud.” (Prov.3:34; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5) The concept here is that God sets himself in “battle array” against those who are proud; He stiff-arm’s the arrogant; He keeps them at a distance. God repels those who are self sufficient and who take unholy pride in their accomplishments. On the other hand, He pours grace to the humble. Like an ambulance racing to the scene of a wreck, God races to the scene when His children humble themselves and acknowledge their need. 2.New life is released thru our brokenness. Jn12;23ff, rt after the triumphal entry to Jerusalem. The mystery is that death brings life. I can take a grain of wheat and clean it up, place it on a shelf, sing to it or pray over it and nothing happens. I have a dried seed. It sits their alone. Put it in the ground…. Many people with chronic loneliness is because they are unwilling to die. Our natural instinct is to hold on protectively to our own lives. We refuse to shed that hard outer shell called “self” no one can get close or penetrate. Pride repulses God. Ill: Churches are like a bag of marbles…. Or a bag of grapes… try and squeeze and squish them…grapes the juice of the Spirit flows out… every true believer has to let go of self and pour out his life on behalf of others. What does this death look like? You must die to our own interest, rights, way of doing things, die to our own comfort and convenience, hopes, dreams, aspirations. To die means to lay down, give up and let go. Jn12:25 Is.53:5,10, Is 57:15 wd bruised is a variation of the wd used in Is 53, Wd means to be crushed, broken into pieces, to die. Rose, crushed for perfume. Caterpillar surrenders to the confines of a chrysalis so it can be metamorphosed into a butterfly. 3.Deeper love and deeper worship. God begins to increase your capacity to love and worship. So many are bound up in our inability to express love and worship. True freedom to love and worship cannot be manufactured by man, God increases our capacity. True worship begins with brokenness and humility over whatever God reveals to us in His Word. Poverty of spirit and mourning over our sin lead to genuine repentance, which in turn leads to forgiveness. Forgiveness will produce freedom---freedom from guilt and bondage. Whenever freedom has been birthed out of brokenness, repentance and forgiveness, we will have a greater capacity to love---a supernatural ability to love God and to love those who are unlovable--- and for worship. True love and worship will lead us back to a new level of brokenness, which leads to greater and deeper repentance, increased forgiveness and an even greater capacity to love and worship. Brokenness is the starting place for a lifelong cycle. 4. Able to be used by God. Gen 32, Jacob at Jabbok. Moses also new the power of brokenness. 40myears in the desert striped him of all his natural assets. Gideon… 5.Rivers of Revival, the Welsh Revival of 1904-1905. They sang, “Bend me lower, lower down at Jesus feet.” On the Isle of Lewis…18 months met 3 nights a week praying thru the night… Ps 24:3-5. The greatest hindrance to revival is not others unwillingness to humble themselves---it is our need to humble ourselves and confess our desperate need for His mercy. JOURNEY INTO BROKENNESS Brokenness requires God’s initiative and our response. There are 3 primary instruments God uses to bring us to the point of brokenness God Uses: 1. The Word Of God has the power to soften the hardened soil and shatter the stubborn self-life. Jer.23:29, “Is not my word …like a hammer that breaks the rock to pieces.” Ps.29:4-5 The same word that works as a hammer to break us will then become a balm to heal our heats and a light to guide our footsteps in the pathway of humility. 2. Circumstances to expose our need and bring us to an end of ourselves. The circumstances He uses may be a stressful job, a difficult marriage, a chronic illness, a financial crisis, or some other issue that brings pressure to bear on our lives. 3. God has given us the body of Christ. As we walk in the light with our fellow believers, they can help us see ourselves where we need to be broken. Prov.27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” All three of these instruments God uses. The Holy Spirit is the arm that welds each of these instruments to bring us to the point of brokenness. HOWEVER WE MUST RESPOND TO HIS INITIATIVE. So, how can we cultivate a broken, contrite heart? 4 Things That Will help Us Cultivate A Deeper Level Of Brokenness 1. Get A Fresh Vision Of God. The closer we get to God, the more clearly we will see ourselves as we really are. As long as we compare ourselves to others, we can always find someone who makes us feel good about how well we are doing. But when we step into the light of God’s holiness, our lives are brought into sharp relief. What once seemed clean and pure suddenly looks soiled and trashy. Ill: Job… Isaiah… 2. Don’t Wait For God To Break You Choose To Be Broken Jesus referred to himself as the rejected Stone spoken of in the OT. Ps. 118:22-23 He stressed the importance of how we choose to respond to His Lordship: “Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Some people who seem “broken” have not been broken at all. Rather they have been crushed by their circumstances because of their unwillingness to fall on the Rock and be broken. Don’t wait for God to break you, “Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.” 1 Peter 5:6. Fall on the Rock who was broken for you, and cultivate the habit of crying out with the tax collector, “God be merciful to me a sinner” and with David, “Have mercy on me , O God.” There is a painful price for those who refuse to be broken. Prov.29:1, “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” 3. Acknowledge Spiritual Need----to God and Others If you want to live a lifestyle of brokenness and humility you must learn to live with honesty and transparency. We must make a habit of acknowledging our spiritual needs to God and others. Brokenness toward god produces openness toward others. 4. Do Whatever You Know God Wants You To Do. In most of our lives there are specific issues about which we know God has revealed something that we have not fully obeyed. Pride causes us to resist or delay our obedience. The humble, broken heart says simply says, “Yes Lord, Have Thine own way.” It could be TV, diet, or lack of prayer and the WOG.