Sin is like heart disease – it robs us of life. Anger, resentment, pride, dishonesty, lust – all those things rob us of life. But we, well, we want to sweep them under the carpet. Problem is, when you do that – all you get, is a lump under the carpet. They say men are the worst at going to the doctors. So many men drop dead in the prime of life from bowel cancer and heart disease. Because we just didn't want to go to the doctors. There's this foolish male pride thing going on. "Well, I'm a man. I'm strong. I'm okay." And that's the very same man who can wake up dead tomorrow because he didn't go for a regular check up to the doctor. In part it's pride but in part it's that we don't want to hear the bad news. I mean how many men know that they're overweight but they don't want to hear it. They just ignore it and suppress it and behave like there's nothing wrong. Until one day they have a stroke or a heart attack that could have been avoided with a bit of exercise, losing just a few pounds, getting the blood pressure under control. Hello! We don't want to hear the bad news and so, at best, we end up living a sub optimal unhealthy life where we're tired and short of breath. And at worst we keel over dead before our time. Now, none of us likes bad news. Problem is that our aversion to bad news can end up robbing us of life. We want to sweep it under the carpet but all you get when you sweep it under the carpet is a lump under the carpet. You actually don't solve anything. And so what we're looking at this week and next week on the program is getting a grip and dealing with some issues. The things in our hearts that are robbing us of life. And today, today if you'll join me I'd like to have a bit of a health check with you. Just a bit of time where we look through the things going on in our hearts. A little probe, a little prod around in there. Because it's not until we acknowledge those things that we can join hands with God and start doing something about them. Now, we only have a few minutes so we're going to talk about just a few diseases in our hearts today. The main ones. The ones that are ruining the lives of probably 80% of the people listening today, including you and me. Come on, let's get real here. Let's take some responsibility for the things that we're hiding in our hearts. Proverbs chapter 27, verse 19 says this: As water reflects a face, so a mans heart reflects the man. What's going on on the inside is going to have an impact on the outside. You can't help it. And so today we just want to look at a handful of these different diseases of the heart that are hurting our lives. And that's why I'm asking you to spend these few minutes with me and have the courage, when you hear one or two that you know are alive in your heart, to look God directly in the eye and say, "God, you know something, that's me! I have to take responsibility for that and even though I don't have the strength or the ability to do something about it, I know that You have and You can and that You want to." This is about opening up our hearts to God and His Spirit and His Word to let Him to make some changes to heal our hearts. So that we can have the life that He always planned for us. Amen. Okay, here's the first one. Psalm 10, verse 3 says: He boasts of the cravings of his heart. He blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord. The first one. The first disease of the heart is greed. So many people in this world want more and more and more and more and more and we're taught that that's okay. Even our governments encourage us to spend more to help the economy. But when the cravings of our heart take over. When greed drives us. Let me tell you something, you and I will turn our hearts away from God. We will revile Him because we can't serve Him and greed. We can't serve Him and money and wealth and position and status. And that one, this greed, leads to another disease. The disease of deception and dishonesty. Psalm 62, verse 10 says: Do not trust in extortion or take pride in stolen goods. Though your riches increase do not set your heart on them. Many, many people are caught up in deceit and dishonesty. In theft and lying. In fact there are certain personality types for whom this is their main weakness. And the problem with this is that you can't lie straight in bed. You can't be dishonest and deceitful and lie and cheat and then have a good nights sleep. Now you might be deceiving the rest of the world but none of us is stupid enough to think that we can deceive God. And so, this particular disease of the heart robs us of our relationship and fellowship and intimacy with God. It's a rotten disease and I know that there is someone who needs to look God in the eye and confess this sin right now and ask for forgiveness and ask for God to help heal their heart right now. The third one, the third one's a biggy. Many of us get caught up in this one and this is probably the main disease that God's had to heal me of. Have a listen. Psalm 101, verse 5: Whoever slanders his neighbour in secret, him will I put to silence. Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him I will not endure. Interesting how slander and pride go together here. See the root's in his pride. When I'm proud it's all about me. I'm important. I'm more important than you and I'm more important than God and I'm right and it's my way or the highway. Now you see I can rattle those things off the tongue so quickly because I have more than a passing familiarity with those. And the thing that pride breeds in us is that we can't stand it when someone else succeeds. We can't stand it when someone else gets the limelight. And so the proud person will slander other people. They'll stab them in the back. Undermine them. And with pride and slander comes envy. Have a listen to this one. Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 30: A heart of peace gives life to the body but envy rots the bones. We looked at that one yesterday. You can't have peace when you're proud because life is about having one big competition. So pride, envy and slander are all part of the same disease and these next two follow close along. Have a listen to these from Daniel chapter 5, verse 20: But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. This is written about King Belshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar's son. He became arrogant and hard of heart. And that's what happens through pride. And let me tell you something, God always opposes the proud. You can read that in James chapter 4 in verse 6. And so this piece of wisdom from Solomon holds true. Proverbs 16, verse 18: Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Now this last one we have time for, it's a disease in the heart for many, both men and women. We're reading about it in Proverbs chapter 6, verses 25 and 26. It says this: Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. For the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Lust, sexual lust brings many a man down. Tears many a marriage apart. It's a real disease of the heart and this one, more than any other perhaps, is one that so many men and women quietly live with not realising the destruction that it brings upon them. Now we've only spoken about a handful of most common diseases of the heart. Things that rob us. Greed. Dishonesty. Slander. Pride. Arrogance. Lust. These things harden our hearts to God. They rob us of life and that's what we're going to be looking at over these next few days and weeks. About the fact that God wants to come and heal us of these diseases.

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