Participants: Jill Morikone
Series Code: HLFT
Program Code: HLFT000023A
|
00:25 Hello, and welcome to Heart Lift.
00:27 I'm Jill Morikone, and I'm so glad that you 00:29 have joined us today. 00:31 We're on a journey toward hope, toward healing, 00:34 toward the transformation that the Lord Jesus wants to work 00:37 in your life and in mine, as women, as daughters of God. 00:42 If you're just joining us, we're in the middle of our discussion 00:46 on transformation; the transformation that the Lord 00:50 Jesus wants to work in each one of our hearts. 00:53 We talked about the washed heart. 00:56 God wants to wash us with the washing of the 00:58 water of the word. 00:59 Last program we discussed the pruned heart, 01:03 and we talked about the six different purposes of pruning, 01:07 both in the natural world, with trees, and in the Spiritual 01:11 world, in our own hearts and lives. 01:14 We're pruned to remove some of that bad, 01:16 or some of that diseased stuff that's going on in our 01:19 hearts, and in our lives. 01:20 Pruned so that we open up our hearts more to receive more 01:25 of Jesus, the light of the world, more of the Holy Spirit, 01:29 more air flow, more of the word of God, more water, 01:36 more spray in the tree. 01:38 The last two: grow more fruits. 01:41 We're pruned so that we produce more fruit, 01:44 and so that our lives represent more fully, 01:49 more completely the Lord Jesus. 01:52 Today we're talking about a spirit filled heart. 01:56 Our Scripture is Isaiah 43. 02:00 We're going to read verse 19, Isaiah 43:19. 02:04 If you have your Bible, open up and follow along. 02:07 If not, you can jot down the reference. 02:10 The Bible says: Behold, I will do a new thing; 02:15 now it will spring forth; shall you not know it? 02:19 I will even make a road in the wilderness, 02:22 and rivers in the desert. 02:25 Let's pray. Father we come before You right now 02:29 in the name of Jesus, thanking You that You want to pour Your 02:33 Spirit, Your anointing into those dry and barren 02:39 places in our hearts. 02:40 And I don't know what dryness is in my sisters' hearts 02:44 at home right now, but we ask right now that You would pour 02:47 in Your Spirit, and that You would bring abundant 02:51 fruitfulness and beauty. 02:53 Please speak to us now, and help our hearts and minds to be open 02:58 to receive Your word. 03:00 And we thank You in the precious and the Holy 03:03 name of Jesus, Amen. 03:07 My husband Greg and I were traveling, 03:09 and this took place fairly recently. 03:11 We flew out to Seattle. 03:13 We landed there in Washington state, then we rented a car 03:18 and we drove all the way, a little bit north, 03:21 just a tiny bit west, and we took a ferry 03:25 over to Whidbey Island there in the Puget Sound. 03:30 It's beautiful country out there. It's gorgeous! 03:34 They have lots of trees: evergreens. 03:39 It's green, it's lush. 03:43 There was the water, of course, surrounded by the ocean. 03:46 It was really pretty; lots of wildlife. 03:49 We spent a night there. 03:50 It was beautiful. And then we took the land route North, 03:53 and then we came down the Interstate to Seattle, 03:56 and we took 90 East. 03:58 We were headed over towards Spokane. 04:00 As we came up over the mountains, you go up over the 04:04 mountains, and there's some of those elevations, 04:07 and the Cascades, and it's green, 04:09 very green on the West side. 04:13 The rain comes and its all dumped on the West side. 04:15 It was beautiful! All of a sudden we came over one of the 04:19 ranges, and I looked and I said, Oh, the trees are disappearing. 04:23 The green is disappearing. 04:25 And I would say that within a matter of just a few miles, 04:28 it was not a long distance, the entire landscape had changed. 04:33 It was flat as we got farther towards Spokane, 04:38 but it was brown, much less tree life, much less green, 04:44 lush vegetation; totally different landscape. 04:49 Now, of course, they grow a lot of crops over there. 04:51 There's a lot of irrigation. 04:52 Wherever the water hit was green. 04:55 If people watered their yards, that was green. 04:58 If they watered in say, the vineyard, maybe that was the 05:01 crop, or the apple tree, or whatever they were growing 05:04 that was lush and green. 05:06 But where there was no water, there was barrenness, 05:09 there was dryness, there was brownness. 05:13 It reminds me of our Scripture. 05:15 I want to read verse 18 and 19. 05:22 The Bible says, Do not remember the former things, 05:25 neither consider the things of old. 05:29 Behold, I will do a new thing; shall you not know it? 05:35 I will even make a road in the wilderness, 05:37 and rivers in the desert. 05:41 Are you walking in a desert today? 05:44 Are you walking in a barren and a dry place? 05:48 Sometimes we're in the desert because of 05:52 other peoples choices. 05:54 Maybe you've been abused, through no fault of your own, 05:58 and you say, I'm in the desert right now, Jill. 06:01 The desert: dry, desolate, pain. 06:05 There's no water in my life. 06:07 There's no fruitfulness. 06:08 There's no abundance. 06:10 There's nothing green in the desert because of 06:13 someone else's choice. 06:14 It could be abuse. 06:16 It could be something else, but it's a result of 06:19 someone else's choice. 06:20 On Monday nights we go to visit the girls in our local jail; 06:24 and this particular Monday night, 06:26 and subsequent Monday nights. 06:29 But the first Monday night we noticed this girl. 06:31 And she showed up, and beautiful girl, blonde hair. 06:34 I'd say she's nineteen. Young, real young, pretty girl. 06:40 Every time we stood for prayer, she had the same prayer request. 06:43 She would say, Please pray for the Santos family. 06:48 Now I just made up their name. 06:49 Please pray for the Santos family. 06:53 And she would cry. 06:55 Pray for the Santos family. 06:57 And then the next, and we would pray for them. 07:00 The next Monday night, or the next time we came in, 07:04 she had the same prayer: Please pray for the Santos family. 07:10 Now its interesting, because you might say, Why did she keep 07:13 asking for prayer for the Santos family? 07:15 You see, this precious girl, who was in jail, 07:17 she was in there, she had been involved in a car accident. 07:21 She had been the driver. 07:23 She had hit Mrs. Santos, and Mrs. Santos had died. 07:28 Now in addition to the fact that there was this vehicle accident, 07:32 in addition to that she had been doing drugs. 07:36 And there was drugs involved. 07:37 And so they had put her in jail. 07:39 She was awaiting her trial. 07:40 And so every single Monday night, she had the same request: 07:47 pray for the Santos family. 07:50 Because they lost a member of their family through 07:54 no fault of their own. 07:55 They were walking through a desert, 07:59 through no fault of their own. 08:01 It was a desert because of someone else's choice. 08:04 Your desert might be because of someone else's choice. 08:07 Your desert might be because of your own choosing. 08:11 Sometimes we treat other people, say someone is snippy to me, 08:15 I could choose to react with love, or if I react with anger, 08:20 with rage, with revenge, with retaliation, 08:24 what's going to happen? 08:25 Probably they're going to react back to me. 08:28 Now if I keep this up, it might escalate. 08:31 Now what's the cause of that? 08:33 You might say, Well, they started it. 08:35 And that might be true. 08:36 But if I had reacted differently, then their response 08:41 might have been differently, might have been different. 08:45 So sometimes when we react to someone else, 08:47 the way we react creates a chain reaction, 08:50 and they react back to us. 08:52 Sometimes we're in a desert of our own choosing. 08:55 I think of Sampson. 08:57 Remember, he was a judge chosen to judge the people of Israel. 09:01 And when he became a young man, he found a woman of the 09:07 Philistines that he wanted to marry. 09:10 And in vain his parents said, There's thousands, hundreds, 09:16 lots of girls here in Israel. 09:18 Why don't you pick a girl who loves Jehovah? 09:21 Why don't you pick a girl who wants to follow God? 09:24 And instead he said... 09:26 What's the Bible say? 09:28 ...Get her for me, for she pleases me well. 09:31 He faced the desert of his own choosing pretty soon when some 09:37 not so nice things began to happen in his life, 09:39 in his experience as a result of what he chose to do. 09:44 Sometimes we're in the desert of past mistakes, 09:47 or pain from the past. 09:48 Whatever desert you are in right now, 09:51 God wants to bring about fruitfulness. 09:54 He wants to pour in rivers of water. 09:58 He wants to irrigate your, and my life, so that we can bring 10:02 forth abundant fruitfulness. 10:04 How does God bring the water? 10:06 I think a lot of it is through the Holy Spirit; outpouring of 10:11 the Holy Spirit; He wants to pour His Spirit upon you and I. 10:15 Galatians 5:22 says, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 10:20 peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 10:24 gentleness, and self control. 10:27 Turn with me to Hosea. 10:29 We're going to jump over to Hosea 14, and the prophet 10:32 here talks about dew. 10:35 That's what we're talking about today is the dew. 10:39 Israel had turned from God. 10:41 They had turned their back on God. 10:42 They wanted nothing to do with God. 10:44 And at the same time, God spoke these words: 10:48 Hosea 14, we're looking at verses 4 and 5. 10:51 He says, I will heal their backsliding, 10:55 I will love them freely: for My anger has been turned away. 11:01 I will be like the dew to Israel... 11:04 There's our word, dew. 11:06 ...he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his 11:08 roots like Lebanon. 11:09 God wants to be like the dew to you and I. 11:13 As the dew bathes the earth, so God wants to renew you and I, 11:19 as His daughters, as His children. 11:23 Titus 3 talks about the Holy Spirit being like the dew 11:29 in our hearts. Titus 3:4-6. 11:33 It says, When the kindness and love of God our Savior toward 11:36 man appeared, not by works of righteousness 11:39 which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved 11:43 us, through the washing of regeneration, 11:46 and renewing of the Holy Spirit; whom He poured out on us 11:52 abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. 11:56 What is Paul saying here? 11:58 He's saying, I'm going to wash you through the renewing 12:02 of the Holy Spirit. 12:04 I will be like the dew unto you. 12:08 We often talk about the latter rain; the latter rain. 12:12 And, of course, we want that to fall. 12:14 But I think, before the latter rain, we need the early rain. 12:18 We need the dew. We need the rejuvenation in each 12:21 one of our hearts. 12:23 We want to talk today about the three aspects of the dew. 12:27 What are the three aspects of the dew? 12:29 This program we're going to focus on aspect 12:31 1. Waiting for the dew; waiting for that heavenly dew. 12:38 The next program we're going to talk about the next two aspects. 12:41 That will be watering by the dew, 12:43 and equipping through the dew. 12:46 But the rest of today's program we will talk about, 12:49 Waiting for the Dew. 12:52 What are the requirements to form dew? 12:55 Dew takes time. Do you know that? 12:57 It takes time in order to form. 13:00 You can't look down and say immediately, Dew takes time, 13:04 and often it forms in the early morning hours. 13:09 Many times dew forms in the early morning hours. 13:13 It requires waiting. 13:14 It requires stillness, and quietness, little or no wind, 13:20 in order for that dew to form. 13:21 It requires cooler temperatures, or clear nights. 13:26 Dew never forms when there's heat, 13:28 or when there's a lot of wind. 13:31 What is the application to our spiritual lives? waiting. 13:36 Due takes time to form. 13:38 We're going to look at waiting; waiting for the dew. 13:42 My nephew Stephen... 13:44 Now I have four nephews: Jonathan, 13:47 Stephen, Caleb, and Joshua. 13:50 But my nephew Stephen, when it was his, I think it was his 13:55 sixth birthday, as my memory, but I'm not 100% sure. 13:59 When it was close to his birthday time, we were shopping 14:02 for him, and getting his package ready. 14:04 Now my sister gave me a list of the things that he 14:08 would want to get. 14:09 So we got him some match box cars. 14:12 We got him some monster trucks, and a frog puzzle. 14:17 And it was all wrapped up in a Lightning McQueen package, 14:22 because he loves Lightning McQueen. 14:25 So we put it in a little gift bag with Lightning McQueen. 14:28 Now I got it all together; got it set next to the box, 14:32 and then I told my husband Greg, Can you pack this for me? 14:36 He's a really good packer. 14:38 Now, there's one more aspect to the story. 14:41 Not only were we packing a package for my nephew Steven, 14:44 we were also packing a package for Greg's Dad. 14:49 It was also around the time of his birthday. 14:52 We were a little late for his, but we were 14:54 sending out his package. 14:55 And so Greg was packing both of those packages at the same time; 15:00 packing both of them at the same time. 15:03 I had them all ready next to their boxes. 15:07 So Greg packed the little frog puzzle, the match box cars, 15:10 the monster truck, and the Lightning McQueen package, 15:13 and he sealed it up real good in its box. 15:16 He also packaged what we had bought for Greg's Dad, 15:20 and that was all sealed up as well. 15:22 Now Greg didn't take it to the Post Office, but he told me, 15:25 I had a little thought, Jill. 15:27 I really should write down on each box: Stephen, Dad. 15:33 But he said, No, Jilly's going to know which box is which. 15:37 Well, you know what happened. 15:39 I got to the Post Office; I went to mail them. 15:43 And I thought, Hum, I wonder whose is whose? 15:47 Oh, I should call Greg. 15:48 No, I shouldn't. I know whose is whose. 15:50 So this box went to Stephen: Priority Mail. 15:54 This box went to Dad: Priority Mail. 15:57 Three days later Dad texted Greg. 16:02 Hey, that's a pretty nice present that you got me. 16:06 I was just in Wal-Mart and I kind of thought, It'd be fun 16:09 to play with those cars again. 16:11 It's been years since I've played with them. 16:12 It'd be kind of fun. 16:14 And as soon as we got that text I told Greg, 16:16 We switched up the packages, and he got the wrong one! 16:20 That night my sister called me. 16:22 She said, You should have seen Stephen today. 16:24 He was so excited! 16:25 He got his package from Auntie Jill, and Uncle Greg. 16:29 He opened it up, and of course it's adult stuff. 16:32 It's not kids stuff. 16:34 He opened it up. She said he threw himself down on the floor, 16:37 and he had a tantrum. 16:39 He screamed and he kicked his little legs, and his arms, 16:42 and said, I want my package! 16:44 And so she said, It's okay. 16:46 Just be patient. I'll mail this one to the Morikone's. 16:49 They can send that one to you. 16:52 Wait another few days; you're going to get it. 16:54 NO! I want my package NOW! 16:58 You know, we kind of laugh about that, but I don't like to 17:01 wait a whole lot either. 17:03 I don't know about you. 17:04 Sometimes I don't like to wait in line. 17:07 And I pick a line at the grocery store and I say, 17:09 Why doesn't this line hurry up faster? 17:11 Let me join this one over here. 17:13 And every time I do that, I pick another bad line. 17:16 If you're at the stop light and the light turns green, 17:20 what happens if the car in front of you doesn't go? 17:22 You might be tempted to give a little tap on your horn. 17:26 We don't like to wait at the bank, or the grocery store, 17:29 or at the restaurant for our food. 17:31 Waiting, we really don't enjoy waiting. 17:35 You know, they say that time that is spent in waiting 17:38 in a person's average lifetime; in your average, 17:41 this is an average lifespan. 17:43 You're going to spend 6 months waiting in line, 17:46 20 weeks on hold. I believe that. 17:50 7 years lying awake at night. 17:52 I guess from insomnia. 17:54 4 years spent on the phone at work, 5 years spent online. 18:01 You know, in the physical world we don't really like waiting. 18:05 But it's important. 18:07 In order for dew to form, it requires waiting. 18:13 If we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, if we want to be 18:17 watered with God's heavenly dew, if we want to be brought 18:22 from a dry barren place, to an abundant fruitful place, 18:26 we need to wait; to wait in God's presence, to spend time 18:33 in His word. We need to wait. 18:38 What keeps us from waiting? 18:40 I think sometimes our busy schedule. 18:44 I don't know about you, but often my commitments with my 18:48 family, maybe my job, maybe even my ministry, can start to 18:55 encroach on that time with God in the morning. 18:58 And God says, Don't let anything become more important to you 19:04 than your time with Me. 19:06 Don't let anything interfere with that in your life. 19:12 Besides a busy schedule, you know what also 19:16 keeps us from waiting? 19:17 I think media can keep us from waiting on God. 19:21 Several years ago, when I was teaching music lessons, 19:25 one of the little girls had a pink cell phone. 19:28 She was six years old and she said, Miss Jill, How old were 19:31 you when you got your first cell phone? Were you six? 19:35 I said, No sweetie, I wasn't. 19:38 Were you ten? No sweetie, I wasn't. 19:42 They didn't even have cell phones when I was six. 19:45 Were you, whatever? 19:47 I said, I was probably in my early twenties before I got 19:50 my first cell phone. 19:51 And she looked up at me with her big blue eyes, 19:54 and she said, Your Mommy didn't love you very much. 19:59 Your Mommy must not have loved you because she didn't 20:01 give you a cell phone. 20:03 But you know, before we had those days of media 20:05 distractions, I think we had more time; more time in the word 20:10 of God, more time to spend waiting at the feet of Jesus, 20:14 waiting to be filled with the Spirit, 20:17 waiting for that heavenly dew. 20:19 Media could take the form of TV or radio, cell phones, 20:22 internet, whatever. 20:24 It doesn't matter. 20:25 But they can encroach on our waiting time. 20:30 So what's the solution? 20:31 I think we reprioritize our time. 20:35 Maybe something needs to be cut out. 20:37 Maybe I need to go to God and ask Him for wisdom. 20:43 James 1:5. He says, If any of you lack wisdom, 20:46 let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally, 20:50 and upbraids not. If we lack wisdom, go to God and say, 20:54 Show me how to reprioritize my time. 20:58 Show me what I need to do, what I need to change, or cut, 21:02 or juggle in order to have more waiting time with You. 21:07 There's a poem I love. It's by Grace Naessens. 21:11 I'm probably mispronouncing that last name. 21:13 It says, I got up early one morning and rushed 21:17 right into the day. 21:19 I had so much to accomplish, that I didn't have time to pray. 21:23 Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier came each task. 21:28 Why doesn't God help me, I wondered? 21:31 He answered, You didn't ask. 21:34 I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on 21:39 grey and bleak. I wondered why God didn't show me. 21:43 He said, But you didn't seek. 21:46 I tried to come into God's presence. 21:49 I tried all my keys at the lock. 21:52 God gently and lovingly chided, But My child, you didn't knock. 21:58 I got up early this morning and paused before entering the day. 22:03 I had so much to accomplish, that I had to take time to pray. 22:10 I think reprioritizing our time is essential and important. 22:14 The first requirement to forming dew is waiting. 22:18 The second requirement is stillness and quietness. 22:23 Turn with me to Psalm, Psalm 46:10. 22:29 It's one of my favorite Psalms. 22:33 Psalm 46:10. It says, Be still, and know that I am God: 22:40 I will be exalted among the heathen, 22:43 I will be exalted in the earth. 22:47 In the physical world, it needs to be still and quiet in order 22:52 for the dew to form. 22:54 Wind does not lend itself to having the dew form. 22:59 It needs stillness, and quietness. 23:01 Likewise, haste prevents saturation with the Spirit. 23:07 What happens when we're still? 23:09 We know God. Be still and know that I am God. 23:14 The Hebrew word for know is Yada, 23:17 and it means to ascertain by seeing. 23:23 What's He saying? Be still and look at God. 23:25 Be still and behold Him. 23:27 Spend time waiting in His presence. 23:31 When we're still we know God. 23:34 Our hearts become more like Jesus. 23:37 We are refreshed. God shows us our own hearts. 23:41 We're quiet and we learn to listen better 23:44 instead of struggling. 23:46 We no longer fight. 23:49 We become surrendered. 23:51 Spiritual dew comes from quietly lingering 23:54 in the Master's presence. 23:56 Get still before Him, for haste will prevent you 24:01 from receiving the dew. 24:03 Wait before God until you feel saturated with His presence. 24:09 When we're looking to be filled with Jesus, when we're looking 24:14 to be anointed with the heavenly dew, the Holy Spirit, 24:18 we want to wait before Him. 24:20 We want to be still and quiet before Him. 24:23 And understand also that sometimes it requires coolness 24:27 for that dew to form. 24:29 You might be going through cool time, a painful time, 24:33 a difficult time, but in the midst of that God is pouring 24:38 on you His heavenly dew, His Holy Spirit. 24:42 We're going to take a short break, and we'll be right back 24:45 with our application. |
Revised 2016-05-12