The Hearts With Traffic And With Rocks

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The ground at the wayside is hardened by too much traffic, so that the seeds are not able to penetrate. This shows us that no matter how good our spirit is, no matter how good our conscience is, when too much traffic goes through us the seed does not have the place to grow properly. The growth of the seed in our heart is not just based on our desire to love the Lord and follow Him. It is based on our ability to handle the traffic. Traffic will always come. We should not decide to become a monk so that there is no more traffic in our lives. There is no traffic in a monastery, but there are no seeds either. In the church life, on the other hand, the seed is not only sown into us initially but keeps being sown into us through the constant speaking of the truth. However, for the seed to grow we need to properly handle the traffic in our heart. Many times when a lot of traffic goes through us we lose our ability to let the seed grow. We let all the things that we are doing become our priority. But we have also experienced being busy with a lot of things, yet we are still kept in the Lord's presence. This should be our normal experience. We should be able to let traffic go through us without being occupied and without being so anxious. When we let things occupy us, they can become a traffic to harden our heart. In the midst of all our activities we should tell the Lord, "Lord, keep my heart from being caught with these things, so that Your seed can grow." Then we will be saved from frustrations. </div> <bR> <div> Our problem is that we know the Lord cares for us, but we care for ourselves more. This causes our heart to be like the wayside. Many things go through us, until we are so busy that eventually there is very little chance for the Lord to grow properly. We will always have things going through us. We will always have some traffic, but our heart should still be at peace. We must keep ourselves restful before the Lord. We should not get into anxiety, we should not get into excitement, and we should not be occupied with too many activities. When we are so busy that we are overwhelmed then we must ask the Lord for a restful heart. "Lord, don't let my heart be crowded with so much traffic that Your seed has no place to grow." This is to deal with our heart. When our conscience is good and we do not let the traffic affect us so much, then our heart can become the good soil.</div> <div>  </div> <div> The Second Heart: </div> <div> The Heart with Rocks<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="verdana" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> The second heart is the rocky heart, which is related to the self-life. The first heart is hardened outwardly, but the second heart is hardened because of rocks which are hidden inwardly. A person may be pleasant and well-behaved outwardly, but inwardly he is untouchable. It is the untouchable person whose heart is rocky. For example, suppose a brother comes to the conclusion, "I don't need to listen to any man. I don't need to listen to the brothers in the church. I only answer to Christ!" This means that he is untouchable. When a person says, "I am responsible only to Christ," it really means, "I only love myself." Such a person has not realized that Christ is also with His Body. Christ is too far away for us to be responsible only to Him directly. Of course, we surely must answer to the Lord. We must abide in the Lord's anointing, we must let the Lord lead us, and we must do everything in His presence. But at the same time we must realize that Christ is also in and with His Body. We should not say, "I can bypass the church. I can bypass the brothers. I am responsible only to Christ!" Then we will get ourselves into trouble. This means that we are untouchable. Our heart has become hard. </div> <bR> <div> How does the heart become hard? It becomes hard when the self-life is offended. When the self-life is offended there is no more room for the Lord to grow. Yet the church life is always offending our self-life. The church life can be filled with offenses. When offenses are not dealt with and become an accumulation, it means that the heart has become rocky. We need to remember what Peter said: "How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" (Matt. 18:22). What does it mean for there to be "seven times"? It means that there is a rocky heart. Perhaps a brother offended Peter, but the first time he could handle it. His conscience was still good. But eventually after a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time Peter was filled with frustrations. Within Peter a rocky heart was produced. But when he went to the Lord, the Lord told him, "I do not say to you, Up to seven times, but, Up to seventy times seven" (Matt. 18:23). This word must have softened Peter's heart. Otherwise, how could the Lord still use him? We must realize that when offenses accumulate, the heart becomes rocky. When there is a rocky heart, the seed cannot grow. </div> <bR> <div> In the church life we must learn how to let go of our offenses. The saints will often offend us. Those we love will offend us, and those who love us will offend us. The ones we raise up will offend us, and the ones who raise us up will offend us. It is impossible for no one to offend us. If no one offends us, our church life is actually just a social life. The church life should be like a family. In a family, the husband offends his wife, the wife offends her husband, the parents offend their children, and the children offend their parents. But in a healthy family, there is always enough love to dissolve the offenses. In the church life, however, when the offenses build up over a long period of time, there may not be enough love to dissolve the offenses. This is why we must pray, "Lord, I don't want my heart to be rocky. I need Your mercy, so that no matter what happens, offenses do not accumulate within me." </div> <bR> <div> The moment we begin to consider a brother or sister who offended us, a little rock begins to grow in our heart. It may be small, but it still frustrates the growth of the Lord and the growth of the truth within us. We must realize that the reason we are offended is because we love ourselves. Not only do we love ourselves, but we insist on our self-life. This means that we insist on our way. When we love ourselves, and we insist on our way, then that is when the rocks begin to come in. This is why some brothers are filled with bitterness, complaints, murmurings, and offenses. How can this happen? It happens when we cannot forgive the offenses, when we love our self-life, and when we insist on our way. If this is the case, then eventually nothing can grow. Because all our love is utilized for ourselves, there is no more love to dissolve the offenses. When all our love is focused only on ourselves, then there is no more room for the Lord to grow within us. We must ask the Lord to keep our heart soft, so that the seed can grow.</div> <bR> <div> ...cont'd on <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="verdana" ><A HREF="id294.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Heart With Thorns"><U><U>page 3</U></U></A></FONT></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>