Grinch #1 - Enlarging My Heart
Developing A Pure Heart
Nov 30, 2008
When we first meet The Grinch, we discover a very miserable creature, both mean and hateful, and so much so that he resented anyone who wasn’t miserable like him. There is an old saying, “Misery loves company.” Why was it that The Grinch was so miserable and mean? Because his heart was two sizes too small.
Because the Whos of Whoville were so happy, The Grinch set upon a plan to steal their happiness and make them miserable just like him. How would he do it? By stealing all their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve making the Whos of Whoville miserable and mean, too. The Grinch did just that and when the Whos awoke on Christmas morning, they found all their presents and Christmas decorations gone! But instead of being miserable and mean and grumpy, the Grinch discovered that they were still happy. At the end of the story, it was the love, kindness, and goodness of the Whos towards The Grinch that caused his heart to grow from 2 sizes too small, to what? To being 2 sizes too big! The Grinch was a changed grinch from being mean and miserable to being compassionate and giving. The Grinch returned all the presents and all the decorations to the people of Whoville.
This Christmas we want to enlarge our hearts, maybe even four times what it is now. We don’t want to have Christmas arrive and our own hearts be 2 sizes too small. The foundational theme for our series is found in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” What’s the most important thing—above all else? Guard your heart, protect your heart. Why? Because your heart affects EVERYTHING you do. My heart is the center of my being. The Bible is not talking about your physical heart. The Hebrew word is the word for soul, the core of your being, who you are, your mind, desires, emotions, passions, dreams. Your heart or soul is you! Proverbs 27:19 says, “As a face is reflected in the water, so the heart reflects the person.” You are what is in your heart. The content of your heart defines who you are. That is why guarding your heart is the most important thing you could do because it determines who you are.
This Christmas I want to encourage each of you to enlarge your heart by allowing Jesus to transform you from the inside out, giving you a heart that is pure, passionate, patient, and full of peace.
The first step to enlarging our hearts is that of developing a pure heart. Why do we need a pure heart? Because the Bible says that our hearts are impure. We know that pure and impure are opposites. Impure water is filled with all kinds of stuff—dirt, germs, microbes, poisons, bacteria, viruses, and all sorts of bad things. Pure water is what? Nothing but water. What is pure gold? Nothing but gold. No additives, no other metals, no bits of dirt or stone--nothing but gold. We know that our hearts are not pure. Mostly pure maybe, but definitely not pure. Every one of us has mixed motives, bad intentions and attitudes, resentments, jealousies, anger, hurt, and all sorts of garbage, which causes our hearts to be impure. The bottom line is that there is a Grinch in all of us.
Is this just the way it is and that’s life to be accepted at face value? In Psalm 51:10 we read, “Create in me a clean (i.e. pure) heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” The Bible teaches us that God not only can, but also wants to take our hearts and filter out all the bad stuff and gives us pure hearts. How does God do this? It is as simple as ABC!
I. First, I have to admit that my heart is impure. You can’t fix something that isn’t broken. Admitting that your heart is impure, that your motives and intentions, your thoughts and desires are impure, is a very hard thing, and harder even for us guys. But if you want a pure heart, the very first step is to admit to yourself and to God that your heart is impure. Until you admit that there is a problem, there will be no solution. What’s the first thing they do at Alcoholics Anonymous? “Hi, my name is Jerry and I am an alcoholic.” To get a bigger heart we need to begin by saying, “Hi, my name is Jerry and my heart is not pure.”
Broadway Joe, Joe Namath, became an alcoholic. Everyone knew he needed help except one person—Joe Namath. It was only after he admitted that he needed help, did he get the help he needed. The Bible says (Jeremiah 17:9a), “The heart is deceitful above all things….” That which makes our hearts impure is sin. Sin is both the attitude of the heart and the garbage that makes the heart impure. But you may think that doesn’t apply to me and you are thinking, “Some people have impure hearts and some people have pure hearts.” In Romans 3:23 we read, “For all have sinned, and fall short of God’s expectation.” Notice that word ‘all.’ That’s pretty inclusive, isn’t it? Sin makes our hearts impure. Sin is doing it our way and not God’s way, even though God’s way is the best way.
Well, you may be thinking. I am not all that bad. I may have a little sin, a little impurity in my heart but I am still basically more pure than not pure. If I were to take a bottle of pure water and had just a drop of Clorox or soap into that water, is it still pure, nothing but water? Even a little bit of something else makes it no longer pure.
The Bible also spells out the results of an impure heart. Again in Romans (6:23a) we read, “For the wages of sin, is death….” Wages are something you earn. It is what you deserve for the work you do. What would happen if you kept on drinking impure water over a long period of time? Eventually it would kill you. That’s physical death, but the Bible is talking about spiritual death which is separation from God both after death and here and now. That is pretty serious stuff.
But, Jesus said (Mt 5:8), “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” That means that we will see God both in eternity, and we will see God at work in our lives here and now. Like the Grinch we don’t have to be miserable and mean. We don’t have to be controlled by hatred, jealousy, resentment and bitterness. We will see God at work in our lives, but not if my heart is impure. Then I won’t see God at work in my life. So if I want to have a larger and pure heart, that is why I have to admit that my heart is impure.
II. The next step is to believe and to believe that God can make your heart pure. The biggest mistake most people make at this point is to try to clean their own hearts. They try to do it themselves. “I got myself into this mess so I have to get myself out of this mess.” And so they try to be pure. They work hard to be good, nice, loving, kind, gentle, and have a good attitude. They buy self-improvement books and go to seminars to be a better person. The problem is that they more they try, the worse they become. All because we believe that we have to clean up our lives ourselves.
You may also believe that before you can come to Jesus you have to first be pure, be a better person before He would accept you. That’s like saying, “I am sick but I can’t go to the doctor until I get better!” Duh? You go to the doctor to get better! Right? So go to Jesus to get your heart pure. You can spend all kinds of money to make your heart pure, or you can come to Jesus for free! And free is good.
Let’s go back to Romans 6:23 and finish that verse, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” God’s gift of a pure heart is free to you because Jesus paid the price for your impure heart 2,000 years ago on Calvary. He gave his life that you could have a pure heart. He gave His life so that your heart could be free from all the garbage that is in there, the garbage that is eating you up, stealing your hope and joy, making you miserable like the Grinch. With God it doesn’t matter how much garbage is in your heart, how long it has been there, or how bad that garbage stinks. Listen to this great truth from 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins to Jesus, He is faithful and just to forgive us and purify us from all wrong.” Not some, not most, but ALL the garbage, no matter how bad, that is making your heart impure. It is Jesus and He alone who can make your heart pure.
III. “A” is to admit your heart is impure. “B” is to belief that God can get ‘er done and make your heart pure. “C” is to commit my heart fully to God, i.e. I give away my heart so that Jesus can make my impure heart pure. The Bible says, “We are made right in God’s sight, when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sin. We can all be saved this same way no matter who we are or what we have done.” (Ro 3:22) This is the final step to a pure heart. When I trust God enough to give him my heart, He changes my life. God is asking you to trust Him with your life. This step can be the most difficult because it is something we have never done before. It is unchartered territory. The unknown is certainly a scary thing. The Bible says in this verse that when we trust Jesus, He will save us. There is a direct connection between our action of trust and Jesus’ action to save. This means that we are freed from the consequences of a garbaged-filled, impure life. At this point God doesn’t look at you as this muddy, dirty water, rather he sees you as pure and clean. And God the great Purifier begins the work of cleaning up your heart and life. God uses the Holy Spirit, the Bible, the church, and other Christians to help clean you up. And it is a lifelong process because it is a relationship with Jesus. Committing your heart to Jesus means trusting Him enough to open your heart to Him, allowing Him to enter your life in order to purify your heart, and then giving Him full control of your life. That is what we mean when we talk about committing our hearts fully to God. In Revelation (3:20), Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in and fellowship with him and he with me.” What this means is that God wants to be a part of your life and He is actively looking for you. God wants you to be blessed, to be happy, at peace, contented, joyful, and to have meaning in your life.
This Christmas I want you to desire not a heart 2 sizes too small but a heart that is 2 sizes bigger than normal. My desire is for you to want a pure heart and to know Jesus. I want you to experience God’s presence and power in your life today and to meet you in heaven one day.
On your message notes there are 3 diagrams. Your life reflects into one of these 3 circles. The 1st one is the self-directed life. This is where most people are. They are in total control of their lives. Jesus is on the outside looking in. He has never been invited into that life. The 2nd diagram is the self-directed Christian life. Most Christians fit into this circle. That person has invited Jesus into his/her life but ‘self’ is still on the throne. ‘Self’ is still in the driver’s seat and Jesus is nothing more than a passenger. Everyday life is struggle and they don’t have all the best that Jesus has to offer because they are still ‘calling the shots’ and still messing up. The 3rd diagram is the Christ-directed life where Jesus is on the throne. No longer a passenger, Jesus is now driving your life. While not perfect, it is the best life because Jesus is getting rid of the garbage and making sense out of every day life.
Which of these diagrams most is like you? Which of these diagrams is the one you would like to be? The great thing about our God is that He can change your heart, your life, and your diagram! It begins with a pure heart—Admitting your heart is impure, Believing that Jesus can make your heart pure, and Committing your heart and life to Jesus letting Him do what He does best—cleaning us up and making us a brand new person.
Let’s pray. With every head bowed and every eye closed, maybe you have never asked Jesus into your life. If you would like to invite Jesus into your life, then pray this prayer with me as I pray aloud: “God, I admit my heart is impure. There is sin and garbage that I want to get rid of. I believe only you can enlarge my heart by making me pure. I ask you to come into my life and I commit my heart and life fully to you. I want to know you personally each and every day. Amen.
Maybe your life most reflects the 2nd circle. You have asked Jesus into your life but He is just there in a corner somewhere but you are not fully committed to Jesus. He is not on the throne of your life and the results are a lot of impurity in your life. You are trying to walk both in the world and with Jesus and it is not working. If you want to take the next step and become a life fully devoted to Jesus, then pray silently with me as I pray aloud.
Jesus, I know you are in my life, but I have not been living it. There are some areas that I have never turned over to you and the result has been impurity. Jesus, today I want to make a change. I want to give you every area of my life. I give up the throne of my life to you and want you to be in the driver’s seat. I fully commit my life to you this day. Amen.
For those of you whose life reflects the 3rd circle, let me encourage you to be faithful, to be attentive to your relationship with Jesus and to keep it strong and healthy. Keep allowing Jesus to mold and perfect you in His image and to continue to let Jesus cleanse your hearts and minds by His Holy Spirit.
This Christmas let’s get the Grinch out of Christmas and put Jesus in his place.