CULTIVATING THE HEART session four Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus in Matthew 22:37 39 Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. Proverbs 22:17 18 INTRODUCTION The first three lessons of this study are designed to help us understand the passion and purpose of God and His followers. They are designed to provide a foundation for learning to outlive your life. The remainder of the study will focus on the heart of the steward and gain insights into specific areas to help us transform and live with the intention of outliving our lives. The heart is a big deal. Go to Google and type in heart and you will get over 2 trillion hits that include everything from a music group from the 80 s, to a part of our human anatomy, from romanticism to our range of emotions. However, scripture deals with the heart from a very different perspective. It describes the heart as containing the center of our will and emotion. The heart is the place where love is rooted. For believers in Jesus Christ, the heart is the home of our faith (see Hebrews 10: 22; 1 John 5:10a). page 31
How do we address issues of the heart? What is Jesus asking us to do when He says to Love the Lord your God with all your heart? Is what Jesus is asking of us even possible? The answer is a resounding yes it is possible. In fact, the Apostle Paul says to,...train yourself to be godly (1 Timothy 4:7). In this lesson, we will look at the heart and how to create a heart that is in harmony with Jesus Himself. ENCOUNTER Before you meet as a group, work through this section. Take some time to reflectively and prayerfully answer the questions that follow. page 32 1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. John 15:1 11 The preceding passage contains the last of Jesus seven I am statements found in John s Gospel. Using imagery from a vineyard, Jesus describes the type of abiding relationship that He desires from us. Read through the passage and answer the following questions. 1. In this passage, Jesus uses metaphors to share this truth of an abiding relationship. Match the imagery with the person intended. a. Jesus 1) the vine dresser b. The Father 2) the branch c. The Christian 3) the vine 2. The term abiding is synonymous with remain in. Circle every instance of the use of remain in. How many times is remain in used in these verses? 3. Read John 15:7. What does it say about abiding? page 33
4. Look back at the three people listed in question 1. What is the role of each of those people in an abiding relationship? 5. What are some results of abiding in Christ that are described in verses 8-11? EXPLORE This section is reserved for discussion during your small group time. As a group, read 1Timothy 4:7-9 and discuss the questions below. 1. In Verse 7, discipline yourself (NASB) is translated from the Greek verb gymnazo. We get our English word gymnasium from this same root word. How does this change your understanding of the verse? page 34
2. For what purpose are we to train ourselves? 3. How would you describe godliness? 4. Describe the benefits of spiritual training? Just like a physical workout has different exercises to train, there are spiritual exercises as well. Two of the most beneficial ones are reading the Bible and prayer. Look up the following verses and discuss your thoughts as related to the questions. The Word: 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12 and Joshua 1:8. 5. From the three verses, what observations can you make about reading God s Word? page 35
6. What are the benefits of studying and applying God s Word to your life? Prayer: Luke 18: 1-8; Luke 11:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:17 and Philippians 4:6-7 7. What do these passages say about the importance of prayer for your spiritual life? 8. What are the benefits of prayer in training for godliness? 9. Reading the Bible and praying are just a couple of spiritual practices. Can you think of any more? page 36
10. What are the challenges to practicing any of these on a regular basis? What are some practical steps to overcome these challenges? ENGAGE You ll cover this section during your group discussion. This is where you are asked to make personal application and is, therefore, the most valuable. It would be beneficial to you and to your entire group to be willing to share transparently some of your answers below. 1. On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your prayer life? Explain your rating. 2. Using the same scale, how would you rate your time reading and studying the Bible? Explain your rating. page 37
3. What rating would you give yourself regarding your own willingness to cultivate your heart more? 4. In order to cultivate your heart, in order to be more like Jesus, what changes do you need to make in your life? 5. Consider reading one of the following books on spiritual disciplines: (1) Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster (2) The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard (3) So You Want To Be Like Christ by Chuck Swindoll (4) Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney page 38