DB Clips: How to Overcome a Troubled Heart
John chapter 14:1 starts with Jesus saying, “Let Not your hearts be troubled” and then Jesus ends in v27 by saying, “Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
In John 14 Jesus is telling His disciples and us that in this world we will be facing trouble, but we don’t need to be troubled.
The disciples would later face torture and martyrdom for their faith in Christ.
If this helped them then it certainly should help us.
Jesus gives us Five Gifts to Overcome a Troubled Heart:
Hope->Salvation->Knowing God->Prayer->Holy Spirit
HOPE
John 14:1-3 “Let not your hearts be troubled… I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
This is the Hope of Heaven that Jesus is talking about!
Hope is not wishful thinking but a confident joyful expectation.
Human beings are unavoidably hope based creatures.
How you live in the present is inevitably shaped by what you believe about your future.
If you really believe in heaven, you would be…
Incredibly generous, live a holy, fearless, and joyful life and not be afraid of death.
We have Hope because the 2nd gift we have to keep our hearts from being troubled is…
SALVATION
vv4-6 And you know the way to where I am going… I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The Bible says that our sin has separated us from God.
All of our problems (suffering) is symptomatic of our being separated from God.
Salvation is about being reconciled to God. How?
Jesus is saying, I am the WAY to God, the TRUTH about God, and the very LIFE of God. No one can have a relationship with God apart from me.
The Gospel is the good news that God has reconciled us to Himself by sending His Son to die in our place for our sins and all who put their faith in Christ have everlasting life (Salvation).
Not letting our hearts be troubled is more than having a hope that comes from being reconciled to God (salvation)…
The third gift Jesus is giving us is…
KNOWING GOD
V7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
V9 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.
John is invoking sensory language.
Know/Known 4xs; Seen 3xs
You can know a lot about God but not know God.
To know God is a heart experience based on the objective truth about God.
Illu. It’s one thing to see a post card of the Grand Canyon but it’s altogether another thing to see, and to experience the Grand Canyon yourself.
It’s one thing to have a post card perspective of God but it’s altogether another thing to experience His indescribable greatness and unimaginable goodness in your heart.
To deal with our troubled hearts Jesus gives us the gift of…
Hope, Salvation, Knowing God…
And besides the Bible, one of the best ways to Know God is through…
PRAYER
Vv13-14 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
Our Savior loves to interact with us and answer our prayers!
Here’s how we should approach prayer:
We must believe that all the heath, wealth, human acclaim, success, money, romance, and achievements in this world that we all find desirable will NOT bring us the lasting satisfaction our hearts long for.
No doubt, every good and perfect gift comes from God. James 1:17
But the honor, love, satisfaction you are looking for can only be found in the arms and love of God.
You were made for God and your heart and soul will be forever restless until you find your rest in Him. Prayer is a great gift from God to accomplish that.
To deal with our troubled hearts Jesus gives us…Hope, Salvation, Knowing God, Prayer… and all of this is made real to our hearts through the work and power of the…
HOLY SPIRIT
v16-17 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, …You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
As soon as a person commits their life to the person and work of Jesus Christ the promised Holy Spirit comes to dwell within them.
In fact, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead comes to dwell in followers of Jesus Christ. Rom.8:11
The God of the Bible is a God who wants to interact with us, to speak to us, to comfort us, to convict us and empower us to be what He wants us to be and to do what He wants us to do. He will do that through the indwelling work of His Holy Spirit.
Jesus gives us five gifts to overcome a troubled heart:
Hope, Salvation, Knowing God, Prayer, Holy Spirit.
If those don’t help you with a troubled heart than nothing else will.
If you would like to learn more on this topic: DBCC.com
Sermon series: Believe
Find the sermon’s titled: Let Not Your Heart be Troubled &
The Promised Holy Spirit
God Bless You!