HARDNESS OF HEART

1. "Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah,
2. and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."
3. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So, Samuel prayed to the LORD.
4. And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them."
   1 Samuel 8:4-7 (NKJV)

• God might permit you to have your way in some cases or situations, even when it is not His perfect will (Matthew 19:8).

• The fact that God permitted a thing does not mean He approved it. A Permission is not an approval.
• The Israelites demanded for a King; they implored Samuel to appoint a King for them (1 Samuel 8:4-5).
• Samuel took the matter to God in prayer and God said he should give them one. God consented to their plan, He told Samuel that it was not him [Samuel] they rejected, but He.
• God was not happy with their request, but he said Samuel should appoint a king 👑 for them anyway (1 Samuel 18:4-9; 12:17).
• If you have made up your mind on an issue, God may allow you to have your way, but not without negative repercussions—sorrows.

• Take note: Always allow God to have His WAY in every affair of your life.
TELL God in prayer to have His way in your life and mean it with all your heart.
KNOW that when you pray such a prayer, the outcome or result may not be as you envisaged, but it would be God’s will—and that is what you really need.

• Patience is needed to walk with God and to be in His perfect will (James 1:2-4).

1. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
2. and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
   Philippians 4:6,7 (NKJV)

• Benefits of walking in the perfect will of God:
YOU will experience peace, joy, and blessings (Philippians 4:7).
YOU will be what God wants you to be (John 21:18,19).

1. "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and walked wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and arms, and someone else will dress you, and carry you where you do not wish to go."
2. Now He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And after saying this, He said to him, "Follow Me [walk the same path of life that I have walked]!"
   John 21:18,19 (Amp.)

YOU will live a fulfilled life (2 Timothy 4:6-8).
YOU will experience God’s kind of success (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3).
YOUR life will bless MANY, and you will be relevant in God’s programme on earth 🌎 (Acts 9:15; Ephesians 3:7,8).

"But the Lord said to him [Ananias], "Go for he [Paul] is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel."
Acts 9:15 (NKJV)

• Vision is discovered as you walk in the light of God's Word:

• It is when you walk in total obedience to God, you walk in the light of His Word; that you actually discover God’s plan, purpose, for your life.
• A self-willed person cannot walk in God’s perfect will, and it may be difficult for such a person to know God’s plan and purpose for his or her life (1 Corinthians 2:9,10).
• Hardness of heart is an offshoot of pride, when you have wrong assumption of the self, and you are self-conceited.

"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, NOT TO THINK HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY THAN HE OUGHT TO THINK, BUT TO THINK SOBERLY, as God as dealt to each one a measure of faith."
Romans 12:3 (NKJV)

• The Set plan:

• Vision is the set plan of God for your life.
  IT is the picture of a preferable future.
• It could only be discovered through walking in obedience to God's Word—instructions.
  DISCOVERING of purpose, vision, is an offshoot of walking in total obedience with God.
  SO, vision is discovered in walking intimately with God in absolute obedience.

• The Truth:

• HARDNESS of heart will limit your progress in God (Proverbs 26:12).
• HARDNESS of heart will make you miss out on God’s plan for you.
• HARDNESS of heart will make you toil and suffer unnecessarily (Proverbs 28:14).

1. "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you will hear His voice,
2. DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS IN THE REBELLION, in the day of trial in the wilderness,
3. Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years.
4. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, 'THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, and they have not known My ways.'
5. So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' "
   Hebrews 3:7-11 (NKJV)

• Total submission to God's will makes you eat the good of the land apportioned you.

"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land."
Isaiah 1:19 (NKJV)

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.
Peace!