How can you reign over your own life? God must reign over my heart and my spiritual state to resolve the scars and diseases of my heart.

Let us bless one another, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. I pray the blessing of Word fulfillment will be upon all the individuals and families worshipping in their homes, in the church, and out of state. 

Today I want to share the spiritual blessing of God with you using the Word of God, Jer. 31. People are very great beings. The advancement of society until this point was not done by animals, but by humans. The reason why humans are so great is because God has fulfilled His work through humans. But people who do not acknowledge the Work of God will conclude the greatness of man. That’s why they say things like “Your heart determines your life. Even if you’re in the midst of failure, you can decide your fate.” 

I don’t think those words are incorrect. If a human makes a resolution in their heart, they can kill people or turn their failures into success. If someone has rage inside their heart, they will have enemies for the rest of their life. These are things that follow depending on our heart. If we resolve in our hearts, we can also succeed, but there is something that we cannot control with our heart. 

If we can get everything we desire, we wouldn’t need religion. As evidence that God exists, we cannot do everything with our heart. I think it’s possible that there are people listening to this message who think they have fulfilled all their heart’s desires in their lives. That may be the fact right now, but if you live your life a little longer, you will conclude that there are some things you cannot control with your heart. 

Why is it that in today’s age, those with power and authority, in the seat where no one else can go, cannot do everything their heart desires? Because in life, we can do some things our hearts desire, but not everything. That is why our future is determined by the state of our thoughts and heart. If you don’t have any thoughts right now, your future will be devoid of any thought. If you have rage against people because of scars, these are the things that will keep on happening in your life. If you say, “I believe in myself and I’ve accomplished everything I’ve put my mind to,” later on you’ll actually be at a loss because of yourself. 

1. From Egypt to Israel

  1) Egypt

The passage we read today in Jer. 31 is talking about the covenant God made with the Israelites who escaped Egypt. However, there was a conclusion that the Israelites couldn’t keep the Old Covenant, so He needed to make a New Covenant with them. The Old Testament is the Old Covenant and the New Testament is the New Covenant, and the standard of that New Covenant began when Jesus Christ came to earth. Before Jesus Christ, God had the Old Covenant with Israel. 

    (1) Superpower nation

In every age of human society, God creates a superpower nation. It seems that humans created this superpower nation, but actually God created it, yet humans misunderstand. People think “Our nation is filled with great people, and that’s why we have become the superpower nation that is more developed and more powerful than other nations.” But if you look in the Bible, God actually makes superpower nations so He can fulfill His plan through unbelievers.  The plan of God is not for unbelievers, but God makes His plan for His people. God is controlling His people through the power of the superpower nations. 

    (2) Idol worship

Because of the superpower nations like Egypt, because they were so powerful but didn’t have God, they would serve idols. In the age we read about in the Bible, the Egyptians had many gods, but the greatest was the god of the Sun. The people of Egypt believed the pharaoh was the son of the Sun God, who came to rule over the Egyptians. There is also the Nile River, flowing through Egypt. The Nile River flows from central Africa to the north through Egypt, and it was a very good environment for farming. That’s why they worshipped the Nile River as a god. Their society was an agricultural society, and they needed many children to do labor, so they had a frog god for childbirth and fertility. 

    (3) Disasters (Ex. 7:14-10:36,12:12)

But Ex. 7:10 shows how God brings disaster to Egypt, based on the idols they served. That’s why among the superpower nations, there is no nation that has exceeded 100 years. America is a bit of an exception. So for 100 years, God makes these superpower nations powerful, but because these nations don’t serve God, He brings His judgment upon them through idols.

It’s the same for individual family lines, they do not exceed 100 years. Simply put, physical success cannot go for longer than 100 years without God. Within 3-4 generations, God will destroy it. That is a historical fact in the Bible as well as in society, but people think the land is plentiful and knowledge is abundant because of human goodness. They don’t realize God actually made that happen, so God changes that superpower nation. 

  2) Israel

When the Israelites first immigrated to Egypt, they were actually served very well by the Egyptians. Because Joseph had become the governor of Egypt, they helped Egypt a lot. That was a time when the Israelites had a lot of faith. But after Joseph died and the previous Pharaoh passed away, the Israelites became further from God. Why did they get further from God? Because the Israleites were living in Egypt for so long, they saw idol worshipping people having children who were successful and their businesses were thriving, so their hearts began to shake. 

    (1) Slave of Egypt (Ex. 2:23)

From that moment on, the Israelites’ hearts turned towards idols, and they became completely enslaved by Egypt. 

    (2) Suffering, groan, oppress (Ex. 2:23,24,3:9)

Ex. 2:22-24 and Ex. 3:9 said these Israelites groaned in their suffering and cried out. They suffered so much that their cries reached God in heaven. It’s not because they lacked physical resources. Egypt was so successful and rich at the time that they made the pyramids. Even now, if you tell them to make pyramids now, they won’t be able to. This was an age that was so advanced, but the Israelites were used as slaves to build the pyramids. 

    (3) Satan’s slave

The fact that they were suffering meant they were suffering mentally. They didn’t have physical concerns because as long as they did their slave labor, they would get paid. It didn’t matter if they went to college or not, they could work and be paid, but the problem was because they had these diseases and suffering in their mind and heart. Even if people try to control their mind on their own, they cannot. If you have depression, you can’t control your mind because you want to. If you have bipolar disorder and your emotions fluctuate between extremes, it doesn’t matter how hard you concentrate to try to control your mind, you won’t be able to. 

For people who murder dozens of people, they cannot control themselves. They say after they commit one murder, they can’t say who did it. More than 90% of American veterans who fought in wars have mental problems and go as far as commit suicide. Because America is so powerful, they send their troops as a kind of police force throughout the world, but 90% of the American troops who have gone into war are afflicted with mental problems, so we cannot control our mind and heart. 

You must not misunderstand. “If I resolve in my heart, I can become first place in my studies and if I resolve rigorously, then I can succeed in my business.” That’s possible; that’s how God created man. Animals may not be able to do that, but people can. But there are some things we cannot control. Why do I have mental problems that come into me and control me? If I commit suicide, it’s because that thought has come into my mind. It’s not controllable.  If we could control everything in our lives, why would we need God? 

In conclusion, the Israelites were completely in despair as slaves. The Israelite people still believed in God, it’s not like they stopped going to church. That’s not the problem. The issue was that they didn’t want to keep God in their hearts. “Oh, that’s not me, I keep God in my heart.” However, you keep other things in your heart, too. You believe in Jesus Christ, but also hold onto the worldly things, too. Then, do you think you’re really holding onto God or holding onto the world?  You’re holding onto the world, then through the thing that they’re holding onto, that person will face suffering. 

People teach others “you need to believe in yourself and love yourself.” That’s correct, but later on, you will suffer because of yourself. You cannot trust yourself, you must trust God, but you keep trusting yourself, and later on, you become disappointed in yourself. “Oh, I didn’t know I was that kind of person.” That’s a misconception; you’ve always been that way, but you just didn’t know. You’re under the misconception that the work and studies you’re doing now are who you are.  You’re misunderstanding that just because you study well now or drive a good car now, that represents you, you’re misunderstanding yourself because you look at your seat of success. That may be the seat of success, but that’s not really you.

What does it mean for you to know yourself well? “I am someone who cannot control things with my heart.” That is the beginning of the gospel. If you still have self-confidence, you will later on face suffering and disappointment because of yourself. “Oh, I trust this person.” I hope you will not trust that person more than God. I hope you love that person, but they are not someone you believe in. Am I telling you to distrust that person? I’m not talking in binary like that. I’m saying you should love people but not put your trust in them. 

If you put your trust in the money you have, without a doubt, you will suffer because of that money. If you put your trust in the knowledge you have, you will face suffering because of that knowledge, then you will face the suffering that leaves you no choice but to do drugs, or you will suffer because of insomnia every night. 

  3) Liberation

When were the Israelites liberated from their suffering?  Did these Israelites escape through their diligent studies, or did they escape with the diligent strength of their army?  Or did they have a lot of scientific advancement? You will never escape that way because you can never control the state of your heart, not even with money. It doesn’t matter how many good works you do for 100 years. It doesn’t matter how much you struggle; you cannot escape.  God has to let you escape. 

    (1) Blood of the lamb (Ex. 12:13)

How does God let me escape? God only gave us one way. There is no way other than Ge. 3:15, the offspring of woman, Jesus Christ. 

    (2) Disasters (Ex. 12:13)

Only the families that spread the blood of the passover lamb on their doorpost would have the Passover where the disasters passed over them. You can never change the state of your family line. “Oh, I think my parents just lived bad lives,” that’s not true, you should never look at life like that. That was just the extent to which they could live. 

    (3) Pharaoh (Ex. 12:31)

The problem is that there was a problem that they could not solve. Even the powerful Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go. The Israelites only escaped when God touched Pharaoh. The channel through which God works is the blood covenant of Jesus Christ. You can never escape from the curses and disasters of your studies. You will only escape from disasters through the covenant of Jesus Christ.

It’s the same for your studies. “Oh, I just need to work hard.” But the problem is the state of your heart. It means you trust in yourself. “I just need to study hard,” but that’s not enough. I’m sure you can study well and work hard, but later you will face the state of your heart that you cannot control. You have no choice unless God protects you and brings you out of that. That method of resolution is only the blood of the flawless lamb, Jesus Christ Who died for me. He must completely liberate me from the authority of Satan. The fact that He has crushed the head of Satan means he has saved me from Satan’s authority. Unless this takes place, my life has no choice but to stay under Satan’s authority.

2. God’s People, Israel

  1) Word – Covenant

After the Israelites had the Exodus from Egypt, they had a new covenant with God. A covenant is very important because as soon as you sign that document, you are legally bound. That is a contract. 

    (1) Obey fully and keep (Ex. 19:5)

That covenant is in Ex. 19:5, that if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, you will be my treasured possession, my people.  

    (2) God’s possession (Ex. 19:5)

The whole world actually belongs to God, and among all the nations, “you will be my treasured possession, my child.” 

    (3) Kingdom of priests, a holy nation (Ex. 19:6)

In Exodus 19:6, it goes on to say “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” What does it mean to be a kingdom of priests? That through you, you will be a channel to bless all the nations of the world. 1 Peter 2:9 says that you are a chosen people, a holy priesthood, called to declare praises of His marvelous light. 

  2) Broke the covenant

    (1) God – Husband (Jer. 31:32)

When God made this covenant with the Israelites, it means we have the marital status with God as the husband and us as the wife. But the Israelites started to have these adulterous thoughts. If you are married to someone legally, it means that if you commit adultery, that is an illegal breach of contract. If you’re not married, it doesn’t matter because you’re not legally bound, but the fact that spiritually speaking, God is our husband and we are His wife, means that we have a contract with only Him. 

    (2) Spiritual adultery – Idol worship

But we broken that promise first, we have turned our hearts elsewhere. 

    (3) Babylon’s captive (Heb. 9:9)

That is the reason why in Heb. 9:9, we have been captivated by Babylon. God says “I turned away from them.” What happens to us? We get seized by Satan. We need to captivate our hearts and thoughts on only the Triune God. When do I resolve to captivate my hearts and thoughts on the Triune God? It’s only possible when you come to the conclusion that my life will only work with Jesus Christ. But there are many people who go to church, but in their hearts, they have Jesus Christ plus something else, and that’s the reason we suffer. We believe in Jesus and believe in something else, that’s wrong. Only Jesus Christ, who is my Lord and my Savior, is my husband and I am His wife, then God begins to reign over me. 

How can you reign over your own life? God must reign over my heart and my spiritual state, otherwise you can never resolve the scars and diseases of your heart. If you receive counseling, it might help a little, but it won’t resolve spiritual problems. Don’t be mistaken, you can never change the human state with human abilities. You think you can change the human mind with psychology? Maybe. But there is something we cannot change. Even the counselor or psychologist themself will have something they cannot resolve within their heart. Unless Christ comes into our heart as “only,” we can never change.

  3) New covenant – Jesus Christ (Lk. 22:20)

God is saying because this old covenant will not work out, He will give us a new covenant. Lk. 22:20 says “this cup is the new covenant of my blood.” This is during the Last Supper, and He is saying that Jesus Christ dying on the cross is the new covenant. 

    (1) Heart – Write (Jer. 31:33, Heb. 9:10)

In Jer. 31:33 the Lord declares, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” Because no matter how many promises God makes to us, we cannot control our own hearts, so God is saying He will directly go into our thoughts and hearts and control them. 

    (2) Thoughts – God’s word (Jer. 31:33, Heb. 9:10)

God is saying He will control our thoughts and our hearts, this is very important. All healing, all the curses and disasters of your family line cannot be changed with your abilities, or even with your theology. You cannot change it by just going to church for a long time. The Lord must come into me and completely take control of me. 

But the moment you want to control yourself is the start of problems, that’s what He is saying. Then, our walk of faith is continuously giving up everything completely to God. Because you’re giving everything to Him, it’s so comfortable to you.  If you’re not letting go of it, that’s why you’re so anxious and your thoughts and heart are diseased. When that stress keeps building up, it will lead to diseases. The only thing a doctor can do is cut out a diseased part as it manifests, but worship changes the source so that the disease will not manifest to begin with. 

That is why worship determines your life, because God comes into our hearts and thoughts. There was a pastor’s son who said there is no God. That was the founder of communism in North Korea, Kim Il-Sung. His family was originally Christian, but who cares if the family is Christian if they personally don’t believe it?  Ultimately, that person will fail because of communism. Democracy or socialism aren’t the answer either, because democracy or socialism are centered on money or people, and you will fail because of that source. 

    (3) New spirit – Heart of flesh (Ez. 36:26)

Ezek. 36:26 says he will give us a new heart and new spirit. “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” The Holy Spirit must come into our hearts.  If the Holy Spirit doesn’t come into us, we will try to control our own hearts, and it’s fine if we could control it, but Satan will start to work within us. But people don’t believe Satan exists, they think, “I should just do well on my own,” but you cannot control yourself. Only when the Holy Spirit comes upon us and the Kingdom of God is established will Satan’s kingdom crumble.  Our heart that is so hardened because we’re focusing on the physical things, centered on ourselves, God will change to a soft heart of flesh so that we can obey God’s Word. 

    (4) God’s spirit – Follow His word (Ez. 37:27)

Ez. 37:27 says that once the Spirit of God dwells within us, then we can follow His Word, and from that point on,“I will be their God, and they will be my people.” We are children of God and God is our father. The Father takes care of our life, and all I need to do is give everything I’m doing up to God. When that becomes the state of my heart, God will completely control me. 

If you don’t believe in God, it means you trust in yourself, and ultimately you make yourself suffer. That is the problem of America today, and it’s the problem of those who go to church. Going to church is not the answer; the only answer is when the Spirit of God completely controls my heart and thoughts. But if that isn’t taking place, people have no reason to come back to church because they’ve tried it and it doesn’t work. So where do they go?  To a place that heals their heart.  

Try evangelizing in the field.  I went to UCLA and they had books talking about healing your heart and advertising it to the students. The way they depict transcendental meditation is having a circle that represents your heart, and it’s a way to detoxify your heart.  People began to follow that, they started to do transcendental meditation where they take their scattered and fragmented heart and concentrate it upon one place. That’s the reality of America today.

    (5) God and God’s people (Jer. 31:33)

Why do these things keep happening? Because churches cannot give the answer. It’s because the churches aren’t talking about only Jesus Christ, they’re talking about Jesus Christ plus alpha. The people of the church hold something else, it’s Jesus Christ plus something else, and that’s the beginning of suffering.  We have to finish everything with God. We must finish our lives with the Triune God. As evidence that it has been finished, we give our every day up to God. If you face a problem, you give it completely to God, but as evidence that you don’t believe in God, you’re holding onto your problems, thinking you can resolve it yourself. 

There are some things we cannot resolve with our own abilities, but God has placed within each person a problem that you cannot solve on your own.  You might not talk about it, but everyone has it. When is this no longer a problem?  The only way this problem will be resolved is if you give everything up to God. But if you don’t have this, God will give you a great, unsolvable problem within each of you.  Why did God place this within you?  So that you can completely trust in God, and until you come to that point, it won’t be resolved. 

But these people are under a misconception that they’re going to church but it’s not solving anything. It does get solved, it’s no longer a problem to you if you give it to God.  “Oh, but I gave it to God, and it’s not working.” That’s evidence that you’re not really giving it up to God. The Bible is the evidence. You have evidence of people who’ve given up everything completely to the covenant of God.  

3. Holy Spirit

  1) With (Jn. 14:16) – Healing

    (1) Guidance – Teach and remind (Jn. 14:26)

Now that we believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be with us for eternity (Jn 14:16).  From that point on, the diseases of my heart are healed.  Medication won’t do it, “Oh, but medication helps,” and maybe the symptoms are healed, but the fundamental diseases of your heart aren’t healed.  You have to heal your heart fundamentally.  God has to fundamentally control your heart, but how does He control it?

God will control it if you give it up completely to Him. It is the same with human relationships. You have a power struggle because you have anxiety, trying to enforce your own will. But that’s not a love relationship; that’s simply a situation of coexisting with calculation and manipulation.  If you love someone, you’ll give everything up for them completely. Even when you’re married, you’re under a misconception that you give your life to them, but when you come to your senses later, you say, “I can’t give my life to them,” and then you start speaking your own words and you start fighting as you speak of your own methods.  That’s what happens to your life if you don’t give it completely to God.

In the past, I didn’t know God or Jesus so I lived my life completely for myself. But now that I’ve given everything up to God, everything is so comfortable. You keep thinking, “Oh, does that mean if I give everything up to God, will I get better grades, better business, and have my debts cleared?” That’s the reason you can’t give everything up to God. That is the reality you see with your eyes, but God is controlling and leading your life forwards. God never makes mistakes. Even if it seems like a mistake, it isn’t a mistake to God. Even if there’s a mistake, you say, “I didn’t make a mistake.” Don’t you think that’s true success?  The state of your heart is so important. 

“Oh, that person is psychotic, they made a mistake but say they didn’t.” You can tell by their face if they’re just faking it and gritting their teeth. If you really believe that, even though you made a mistake, that it’s not a mistake, even if you’re walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you will be okay. David says, “Even if I’m chased to death by King Saul, I’m okay.”  Even with the COVID pandemic, you’ll be okay. I’m talking about the spiritual state of your heart.  

Then does that mean I won’t catch COVID if I believe in God? I got it and everything was okay. If I believe in God, will I never catch a cold? It doesn’t matter even if I catch a cold; why is this relevant?  God fulfills the covenant He placed in my heart. 

    (2) Heart – Peace, No trouble or fear (Jn. 14:27)

Paul confesses that he learned to be content whether in poverty or wealth. It’s not that Paul was never poor; he was, or Joseph never went in as a slave? He was, so the question you’re asking is wrong. It’s a problem but it’s not a problem because God is with me and guiding me forward because the Holy Spirit is teaching and guiding us. When we face a problem, God leads us forward with His Word. That is why God is guiding us forward, having solved all our problems of our past, present, and future.

“You said problems are finished, why am I facing another problem?” The fact that problems are finished means that God already determined the result and guides us forward, and throughout the entire process, God is guiding us with His Word, therefore have no troubles or fear in your heart.  “My peace I give to you,” that is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

    (3) Help the weak, intercede for church members (Rom. 8:26)

Rm. 8:26 says the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. We’re weak. It’s not people who help us, there’s a limitation to what people or our parents can do for us, but parents cannot do anything about a child’s heart, but the spirit helps our weakness. We do not know what to pray for, but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 

  2) Filling of the Holy Spirit – 237 nations

    (1) Word of the covenant – Concentrate thoughts, heart

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?  It means your heart is in a state where your heart is completely controlled and given up to God. People ask, “What do I do to receive answers?” That is not a person who will do great works.  “What do I do to receive great answers?” It means they’re researching a way to get answers from God. That’s still better than someone who doesn’t pray at all, but God has eternal answers, a 24-hour answer, an answer for the entire world. If you give everything to God, everything is an answer, but instead of doing that, you say, “What do I do to get answers?”

What is the method of prayer for David? Nonbelievers don’t have to do things like this.  Even if they don’t do things like this, they are successful people.  Steve Jobs didn’t believe in God, but he was smarter than most believers. If you’re asking for, “What is the method of prayer?” Are you some kind of salesman? You’re asking people for a method of God.  “Oh, if you pray the prayer that Daniel prayed, you’ll become smart.” There are even retreats called Daniel’s retreats because he was so smart. In New York, there are advertisements for meditation that will elevate your intelligence, but God’s IQ is unlimited.

He is the one who created the universe and created me. When I give myself entirely to God, the eternal answers get relayed to the future generations. So for people who ask for what the method is, there’s no method; you just give everything up to God. That’s what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  There are people who don’t pray at all, but they will have lots of worries and believe in themselves. Later on, their heart will become complicated and heavy and they will face disease. 

There are people who know how to pray and have tasted the answers, but it’s labor for them. Because they’re in a state where they’re not giving everything entirely up to God, and they’re trying to get something from God, so it’s labor for them. Every time you pray should be a joyful time.  What is prayer? It is the moment when you’re giving up your entire life up to God. All your heavy burdens are given up to God.  Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden. Every time you pray, you should be joyful, and that’s the filling of the Holy Spirit.  

    (2) Authority, witness (Ac. 1:8)

    (3) To the ends of the earth – All nations (Vessel) (Mt. 28:19)

When you taste that, it’s different from drugs or money. It’s different from anything else in the world. If you get hooked on that taste, you’ll keep doing it wherever you go. That’s the filling of the Holy Spirit. “Oh, if you receive the Holy Spirit, you’ll start speaking in tongues.” That may be correct, but that person isn’t happy. When you receive this, you receive the authority of God and become Jesus’ witnesses to the ends of the earth. If God’s power comes upon you, you transcend your limitations.  There’s nothing about controlling your own life because God is controlling you, then the doors for your businesses will open, too.

  3) 24hr covenant and my work – Summit

    (1) Put the covenant into thoughts, heart

How can I be a good soldier? That’s the way to that too. There’s President Grant in US History. I don’t think that he was very a good president. He was so disobedient that his father sent him to Westpoint Academy. He wasn’t good at human relationships, he was short and didn’t have many abilities. His father owned a company, so after he graduated from the military, he went into his father’s company instead of the military. Then, he started reading the Bible.

After President Lincoln became president, there was the Civil War, so they looked for the people from military academies like Westpoint and they chose Grant. Wherever he went, he was victorious. He was short and unruly, and he didn’t even do well in the military, but wherever he went, he had victory. This didn’t come from his abilities.  David won 100/100 wars. David wasn’t good at fighting, but he confessed his fight was in God’s hands. My entire life is a war, my business is a war, and it is in God’s hands. 

Even Goliath was not in God’s hands so he was broken down. These kinds of classy future generations will continue to arise. “Should I do this or that?” That person’s life will be difficult, because that’s how they know God, as some kind of method. God is the One who created the entire universe. I hope you will be able to surrender and give up your child to God. Then God will move him/her. 

    (2) Prayer for the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt. 6:33)

That’s why we focus our thoughts and mind on God, then the Kingdom of God will be established. The first thing you should pray for is for the Kingdom of God to be established in your business, your field, or school. Otherwise, Satan and the economy of darkness will steal your finances away and you cannot overcome Satan. 

    (3) Answer of God that saves lives (Ac. 2)

Depending on your spiritual state, the answers you see with your eyes will follow.  Depending on the spiritual state of your heart, all the things you see with your eyes will follow. If your heart is filled with rage or hate, then you will fight based on what is visible to your eyes, and if your heart is always filled with worries, that is the work you will do. The spiritual state of your heart must be filled with God. 

    (4) Eternal masterpiece – Eternal life, temple that saves lives

Then the things that follow will be eternal. We are not living for just 100 years, because the Work of God leaves behind eternal things, and salvation of souls is eternal. The temple construction is a platform that will remain for eternity until Jesus’s second coming. If my heart and spirit are filled with God, that is how God will guide me. That is how God has called you and me.

Conclusion

1. Enjoy holding onto the covenant that saves

2. Evidence that saves lives

3. Eternal masterpiece

Prayer

I pray that for the rest of the week, your thoughts, heart, and spirit will be filled with God, with the Holy Spirit. Let us pray for the Word that God has given us today.