Often sincere, committed Christians will remark about Biblical truths, “I know it is true in my head, but in my heart I still seem to believe that I’m not good enough….that God can love and forgive others, but not me….”
Have you ever found yourself saying this?
This need to move beyond information into actual transformation lies at the heart of Straight 2 the Heart Discipleship Ministries.
Our focus is on the application of God’s Word, (Acts 6:4), as we look at why so many Christians live in a cycle of sin and forgiveness – receiving forgiveness but never experiencing freedom or victory in their lives. The Cross of Christ provides freedom from this cycle as it helps us connect our wounded hearts with the heart of our “Wounded Healer” (Malachi 4:2).
Jesus, Isaiah and ALL the Old Testament prophets, ALL the gospel writers, ALL the disciples in Acts, the apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews included Jesus’ suffering as part of the plan of salvation.
Straight 2 the Heart focuses on specific experiences in Christ's life where He fulfilled prophecy:
- as He sweat blood in His life and death struggle to surrender His will to His Father
- as He was abandoned and left alone by those closest to Him
- as He was betrayed by someone close to Him, when Judas sold Him for the price of a slave
- as He was stripped naked, physically violated, shamed, humiliated, verbally and mentally abused in public by those in authority over Him
- as He was attacked and assaulted by Satan, the ‘father of lies’
- as He was tempted to numb His pain when they offered Him wine on the cross, when His nerves were on fire and He had lost blood and water after being beaten and nailed to the cross
- as He cried out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?”
Jesus went through all these experiences of suffering, and many others, so:
- He could connect His story with our story in a very specific, personal way
- We would discover that He knows what we’ve gone through, identifying with us in all our struggles with sin and suffering in a very specific, personal way
- We would allow His suffering to soften our hearts, so we would trust Him with our sins, wounds and brokenness in our lives in a very specific, personal way
- He can fulfill His mission statement to share His gospel with us, (Luke 4:18):
- healing the broken hearted
- setting the captives free
- walking us out of our prisons of darkness or blindness
“The Christ who must suffer,” who chose to connect His story with our story, to heal our hearts and set us free is the hidden half of the gospel, (Luke 9:22; 17:25; Acts 3:18; 17:3; 26:3; Hebrews 2:10; 4:14-16).
When someone who has been abandoned, abused or rejected sees how Jesus was abandoned, abused and rejected, the Holy Spirit can begin softening her heart through the power of identification. When she knows that Christ knows what she has gone through, because He has gone through it Himself, she can invite Him into these areas of her heart carrying all the pain from the ways she has been hurt in life.
As we pray, with a new understanding of the “personal side” of the cross, we experience healing, wholeness, and freedom from addictions, destructive thought patterns, and emotional and relational problems.
Straight 2 the Heart is a ‘come-along-side-ministry’ supporting the local church, not a ‘stand-alone-ministry.”
To set up an appointment to talk with someone on our ministry team, please contact us here.