Andy Stanley’s Enemies of the Heart
I recently finished reading Enemies of the Heart by Any Stanley, and as expected I was not disappointed. The book centers on the relationship of those involved in debt. He uses this relationship to shine light on the condition of a person’s heart. The main topics discussed are:
- Guilt- I owe you
- Anger- You owe me
- Greed- I owe me
- Jealousy- God owes me
Andy does a great job of showing how each one of these “Heart Conditions” can affect our life. He goes on to introduce four ways that God has given the believer to combat these conditions
- Confession
- Forgiveness
- Giving
- Celebrating others
This is a life changing book if you will take the time to meditate on God while learning what God has given Andy Stanley to say about the heart.
As I was reading this book I could not help but think about the tabernacle of God. God began to show me how the two relate.
First, we must see that the tabernacle represents us today. Just like us, there are three parts:
- Outer Courts- Body
- Inner courts – Soul
- Holy of Holies- Spirit
If we take a closer look at the Inner Court and the Soul we find the Heart.
- Table of Shew Bread- Knowledge
- Menorah- Thought
- Altar of Incense- Heart
The purpose of the Altar of Incense was to burn incense continually before the lord as a type of sacrifice. The interesting thing is that there were four types of incense that were burnt on this Altar; stacte, onycha, galbanum and frankincense. This lines up perfect with the four conditions that Andy Stanley lays out in his book.
God showed me that for his Spirit (which rest in the Holy of Holies or our Spirit) to flow through us and then out of us we must first condition our hearts toward him. If our hearts are filled with guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy God’s Spirit will be blocked. On the other hand, if we fill our hearts with confession, forgiveness, giving, and celebrating others God’s Spirit will fill our lives and let our lights shine to others.
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