MATTERS OF THE HEART

At the Rio Revolution campus here in Maryville, we're at the broadcast campus here. I'd like to welcome all of you out tonight. And tonight we're gonna have our online community joining us right now. Give it up for the online community, y'all. Just real quick, if you are sitting in a cell right now, it ain't over, okay? I was sitting in a cell too, in Laurel County, Kentucky, on my way back to the federal prison for the third time. And I never thought in a million years that church show I was watching in the morning, you know, because I was broke and didn't have no money. That was the only thing that was free on that tablet. Little did I know I would end up in this church right now that I was watching in that cell. God has a plan and you're part of that plan. So don't think that you're sitting in there and it's over because it's not over. It's really not falling apart. Your life is just falling into place. The Lord says, consider it a great joy when you encounter trials of many kinds because it's for a purpose. It produces patience. It produces this perseverance inside of you to give you a strength that you didn't have before so that you continue on with the plan that's ahead of you. The Father has this wonderful, wonderful plan for us, but the heart of a man or a heart of a woman

is something he seeks out. He wants your heart above all else. And tonight we have the great opportunity to hear one of my sisters, one of my coworkers, one of my friends, Ms. Paige Irvine tonight. She's gonna be bringing a word. And she really does. She's got a wonderful testimony from death to life. Her and her husband both. He was my roommate for a little while. I love the Irvines. They're great people. But we are a faith-based 12-step program and we are all faithful believers in the Lord. Who? That's right, we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the confidentiality is something that we take seriously here because many of us go to the altar here and you want it to be a safe place. I want you to understand that you will not be filmed and be exploited on the camera. If you need to hit this altar, it's a big deal. It's you and the Lord. And to lay those burdens down, it takes a lot of courage, a lot of bravery. So please feel free to come on up and lay it down. Don't carry those hurts, habits, or hang-ups alone. You can come up here and put it at the feet of the cross and be set free.

And we will be doing some prayer and worship. And tonight I would like to recognize anybody in the house that's got a birthday. Hey, Liz. We got a birthday lady in the house. Anybody else got a birthday? Come on now, don't be shy. Come on up. Sing your happy birthday in the hillbilly way. All righty. Is that, are you the only birthday girl? I guess so. Don't worry. I'll stand here with you. All right, we're gonna sing Liz happy birthday. And we don't have to say everyone. We can say happy birthday, Liz. You know? All right. All right, here we go. ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday, dear Liz ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ Oh, wait a minute. We got another one. We got another one too. It's his birthday as well. What's your name, little buddy? Maddox.

All right, we gotta do it again. I'm sorry, guys. Maddox. That's right. All right, we're gonna go one more time. ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ ♪ Happy birthday, dear Maddox ♪ ♪ Happy birthday to you and many more. ♪ All right. All right. Man, we got a nice looking crowd in here tonight. You know, we got a lot of people. We got a nice looking crowd in here tonight. You know, I've come to notice that, man, the people I see in recovery are some of the strongest, most beautiful people I've seen in my whole life. You know, coming from a place of hardship, loss, and a lot of other things, but seeing the resilience in a lot of your faces and in your eyes gives me a lot of strength and a lot of hope that you will also bring this hope to others, that you can show other people that if I can get sober, you can do it too. If I can come out of prison and stand in a place of victory, you can too. God is no respecter of persons. He will come when you call upon his name from your heart. If you'll join me with the Lord's prayer.

The Honorable Jesus Christ presenting. And whose father? Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who would trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen. All right, if I could get the two ladies up here to do these eight principles. All right, wait a minute, one of these ladies is my lovely wife, Jessie, come on down. And my sister, Tracy. This is my favorite place, what? You forgot, you're fired, you forgot the announcement. Put them up there, yeah, the rates of recovery, March 28, 2026, come out and join the recovery community where we all get together, you can run, you can walk, you can push a stroller with a kid in it, whatever you do, come out and have fun with the community, because we are all family in this right here, it's March 28, 2026, 9 a.m. on the green belt. This rare breed, March 13th, Mattisville Church of God, if you want to come and hear an awesome man of God, his recovery story through his music, I highly recommend that you come to this concert, and it's March 13th at Mattisville Church of God. Anything else? Thanks, Dan. So, my name is Tracy, and I'm a faithful believer in Jesus Christ. Hey, Tracy. This is a good looking crowd, this is my favorite place to be on a Tuesday night, I wasn't here last week, wasn't feeling it, kind of been in a funk, but here's the thing that I know is that I can lean into the Lord, and He's gonna pick my face up, and He's gonna restore my soul, so. I'm Jessie, I'm also a grateful believer in Jesus Christ. Hi!

I celebrate recovery from the world, myself, drugs, all the things, so. And she's my best friend. Alright, so we're gonna read the principle, and then, you guys follow, yeah. You read the principle. Well, I'm gonna read the principle, she's gonna read the biblical principle. I'm gonna read the steps, she's gonna read the biblical principle, and then you guys are gonna follow with this, loud and proud, okay? So, step one. R, realize I'm not God. Yeah, I admit that I am powerless, control my tendency to do the wrong thing, and that my life is unmanageable. Happier those who know they are spiritually poor. Matthew 5, 3. E, earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to Him, and that He has the power to help me recover. Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5, 4. C, consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ's care and control. Happy are the meek. Matthew 5, 5. O, openly examine and confess my faults to myself, to God, and to someone I trust. Happy are the pure in heart. Matthew 5, 8. V, voluntarily submit to every change that God wants to make in my life, and to humbly ask Him to remove all of my character defects. Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires. Matthew 5, 6. Amen. E, evaluate all my relationships, offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me, and make amends for harm I've done to others, except when to do so would harm them or me.

Happy are the merciful. Matthew 5, 7. Happy are the peacemakers. Matthew 5, 9. R, reserve a daily time with God for both self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life, and to gain the power to follow His will. And. Y, yield myself to God to be used to bring this good news to others, both by my example and by my words. Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires. Matthew 5, 10. Worship team. Come on. Woo, yes. Let's give it up for the praise and worship team. Now listen. One thing I wanted to remind her is that as we're up here standing, there's 740 something people. No. Seven what? 743 different prisons listening to you tonight. And so what we want to say is that He is faithful then, He is faithful now, and we get to listen to a, this is just my spiritual sister. That's all there is to it and I'm very proud of you. Thank you for coming here and ministering to us tonight. You don't need no introduction really, I just wanted a hug. I'm so honored to be here, I love it so much. Hello everybody online. All right, I believe that the Lord has given me

a good word for tonight. It's called Matters of the Heart and we're gonna talk about, the Lord has been speaking to me about the heart all year long and just different layers and different things. Tonight we're just really gonna touch on some stuff but we're gonna talk about the estranged heart, we're gonna talk about idols being in the heart, we're gonna talk about an understanding heart and we're gonna talk about a turned heart. So we're gonna start in Ezekiel 14, one through five. And it says, now some of the elders of Israel came to me, talking about the prophet Ezekiel, and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity. Should I let myself be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them and say to them, this is what the Lord says, tells Ezekiel to say. Thus says the Lord God, everyone of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes him to stumble into iniquity and then comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him who comes according to the multitude of his idols that I may seize the house of Israel by their heart because they are all estranged from me by their idols. So what I believe the first thing that the Lord wants me

to address with this passage of scripture is why did the people have to come to the prophet to get a word from the Lord? You see, in those days, God wasn't able to come and live inside of us like he is now. So not everybody was able to hear from the Lord. So if a king or someone needed to know if God was in agreement with what they were doing, if they were getting attacked, they would go to the prophet and say, prophet, what is the Lord saying about my situation? But do you know that's not how God wanted it to be? It tells us in Exodus 20, 18 through 21. Now, all the people witnessed the thunderings and the lightnings and the flashes. See, Moses had just come down from the mountain and he had brought the 10 commandments and the people, they seen all of this and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking and when the people saw it, they trembled and they stood afar off. And then the people said to Moses, you speak with us and we will hear. But let not God speak with us lest we die. And Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin so that the people stood afar off but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

See, it was never God's intention for Moses to be the one that came down with the word of the Lord but he gave them what they wanted. And Moses went into the, and other people could have came because even Joshua got closer than a lot of the Israelites but they're like, no, Moses, we want you to hear from God and then you come and tell us what God is saying. And then so the Lord had to create the Levites which is the Levitical priesthood through Moses' brother Aaron. And so where then once a year, because people couldn't even get forgiveness for their own sins, he had to make a priest who once a year would go into the Holy of Holies and bring a bull or a goat so that, and atone for the people's sins. And so not everyone was able to go into the presence of God. But again, that's not the way that God intended it. He wanted all of us to always have access to him. And so then in Hebrews 7, 11, it says, so if the priesthood of Levi, which was the law, which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? And this is just a little nugget right here but if you don't know about the order of Melchizedek compared to the Levitical order,

I pray that you go and study it a little more because right now we still actually run in a system of the Levitical order where all of us, we come to church every Sunday morning, not all of us, a lot of people feel like the man and the woman of God is the one that hears from God and is supposed to communicate to the people. what God is saying but God says now I am open before you so that we will all be a kingdom of kings and priests in the order of Melchizedek instead in the Levitical priest order that's deep I know but I thought I was told to say it and so we no longer need to bring a sacrifice to a priest anymore because Hebrews 416 says so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God and there we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most and you know I just believe that the Lord is trying to break us from making men and women idols in our hearts and in our minds because in the world that we live in today every man that you know whether they stand on the stage or not they have the ability to let you down because they are not God and if we don't start hearing from God for ourselves we're gonna be in a world of trouble in the world we live in today where we have to fight for a clear thought because social media tells us how to think how to feel how to act what to be mad about thank you Jesus John 1027 says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me you know the word pastor means shepherd but this scripture doesn't say the shepherd hears my voice and my sheep follow me the shepherd we need shepherds we need pastors but Jesus says the sheep hear my voice so if you belong to Jesus then you can hear him Matthew 4 4 says but he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God that is how we as the sheep live we have to be alone with God every single day and we have to get a word from him we have to hear from God on our own every single day not just when we're at church or when we're at

celebrate recovery or when we're in small groups we have to all be eating the Word of God and hearing what God is saying we need pastors we need teachers we need speakers and y'all have some of the best of them that there could ever be in this house but when you only hear from God from them then you are never gonna grow into your potential because Ephesians 4 11 and 12 says these are the gifts that Christ gave the church these are the gifts Cat and Stephen and Katie and Ken and Pastor Pacer and all of the speakers that you have here they are gifts that Jesus gave you the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the pastors and the teacher but their responsibility is to equip God's people to do the work of the ministry and build the church the body of Christ so really all our job is to come in here and to do something to say something that inspires you to go out and do the work of the ministry today I put a testimony online and I had no idea what it was going to do but it is like Jesus is just blown on it about a woman who prayed for me when I was in addiction in a Wendy's and her prayer as she chased me down and prayed for me in a parking lot of Wendy's has turned my life around and here I am now traveling the world preaching the gospel and there are people in the gas stations and in Walmart and in your workplace that if they don't hear the Word of the Lord from you they're not gonna hear it and you don't know what they could have inside of them and I'm here to tell you as a person on them with the microphone that you are to do the work of the ministry that Jesus don't have hands and feet on this earth unless they come from you so right before the Lord told Moses to speak to God for them they heard the Ten Commandments one of those commandments is Exodus 24 you must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or the earth or in the sea and so what I come to ask you today is have you come to inquire of the Lord with idols in your heart and idols anything that lessens your love or your tie to God it is something that gets in between you and God and from hearing God and being close to him it could be a sin it doesn't have to be something horrible it could be it could be yourself it could be work it could be money it could be your job it could be your

kids, it could be entertainment, it could be family, it could be your own opinions and mindsets. Your heart is your innermost being, it's the core of you. It is the source of your words, your actions and your attitudes. Proverb tells us that we're supposed to guard it with all diligence because out of it flows the forces of your life. That means you have to be careful what you take into your heart because it could affect every single part of your day. The Bible also says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, that means the most of what is in you, your mouth is going to speak. And if you are not careful with your words, you can destroy what God is trying to do in your life and you can cancel blessings against yourself because there's nothing but bitterness, offense and negativity that comes up out of you. That's free. Ezekiel 14 five says that I may seize the house of Israel. That means he wants to grab it by their heart because they are estranged from me because of their idols. Estranged means no longer having feelings or affections for, it means become strangers or distance. Do you feel distance from God? Do you have a hunger that just isn't there anymore? I've seen something today, it says when that happens to you, instead of doing what you can to create more distance, you begin digging in.

You dig in, you dig in, you begin eliminating things. It happens to me too because our soul wants to get so sucked into what is going on in the world today and it is done by a device. They want us to be sucked into all of the things so that we can't hear clearly from God and so when I find myself feeling distance from God, then I have to shut off my social media. Then I have to turn off the TV. Then I have to get alone with God and I have to pray. I have to take a walk. I have to sit for hours in the morning sometimes because I'm not okay when I'm feeling distant from God. I'm not okay and there are times when I have to say, all right, the schedule is shutting down. I am taking these four hours with my word and praying in the Holy Ghost and I'm not moving until I find myself in the lap of Jesus again. You know, a lot of those things that get in between us aren't bad, but if you allow them to get between you and God, the next thing you know, you're gonna start sliding farther and farther and farther and farther. That's just like when I see people that don't come to church or celebrate recovery, you miss one or two times, that's okay. I mean, we ain't religious. If you can't be here, that's all right, but after you quit going for a certain amount of time, it is hard to get back into the routine again

because your flesh would rather be sitting on the couch watching TV, scrolling, instead of thinking hard and doing the work. You know, most of us don't even know what is in our hearts because they're filled with trauma from our past and filters from culture and society and that's why we need a word from God to teach us right from wrong. Hebrews 4.12 says, the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of the soul and the spirit and the joints and the marrow, and it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart. And you know that word discerner, in the original Greek, it is kritikos, if I said it right. It means to judge or to critique. That means without the word of God, we are not able to know what is right and wrong and we need the word of God to come inside of us to divide correctly what piece of us of the kingdom of God and what pieces need to go, what structures have been built up and created in us because of life and life's issues. We do that by getting along with the Lord and praying with him. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. That means all day long, have your heart open and bear before the Lord saying, come in and correct, do whatever you need to do whenever you need to do it

all day long. All day long, my heart is stayed on him and you can come and communicate anytime you want to. And we can't get bogged down with all the other stuff that keeps us from being able to hear clearly. Proverbs 4, 20 through 22 says, my child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don't lose sight of them Let them penetrate deep into your heart for they bring life to those who find them in healing to their whole body and Then Psalms 119 11 your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you You know, there's a great story in the Bible About a man that let his heart become estranged from God, but he didn't start out that way His name was Solomon and in first Kings chapter 3 He's young and he loves the Lord so much and he obeys him so the Lord visits him in a dream because he's just been given the kingdom and the Lord says what do you want ask and I'll give you anything and Simon said there's Simon Salmon said Solomon Give your servant an understanding heart To judge your people that I may discern between good and evil See, we're going all the way back in the garden where we had the tree of the knowledge of good and evil God wasn't holding anything back when he didn't want us to eat of that He just knew that we were made of flesh and he didn't want us to have to be the ones that decided what was good And what was evil? It's just like you when you have a little toddler We know there's evil in the world, right, but we don't say here toddler sit here and watch everything that is bad in the world Let me show you some horror movies. Let me show you some things that will scare you Let me show you the evil is in the world evil was in the world But God wanted to handle that he didn't want us to have to get up and fight it every day But Solomon said I need an understanding heart

So that I may know what is good and what is evil and the Lord was so pleased by what Solomon said He said I will give you this and I will also give you what you didn't ask for riches and fame and You know, no other King and all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life You know Solomon he went on really good for a while he allowed but then he allowed the world to come into his heart He started spending time with people that worshipped idols and first Kings 111 the Lord clearly instructed the people of Israel You must not marry them because they will turn your hearts to their gods Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyways and first Kings 11 for For it was so when Solomon was old that his wives turned his heart after other gods and his heart was not loyal to to the Lord of his God as Was his heart as was the heart of his father David And so the Lord in first Kings 11 9 through 11 was very angry with Solomon for his heart had turned away from the Lord But the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice and he warned Solomon specifically about worshipping other gods But Solomon did not listen to the Lord's command So now the Lord said to him since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed my decrees I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants So he started off good But in the end he lost it all and I know a lot of us can be like that Sometimes when you're in a program you're on fire for God But then you get out and you don't have somebody standing over you trying to make you accountable. Did you read? Did you do this? Did you do this? Dragging your hand in to celebrate recovery sometimes when it's in jail It's easy to be on fire for God because you don't have anything else to do But what are you gonna do when you're not in those four walls? When you are free, are you still gonna serve the Lord your God the way that you are right there where you're at? You're gonna start off good and keep it or start off good and lose it in the end because the Lord

He warned Solomon if you do this, this will happen Because he knows and you're like well Solomon was around people that worshipped false gods and all kinds of other gods You are too, honey. I used to I used to worship other gods. I worship the God of methamphetamine every single day It was my Lord. It had supreme authority over me It told me where I could go how to spend my money who to be friends with 2nd Corinthians 6 14 says don't team up with those who are unbelievers How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness and how can light live with darkness? So as we close the night, I just want to ask you To leave here take a minute takes him a long time with God. I've done this today myself God, is there any idols that I've set up in my heart? Is there anything that I have placed between me and you and please reveal it to me God? Cuz I want to be as close to you as I possibly can Lord, I thank you for my brothers and sisters. I thank you for this word God I thank you for your Holy Spirit that comes in and God, I honor you, Lord Jesus, I thank you for everything you are doing here at Celebrate Recovery. In Jesus' mighty name, amen. Woo, come on somebody. Always love it when Paige comes to bring a word. Gets me fired up. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Irvine. Alrighty, well, we're going to do some chips after the service, if you want to stay behind and celebrate with us. I know I got a couple of brothers, got some milestones tonight, I'm going to hang out with you. But thank you for joining us, and I really would like to do the, it's not the serenity prayer? It is? It's the serenity prayer?

I say a lot of prayers, shepherd's prayer, Lord's prayer, serenity prayer, my prayer, your prayer, Hairsprayer, exactly. But I would like to thank the online community, once again, for tuning in with us. We love you, man. We love all you guys out there. Thank you for tuning in. Drink this word of God in, in the morning when you take in your breakfast, sit down and then, you know, eat that bread of life afterward, brothers and sisters. But we'll start with God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time, accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, and not as I would have it. Trusting that you will make all things right if I surrender to your will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with you forever in the next, amen. Thank you for joining us, ladies and gentlemen. Pray before you go to bed. Pray before you go to bed. Stick around and join us for some chips. And we have the Merrimans coming up to do the chip.