Part 2: My notes from a sermon “Conception In Your Heart”

If you have not read part one, I would encourage you to follow the link and read that first: 

 https://www.dailystrength.org/group/christian-overcomers/discussion/conception-in-your-heart-1

We have to be careful to guard our hearts and be intentional about what seeds we plant in our hearts.   When we accept words, we are conceiving them.  Conception requires acceptance, so we have to accept what is being offered in order for it to be conceived.

 If you read the parable of the sower in Mark chapter 4, it talks about the different kinds of soil.  The context here is how different hearts/soil accept or reject the Word of God, but the flip side of that is that when seeds of doubt, fear, or negativity get sown, our heart can reject that as well.  We don’t have to conceive negative things, we can reject it.  Our hearts can become stone to the negativity of the world, and those seeds can bounce off.  If we are planting the blessings and promises of God into our hearts, that can choke that negativity of the world.  Just as the thistles and thorns of life can choke the Word so it doesn’t produce and yield fruit. (Mark 4:7).  The principle is the same.

We have to be receptive for something to get conceived in our hearts whether it is positive of negative.  The same way we get saved, is the same way that the promises of God will manifest in our lives.  We have to believe them, and accept them, or they won’t be conceived, or produce a harvest. 

The preacher gives a few anecdotal examples from his own life where he had to reject something, and not allow it to be conceived in his heart, but instead believe the Word of God, and let those seeds be conceived and grow. (I will give the link to the sermon at the bottom for anyone that wants to hear it, and the examples I’m referring to are at minute 28-36 if anyone wants to hear his examples.)

Here are some examples from Scripture: 

Matthew 12:35 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”  (NKJV)

Proverbs 12:25 “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.” (NKJV)   

Psalm 27:13 “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

What happens in your heart will determine how you respond to every piece of negative news.   Whatever you believe is what will be conceived.  There may be facts in this world, but the truth is always God’s Word. 

Referring to Psalm 27:13, he goes back to his examples from his personal life, and says he would have lost heart if he had not believed the promises of God.   Belief happens in the heart, and he says again that he would have lost heart if he had not believed. 

Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”  (KJV)

What are you looking ahead and seeing?  In other words what harvest are you expecting to see that you have planted in your heart and conceived?   If you don’t have that vision, it’s easy to lose heart, and perish/give up.   

How can you know when a promise of God has been conceived in your heart?   The answer is: Conception creates vision.

For example, when a human baby is conceived, the parents have a vision (or they imagine) what it will be like when the baby is born.  The vision for their future has just been changed.  Likewise, when the promises of God have been conceived in your heart, your vision will change.  You will change your priorities and your focus.  Planning for your future will be different than it was previously.   In the natural, when a farmer sows a seed, they start planning for the harvest.  Likewise, when you have conceived God’s promises in your heart, you will start planning for them to take place. 

I will end the sermon there.  But I would like to add a quote from Max Lucado:

“Lay claim to every biblical promise you can remember, and set out to learn a few more. Grip them for the life preservers they are.  Give Satan no quarter.  Give his lies no welcome.  ‘Fasten the belt of truth around your waist.’ (Eph. 6:14 NRSV)

    ----Max Lucado, “Anxious for nothing,”  page 125.

2 Corinthians 1:20 “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” (NKJV)

Link to the sermon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cBhU0Xfj4c