Hearts Condition

By Isaiah Welsch Steinbrecher

This book will challenge you to take an honest look at yourself and reflect on the Bible for truth to real-life issues!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781973604884

Isaiah Welsch Steinbrecher

Dr. Isaiah W. Steinbrecher has a passion for preaching the gospel and for developing leaders and has a heart for international missions. He holds a doctorate in practical theology, a master’s degree in Christian counseling, and a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies. He is an ordained minister with the Fellowship of Ministers and Churches and a graduate of Christ for the Nations. His wife is a registered nurse and has a passion for helping people and for sharing a message of hope with those who need physical and spiritual healing.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Taking an Honest Look

Our hearts connect with those we love, and we build lasting relationships with family and friends. All human beings long to be loved, wanted, cared for, and valued, but as we pursue this desire we must honestly examine the heart’s condition.

God created each person with a longing for relationships with Him and with each other. Asked to sum up the law, Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). How simple a command, and yet from the start, human beings have struggled to obey it. God made all creation—the heavens, the earth, fish, birds, trees, snakes, clouds, space, and planets—but saved the best for last! He made man from the dust of the earth. God told Adam and Eve to live and to work in the garden. He gave them just one simple rule: they were not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the tree, and sin entered the world through their disobedience. The Bible is very serious about sin and the consequences of disobeying God’s laws. God created Adam and Eve to have a relationship with Him. By disobeying God, they broke that relationship between God and humanity.

God and Adam had enjoyed an open, honest relationship. God walked with Adam in the garden, and the Lord gave Adam the very important task of naming all the animals. Adam did as God asked and named all the animals; however, Genesis tells us that Adam did not find a mate among them. So God put Adam into a deep sleep, took one of his ribs, and made him a mate, Eve. Even though Adam had God for a friend, and God walked in the garden and talked with him, Adam was still lonely for a mate. I am amazed at his heart’s condition. Adam wanted a helpmate, a woman. He longed to be loved and cared about by another human being.

The reality is that we as humans long to be loved and wanted by others. Has the Lord blessed you with an amazing spouse or best friend? Adam was blessed to have Eve as his wife, and she encouraged Adam and helped him not to feel alone. Helen Keller once said, Life is either a great adventure or nothing. What great adventures have you experienced in your life? What person has God put in your life to encourage you and to support your dreams, goals, and lifelong calling?

Many people will complain about everything and anything. They complain about the traffic, their boss, money, dinner, or their weight. The simple reality is that you can try your best to be all things to all people, but you cannot please everyone. One Sunday I heard a pastor preach, If God is happy with me and my spouse is happy, then the rest of the people may not be as easy to please. In my ministry and in my everyday life, I have encountered people who have questioned my motives, have challenged my character, and have complained all along the journey.

People complain about the weather, the president of the United States, the service, the food, their jobs, and their families. The natural human reaction is to complain and to blame others for problems. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the snake. People complain about the president’s decisions, even though they did not vote. People complain about their bosses, but they don’t try to resolve conflicts at work. People complain about the service when they themselves are the servers. People complain about paying too much in taxes but often forget the cost of living in a free country like America. People complain about their children, but their children are a reflection of themselves. People complain about the food they eat even when they bought the food and cooked it themselves. People complain about deadlines and overcommitment when they have failed to plan for the future.

This heart’s condition goes way back to Cain and Abel. One brother obeyed God and the other brother disobeyed God. Abel was sincere and real with God, and he obeyed God’s command and gave his best to the Lord. However, Cain’s heart was filled with jealously and bitterness. Why couldn’t Cain get along with Abel? Why did jealously and bitterness destroy the first family? The answer is found in a heart with selfishness and pride at the core.

When a rich relative dies, money causes a lot of family problems. When one child achieves greatness and the other child fails in life, conflict usually arises in families. If you disagree, look at Saul in the Old Testament. Saul was a great king, but he disobeyed God while David obeyed Him. Jealously and selfishness were at the root of King Saul’s heart condition. When Jonah ran from the Lord and from the call to preach the gospel of repentance, God had to use a large fish to get his attention. Jonah had to repent from his pride and to obey God’s call to preach repentance. Even after Nineveh repented, Jonah was still more concerned about his personal comforts than about the souls of men and women in the city. In New Testament times, Saul persecuted Christians. However, once he had a personal encounter with Jesus and experienced repentance on the road to Damascus, his name was changed and so was the condition of his heart. God did a heart transplant in Saul’s life, and his name became Paul. Isaiah had a personal encounter with God, and the Lord changed his heart’s condition. Isaiah said, Woe is me a sinner, and his life was changed forever. Job endured many trials and hardships, but he remained faithful to serve the Lord. Moses had a heart to serve the Jewish people and to take them out of Egypt to the Promised Land. Moses had a personal encounter with God at the burning bush and changed his worldview.

The New Testament is filled with individuals whose hearts changed forever for the glory of God. These people include Peter, James, John, Mary, Steven, Nathaniel, and Matthew. Each had a personal experience with our Lord. Each had a dramatic life change and a total transformation of the heart’s condition. Sadly, others rejected God’s call to proclaim the good news, ignoring the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19–20.

When Adam and Eve made the choice to sin and to disobey God’s command, they broke the relationship between God and man. Adam wanted to do things on his own. How often do we try to do things on our own strength, using our limited abilities? The Bible is very clear that our righteousness is like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We often try to do good works on our own. However, the Bible tells us we can do all things only through Christ, who gives us the strength (Philippians 4:13). Teaching about salvation and about who can go to heaven, Jesus tells us that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).

All of us stand at a crossroad and must choose between two directions on life’s journey. Do we do things on our own strength, hoping this will count for something? Or do we totally surrender our lives to the Lord and allow the Holy Spirit to change our hearts’ condition? This book will challenge you to take an honest look at yourself and at your heart’s condition. As long as you are alive, you have a chance for grace and forgiveness. By the end of this book, I hope you will choose your heart’s condition. As you read this book, please be honest with yourself and take a look at what matters most. Where is your focus? Are you focused on eternity?

My wife is a registered nurse. Doctors and nurses will tell you they are in the medical field for one reason: to help find cures for disease and to make patients healthy. My wife tells me she became a nurse to help people get better. When a person discovers he or she has cancer, that person is forced to make a decision. Will he or she try to stop the cancer with medical treatment or keep living his or her life as if nothing had happened?

Three members of my family have tested positive for cancer. One of them was my great-aunt, Doris Young. She was an amazing artist and a dear friend. For more than twenty years, Aunt Doris did acrylic and watercolor paintings to pay the bills. She was a self-supporting artist. When I was in high school, I would go over to Aunt Doris’s house for art lessons. These lessons were challenging, but they had an element of fun and excitement. Aunt Doris taught me how to use both watercolor and acrylic paints. One of my first acrylic paintings was of a mountain setting in Colorado with a beautiful sunset and three large trees. Aunt Doris taught me about painting dark on light, about shading application, and about other painting styles. She was a master artist and always stressed the importance of striving for excellence in a work of art. My painting of the Colorado Mountains won several awards for being a masterpiece. The painting was displayed at art shows in New York City and in several other places across the country.

Besides teaching me how to paint, Aunt Doris inspired me to have fun and to enjoy life. Mark Twain once said, Why not go out on a limb? That’s where the fruit is. At the age of sixteen, while still in high school, I went out on a limb and started my own art business. I went down to a state office, got a tax ID number, and went to work. I hosted an art workshop, giving art lessons and partnering with other artists who taught how to paint and draw. I owned this business for more than twenty years.

Aunt Doris taught me that working hard, showing determination, and thinking outside the box are all part of the life of an artist. George Eliot said, Adventure is not outside man; it is within. Owning the art business gave me a better understanding of the business and professional sides of the art world. I have sold many paintings, given art lessons, and won awards in art contests. I have also promoted other artists and helped them create world-class artwork.

Aunt Doris passed away several years ago from cancer; however, the impact she had on my life and on my ministry has made an eternal difference. She has inspired me to keep painting better works