Strange question but worth thinking about. Are you a church goer or a worshipper? No, I’m not asking if you’re a singer. Worship is more than a song you sing. Worship is the attitude of the heart before a Holy God. Not everyone in the pews on Sunday morning are worshippers, some are just fulfilling a weekly obligation, out of tradition or habit.
A heartie is a believer who has made Jesus Christ Lord of everything. It’s someone who enjoys a lifestyle of constant fellowship and communion with Jesus. They can’t get enough of His presence. No matter where they are, or what they’re doing, Jesus is front and center. They carry, and bring the presence of the Holy Spirit wherever they go. They’re full of joy, and always have an encouraging word. Though far from being perfect, they understand who they are in Christ because they enjoy intimacy with Him and not just a casual religious experience.
I don’t know about you, but I can always tell when a pastor hasn’t spent time in the presence of Jesus. I can also tell when someone is a religious person or a born again Christian. It doesn’t matter how much Bible they know, you can’t fake the anointing. Some people are just good orators. But you can always tell someone who has an intimate, face to face encounter with Jesus and the Word. The Bible teaches us to test every spirit to see if they’re of God. 1 John 4:1 How do we do that? Through discernment. The Holy Spirit is the greatest Revealer. If you’re filled with His Spirit and walk in communion and daily fellowship with Him, He’ll teach you to identify the hearties and the lipies .
Jesus encountered some lipies, God exposed some lipies through Isaiah and Ezekiel as well. Let’s read what they had to say.
“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ ”
Matthew 15:7-9 NLT
“And so the Lord says, “These people say they are Mine. They honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. And their worship of Me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.”
Isaiah 29:13 NLT
“So My people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don’t act on it!”
Ezekiel 33:31-32 NLT
The difference between a heartie and a lipie is very clear in those verses. Hearties heed -lipies draw near just to give lip service, but have no intention of following through on what they have heard. That’s why Jesus bluntly called them hypocrites. They’re well versed in man made religious orthodoxy and place heavy burdens on God’s people with regulations and policies that are not scripturally based. Half the things being practiced in God’s houses and passed off as “spiritual” are nothing but distractions from what really matters. The hearts and souls of people seeking biblical truths.
Pastors who are lipies deliver empty words to empty hearts Creating even more lipies. Religion is a dry well. Jesus couldn’t stand what it produced in people, and I for one have no patience for it. And neither should you. Covid has exposed a lot of weaknesses in the Church of Jesus Christ. Pastors as well as congregants, have become complacent, refusing to get back to the house of God. Did God change His Word about not forsaking the assembling of ourselves? Did He change His Word about us not operating in a spirit of fear? Did He change His Word about Him being our Protector and Healer? Jesus had some strong words for religious leaders or lipies.
“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!”
Matthew 23:5-7, 13, 15 NLT
So are you giving God lip service or have you drawn near with your heart? Be not deceived, God will not be mocked. We may fool ourselves but we cannot fool God.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Galatians 6:7-8 AMP
Jesus said there will be many who will list all the good things they have done in His Name. But they’re only lipies. I said earlier that the spirit must be tested. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. So you can possess the gift and still be a lipie. That is why there are preachers who are living in rebellion and immorality, still standing in the pulpit operating in the gift until the Lord exposes them. And also why, if you’re being led by the Holy Spirit, you can tell a lipie from a heartie. Great preaching, lots of hooping and hollering, but it’s all noise, no anointing. And the people in the pews who enjoy performances, leave stirred but not changed. Only anointed preaching and teaching, breaks yokes and removes burdens. Only hearties, true followers of Jesus will experience what Mark 16:17 says.
“For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].”
Romans 11:29 AMP
“Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your Name and cast out demons in Your Name and performed many miracles in Your Name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’”
Matthew 7:21-23 NLT
Amen or ouch! There’s still time to change the way you serve the Lord. You can choose to remain religious and do all the church stuff. Or you can repent, change course and give Him your whole heart. He desires to enjoy complete intimacy with you. He desires to share His secrets with you, to share the longings of His heart for you. He has big plans for hearties. Jeremiah 29:11-12 gives you an idea of how He thinks about you. Hearties forsake all and cleave only to Him. Won’t you be one of His hearties? Religion stinks, relationship is all the rave, and for good reason. It brings us into the holiest of all...to meet our Abba. Remember it’s not by works that we were saved, but by grace and faith alone. Ephesians 2:8-9
Lipies +works=religion
Hearties-self = relationship
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
June 1, 2021
Today marks one year that Morning Messages was launched on the godlyparentpower.com website. Thanks to all who have stayed faithful to reading all 286 archived and counting messages! And to my precious children who make it all come together👏🏻. To God belongs all the glory 🙏