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PROTECTING YOUR INNOCENCE
Kris Vallotton | August 25, 2021
PROTECTING YOUR INNOCENCE
In this week’s podcast, I want to talk about protecting your innocence — I believe this is a vital word for the body of Christ right now. I have felt the Lord speaking to me about protecting our innocence and guarding our hearts for weeks and believe He is doing an incredible work in the hearts of man as He purifies our hearts and fills us with compassion for one another.
If you have ever planted a garden before, when you start cultivating the soil it nourishes your garden, but also helps the weeds grow. When gardening you have to often go out and pull the weeds, because if you wait too long the weeds will become bigger than the plants themselves. Someone once asked me: “Kris, do you know why the weeds grow taller than the plants?” With my very little gardening experience I did not know the answer. She replied “Because they don’t have any fruit.” A profound revelation and I realized we have to do the same in our hearts. We have to pull out the weeds of our hearts as we see them begin to grow. Otherwise, they will choke the fruit of our hearts and hinder the growth of our plants.
Recently, I have been deeply troubled by the offense that believers are living in. They have allowed the weeds to over grow in their hearts and are losing their innocence quickly. We are being frog boiled in the leaven of the Pharisees and in the leaven of Herod
and I am not sure we even know it.
I want to share with you a story in 2 Samuel 11
— in this chapter David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. He then attempted multiple times to have Uriah lay with his wife Bathsheba so he would be known as the father of the spurious child. Yet Uriah had better character drunk than David had sober — he refused to lay with his wife while the king's men and the whole Israelite army was at war with their enemies. When all of David’s attempts failed, he plotted the death of Uriah. I would propose that innocence isn’t lost by one virtueless act, but rather death by a thousand paper cuts.
It is important to know what season you are in and I would like to propose to you that we are in a war season; a war over our hearts. You don’t want to be on a cruise ship when you are supposed to be on a battleship. It is not a season we will be in forever but we are in it. Trials don’t make you. They reveal what is in your heart. Trials test your faith before they test your character (James 1:2-4).
It is very troubling to see a society and culture that has an ability to make judgements about people we have never met. What has happened to loving all people? Have we allowed offense to get in the way of the simplicity of loving people? When our truth keeps us from loving people I am not sure we know what truth is about.
The Bible gives us clear instructions about how to care for problems we have with others. Matthew 5
is about someone that has something against you. Matthew 18
Jesus is talking about someone that you have something against. These verses make it apparent relationships are very important to God.
Scripture: Proverbs 4:23, James 1:2-4, Matthew 5, Matthew 18, Mark 8:15
In this clip from Bethel Leaders Advance from April 19th, 2018, at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, Kris Vallotton shares with leader’s about God’s heart disciple nations. He highlights the importance of God’s people to be a light on a hill and that the natural byproduct of his restoration and blessing of the Church is that it would heal and transform the cities and nations around us.
In this Father's Day sermon from June 18th, 2023, at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, Kris Vallotton shares an inspiring message on the importance of fatherhood and the role men carry as protectors, providers and promoters for their families and communities. He highlights the transformative impact fathers have in calling their children into purpose and shaping their destinies. Join us as we honor fathers and recognize the profound impact they have on shaping lives and futures.
In this message from June 23rd, 2019, at Bethel Church in Redding, CA, Kris Vallotton delivers a powerful sermon titled, "Becoming a Cultural Architect." Vallotton highlights the importance of shaping culture and the role we play as believers in this process. There is a war happening to shape the mindset of this generation and Kris reminds us to embrace our Isaiah 61 calling, to make disciples of nations and positively impact the culture around us.
