Word from the WORD
Guard Your Heart; A Matter of Life
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- Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 March 2012 18:28
- Published on Thursday, 12 January 2012 21:28
- Written by Jonathan
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Jesus said that what is in a man’s heart (good or evil) flows out of his mouth. This statement reveals to us what is in our hearts, but it does not reveal how the things that are in our heart got there in the first place. The wisest man king Solomon wrote “watch (guard) over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life” (proverbs 4:23). A “spring of life” speaks of a spring of water in an arid environment that feeds plants and animals with life giving water. From this proverb we can conclude that our heart is like a spring or source of life for our soul, mind, and body. Since it is like a source it is vitally important to have Jesus in our heart and keep it unspoiled. We must guard it from the things we do not want in our hearts; but how do things get in our heart?
We “write” things in our heart everyday. We put things there by what we read, see, hear, and speak. In addition to that, we already had things put there by others when we were young and not yet able to guard our heart or even able to understand what these things were and their effects. Parents especially “write things” on the hearts of their children by what they say and do. As children grow older they decide if they allow another to write things on their heart and to reject or accept what they see or hear. We can decide what we will allow to put in our hearts.
Mankind’s enemy, satan, has messages (I will touch on only three) that he tries to instill in every child or young person’s heart so that it leads them astray and forms who he wants them to become. Remember as a man thinks in his heart, that is who he is. The message satan puts in hearts pollutes them and spoils the life spring that God intends for us all. The three messages I will cover here are.
- Pride is helpful and a good thing.
- Seek the world and its pleasures.
- Trials are to be avoided.
Pride was the sin of Lucifer and his downfall. Often times pride is instilled in children even without intention and/or unknowingly. It is not looked upon as pride but it is pride. Pride is lack of humbleness. Pride says you can do anything. Pride says you are capable and strong and can overcome. Pride says you will succeed. Humanism says we (mankind) will find the solution to all our problems and is a form of pride. Pride says you are better in some way (smarter, better looking, more talented, more physically fit, younger, etc.) than at least some others if not everyone else.
The truth is we can do nothing on our own and our days are numbered. We have the talents, intelligence, success, etc. we have only because God gave them to us. He gave these things to us so that we would surrender them to Him and allow Him to guide us and use them to serve Him and our neighbor. God gives grace and favor to the humble but is against the proud. If we are honest it should be apparent from our own personal mistakes and messes we have and the sorry state the world at large is in that we are not capable of figuring out how to live our lives. I suggest admitting to God you are incapable of figuring out how to live and if you could figure it out, you’re not capable on your own of succeeding. It is vitally important to tear out the pride and plant humbleness in our hearts and ask Jesus for help. Then put the word of God (start with a few key scriptures) in your heart by memory to build treasure in your heart that produces life!
Seeking the world and its pleasures is a common message bombarded throughout the western world. Seeking not only wealth but the thrills and fun and pleasures it promises is common and wealth can be a huge hindrance to the Christian. It can be a great distraction and pull one toward loving the thrills and pleasures of the world more than loving God and loving their neighbor as themselves. We must ask God to help change us so that we choose to love others over the pleasures of this world.
One key to loving others first is abiding in the love of Christ. Jesus said if we keep His commandments (His word living in our hearts) then we will abide in His love and His joy will be in us and fill us to over flowing (John 15:10-11). As we abide in the love of Christ, we will be full and choose to love others more than our self.
Trials are bad and should be avoided at all costs is another message from the devil. The selfish nature of man is to complain about every trial and hard time while blaming them on others and by all means avoiding them in the future. Why does the devil want us to believe trials are bad? Because they cause us to grow and mature. Be thankful in and for trials for they cause you to grow. Rejoice in them says the Lord. Understand it is for your benefit now and will mature you and lead to treasures in heaven.
We will react to trials and tribulation and need to come to a place where we understand they are for our benefit and cause us to grow in Christ. To feel anxious or feel sorrow and grieve is natural when dealing with a difficult trial but in the end we all either chose to deal with the situation wisely or poorly. We can cast our cares on Christ and make our requests known to Him with thanksgiving or remain worrisome. We can get bitter and remain angry or thankful for the opportunity to grow and have more of the Spirit and His fruit in our lives as a result of growth.
Our main defense against the enemy’s efforts to write harmful things on your heart is Deuteronomy 6:5-7 which says love the Lord your God with all you are and put His words on your heart and diligently teach His word to your children daily!
Rejoice in trials always! Be thankful in all things! Put the word of God (a few key scriptures at a time) in your heart by memory to build a spring of life in your heart that produces life!
Blessings
Jonathan