Tag Archives: Guard your heart

FOUNDATION STONES – 2

Christian Life,

GUARD YOUR HEART

If “the fear of the Lord” is the cornerstone, then “guard your heart” is the first stone on which to build the foundation of our lives.

Our physical heart is the organ that keeps us alive. When our hearts stop, we stop. To live in our physical bodies, we need healthy hearts to drive all our other systems.

Likewise, we need healthy spiritual hearts to drive every other part of who we are… our thinking, choosing, and doing, to keep us spiritually alive. A diseased heart will lead to a diseased life. A diseased life will end in spiritual death, and no one wants to go there!

Proverbs 4:23 NLT
[23] “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

What does the Bible mean by “heart”? What is the counterpart of our physical heart our heart, if it doesn’t refer to the pump that keeps our bodies alive?

The “heart” is difficult to define. Your heart is the real you… your core, your innermost being, your spirit and soul, what you think, what you believe, what you value, who or what you worship, what drives you… all rolled into one. Everything you are, think, and do, flows from your heart.

This makes the heart the vital centre and hub of your being. Just as you must choose what you put into your body to protect your heart if you are to live a long and healthy life so, too, you must guard your inner being from the spiritual diseases that will infect your choices and actions and which will lead to death if you allow your sin-diseased heart to be in charge.

How can we protect our hearts and keep them healthy? Just as we protect our homes by standards of cleanliness and order and by building a fence around our property, so we make our “inside” strong by maintaining truth and integrity and by putting a boundary around our hearts to keep intruders out.

Our first step towards guarding our hearts is to fill our hearts with truth. We are all, unfortunately, born with diseased hearts. Rebellion against God is in our genes. We need a drastic change to turn around and go God’s way.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

God’s remedy for an incurably diseased heart is a heart transplant. He doesn’t apply medicine to fix our rebellious disposition. He puts a new heart inside of us.

Ezekiel 36:26 NLT
[26]”And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

By His grace, the Father made this heart transplant possible by giving His Son to die for our sin in our place. He raised us from spiritual death and changed our hearts from rebel to son.

However, He has also given us the responsibility to maintain our new hearts, first, by feeding them with truth.

Romans 12:2 NLT
[2] “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Since our minds are the entry point through which we feed and maintain the health of our new hearts, what we think will determine the way we function. What we believe is built from what we think, what we value, and what we choose. What we believe determines our desires and our destiny. Our new hearts will want to do God’s will which, for each one of us, is “good, acceptable, and perfect.”

From where can we source truth to steer our lives towards our goal of doing God’s perfect will?

John 17:17 NLT
[17] “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

So, the Bible doesn’t only tell us to guard our hearts. It also tells us HOW to guard our hearts by what we pit in and what we keep out.

Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
[8] “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [9] Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

All of the above are found within the covers of God’s book. The Bible is the best and only text book for living the life that our new hearts demand.

Together with the Word, we are privileged to have its author resident in us. The Holy Spirit is both author and interpreter of the truth which will guide our thinking, believing, and doing throughout our lives.

John 16:13-14 NLT
[13] “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. [14] He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”

We build the foundation on two truths…

Colossians 2:20 NLT
[20]”You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world…”

Our new lives in Christ have severed the connection between us and the world’s evil influence over us.

Colossians 3:1, 3 NLT
[1] “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
[3] For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Now we must act on the fact of our death to the influences of the world around us. How do we do this? By changing the way we think. I was taught that I cannot think two opposite thoughts at the same time. If my mind is full of worldly thoughts, I cannot think the truth that Jesus is in charge and that I am aligned with Him, not with the world.

Having taken care of our new hearts by feeding them with truth, we must also protect them from squatters and intruders that will attempt to derail us by their evil influence.

Despite God’s grace in giving us a heart transplant, He has not entirely removed the influence of our diseased hearts. The Father intends to train us, during the course of our earthly lives, for our role in His heavenly kingdom. In His wisdom, He has left in us the potential to go our own way! You see, just as our first parent, Adam, had to choose to love God or not by obedience or disobedience, so we, too, must continue to choose to love the Lord by obeying or not obeying Him. Without the right and power to choose, we are robots.

Choosing means that we must select from at least two alternatives. Choosing, therefore, means what we put in, truth or lies, and whom we allow in, friends or enemies.

The world and its ways, under Satan’s dominion, is our arch enemy. John cautions us…

1 John 2:15-17 NLT
[15] “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. [16] For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. [17] And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

The influence of the world on our lives comes, not only from what we allow to influence from the world’s ways but also from those with whom we choose to keep company.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NLT
[33]”Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.”

Google says of this proverb…

“The proverb emphasizes the importance of choosing one’s company wisely, as associating with people who engage in immoral or harmful behaviors can negatively impact a person’s character and values.

” The proverb suggests that spending time with those who have bad morals or engage in negative behaviors can lead to a gradual erosion of one’s own good character and moral principles.”

In simple terms, learning to determine who is our friend and who is our enemy is the process of setting boundaries. We must learn when it is the right thing to say “No!” This part of our duty to guard our hearts is as important as filling our thoughts with God’s Word.

Hebrews 5:14 NLT
[14] “Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

A simple summary of the foundation stone, “guard your heart”, then, is…

Fill your mind with God’s truth, and…
Build a protective boundary around your heart. Only keep company with those who contribute to the health of your heart.

GUARD YOUR HEART!

Christian Life, ,

Saved as we are, sin is still a horrible possibility in our human lives. The Bible warns of many ways in which we can be entangled in the web of sinful thoughts and behaviour. Like the seals that face the danger of entanglement every day as they follow the lines and nets of fishing boats for scraps, so we, surrounded by temptation, can easily fall prey to our old desires from which Jesus saved us.

Is it possible for us to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires”?

God has given us many solutions to the issue of temptation and sin.

First, how does sin catch us out?

James 1:13-15 NIV
[13] “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; [14] but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. [15] Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”

God is never the author of temptation. He may allow us to be tempted for good reasons. We never win over temptation through our own will-power. If God left us to resist temptation, at some stage our will power would give way.

God has promised us the power to resist temptation only by His grace.

Romans 5:17 NIV
[17] “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”

Just as we rely on God’s grace to forgive our sin, so we must rely on His grace to say “No” to temptation.

The entire process of learning to live pure lives, then, depends on our participation in God’s grace to win the battle over the flesh

However, before we can ever move purposefully in the direction of holiness, awareness and attitudes must change.

Again, the Bible gives us the prescriptions that help us to change, in our thoughts and behaviour first.

Our attitude to holiness and sin, first, must be shaped, not by what we feel or what is convenient at the moment, but by what the Word says.

We are to fear the Lord in every detail of life, taking Him seriously and living by His instructions.

Habakkuk 1:13 NLT
[13] “But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil….”

Proverbs 8:13 NLT
[13] “All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.”

If God is holy, that is…consistent with His own perfect and pure character, devoid of every perverse and corrupt thought and deed, …then everything that contradicts who He is, is evil.

He calls us to share His attitude to evil, to hate evil and to disassociate ourselves from every taint of evil.

We learn this process, unfortunately, mostly by trial and error. Sinful attitudes, thoughts, and actions produce inward pain. We lose our peace and face the consequence of a disturbed conscience. Only as we put right through confession, forgiveness, and restitution if necessary, can we return to the rest in Jesus that He provides.

Such experiences prompt us to avoid repeating what caused us pain…a lesson learned if we heed it. These experiences help us to move away from experimenting with sin and to reinforce the desire to live by God’s grace that enables us to tame our unruly hearts.

Paul advised young Timothy to deal with fleshly desires.

2 Timothy 2:22 NLT
[22] “Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

What wise and sound counsel! We canonly run from sinful desires by replacing them with holy desires. We can only change the way we behave by changing what we think and believe. To escape sinful desires, we must pursue what is pleasing to the Lord.

The Holy Spirit is in us as our resident Helper. We call on Him for His power to say “no” when the desires of our flesh threaten to overwhelm us. Sometimes, we find ourselves faced with situations that corner us, arousing desires too big to overcome. Only grace can supply the strength to say a meaningful “No!”, and effectively shut the door to sin.

Romans 8:12-14 NLT
[12] “Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. [13] For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if, through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. [14] For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

As sons of God, we have the right to call on the Lord and to anticipate His grace to keep us walking in obedience to His Word.

God has also given us a plethora of promises, each one suitable for each situation, to answer every need need, for one purpose…to live godly lives in the world.

2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT
[3] “By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. [4] And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.”

God’s passion is for us to share in His nature, free from corruption and fit for His holy presence. To achieve His goal, He has promised to meet us with His power at every turn. Whatever the situation, whatever the need, He is there to carry us across the chasm of our weakness. We have every opportunity and no excuse for not becoming overcomers in this “war of the spirit”.

There is a love we must kill and a love we must nurture. Jesus said that it is impossible to serve two masters. Whoever we love, we will serve. Love for the world and love for God can never function in one life. God will not share His temple with idols.

If we love the world and its trinkets, we will share its fate. Despite its apparent permanence, the world and its ways, standards, practices, and philosophies, is transient…here today and gone tomorrow. God alone is eternal, and all who are joined to Him by faith will survive the purging.

1 John 2:15-17 NLT
[15] “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. [16] For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. [17] And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.”

To follow Jesus is, to walk in the light.

John 8:12 NLT
[12]”Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

” Light” in Scripture often refers to God’s Word. David, for example recognised the importance of following the guidance of the portion of the Word he had in his possession to keep his life on track with God.

Psalms 119:105 NLT
[105] “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

Since Jesus is the Word in the flesh, to follow His example and to obey His teachings is the safest way to walk in the light.

Walking in obedience to Jesus keeps us in fellowship with the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit, and with God’s family.

1 John 1:7 NLT
[7] “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.”

Even for those times when we inadvertently follow the flesh, the Word enables us to chamge our behaviour to remain clean because of the blood of Jesus at work in us.

1 John 1:7 NIV
[7]”But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

The prophet Micah learned God’s simple prescription for a godly life. If we follow his directives, we leave no room for ungodly behaviour.

Micah 6:8 NLT
[8] “No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Likewise Solomon, despite his own failure, provides another simple way to overcome sin in ourselves.

Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
[5]”Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. [6] Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Only by God’s grace, once again, can we follow the directives of His Word. Living life this way takes deliberate attention to what we think, what we believe, and what choices and decisions we make that help or hinder our progress towards the Father.

With this in mind, how imperative it is that we follow Solomon’s wise counsel. Whether we win or lose in this war against sin and its effects on our eternal destiny depends on one thing!

Proverbs 4:23 NLT
[23] “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

What we do in life… how we behave, how we deal with life’s tests and temptations, what we choose or renounce …depends on the condition of our hearts.

As David prayed, so should we, every moment of our day,

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23]” Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

GUARD YOUR HEART

Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above
Is looking down in love
Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.

What appears to be harmless glance
Can turn to romance
And homes are divided;
Feelings that should never have been
Awakened within
Tearing the heart in two,

Listen, I beg of you,
Guard your Heart!
Guard your Heart!
Don’t trade it for treasure;
Don’t give it away;
Guard your Heart!

Guard your Heart…
As a payment for pleasure
It’s high price to pay!

For a soul that remains sincere with conscience clear,
Guard your Heart.

The human heart is easily swayed
And often betrayed at the hand of emotion.
You dare not leave the outcome to chance,
You must choose in advance
Or live with the agony…
Such needless tragedy…
Guard your Heart!

Guard your Heart.
Don’t trade it for treasure;
Don’t give it away.
Guard your Heart!

Guard your Heart,
As a payment for pleasure
It’s high price to pay.
Guard your Heart!
Guard your Heart!
Don’t trade it for treasure;
Don’t give it away;
Guard your Heart!
Guard your Heart!
As a payment for pleasure
It’s high price to pay…

For a soul that remains sincere, with conscience clear,
Guard your Heart!

For a soul that remains sincere, with conscience clear,
Guard your Heart!

Author: Steve Green
Source: LyricFind
Guard Your Heart lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing

WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART?

Christian Life, ,

Everyone is born with two hearts. One heart pumps blood around our bodies to keep us alive. The other heart regulates our thoughts and intentions, the deep inner part of “us”, the core, if you like, that cannot be seen but is real and powerful in its effects on us and on others in the world around us.

This may sound somewhat spooky, like some unseen force that drives us from within, but its not that bad! Our “hearts” encompass our thoughts, choices, decisions, and feelings, which reveal everything about us that relates to who we are, and influences the way we show who we are to those around us.

Unfortunately, everyone is born with a birth defect, a diseased “heart”. The diagnosis is ominous and has serious repercussions if we do nothing about our condition.

Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
[9] “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

The Bible has a lot to say about this heart. Apart from the diagnosis that every heart is initially rotten to the core, God’s Word helps us to understand what it does, and reveals how this “diseased heart” can be cured and made new.

Romans 1:18-32 gives us a resume of the way the wicked heart functions. What we desire, we do, and what we do reveals what is in the heart. Since the heart we were born with hates God, everything we think and do defies who He is and what He requires of us.

Romans 1:28, 32 NLT
[28] “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done…
[32] They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.”

Isaiah 64:6 NLT
[6]”We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”

Now, let’s see what can be done about our wicked hearts. Is there any possibility that we can change? Does God have a cure that will alter the course of our lives from where our evil hearts are taking us?

Thankfully, there is! We can do nothing to change our hearts but God can.

God promised wayward, idol-worshipping, stubborn Israel,

Ezekiel 36:25-27 NLT
[25] “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.”

God promised His people a spiritual and supernatural heart transplant. How would this happen? Not by trying harder but by putting their faith in God’s solution.

Romans 10:6-9 NLT
[6] “But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). [7] And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” [8] In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: [9] If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

What is Paul saying? “Don’t try to fathom the mechanisms of God’s salvation. How can Jesus save us by coming to earth and dying? Believe that He did it and confess that He is Lord! If you embrace this truth in your heart, you will become a new you with a transformed heart and life.”

Whew! God’s escape route from the destiny that our evil hearts threatened is faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection. He paid our debt of sin and changed our status before God and the direction of our lives from hell to heaven. Now we are going to Him, not away from Him. Not inly does God forgive our sin but He also changes us from the inside out.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
[17] “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

However, although God has given us new hearts, we are still capable of following sinful desires, depending on which desires we cultivate. The Holy Spirit in us grows fruit that reveals His life at work in our hearts. At the same time, we are surrounded by temptations from within and without, to follow our old desires.

God has given us the responsibility to feed holy, not selfish desires.

Proverbs 4:11-13, 20-23, 26-27 NLT
[11] “I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. [12] When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. [13] Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life….
[20] My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. [21] Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, [22] for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. [23] Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
[26] Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path…. [27] Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.”

Three simple instructions for preserving the integrity of our hearts.

Feed our hearts with God’s wisdom.
Guard our hearts from unholy desires.
Stay away from evil behaviour.

How do we know what is in our hearts? David asked the Lord to search his heart for any “anxious (disquieting) thoughts” that lurked inside him. “Disquieting” means anything disturbing, that causes uneasiness.

Paul has a solution for “anxious thoughts”…

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
[6] “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God’s peace acts as a referee in our hearts to tell us whether our thoughts are anxious or not. Anxious thoughts reveal that we are not trusting God in uncertain circumstances. We allow fear, anxiety, insecurity to cancel our faith, and our loss of God’s peace alerts us to the problem. He restores His peace in our hearts when we confess these toxic thoughts to the Lord.

We need never leave the condition of our hearts to chance. God gives us clear teaching in His Word that He will transplant our hearts when we put our trust in Jesus, and He will transform our hearts as we keep replacing our old sinful thoughts with holy desires.

The acid test is simple. Like a computer, what we put in must come out. If we put truth into our hearts, truth will come out of our mouths because what us inside will come out.

Proverbs 18:21 NLT
[21] “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”

Luke 6:45 NLT
[45] “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

What is in your heart? Listen to what you say!