Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 says “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.”

The word “springs” in that verse could also be translated as “forces”, “boundaries” or “issues”.

This verse and this word prove that we can control the direction of our lives. It’s all a matter of what we allow in our hearts.

Luke 6:45 tells us “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

This should make us ask the question, “What is my heart filled with?” or “What am I allowing to fill my heart?” Because what fills our hearts is what will come out of our mouths; it’s what our lives will overflow with.

This is why the first thing Proverbs 4:23 tells us to do is watch over or guard our hearts. How do we do this? By carefully choosing what we allow ourselves to see and hear. Our eyes and ears are the pathways to our hearts. Our hearts will be filled with what we consistently hear and see.

If we just let everything on television, the radio and social media go unchecked into our eyes and ears, then we are not guarding our hearts. We are feeding on the opinions and mindsets of the world.

When we don’t watch over what goes into our hearts, we might be surprised what comes out of our mouths. All of us have probably been in a situation when we just let something “slip out” of our mouths. It really didn’t just slip out though. It is the overflow of what we’ve knowingly or unknowingly allowed into our hearts.

Usually these are funny situations where we say something that we really don’t mean, but what about the other times?

What if we’re in the middle of a disagreement with our spouse and he or she says something that makes us angry? Instead of taking a moment to calm down and respond peacefully, we fly off the handle, scream and curse, and storm out of the house.

We can all agree that this is the absolute wrong response, but where did it come from? Whether we like it or not, it came from our heart. If we spend all week filling our hearts with angry music, violent television, and news about traffic accidents and the failing economy, it will be much easier to get angry. So, when we step into a heated situation that anger will come out.

This is just one example of how our reactions always come from our hearts.

But this example does not have to describe our lives. We can guard our hearts, and then the springs of our lives won’t be angry, confused or depressed.

It starts with choosing to fill our hearts with God’s word. If we are constantly feeding on the word of God, there won’t be any room for the negativity and death of the world in us. When we do this, we’ll see our lives go in the direction that God has planned for them.

 

Establishing The Heart

The Bible uses the word “heart” over 700 times. That should prove that God wants us to understand what the heart is and why it is so important.

Many times the Bible is referring to the spirit of man when it says “heart”. This is the part of us that is completely saved and regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1:21 and 22 say, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

The “heart” in these verses is the spirit of man. God’s Holy Spirit gives life and energy to our formerly dead spirit when we receive salvation.

The word “heart” is also used to talk about the mind, or soul, of man. Romans 12:2(a) says “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The word “mind” here could also be “heart”. This is obviously different than the spirit of man, because the spirit of man is totally renewed at the time of salvation. However, the mind or soul has to be renewed day by day.

This is because when we receive salvation we don’t instantly become perfect. Our spirit is made perfect, exactly like God, but our soul has been steeped in the world from the day we were born. So, things like doubt, fear and selfishness have to be removed by the power of the word.

That’s why the Bible tells us that we can have a hardened heart toward God. It’s not talking about our spirit. It’s talking about our soul. We’ll cover that in more detail later.

I believe that the heart is actually the combination of both the soul and the spirit and only the Word can differentiate between the two. This is according to Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

This is a long definition for the heart, but it’s of the utmost importance because everything hinges on the condition of our heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

We’re going to spend some time talking about the heart; what it means to have a hardened heart, how to heal it, how to keep it and much more. It’s going to help us live a life that is God-centered and keep the course of our life in line with God’s will.

Righteousness Pt 10

How do we avoid the trap of self-righteousness and condemnation? We maintain a consciousness of our righteousness in Christ. When we are mindful of our right-standing with our heavenly Father we can sidestep the deceptions the devil will throw at us.

However, this kind of thinking doesn’t happen by accident. It has to be maintained. It has to be kept. The great thing about God is that He doesn’t make it complicated. He doesn’t save us and make us righteous to abandon us. Jude 1:24 says “Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.”

Notice that it’s not our power that keeps us from falling away. It’s the power and ability of God. It is our choice whether or not we stay close to Him. That’s how we maintain a righteousness consciousness; by staying close to God.

We let His words become uppermost in our hearts and minds. We’ll never be able to keep a consciousness of our right-standing in Christ if we are constantly feeding on the negative words of this world and our flesh.

Romans 8:6 tells us “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” Setting our minds on selfish, fleshly desires brings about disastrous results.

Colossians 3:16 instructs us how to live our lives. It says, “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”

We have to allow His word to fill our lives. We can’t be full of the world and full of God. It is one or the other, and only one will keep us from falling away.

Let’s make a commitment to empty ourselves of our flesh and the world by letting the word of Christ live in us richly. When we do this we’ll stand strong in our righteousness and easily avoid the pitfalls of self-righteousness and condemnation.