Day 38
The Heart
“Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.”
(Proverbs 4:23)
Your Heart is the 3rd Treasure
Your Heart is the 3rd treasure that you must guard with your life!
My dear beloved, the heart is the center of life; therefore, it must be carefully guarded! Everything we think, speak, and do comes straight from our hearts. Now, what you think, speak, and do forms your character, and your character is the sum of who you really are. If you think evil, speak evil, do evil, you are evil! But if you think good, speak good, and do good, you are good!
The heart is the most important organ of our physical bodies. We can live without a finger, an arm, a hand, a leg, or an eye; but we cannot live without a heart! The Word of God says that the life is in the blood. Now, the heart is responsible of distributing blood throughout our entire body. In other words, the heart distributes life to the whole body. If your heart stops, you are pronounced dead! The signal we have that we are still alive and that the breath of life is still in us, is our heart beat. If our heart stops, we are undeniably in trouble. Therefore, we can safely say that the heart is the container of life. The heart is so important, that it will, in fact, determine your eternal destiny!
For if physically, your heart pumps blood (life) to the rest of the body in order to keep it functioning, even so it is in the spiritual realm. Your heart must continue to bring forth good to keep you alive spiritually, for when your heart stops bringing forth good and starts bringing forth evil, you will slowly cease to be spiritually alive, and the result will be spiritual death!
My dear beloved, if faith is the ticket to heaven, and the Word of God is the currency we use to acquire it, the heart is the container where we keep the ticket until the Day of the trip arrives.
“Let your heart retain my words; keep my commands, and live.” (Proverbs 4:4)
HOW DO WE GUARD OUR HEARTS WITH ALL DILIGENCE?
“My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
for they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22)
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
for they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.” (Proverbs 4:20-22)
Here God tells us how to keep our hearts safe:
A) Incline your ear to my sayings:
This means that you must pay attention to what God is saying in His Word concerning you and the world. It means that you must hear God talking to you daily through His Word.
B) Do not let them depart from your eyes:
This means that you must fix your eyes on Jesus who is the Word of God. You cannot let a day pass without reading the Bible. The Bible MUST NOT depart from your eyes. If it helps, get three Bibles: one for the house, one for the car, and one for the office. These days we are so blessed. We can even have e-Bibles: one on your pc or laptop, and even better, one on your cell phone.
Why is this important? Because the Word of God is your spiritual sword. It is the only weapon you can defend yourself with against the devil and his evil spirits:
“And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17)
My dear beloved, without the Word of God in your heart and mouth, you are powerless before the devil and all his demons. Take the example of Jesus Christ our Lord, how He defeated the devil with the Word of God by simply quoting Scriptures against each temptation the devil brought before Him. Now, these things are written for our learning, that through the Scriptures we may have comfort and hope! Amen!
My dear beloved, our eyes and our ears are highways that lead straight to our hearts. For us to guard our hearts, we need to guard what our eyes see and what our ears hear! For if by beholding we become, then by hearing we speak!
HOW TO GUARD YOUR EYES:
1) TV, cinemas and internet: Please carefully select what you watch on TV, cinemas and internet. Ask yourself concerning the program you are about to watch, if the Lord Jesus could be seated next to you. Would you be comfortable? I tell you the truth, if you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal savior; He dwells in your heart through the Holy Spirit which dwells in you. Now should we then take the Holy Spirit, which is with us all the time, to watch the following:
Adultery, nudity, fornication, pornography, blasphemers of Christ, haters of God, violence, cursing, worldly lusts, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, evil spirits, sorcerers , contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.
My dear beloved, those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God
My dear beloved, some TV shows and movies are not meant for Christians, so please stay away from them. They will not only corrupt your mind, but they will also take you away from God. And some websites are not meant for Christians, for the name of our Lord Jesus is blasphemed in them. My dear beloved, it is your God-given responsibility to protect your eyes and the eyes of your family and the eyes of those around you who are under your care!
2) Magazines, books, novels, newspapers and pamphlets:
Please do examine this for yourself.
People who behave weirdly are mostly people that are constantly reading and watching weird contents. Some even become serial killers because of the books they read. Some become vain because of the garbage they read. Some are unable to think as their opinions are merely repetitions of what they read. Some become gossipers as a result of reading a lot of gossip.
In other words, we become what we feed our minds with.
My dear beloved, I repeat, it is your God-given responsibility to protect your eyes and the eyes of your family and the eyes of those around you who are under your care!
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR EARS:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
My dear beloved, the devil is using music to corrupt our minds with his evil agenda. Music that is full of cursing, violence, sexuality, hate speech, racial tensions, racial attacks, tribal attacks, classicism and the like are not for Christians. For if we give heed to the evil spirits on this kind of music, we will bring it into the church, and we will divide the church. Even now there are some divisions that the devil has managed to sneak into some churches.
Now, if there are racial divisions and social status divisions, are we not still living carnally?
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:1- 6)
My dear beloved, we are one in the LORD. There is neither European, nor African, nor South or North American, nor Indian, nor Asian, nor Arab, nor Jew; but we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord! And this is a testimony to the world, that God is indeed love, and His love is above all things. The devil hates this love and he wants to destroy the unity of the Body of Christ, but we are not ignorant of his devices. He will not be successful. There will always be a group in every generation that will bear witness of the love of God in us and us in Him, until Christ Jesus our Lord returns. Amen!
My dear beloved, would you love to be part of this group? I plead with you in Christ’s name; turn that evil music off, music that is full of cursing, violence, sexual lyrics, hate speech, racial tensions, racial attacks, tribal attacks, classicism and the like. This type of music is not for Christians. Throw away the CDs and DVDs, delete this music from your computer, laptop, iPod, USB, cell phone. Please get rid of it, that you may have a clean and sound mind for discerning good from evil.
YOUNG PEOPLE
Please turn that music and those video games off. They are full of cursing, violence, sexual lyrics, hate speech, racial tension, racial attacks, tribal attacks, classicism and the like. Please turn it off.
“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10)
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10)
And again:
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)
Most of all, watch out for deceiving spirits who take on themselves a form of Christianity and who teach God’s people false doctrines. Watch out my dear beloved! Watch out!
WHY IS GOD COMMANDING US TO GUARD OUR HEARTS WITH ALL DILIGENCE?
A) It determines your character: This will determine your eternal future.
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7a)
B) It is a source of defilement: What comes out of our hearts causes us to sin against God.
“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:18-19)
C) It controls speech: The content of your heart will determine what your mouth speaks.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45)
D) It is the source of faith: It is with your heart that you believe in Christ Jesus our Lord unto righteousness by faith, and it is the faith in your heart that prompts your mouth to make confession unto salvation.
“For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)
My dear beloved, it is your God-given responsibility to protect your ears and the ears of your family and the ears of all those under your care.
Let us, therefore, give our hearts to God that we may be found worthy on that great and dreadful Day of the LORD. Who can stand it? Let us give our hearts to Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom our heart is forever safe! Amen!
“My sons, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.” (Proverbs 23:26)
Finally, my dear beloved, protect yourself and those under your care, for the devil knows how effective the power of suggestion is. He did not make Eve eat the fruit, he only suggested it, and Eve did the rest. The mistake Eve made was to give him attention! And even so now, the devil is suggesting things to us using advertising on TV, movies, music, music videos, video games, magazines, books, newspapers, pamphlets, websites, tracts, and all other forms of media!
What is the devil suggesting to all of us?
The devil wants us to disobey God. The devil knows that God and sin do not mix, and the best way for the devil to separate us from God is to cause us to sin. So, every time you yield to the devil’s suggestions, you are allowing the devil to separate you from God. Let us, therefore, not make the same mistake as Eve made, for the Bible is written for our learning. Let us not give the devil any attention, but rather let us focus our ears on what God is saying to us by His Word. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, whose name is the Word of God. Amen!
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen!
Meditation: For as I think in my heart, so I am!
Prayer points: Help me, oh LORD, to guard my heart. Please give me discernment concerning what I should watch, read, and listen. Please show me the way in which I should walk and help me to walk in it. Take my heart and let Your will be done in it, for I trust You, oh my God. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Commitment: I give You my heart, oh God! I commit myself from today onward, by Your grace, to stop watching, reading, and listening to whatever is not profitable for my soul, and I commit myself to meditate on Your Word day and night; to watch, read, and listen to that which is good for my heart. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen!
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