Do you live your life like you believe this?
Do you believe it?
I've always said that I did, but moving to a new city has made me realize just how much, and, how little, that was true.
God's promises are never changing. But we are human and, as history repeats itself, are so quick to forget this!
"Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
I think the question should not be "do you believe this?", but, "Do you believe God?"
"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for HE who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23
Being in a new place, even though surrounded by people that I love and who love me, there is temptation to feel a bit like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. Stuck, but not lost. The great difference is that in focusing on the promises of God, I see His hand at work in my life.
"Fear not!" God uses that phrase a lot. Trust is a scary thing, especially when we let ourselves get in the way of what He is doing in our lives. And when we follow after Him, we have to trust Him. God's perfect love casts out our fears though. (1 John 4:18)
He promises His presence as the reason that we are not to fear.
"Do not be dismayed" - don't lose your courage, be disheartened, discouraged, perturbed, by whatever you are facing.
I AM your God!
"I will strengthen you" - Ephesians 3:16. He does this through the Holy Spirit.
"I will help you" - John 14:16 & 26
"I will uphold you"- to bolster, hold-up, sustain, defend, etc.
The right hand is given as the sign of ultimate power. So, when God says that He's going to use His right hand to not just keep us going, but to make us strong and courageous (see Joshua 1:9).
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts and I am helped; my heart exults and with my song I give thanks to Him." Psalm 28:7
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
Guard Your Heart
Maybe this is your first time hearing this phrase, maybe, like me, you've heard it hundreds of times and frankly have no idea how!
This has been the cry of my heart lately, that God would show me not just HOW to guard my heart, but WHY to do it.
I'm going to approach this from seemingly two angles, but I believe they fully connected. First, that we are born into sin and therefore with a wicked heart, but that Christ redeems us through his sacrifice. Second, that our hearts are the seat of our emotions and as such Satan has them under constant attack.
*All verses are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
________________________________________________________________
This is the first verse that He brought to mind: Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
I've been confused about this verse for a long time and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized that it was because we are so often told that our hearts are evil.
And they are.
That is, until Jesus gives us a new one.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
I believe that this is the state that we are in until we are redeemed. We all have a wicked heart, but the promise is given in Ezekiel 36:26-27 which says "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Yes, we will be judged according to our deeds. The Bible is clear on that and I will do another piece with an overview on the subject.
The good news is that Jesus has given us a new heart. One that yearns for Him and desires to please Him. When we surrender our lives to Him, He takes the "heart of stone" and gives us a "heart of flesh" and His Spirit of Truth, the Helper (Jn. 14:15-31).
But this incredibly good news comes with a warning. GUARD YOUR HEART!!
Ok. WHY?
"It is the wellspring of life"
When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:1-20, they were condemning people for not washing their hands, calling them "unclean". Jesus turned it right around and pointed out the root issue of "Cleanness". Our hearts. For He said "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of hte heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone." (vs. 18-20)
Jesus says earlier in the chapter that:
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (vs. 8-9)
They didn't see that He was the Messiah and their hearts were hardened to Him, so they were not able to hear and understand what He said.
But "He who have ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt 11:15)
The Father gave us who have believed ears to hear and a new heart of flesh to follow Him.
So, now that we have a new heart, what do we do with it?
We guard it, with all vigilance.
Ok. HOW!!??!!
This seems harder than it is.
Jesus has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)
I'm going to share some of the things that I've found helpful. Most of them I've had the privilege of learning from seasoned veterans of the Faith.
We MAKE Jesus the center of our lives. There will always be something important to do, someone who needs help. These are good, and we need to do them, but if they take the place that Jesus has to have in our hearts than we're going to stumble and fall. We can get back up. But we'll still fall.
Focus your mind on Him. Think about Him. Read his Word and meditate on it.
"Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45
Yes, this is true. So what do we do when we say things and dwell on things in our minds that we know are displeasing to the Lord?
Call on His name!! Every knee has to bow at His name, that includes especially us, His children. Satan can't stand to be in His presence and loves to speak lies to our hearts. Jesus by contrast is Truth.
When I find myself in a place mentally that I don't want to be, I speak the name of Jesus. Out loud.
No matter who is around.
No, I don't shout it (unless I am alone), but speak His name.
Then I speak truth.
Sometimes out loud depending on the situation, but always in my head.
The more time I spend in the Word of God the better equipped I am for this, and the more often I do it, the better Satan is at getting the heck out of there!!
_____________
So what about you?
What do you do when you find that the things coming from you are not what you know they should be?
This has been the cry of my heart lately, that God would show me not just HOW to guard my heart, but WHY to do it.
I'm going to approach this from seemingly two angles, but I believe they fully connected. First, that we are born into sin and therefore with a wicked heart, but that Christ redeems us through his sacrifice. Second, that our hearts are the seat of our emotions and as such Satan has them under constant attack.
*All verses are taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
________________________________________________________________
This is the first verse that He brought to mind: Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
I've been confused about this verse for a long time and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized that it was because we are so often told that our hearts are evil.
And they are.
That is, until Jesus gives us a new one.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 says: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."
I believe that this is the state that we are in until we are redeemed. We all have a wicked heart, but the promise is given in Ezekiel 36:26-27 which says "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."
Yes, we will be judged according to our deeds. The Bible is clear on that and I will do another piece with an overview on the subject.
The good news is that Jesus has given us a new heart. One that yearns for Him and desires to please Him. When we surrender our lives to Him, He takes the "heart of stone" and gives us a "heart of flesh" and His Spirit of Truth, the Helper (Jn. 14:15-31).
But this incredibly good news comes with a warning. GUARD YOUR HEART!!
Ok. WHY?
"It is the wellspring of life"
When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees in Matthew 15:1-20, they were condemning people for not washing their hands, calling them "unclean". Jesus turned it right around and pointed out the root issue of "Cleanness". Our hearts. For He said "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of hte heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone." (vs. 18-20)
Jesus says earlier in the chapter that:
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." (vs. 8-9)
They didn't see that He was the Messiah and their hearts were hardened to Him, so they were not able to hear and understand what He said.
But "He who have ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt 11:15)
The Father gave us who have believed ears to hear and a new heart of flesh to follow Him.
So, now that we have a new heart, what do we do with it?
We guard it, with all vigilance.
Ok. HOW!!??!!
This seems harder than it is.
Jesus has given us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)
I'm going to share some of the things that I've found helpful. Most of them I've had the privilege of learning from seasoned veterans of the Faith.
We MAKE Jesus the center of our lives. There will always be something important to do, someone who needs help. These are good, and we need to do them, but if they take the place that Jesus has to have in our hearts than we're going to stumble and fall. We can get back up. But we'll still fall.
Focus your mind on Him. Think about Him. Read his Word and meditate on it.
"Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45
Yes, this is true. So what do we do when we say things and dwell on things in our minds that we know are displeasing to the Lord?
Call on His name!! Every knee has to bow at His name, that includes especially us, His children. Satan can't stand to be in His presence and loves to speak lies to our hearts. Jesus by contrast is Truth.
When I find myself in a place mentally that I don't want to be, I speak the name of Jesus. Out loud.
No matter who is around.
No, I don't shout it (unless I am alone), but speak His name.
Then I speak truth.
Sometimes out loud depending on the situation, but always in my head.
The more time I spend in the Word of God the better equipped I am for this, and the more often I do it, the better Satan is at getting the heck out of there!!
_____________
So what about you?
What do you do when you find that the things coming from you are not what you know they should be?
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