Guard Your Heart

2/2/2002 and 2/3/2002

-If I were to say the word “pollution” it would bring all sorts of things to mind. There is air and water pollution. Nutritionists tell us we are getting toxins in our bodies that if we leave there can cause disease.

-Every so often you need to de-tox because of the environment we live in.

-The same is true spiritually. We live in a spiritually toxic world.

Pr 25:26 ¶ Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.

(NIV)

Proverbs 14

30 ¶ A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 4

20 ¶ My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.

21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

22 for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body.

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25 Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

26 Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.

27 Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

(NIV)

NLT

20 Pay attention, my child, to what I say. Listen carefully. 21 Don't lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, 22 for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. F8 24 Avoid all perverse talk; stay far from corrupt speech. 25 Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; then stick to the path and stay safe. 27 Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

NCV

20 My child, pay attention to my words; listen closely to what I say. 21 Don't ever forget my words; keep them always in mind. 22 They are the key to life for those who find them; they bring health to the whole body. 23 Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. 24 Don't use your mouth to tell lies; don't ever say things that are not true. 25 Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good. 26 Be careful what you do, and always do what is right. 27 Don't turn off the road of goodness; keep away from evil paths.

-In the original language it says “of all guarding guard your heart because from it emanations of life.

-Since all the actions of life literally the outgoings of life originate in the heart, its condition determines whether or not we live wisely or foolishly.

WHY IS THE CONDITION OF YOUR HEART IMPORTANT?

Mark 4

13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?

14 The farmer sows the word.

15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.

16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.

17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.

18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;

19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.

(life’s worries, riches and pleasures)

20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

-The condition of someone’s heart determines everything about their lives.

-These people all heard the same seed or Word and different things happened because the condition of the soil or hearts.

-Only God can change a heart and make it right.

-I saw it like a river that flows from its source but we can place obstacles in the path of that water and dam it up.

-We can block the flow of life.

-Pollution in your heart can cause your life to dry up like a desert.

John 7 NRSV

37 ¶ On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me,

38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water.'"

39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive;

-How do we de-tox? What should we look out for to keep our hearts clear?

-Our Sripture in Proverbs 4 goes ahead to tell us how to guard our hearts.

-Literally it says “REMOVE” and then goes on to list what things to remove.

1. REMOVE PERVERSE TALK AND LYING LIPS

Proverbs 4

24 Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

-The tongue has the power of life and death.

-James (Jesus’ brother and probably the pastor in Jerusalem) has a lot to say about how we use our mouths.

James 3

2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.

4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.

5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

-One of the best ways to keep out of trouble is to be quiet.

-A wise man’s heart guides his mouth. A fool speaks his mind.

-Don’t say everything you think, even to yourself.

-You can pollute your heart as well as others around you.

YOU WILL WIN OR YOU WILL LOSE DEPENDING ON THE WORDS YOU CHOOSE.

-Watch you mouth!

2. REMOVE DISTRACTIONS

Verse 25

. 25 Keep your eyes focused on what is right, and look straight ahead to what is good.

-The New Testament says to fix your eyes on Jesus.

Hebrews 12

1 ¶ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

-Set a guard over your eyes. Some things stay with you.

-Watch what you are reading and watching on TV.

-Some things have bad effects. The author of Harry Potter said she wrote the books to make Jesus look stupid. Within 24 hours of the movies debut in England there were a lot of kids going on the Pagan web site to find out how to become a wizard.

-Watch what you set before your eyes.

Ps 101:3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they shall not cling to me.

(NIV)

Job 31:1 ¶ "I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a girl.

-The word for worry and anxiety is DISTRACTION.

-Keep your eyes on the prize!

-Notice the pattern: SAY/SEE/DO

3. REMOVE INACTION

Verse 26

26 Be careful what you do, and always do what is right. 27 Don't turn off the road of goodness; keep away from evil paths.

-NLT says, “Mark out a straight path for your feet;”

Luke 6

45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

46 "Why do you call me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?

47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.

48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When the flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

(NIV)

James 1

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror

24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

Joshua 1

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

-I want to be prosperous and successful.

-In order to do that, I have to remove laziness and mental assent and begin to actually DO the Bible.

-You only really believe what you are willing to act on.

-Your feet follow your eyes.

-Keep looking at and assimilating the word so you can do it.

-I’ve been hearing that a lot of the nutrition we take in the form of tablets and pills never get to our systems. They show up in scans and nurses call them bedpan bullets.

-That’s gross but we can be the same way with the Christian life. We get the nutrition but don’t break it down and assimilate it through digestion. (Meditation is literally the same as a cow chewing the cud.)

-SAY/SEE/DO

WHAT OTHERS THINGS COULD PUT A CRIMP IN YOUR WATER HOSE?

4. BITTERNESS

Heb 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

(NAS95)

-Bitterness is unresolved anger.

-Settle anger. In your anger, don’t sin.

Lu 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you.

(NIV)

5. GUILT

Hebrews 10

18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

19 ¶ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,

20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,

21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

-It takes a boldness to accept forgiveness and believe that the blood of Jesus can remove the guilt of sin.

6. TRADITION

Mr 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."

Col 2:8 See to it that no-one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

2Th 3:6 ¶ In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching {Or tradition} you received from us.

-Not all tradition is bad.

-Some is wrong and all of it can be lifeless.

Example of Ham-too small for the pan.

-Ask yourself WHY you are doing something.

-Keep the life in whatever you are doing.

Guard your heart by:

*Guarding the call on your life-it will cause you to overlook hardship.

*Guard your limits- beware of the barrenness of a busy life.

*Guard your priorities.

PRAYER FOR OUR HEARTS