Guard Your Heart
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Scripture
Scripture
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Sir Walter Raleigh, one of Britain's great sea captains in the days of Queen Elizabeth I, was a fearless adventurer. He was a great favorite of the queen, but was disliked by her successor James I. In the end the king condemned Sir Walter to death. The executioner, whose sympathy evidently was with the prisoner, had no joy in his task. Hoping to ease the sailor's last moments, the executioner told Sir Walter how to place his head on the block to ensure swift decapitation. The prisoner thanked him. "It matters little, friend," Sir Walter said, "whether or not the head is right so long as the heart is right."
What Is The Heart
What Is The Heart
The heart is a very important organ in your body
When it stops beating, you are as good as dead
When it beats to slow or beats too fast it signifies a problem
No one likes to get any kind of bad news about the heart -
I remember having to do to a doctor and doing an echo cause my heart was racing.........
The heart is very important organ.......
if you get into a fight you do not want someone hitting your heart
In this scripture it says we need to guard our heart but it is not the physical heart Solomon is talking about
He is not asking you to get a shield and walk around protecting your heart at all times
The heart is spoken of in Scripture as the center of the moral and spiritual life
All moral conditions from the highest to the lowest are said to center in the heart. Sometimes the heart is used to represent a person’s true nature or character. Samson told Delilah “all that was in his heart” (Judg. 16:17 NASB). This true nature is contrasted with the outward appearance: “man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7 RSV).
Because the heart is at the root of the problem, this is the place where God does His work in the individual.
Heart deals wirh the physical emotional mental and spiritual. They not really separate but blended together.
Your heart is the real you. Everything you do and say comes from it.
Before Saul became king, God gave him a new heart (1 Sam. 10:9). God promised Israel that He would give them a new spirit within, take away their “heart of stone” and give them a “heart of flesh” (Ezek. 11:19 NASB
Why We Need To Guard Our Heart
Why We Need To Guard Our Heart
Guard your heart is normally thought of in relationships
Guard your heart from these Young Girls Them
They out to make your life miserable
That wasn’t really the main idea Solomon had to share
Guarding your heart actually deals with Idolatry
It’s about idolatry - it’s about looking for anything other than God to complete you
Today when we look around we see many big Ministers falling in terrible ways
Big men of God they are being found in areas where you wpuld not expect a minister to fall in
Men have to leave the Ministry because they are alcoholics
Men have to leave due to abuse of Power
Bill Hybels - Willow Creek accused of sexual misconduct
Mark Driscoll - Founder of Mars Hill church
Driscoll was forced to resign in 2014 after a plagiarism scandal, followed by allegations of emotional abusiveness and misogyny. He was also accused of misuse of church funds.
Firstenberg added:
The reputation Driscoll got for being the cussing pastor simply because he used harsh language from the pulpit was nothing compared to the swearing and abusive language he used daily with staff. When people asked me how I liked working at Mars Hill, I would simply say, "It is a great church to attend, but I wouldn't recommend working here." It was well known with the staff that what was preached on Sunday was not lived out Monday morning with the staff.[17]
Jimmy Swaggart - when it became public that he was cheating on his wife with a New Orleans prostitute. Not only that, Swaggart was an avid consumer of porn
Josh Harris - Author of I kissed dating goodbye - left the faith and removed his book
JON CRIST - comedian - tried to pressure several women into having sex with him. Was getting a Netflix series but it got cancelled
I am not saying these things to condemn these men but to show how easy it can be for a Minister to fall....
The temptations and pressure in these mega churches are way more than we have in our small churches....
Some of these men got restored the same way how David got restored....
Some people may say - That would never happen to me
That is stemmed from pride....
Paul told the Corinthian Church
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
This is a warning to everyone of us in church especially the Ministers of the Word of God ..
In fact everyone in our church is a Minister in some way ...
This is why it is so important that we follow Solomon’s advice
Whatever's in your heart is eventually going to show up in your everyday life. Whatever's inside will eventually find its way out, where anyone and everyone can see it.
That alone makes it extremely important to monitor the things we allow to shape our hearts. I don't want something nasty, sinful, and selfish finding its way out and damaging my relationships with others, and I doubt you do either.
GOOD TO KNOW THE ABC’S
This Advice was given by a man called Solomon to his son Rehoboam
Solomon was probably the best man to give his advice
Solomon had all this wisdom but because he wasn’t guarding his heart - he was led astray and he sinned in big ways especially in the area of relatinships with women
This is why it so important not just to know God’s Word but to apply it to one’s life.
When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.
Solomon knew that the issue stems with the heart
Get the heart right and the correct behaviours will follow
THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS THE MATTER OF THE HEART
The purpose of Proverbs was stated in the first chapter verses 2-7 which was to provide and develop wisdom, discipline, understanding, insight and guidance aimed at inspiring right and reasonable living by God’s standards.
Even though it is a handbook of wisdom the foundation starts with THE FEAR OF THE LORD.
In a practical sense this involves a serious determiniation to do what God says is right and worthy of honor and to avoid what he says is wrong and worthy of judgment.
ALL OF US HAVE WEAKNESSES
What you are weak in I may not be weak in and What I am weak in you may not be weak in
It’s especially in these areas of weaknesses we need to guard our hearts
If your weakness is Anger - People does trip you off at times - The enemy knows and will try to put you in those situations to damage your witness
Sometimes in order to guard your heart you may be forced to leave your job...
They asking you to do things that you know God wont approve
Not much people would be willing to do that especially in this time of pandemic when Jobs scarce
But sometimes in order to guard your heart you may need to take such drastic measures
PROMOTION COMES FROM THE LORD
hear this - The Boss says I will promote you if you sleep with me
THAT PROMOTION DEFINITELY DOES NOT COME FROM THE LORD
This is reality
This is what people have to do to get ahead now
I heard that in some companies the Accounts department is one of the most corrupt departments
To work there you also need to be corrupt
Lots of Police officers corrupt - planting stuff on people if they dont like you....
The same weed they catching people with - they taking it to sell....
Some of these officers working hand in hand with the drug Lords......
Sometimes if you not willing to go along with the corruption the boss man may transfer you to some other district
The workplace is where lots of corruption takes place . all of us have to work....
Would we sell our souls just for money?
Insurance Companies
Sanjay no longer there
It have some people giving their agent money to deposit it for them but it depositing in the Agent’s pocket
Conflict of interest me and Alvin
Bible speaks more about money than any other subject except God himself
Money is a big weakness for people but the problem is not really the money - the issue is the heart
THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS THE MATTER OF THE HEART
The heart wants you to be better than everyone else
Pastor sharing about church people want the best cars.....
I must have the best car, the best house, the best bling
Now if you work towards having those things nothign wrong
but people nowadays not working but have more money than those who do work
why is this?
THIEVING, SELLING DRUGS, HUMAN TRAFFICKING
IT IS THE HEART THAT IS THE PROBLEM
We need a change of heart!
Are you appalled what what is happening In sweet T&T at this time.
The problem we have is a heart problem!
Racism - kamla calling Rowley black
You could create all the best programs to help these people up there and while it may help a little - it not addressing the real problem
The issue of the heart - anger, murder etc lies in their heart ....
It is a change of heart that these people need....
If you want to know what is in your heart - LOOK AT YOUR ACTIONS
What We Need To Guard It Against
What We Need To Guard It Against
Lots of things wants to get into your heart that’s why you need to guard it....
We guard our hearts against all kinds of distractions from our faith. Our heart is fragile. We have to do what we can to protect it.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Our thought life is so important - Stinking Thinking
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
MURDER - Look at Trinidad - this is normal .
If you hate your brother it is murder 1 John 3:15
ADULTERY - David and Bathsheba - The grass is greener on the other side … Husband whatsapping their neigbor .....duck and date....WILL SMITH AND JADA
Marriages not lasting nowadays even in the church ....
SEXUAL IMMORALITY - Rampant nowadays … it have so much temptation out here now ..... We all weak in this are and sometimes we need to do like Joesph and Run for we life
THEFT - Thiefing and looting is normal.... I saw a man thief a phone by the chicken depot in GP road..... Politicians......well they does get hired to thief......right now the talk is who does thief more than who
FALSE TESTIMONY - Normal in the court system nowadays
SLANDER - Anybody get we vex well we quick to make them out and slander their name . Sometimes we hear something about someone. We dont even know if is true but we like a good gossip so we slander that person and ruin their reputaion
People getting sue for that nowadays
PRIDE - coming from bible school
The old story is told about the young preacher who strutted to the pulpit, expecting to wow the congregation. He humbly walked out of the pulpit after the sermon bombed. “What happened?” he asked a senior minister. The wise, seasoned preacher counseled, “Son, if you would have gone up to the pulpit the way you came down, you would have been able to come down the way you went up.”
How Can We Guard Our Heart
How Can We Guard Our Heart
My son, pay attention to my words;
listen closely to my sayings.
Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.
1. Monitor what tries to come in and distract our heart
* Watch what you watch: Be careful what Internet sites you log on to. Be careful what books you read and what TV programs you watch. Ask yourself, “Is this wholesome, beneficial and productive in my walk with the Lord?”
FIREWALL
2. Feed On God’s Word - If you want to know how to guard your heart against things that will pull you away from God, the Bible is the best place to start. It is full of advice for living wisely.
The goal is not to read the Bible, The goal is not even studying the bible, The goal is to allow what is said in the Bible to change your life
It is doing what the Bible says that will help us to guard our heart
The Bible is how God speaks to us. A believer will hear God’s Word but a Disciple will Heed God’s Word
It is taking action on what is being said
MOST Christians are educated way beyond their level of obedience
If we eat too much we get obese
A lot of us spiritually Obese..... WE always eating from the Word.....Attedning all the services, going to the bible studies etc but not exercising what he hear....
Applying God’s Word
3. Spend time in prayer - Guarding your heart means having a healthy relationship with God. That relationship grows as you pray and have conversations with Him.
a good practise after reading God’s Word is to pray about what you just read. Asking God to give you the strength to live what what you just read.
Pray the scriptures. Ask God to help you be devoted in your walk with him.
Ask God to show you areas of your heart that you need to address and to guard
4. Choose friends wisely -
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Choosing good friends seems easy, but sometimes we lose sight of friends who are good for us and the ones that seem more fun or flashy. Make sure there is substance in your relationships.
The people whom you associate with plays a big part in what goes into your heart.
People speak into your lives every day and you need to be careful whom you allow to speak into your lives....
People who speak into you are more important than people who speak about you. They can make your heart better or bitter
People who grow up in church their whole lives and living Godly lives can change a lot when they get themselves involved in the wrong company.
Guarding your heart may mean that you have to remove certain people from your life.
5. Have Accountability
When you accountable to no one but yourself you setting up yourself for trouble
All these Pastors I was speaking about accountabilty was missing and they allowed things to reach a terrible outcome
They are putting accountability in place to keep them from repeating that same mistakes
Everyone want to have their independent churches today
They dont want nobody to hold them accountable
EVERY PASTOR NEEDS A PASTOR
IN IPA the Pastors meet each month to give an account of things pertaining to the church
It helps to guard your heart from greed and power and position
Conclusion
Conclusion
When we look at the Bible we see the Great men of God fall in stupid ways.
If they were guarding their heart they ount have fallen so badly....
Noah got drunk and partied naked after God delivered him and his family from death.
Moses came into ministry after he murdered someone.
Judah slept with his daughter-in-law only because he mistook her for a prostitute.
David was a fantastic king. And then he saw Bathsheba.
Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived in Old Testament times but really struggled with sex. And God. And cynicism.
Elijah saw one of the most powerful displays of God’s power in history, and then promptly fell into a self-pitying depression.
Jonah ran away from God again, and again, and again.
Peter denied Jesus.
Thomas doubted even when he saw Jesus with his own eyes.
Paul was a little insecure (just read 2 Corinthians).
What ive said is very challenging but i think it is much needed in our lives today
Application
Application
Psalms 86:11-12
Teach me your way, Lord, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided heart to fear your name. I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever.