Untitled Sermon (4)

Keeping a Sweet Heart

Opening:

Today we begin the theme “My Sweet Heart” - Guiding your heart so that you have a sweet spirit. The bible tells us in Proverbs 4:23 keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Over this month I believe if you open your hearts you get some key points that will help you keep your heart sweet. Matthew 5:8 says: blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. How can we be pure in heart? Through Christ redeeming power we can overcome sin by His grace. (Let’s pray)

Open in prayer:

Father we love You and we thank You for Your love and mercy toward us. I pray that as we study Your word we will get a greater revelation of the importance of keeping our hearts right. I pray that You bless Your people today in Jesus name Amen.

Point 1

Keeping yourself pure in heart

Let’s turn in our bibles to Psalm 51:1-12 as we read through these scriptures we see the importance of having Christ in our life. David knew how to approach God; he knew that God could not look upon sin. So David asked God to purge his heart from sin and in doing so he allowed himself to be vulnerable to God. We need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable to God and let Him begin a work in our hearts. As we have read this scripture it is obvious that David has been convicted by his sin and his guilt. David had not fooled anyone; he knew that what he did was wrong in God’s eyes and in his own eyes. He knew that his disobedience and sin had broken God’s heart, and broken his relationship with God.

1. David’s heart was broken; broken to the point of repentance. In the spirit of repentance he asked God to "Create in him a clean heart and to renew a right spirit within his soul." We all need to work on having a "Right Spirit".

2. We need to come to God in genuine repentance and open ourselves up to Him at the deepest level of our lives because it is the key to keeping a pure heart.

3. Sometimes we allow God into the living room of our hearts, but we don’t allow Him into the back shed where all the junk is stored or in the bedroom where we reveal our private selves.

Point 2

Keeping tabs on the content of your heart

We have a desperate need to keep tabs on the content of our heart, The bible tells us in Jeremiah 17:9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

What is the content of your heart?

Jesus said in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bring forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

1. We can often see what is in someone’s heart as it comes out of his or her mouth. People try to hide what is in their heart, but when there is pressure and under certain circumstances it over flows out if their mouths.

2. The enemy starts the battle in the mind but ultimately his aim is for the heart. It is like this, we have a thought that enters our minds than we have a choice whether we will allow it to be planted in our hearts or to discard it. If we allow it to be planted in our hearts, it will grow and consume our lives and then it can cause damage to not only ourselves but also others. (Hurting people hurt people).

3. Example: We have a choice whether we take on an offence, if we do, it can affect our heart and also the people around us as it comes out of our mouth. We need to deal with it before it gets to that.

Point 3

Keep protecting your heart

We need to protect our heart from all that is around.

Proverbs 4:19-23 says:

The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. 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. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Things we can do to protect our heart.

1. Watch what we see

2. Watch what we hear

3. Watch what is influencing us – music, friends, movies etc. these Have an influence on us. We have to be very careful whom we allow to have input into our lives.

As we talk about protecting our hearts it is important to mention that as parents we have a big responsibility in what we allow our children to see and hear. We have to help them protect their hearts, as they do not have the maturity to see the hidden dangers that are bombarding them. We can all understand some of the battles we have faced from things that have taken root in our heart from when we were children. And only through the power of God we can be set free from these strong holds. So let’s protect our hearts.

Conclusion:

As we come to the end of this part of our service, remember it is important to seek God and ask Him to purge and cleanse our heart. We need to be people that are seeking God and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to Him and let Him bring healing in our lives.

We need to keep tabs on the content of our hearts. Remember Jesus words in Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bring forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. If we want to bring forth good treasures, than we need to be putting good things into our hearts. And as we finish, let us keep protecting our hearts, watch what we see, watch what we hear and watch what is influencing us. These have an influence on us. We need to be careful whom we allow to have input into our lives. The old saying garbage in garbage out.

Salvation Opportunity