GUARD YOUR HEART

So today, I posted an article written by a dear friend, She is one of reasons I started this blog. So, Tess, this just came in time for me and I hope that it will also act as a reminder for someone else.

YOU HAVE TO GUARD YOUR HEART

I like to read just about anything I come across. I don’t do much of writing though. At times I do put my thoughts down…but just for my own reading. I also do jot down stuff that I find interesting…something that might be thought-provoking to me or just plain funny in the most silly way. What happens after I write these interesting ‘stuff’ down? Some days- not too often -I do find myself opening up one of my myriad of notebooks and just read through. At times I do laugh at some of those silly jokes…or at times I just raise my eyebrow and wonder if I really do have much of a good sense of humor.Reading through makes my mind travel to distant memories. Some really good and some are not so much on the good side. I always appreciate them with a smile, a laugh or just tears at times. I happen to believe everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens to you in vain. One time casually flipping through the pages, I read something that I had just scribbled. It was a Bible verse:
               Proverbs 4:2 “Above all else guard your heart. For it is the well spring of life.”

I tried to remember what had made me write it down but nothing came up. I carried on with my day as usual trying not to put much thought into it…..but you know that strong tugging you get in your heart…to do something... that’s what I had. I knew I had to think about what I had read and understand it……because to be honest I didn’t and I was comfortable in not knowing. Dangerous place to be in if you ask me…but no one asked so Some call it the gut feeling or even human intuition…maybe it was one of those I had.

I kept thinking…”guard my heart?” Why??? “For it is the wellspring of life”…..corny I know. I do not believe in coincidences. I don’t think things just happen…..God makes things happen. He knows your whole life story…nothing surprises Him really. Take a moment and think about it.So for me to have come across something I had written down and for it to not leave my mind…..was definitely no coincidence.
There is a song done by a band-casting crowns-that is worth listening to. The song is called ‘slow fade’. Do give it a listen and probably add it to your playlist. The song speaks about how people never crumble in a day…it’s always a slow fade. The song talks about watching what your eyes see…what your ears hear and what comes out from your lips.”Thoughts invade, choices made, a price will be paid when you give yourself away”…..some of the lyrics from the song.

To my understanding….I should basically just guard my heart. What should I guard it from though? You know, we always know what we are meant to do/what we are supposed to do/what is required of us…..but often we forfeit it.Either because it’s just too much work or pride reasons or” I’m too young” or “It’s my life I’ll live it the way I want to”…I have used some of these barely there reasons and not done the right thing. Why should you guard your heart anyway? Shouldn’t it be anything comes anything goes because you only live once anyway and this life is not a rehearsal? You know at times the heart goes for the wrong things. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9. What happens when you don’t guard your heart? “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”. Matthew 12:34.Your mouth betrays what is in your heart. Every word that comes out of your mouth starts in the heart. All of your actions and choices are driven by the desires of your heart. If it wasn’t in your heart in the first place, chances are you would probably not have done what you did. Think about it.If it wasn’t in your heart, chances are you would have probably not have said what you said.

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.” Familiar quote? You need to be very careful of what you let in because that’s where it all begins. You might have already gone beyond the thought stage…and you already have that habit… that character… that just started by what seemed were harmless thoughts. So you decide to become comfortable in that habit that you know too well is wrong. Because coming out from a habit that you just ‘love’ and ‘adore’ is just too difficult almost impossible to come out from. Plus…who has the time for that? You will find the time once you feel helpless,hopeless,lonely…you are desperate to get out…desperate for a change…desperate for a do-over…because you find out what you once ‘loved’ and ‘adored’ is just a bubble. Nothing really is inside and you feel so dis content and you think more and more of what you having eventually will make you content. Lies.
Sin is something you don’t want to mess around with. It is not something you want test.How far can I stick my hands out and the sharks won’t bite me? How many seconds can I touch this hot burner and not get burned? You need to stay away.Completely.You need to guard that heart. You need to watch your thoughts. Because? It’s always a slow fade. At times we lie to ourselves….I have this in full control. I got this this. Truth is you don’t. Sin is from the devil. He owns the sin. He brings it in slowly without us realizing because the guard is completely down in our hearts. He knows what weak point you have so he uses it.You just happen to be his very good puppet.
At times you are just so caught up and you think you are way too far gone. That is a lie. You can always ask for forgiveness…and be forgiven and be completely free from what has bound you. “When He strips you from an area of weakness you cannot return to it later as if He never existed. “Every time you feel cornered you run to His feet and stay there. There is only one destination of sin which is death. Guard yourself from it.You might say ‘I can keep doing this…after all I will always be forgiven’. Very true. God is very forgiving probably a human being wouldn’t give you all those chances He gives unto us. But you know what? Staying in sin is not about breaking the commandments or His laws…its about breaking His heart. If you do truly love Him…you would keep off. You will be forgiven of your wrong doings and then you jump right into it.Truth is you are not free from the consequences of sin. Some you will have to live with them for the rest of your life.
So when you do have the chance of making things right again……do it.Guard yourself from what is unworthy to be placed in your heart and mind. Be very intentional of what you let in.So what do you need to place in your heart?Phillipians 4:8

You don’t have to entertain/encourage everything that comes into mind. Ignore it and replace it with what is worthy. Our hearts are not to lead us. We are to lead our hearts. The world says “follow your heart” but remember you are not of this world and you will never be. God says “Follow me and guard your heart.”
I’m really happy I took that verse quite seriously because I learned a whole lot of things. You learn and live