How do I guard my heart?

Pastor Prince preached yesterday on learning to live a life of Rest that first begins in our thought life. I came home asking the Lord one of the thing he mention—to guard our hearts above all else even before our family, finances, studies…If it was important to the Lord for us, I wanted to know how. But how do I guard my heart? =) How do I “shield” it. It came in as a confirmation when I flip open one of my book yesterday and the verse pop out =)

Pro 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence: for out of it are the issues(source) of life.

Preceding the verse, it says to keep His Word in the midst/center of our hearts.

How does that help us to guard?

I picture a heart with two channels. One was the in-flow and the other the out-flow. What goes in is blood. Just caught this=)….Blood is life and in vs 22 it says the Word is life! Without blood there is no life. Without the Word in your life there is no zoe life. The fountain of life that springs forth in your life is the result of what goes in.

But what/where is the heart in the context of the Bible. Is it a separate thing from our thoughts, or is part of our thoughts?

The meaning of heart here in the Hebrew is our will, mind, and emotions. And so is our soul. Heart=soul.

And when we accept Him as our Savior, He gives to us a new heart (Ezekiel 35:26) It’s like a surgeon doing a heart transplant. It’s not something you can do by yourself. But when he has given you a new heart, it’s your responsibility to keep it healthy not the surgeon. That’s when the Lord instruct us to not let our hearts be troubled because in the natural when our heart is in trouble, our organs in our body are affected as well. Our life is at risk. Ask any doctor and they would be more than willing to tell you=)

Your entire system can collapse when your heart is not functioning well.

Likewise the things surrounding us—our family, studies, relationships.

What you allow to come into your heart will affect what comes out. If you feed on destructive thoughts, you will probably reap a life of defeat. If you feed on condemnation, you’ll be living a life of guilt. If you feed on unwholesome materials, you will end up being what you see or hear. Your heart reflects you like water reflects your face(Prov 27:19)

Guarding our hearts simply means to take every thoughts, will and emotions to the obedience of Christ. You have a choice. For example, you can let go of the relationship that you think has been destructive in your life. You may say that it’s impossible. But imagine you saw a pretty gal in your class and you are attracted to her. But the next moment you saw her behind your class shouting foul language at her brother. Does letting go of your emotions now seems like the hardest thing. That’s because our thought affects our feelings. Likewise, in any area. You may ask, how do I know what to think, how do I know if this is the will of God. But have you first keep His Word in you heart. You can’t guard your organs or the hairs on your hair from dropping! =) But you can surely let not your heart be stress. Guard this one thing, your heart, and He’ll take care of the rest =)

Your heart is like a treasure box. In it you keep the most precious and dear things to you. You do not want to put old newspaper or even dirty socks in it. You store the things that are most valuable and precious to you. You guard it because it’s something valuable to you. Treat your heart like a jewel. Because you are one=)

Grace IS with us!