GUARD YOUR HEART

MEMORY VERSE: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Genesis 11-20

According to Dictionary.com, the word “guard” means to keep safe from harm or danger; protect or watch over. We guard things that are precious or of value to us. For instance, wise women guard their marriages jealously. Unfortunately, some go to extreme length to guard their marriages. They go through their husbands’ mobiles when they are sleeping or check their computers/I-pads to see what they have been up to. Some foolishly employ diabolical means; i.e., charms, love portion, etc., to guard their marriages. Using diabolical means is like seeking help from your enemy. You dare not ask a lion to watch over a goat except you want to lose the goat. Women do these funny things; i.e., spy on their husbands or employ diabolical means because their marriages are precious to them. I pray that the Lord will give such women peace in Jesus name, amen. One of the reasons why I advocate looking to God for a life partner is because He takes responsibility for keeping the man and the marriage. The sister also has to submit to her head, her husband (Colossians 3:18). The primary way to guard your marriage is to pray. Many business owners employ beautiful ladies and ask them to dress in a sexy way; i.e., wear short skirts and tight blouses to keep existing male customers and attract new ones. I don’t subscribe to such practices. Only God through the power of prayer can keep your customers. Besides, your customers will be loyal to you if you render quality service to them.

Proverbs 4:23 says: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” We have to keep/guard our hearts with all diligence because it is the most important part of us. Our hearts literally control our lives. Our hearts inform our confessions. Luke 6:45 says: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh." Our confessions inform the quality of our lives. What you confess is what you are going to have. Numbers 14:28 says: "Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the LORD, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you." A brother confessed to me that he falls sick whenever he pulls a sickie. (To pull a sickie means to take a day off work saying that you are ill when, in fact, you are not.) Our hearts are so important that God asked for it. Proverbs 23:26 says: "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways." God has us once He has our hearts. The human heart is like a soil. Anything you plant on it will germinate. If you plant the wrong seeds it will grow and bring forth the wrong fruits. However, if you plant the right seeds it will bring forth the right fruits. Hence, watch what you plant on it. You can guard what you listen to or read.

REMEMBER: Your eyes and ears are the windows to your hearts.

NOTE: Watch the type of books you read. Ungodly books; viz, novels with erotic contents, will pollute your heart.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world

Guard your heart pt 2

MEMORY VERSE: keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life, Proverbs 4:23

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 4-5, 1 Cor 15, Ezek 13, John 14

In part one of these series, we discussed on the need to guard our hearts. The heart is the most important part of the body. It controls everything that we do. The heart is like a little rudder that controls the whole ship. Pride is a thing of the heart, so also humility. The heart informs our speech, actions, decisions, and emotions. The heart is under constant attack because of its value and importance. The enemy is aware that the Lord loves holiness. Since the heart informs everything we do, he attacks the heart and suggests evil thoughts so that an individual can sin against God.

To make it to heaven one needs a pure heart. Matthew 5:8 says blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. It is obvious that if the enemy gets hold of a fellow’s heart, he can turn the fellow against his Maker. If he gets hold of a sister’s heart, he will cause her fight in public and young men will start to run from her. If he gets hold of a brother’s heart, he will cause him give up at the edge of a major breakthrough. If he gets hold of a minister’s heart, instead of the minister to work with his subordinates, he will cause him to fight them to the detriment of his ministry. 

To guard your heart, you need to check what you listen to and watch on TV or surf on the internet. The eyes and the ears are the windows to one’s heart. Romans 10:17 says so then faith cometh by hearing. Do you know that fear also cometh by hearing? Another way to guard your heart against attack is by meditating on the word of God. Psalm 119:11 says your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you. One of the advantages of meditating on the word of God is that the Holy Spirit will always bring to your remembrance words to counter the attack of the enemy with . For example if the enemy brings suicide thoughts, out of the blue I shall not die but live and declare the glory of God will (Psalm 118:17)  flash through your mind. Jesus meditated on the word of God so much that when the devil tried to tempt him, he blasted him away with the word of God, Matthew 4:1-11.When you meditate on the word of God regularly, your heart becomes saturated with the word of God to the extent that attacks will have no effect.

ACTION POINTS: Meditate on at least two chapters of the bible daily. Also meditate on one chapter of proverbs per day to increase your wisdom.

Bro Samuel - Reaching in the name of the Lord

GUARD YOUR HEART PT 1

MEMORY VERSE: keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life, Proverbs 4:23

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 3, 1 Cor 14, Ezek 12, John 13

 No one guards a valueless item. No one put measures in place to secure a worthless item. The only part of our body the bible encourages us to guard with all diligence is our heart not our eyes or ears or tongue. Proverbs 4:23 says keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Why do we need to guard our hearts with all diligence? We need to guard our hearts with all diligence because of its importance. Why is the heart so important? It is important because thoughts are formed in our hearts and our thought defines us. Proverbs 23:7 says as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.

 Our heart reveals our identity. No wonder the bible says the Lord looks at the heart not the outward appearance, 1 Samuel 16:7. Our heart is where we keep our dreams, goals, passion, vision and so on. It is our heart that God connects to not our brain. When Jesus wants to come into a life, He comes through the heart. This is why He knocks at the door of every heart, seeking entry, Revelations 3:20. Our heart is also where people connect to.

 Another reason why one needs to guard his heart is because it is the source of everything we do. Our heart controls our speech and determines our confession. Matthew 12:34 says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Our heart informs our action. A wise man once said the ancestor of every action is thought. 

Before a man gives to God, he must have first thought about it. Our heart informs our decision. The process of sanctification takes place in the heart. The Lord takes away the heart of stone (the unrepentant heart, heart full of evil devises and schemes) and replaces it with a heart of flesh, Ezekiel 36:26. The main reason why we need to guard our heart is because it is always under attack. The enemy is always attacking it to take possession of it and control it. The enemy knows that once you have the heart of an individual, you have the individual. He knows that once you take possession of a fellow’s heart you can determine the end of such fellow. This is why he attacks the heart and the way he does it is through evil thoughts and suggestion.

 PONDER: We need to guard our heart because the enemy wants to take possession of it though evil thoughts and suggestion.

GUARD YOUR MOUTH

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 5, Matt 5, Ezra 5, Acts 5

Proverbs 21:23 whoever guards his mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from troubles.

Proverbs 18:21 says death and life are in the power of the tongue. With the tongue, one can either start a war or put an end to war. With the tongue, one can either ask for help or reject help. With the tongue, one gather people or scatter what has been gathered. The rightful use of the mouth can bring deliverance. In Acts 16:25-27, Paul and Silas were bound and put in prison. In the middle of the night, they began to sing praises to God and before you know it there was an earth quake which lead to their deliverance. The rightful use of the mouth can lead to healing. Joel 3:10 says let the weak say I am strong and Numbers 14:28 says whatever God hears you say is what He will do . Do you know that just by witnessing with your mouth, you can inherit glory and begin to shine like the stars? Proverbs 10:31 says he that winneth souls is wise. According to Proverbs 3:35, the wise shall inherit glory. In other words those that witness (the wise) will inherit glory. Daniel 12:3 says the wise (those that win souls) shall shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to many into righteousness like the stars forever and ever. There is an African proverb which says words can either bring kola from the pocket or clubs from the bag.

Proverbs 21:23 says whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from trouble. The mouth of many has landed them in trouble. A wise man once said “we may forget blows but not words”. Proverbs 6:1 warns us that our mouth can be snare to us. As powerful as Samson was, his unguarded mouth cost him his two eyes, Judges 16:4-21. Samson who was a terror to the Philistine became a grinder in the prison because he could not keep secrets. Proverbs 18:6 says the mouth of a fool calls for strokes. To have relationship with God, one must learn to guard his mouth. There is a time to speak and there is a time to be quiet. If one speaks at the time he is meant to keep quiet he will end up facing embarrassment. Many of the quarrels and the enemies we have today could have been avoided if only we guarded our mouth. They say silence cannot be misquoted. Proverbs 14:23 says in all labor there is profit: but the talk of the lips leads only to poverty. Unguarded mouth leads to unnecessary arguments and confrontation. Also the unguarded mouths of others can put us into trouble if care is not taken. Herod was an orator. He had his way with words. Because of his eloquence, some people with unguarded mouth started comparing him with God and instead of stopping them, he enjoyed it. They shouted “the voice of a god and not of man!” Right on the spot, the angel of the Lord struck him and he was eaten by worms alive (Acts 12:21-23). David suffered the same fate. After conquering Goliath, some ladies with unguarded tongues began to compare him to the king, I Samuel 18:7-9. Instead of stopping them, he too just enjoyed it and then the King went after him. The king that took him as a son started to throw javelins at him. Thank God he survived but he spent half of his life running from Saul all because of unguarded mouth.

PRAYER POINT : Father , please help me today to guard my mouth.