Keep Your Heart With All Diligence, For Out Of It Spring The Issues Of Life
Guard Your Heart
PROVERBS 4:23-27
“Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.”
Proverbs 4:23-27 NKJV
https://www.bible.com/114/pro.4.23-27.nkjv
What is in our heart, dictates to great extent, how we live our lives, because we always find time to do what we enjoy.
Our heart is not too worried about sin, it is a part of the flesh and therefore just wants to please the flesh, and will stop at nothing to accomplish that, for “”The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV
Solomon tells us to keep our heart with all diligence, to make sure we focus on the road ahead, and not allow our minds to be drawn to the things of this world, such as inappropriate jokes and language, wild parties, sexual immorality, pornography, and such things.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth and perverse lips that justify acts of sin, but rather, let your eyes look straight ahead toward Jesus; make Him your focus and you will walk past the devil’s traps and temptations, and upon the stormy seas in your life; and even if the noise of the storm overwhelm’s you, Jesus will be right there to take you safely back to safety and calm the storm (MATHEW 14:22-33).
“”Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew 6:31-34 NKJV
My brethren , let your ways be established in righteousness; do not turn to the right or the left; “Remove your foot from evil”.
My beloved, put boundaries on your desires, and make sure they fall in line with God’s plans and purposes for your life. “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
I Corinthians 6:18-20 NKJV
My brethren, do not grieve the Holy Spirit by looking at inappropriate things, or using your lips to speak curses, or your hands to touch that what is unclean, or your foot to go into the wrong places.
They are not your members, Jesus bought you at a high price.
Furthermore, do you not realise that you are a part of the body of Christ which is made up of many members, of which Christ is the head?
When one member within the body is disobedient, it affects the whole body. If not dealt with quickly and appropriately, it shall like a cancer grow and spread in different ways throughout the body.
That my brethren is the reality within the church and both division and sin spreads quickly from within.
Sin separates us from God and disables one’s ability to serve.
Furthermore, it opens the door to the devil to come into one’s life and take him captive.
He has a whole army of unclean spirits and demons waiting to take possession of your house (body) and fill your rooms with lies and deceit, which shall take you on a path of torment and destruction, false doctrines, wrong behaviours, fear, depression, and such as these.
Jesus said, the thief do not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they (His people) may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10 NKJV
Many say, “Spirit filled believers cannot be possessed because the Holy Spirit won’t share the house with the devil.” They say, possession is ownership and the devil owns no one .”
But the truth is, possession is not ownership. If someone steal your car, they have possession and can drive it anywhere do much damage, even destroying it if not stopped. But once caught, the thief is removed and the vehicle is returned to its rightful owner.
Demons are like squatters, they move in through an open door, and will not leave until an eviction notice is put upon them.
James put like this, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
James 4:7-10 NKJV
My beloved, we humans are made up of three parts, soul, spirit, and flesh, and together become human beings (1 THESSALONIANS 5:23).
When one is saved, he or she receives the gift of the Holy Spirit, who joins with his or her spirit, not the soul or the flesh.
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Romans 8:12-17 NKJV
The Holy Spirit manifests through the soul, the mind will, and emotions, to do bring righteous decisions and good works, preaching and such, for out if his belly shall flow living waters (JOHN 7:38 KJV).
When one slips back into sin, the Holy Spirit retreats from the flesh and soul, but remains within one’s spirit. It feels like He has left, or that we are alone in the wilderness, opening doors to demons to enter the flesh.
They cannot touch one’s spirit, for the spirit is made perfect by the Holy Spirit, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV
But even so, the Holy Spirit, continues His good works from within, convicting one to repentance. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:1-2 NKJV
Therefore, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Philippians 2:3-4 NKJV
My beloved, this good advice of Paul supplements the wisdom of Solomon; he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:4-7 NKJV
Therefore my beloved, Jesus said, ““Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
