Rich or poor.
Young or old.
Satisfied or unsatisfied.
Happy or unhappy.
ALL of us want SOMETHING that we don't have NOW.
ALL of us want to change our lives, somehow, some way.
Some of us may want this, or NEED this, more than others.
But until we reach heaven, I dare say that we all want TO CHANGE OUR LIVES.
What determines the course of each of our lives?
What should we guard above all else?
Both questions have the same answer--OUR HEARTS!!!
It was written by King Solomon:
"Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."
Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Solomon, the son of David, the third king of Israel, received his wisdom, the wisdom behind these words, directly from God. This is how it happened:
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon
answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father
David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in
heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a
son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, O Lord
my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David.
But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So
give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to
distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this
great people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. I Kings 3:5-12 NIV, emphasis mine
What a dream! God told Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted, and Solomon, in humility, asked for wisdom. God not only gave him wisdom, but gave him more wisdom than anyone before him or after him! His wisdom was second only to the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Himself, who said that He was greater than Solomon in wisdom. (See Luke 11:31)
Now, having said this, we get back to our two questions, and in answering them we find the answer to changing our entire life:
What determines the course of our lives?
What should we guard above all else?
The answer, according to Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, having received his wisdom directly from God, is OUR HEART!
OUR HEARTS DETERMINE THE COURSE OF OUR LIVES!
THEREFORE, WE SHOULD GUARD OUR HEARTS ABOVE ALL ELSE!
Because of the incredible significance of Solomon's words, we should look at each word, one by one, phrase by phrase, using elementary grammatical principles:
GUARD---This is an active verb. It is not something done to you or for you, but something that YOU DO! The idea is of a prison guard that DETERMINES who or what enters or exits a jail.
YOUR---This is a possessive pronoun. YOU are responsible for that which you possess. Not me. Not GOD. Not anyone else.
HEART---In the scriptures, the heart encompasses your thoughts and intentions, meaning your focus and motivation behind every word and every action.
FOR IT---The word "for" communicates cause or reason. The word "it," a pronoun, refers back to YOUR HEART!
DETERMINES---The idea communicates a source, or the source. Where you are going from this point on, from this sentence on, is determined by your heart.
THE---Not a, but THE, specific and exclusive...
COURSE---DIRECTION AND DESTINATION, WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND WHERE YOU WILL ARRIVE
OF YOUR LIFE!
Now, since your heart bears such importance and significance, how can you indeed accurately guard it? How can you really KNOW your heart?
The prophet Jeremiah said:
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
God Himself, and the Lord Jesus Christ, gave us the answer and the remedy for our deceitful hearts:
"Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?" Ezekiel 18:31 NIV, emphasis mine
“Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. Matthew 12:33-35
As I said earlier, so I show now in these verses. God told Israel to get a new heart, and Christ, again speaking to Israel (to the disciples and false teachers of Israel), compares the heart to a tree and words to fruit from a tree. They could MAKE THE TREE GOOD OR BAD! So it is with you and me. We determine whether our hearts are deceitful or true by turning our hearts to God and away from ourselves. When we do this, we have these promises:
"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
Ezekiel 11:19 and 32:26
So, the means to a new heart, or a new mindset and motivation, is two fold:
1. We turn our hearts to God and away from ourselves. This very act is literally a "change of heart."
2. When we turn to God and away from ourselves, giving our hearts to God, then God receives our heart as His very own, making it, indeed, a new heart; a heart that is no longer deceitful or wicked.
Have a change your heart!
Change your mind, mindset, and focus!
Change your motivation and your purpose!!
CHANGE
YOUR ENTIRE
LIFE!
GUARD THIS CHANGE ABOVE ALL ELSE!!!
ALLOW NOTHING TO ENTER YOUR MIND OR LEAVE YOUR MOUTH THAT IS FROM YOUR OLD WAY OF THINKING AND LIVING!
Do you realize what this means?!?
The rest of your life, from this moment forward, from this sentence forward, IS UP TO YOU!
You cannot blame God, the Devil, your parents, or anyone else, for what happens to you from this moment forward! True, there are a myriad of things beyond your control, BUT YOUR HEART IS NOT ONE OF THEM! And God did not say that a myriad of things determine the course of your life. ONE THING DETERMINES THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE! ONE THING SHOULD BE GUARDED ABOVE ALL ELSE!!!
GUARD
YOUR
HEART!!
Think of your life, as it is, right now! The word of God says that your heart determined the course of your life! That means that YOU determined where you are, right now, as of this moment!
"WAIT A MINUTE! I had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, to do with what happened to me! I DID NOT determine my birth, birthplace, parents, and the circumstances of my childhood! Are you BLAMING ME for all that has happened to me?!"
No! Neither does God! Again, the verse does not say, "Guard YOUR PAST above all else." Listen very carefully to what I'm about to say.
According to Proverbs 4:23, written by the wisest man who ever lived, the one who received his wisdom DIRECTLY from GOD, YOUR PAST DOES NOT DETERMINE THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE!!! HALLELUJAH!!
Christ came to save you, not just from the sins you committed, but the sins committed against you! The first and foremost "change of heart" is accepting Christ as the one who saved your life, and as the one WHO SAVES YOUR LIFE!!
This is the first and fundamental change of heart.
What you are not responsible for, ask Jesus to save you from.
BUT WHAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR, NAMELY, YOUR HEART, IS WHAT DETERMINES THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE FROM NOW ON!!!
So, where do you begin? AT THE BEGINNING.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." John 1:1-3
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all
things were created by him and for him." Colossians 1:15-16
Take note of the words "all things." This includes YOU! YOU were created by God, through Christ, AND FOR CHRIST!!
This is the fundamental change of heart. You stop existing as though you were created by yourself AND FOR YOURSELF!! This applies to those who already believe in the Lord Jesus, as well as those who have never trusted Him. EVERYONE should live for Him, having been created by Him.
What do you live for RIGHT NOW, at this very moment? Regardless of your past, what do YOU personally live for? What have YOU chosen as your reason for creation? If it is anything other than God's pleasure and honor, CHANGE YOUR HEART! Change your focus and purpose! Now! YOUR HEART determines the course of your life!
How do you know what's in your heart? There are two ways to know your heart:
1. God's word exposes your truest heart, your true motivation and intentions, as it is written: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of
marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 ESV By the written and spoken word of God, which is piercing truth, you may know and judge your truest state. So if you want to know your heart, hear and read the word of God.
2. Not only does God's word expose your heart, BUT YOUR VERY OWN WORDS EXPOSE YOUR HEART! "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34b) Your words, what you say in your UNGUARDED moments, reveal what is in you, as we all know. When you are just talking up a storm, letting it all flow, YOU AND I BOTH KNOW!!!
So, listen to God AND TO YOURSELF! If what you habitually say does not match what God says, THEN CHANGE YOUR HEART, AND GUARD YOUR HEART!! Allow nothing in your mind or out of your mouth that does not match what God says about you--that you were created by God, through His Son, and FOR HIS SON!!!
From now on, determine the course of your life by guarding your thoughts and intentions.
Give your heart to God.
Focus on God alone.
Live for God alone.
The rest of your life is up to you!!
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