Devotional - Guard Your Heart

 

Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts. Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you.

Proverbs 4:23-27 The Message (MSG)

 

 


 

 

The heart, weighing between 7 and 15 ounces, is one of the smallest organs of the body, yet it has the biggest job. That’s quite a paradox, isn’t it? The heart is at the centre of the circulatory system, beating on average 72 times per minute to pump blood to the tissues of the body, supplying oxygen and other nutrients and removing carbon dioxide and other waste matter. The heart is vital to the efficient functioning of the body and must therefore be healthy in order to maintain and preserve overall health.   Achieving optimal heart health requires getting adequate rest and exercise, avoiding smoking and second-hand smoke, consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and maintaining a healthy weight among other things. By the same token, poor eating habits and other lifestyle choices lead to poor heart and overall health and ultimately death. Without the heart, there is no life. The heart of the matter is truly a matter of the heart.

 


 

In the same way that the physical heart is critical to physical life, the spiritual heart /mind is critical to the quality of a person’s life. The heart is comprised of the mind, will and emotions. It is a part of man’s spiritual makeup, and is the organ that drives emotion and behaviour. In essence, our actions are therefore a reflection of our heart. Everything you do and say starts in the heart.  According to Matthew 12: 34 and Luke 6:45, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.  It’s an undeniable chain reaction. You have a thought, then you act on that thought.  So, if you speak it or do it, there can be no question or argument as to whether it is inside you. It definitely is!

In Proverbs 3, 24-27, we are admonished to guard our heart. We must guard it with our life because it IS our life. We must be careful and discriminating as to what we allow into our hearts and mediate on as we become the byproduct of these things. Philippians 4: 6-7 reminds us of the things that we must think about – the good, noble, true, lovely and just, among others.  We become what we think about. We become what we focus on, so we must ensure that our heart diet is a healthy one. The heart of man is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) and only true repentance  - changing the way you think, by God’s grace  - can effect change.

So, it’s time for a heart check-up, and now is as good a time as ever. Is your heart stony or pliable? God wants to remove a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. God wants us to get rid of, as we say in Jamaica, bad-mind (meaning envy and jealousy) and replace it with love so that we can live in peace and unity with each other. Allow Him to do heart surgery today. Your life will never be the same.

As you reflect and pray, enjoy this song from Pastor Donnie McClurkin.

Create In Me a Clean Heart (youtube.com)

 

Reflection

1.     What is the state of my heart?

2.     What do I focus on most of the time?

3.     Am I producing life or death?

 

Prayer

Father, I present my heart to you. Fashion it according to your will. I desire to care for my heart by focusing on the things that are wholesome and edifying. Help me to have clean hands and a pure heart so that my life may be pleasing to you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

 

Sources

https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+to+care+for+your+heart

https://www.bing.com/search?q=role+of+the+heart+in+the+circulatory+system

What is the heart, according to the Bible? (compellingtruth.org)

Create In Me a Clean Heart (youtube.com)

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review - Memorial Stones Vol. 1

Image
  Unveiling the Power of Faith: A Review of 'Memorial Stones: Testimonies of God’s Faithfulness and Provision in Times of Need – Volume 1' .         God Is Good   “God Is Good”- is the greatest understatement EVER!! However,   ‘Memorial Stones: Testimonies of God’s Faithfulness and Provision in Times of Need – Volume 1’  offers a unique perspective, reminding us that He INDEED is profoundly good. This book, serving as a powerful source of inspiration and a beacon of hope, uplifts the spirit with its unique insights.   But first, let us look at the definition of good. While there were numerous definitions, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the ones that stood out to me most were:  of a favourable character or tendency; and  that can be relied on.   Despite these standing out to me, I believe that the definitions fail to express who God truly is. God is just, of high standards, wise, capable, to be desired, worthy, and...
Read more

WORDS of ENCOURAGEMENT - GOD'S PROMISES ARE SURE

Image
A promise is a comfort to a fool. Faithful promise mek fool glad - (A faithful promise makes a fool glad). These are popular sayings that we have often heard and maybe even use. This is true to an extent because in our fallen world, most, if not all of us have, at some point in our lives, experienced the pain and hurt of a broken promise. Such a saying issues a caution to those who blindly trust in promises made to us, especially if it known that such persons are unreliable or insincere. It paints a glaring picture of one who sets himself up to be disappointed by another. Ideally, your word should be your bond, and this should be the driving force to guarantee that any promise you make is fulfilled. However, not everyone subscribes to this idea, and so are often guilty of making willy nilly, empty and impulsive promises, without proper thought or a plan of action as to how they will be fulfilled. This often leaves a trail of heartbreak, betrayal, anger and a myriad of other negative em...
Read more

Chapter 2 – Driver…… (An Excerpt from Memorial Stones Vol. 1)

Image
  September 19, 2024 • Lona For God has not given us a spirit of fear…2 Timothy 1:7 As a young woman, one of my dreams was to learn to drive and eventually purchase my own car. I kept the dream at the back of my mind for many years, but finally, in the late 1990’s I decided to take the plunge. Armed with my learner driver “lunatic” licence and the knowledge gained from reading the driving manual, I found myself a driving instructor and embarked on the journey of learning to drive. I was ready to put the theory into practice. My first driving lesson was a lunchtime lesson. At the time I was working at Jamaica Information Service (JIS) on Half-Way-Tree Road. My first mistake was to assume that, as is the custom with most driving instructors, we would head to the National Stadium or some other quiet area to go over the basics for the first lesson. Was I wrong! I was in for a surprise! We proceeded down Half-Way-Tree Road and turned onto Oxford Road in the heavy lunchtime traffic. The ...
Read more

Devotional – Dress for Success: Put on the Whole Armour of God

Image
Passage: Ephesians 6: 10 -17  (NIV)  Focus verse:  Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.   (Ephesians 6:11)     The Christian life is a constant battle and so each day, as soldiers of Christ, we are at war with forces of evil, the enemy of our souls. The war is not physical, but spiritual. How do we prepare ourselves for battle? How do we show up? How do we win the fight? By dressing for success, putting on our weapon of warfare, our armour. In the passage above, the Apostle Paul urges Christians to "put on the whole armor of God," a metaphor for spiritual protection against the forces of evil. This armor is not physical but spiritual, designed to shield us from the attacks of the devil and his minions. Let's delve into each piece of this divine armor. The Belt of Truth This is the foundation of our spiritual armor. Truth, as revealed in God's Word, is our belt, holding up the rest of our ...
Read more