Article of Faith: Guarding our hearts (2), By Femi Aribisala

Sow a thought, reap an attitude.

Solomon says: “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23).

Guard your heart against what? Guard your heart against sensualism, covetousness, materialism, greed, pride, bitterness, anxiety, rebellion, defiance, and self-pity.

Many things are vying for your heart’s affection: the desire for money, lust, envy, pride, and self-promotion. If you are not careful, the basic desire of your heart will switch from pleasing God to pleasing yourself.

In the same way that we avoid second-hand smoke and fatty foods, you must avoid those thoughts, attitudes and actions that corrupt the heart.

Sow a thought, reap an attitude; sow an attitude, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.

Watch what you watch, what you listen to, and what you set your affections on. Root out bitterness, immorality, unforgiveness, lust, and gossip.

Practice makes perfect: therefore choose your habits wisely.

Heart of Man

The heart of the natural man is evil. Man is born with blindness of the heart. Moses says: “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (Genesis 8:21).

The devil fills our hearts with evil things. Jeremiah says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

We are often concerned about what we eat but Jesus says what we eat or drink cannot defile us. (Mark 16:17). However, He says: “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man.” (Matthew 15:18-20).

New Heart

Jesus needs a home in us. Make room for Him in the inn of your heart. But He cannot live with evil thoughts, murders, adultery, and fornication. Therefore, God says: “My son, give Me your heart, and let your eyes observe My ways.” (Proverbs 23:26).

What does God want to do with your heart? He wants to destroy it and throw it away. He wants to give you a completely new heart.

“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 18:31).

That is the promise of the New Covenant in Christ Jesus:

God says: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26-28).

God, Himself, resides in the heart of the believer in the person of the Holy Spirit. By keeping your heart, you are keeping God.

Let me foolishly present it like this. You are now responsible for protecting the Holy Spirit who dwells in your heart. Protect Him from the filth and vanities of the world. He does not want to see them and He looks through your eyes so He sees what you see.  

“(God is) of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” (Habakkuk 1:13).

It is like the baby Jesus is asleep in a cot in your heart. Do not disturb Jesus with rubbish, vanity, and worthlessness. Worship Him.

“Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1).

Paul says: “What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7-8). 

You must be very jealous for the Holy Spirit that lives in Your heart. You do not want to grieve Him under any circumstances. He is the One who marks you as present in the Day of Redemption.

“Do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30).

When David sinned, he prayed: “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11).

Yes, you know that once given, the Holy Spirit will never leave and will never forsake you. Nevertheless, you must ensure that He does not depart. You must behave in a way that implies the worst thing that can ever happen to you is if the Holy Spirit leaves. 

Guard Your Jewels

God has poured His love into you by giving you the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5). The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. You must express that love to all, first to God and then to everybody else. You must not allow anything to diminish your love, confident that nothing can separate you from the love of God. (Romans 8:35-39).

As a result of your redemption, God has put gladness in your heart. 

David says to God: “You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.” (Psalm 4:7).

The Holy Spirit is in your heart, so the joy of the Lord is in you. Do not allow the devil to replace this with sorrow by manipulating situations and circumstances. Do not let him distract you from your joy by creating bad situations and circumstances.

Jesus says: “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

He prayed to God the Father: “These things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” (John 17:13-14).

The joy of the Lord is fulfilled in us. It is not contingent upon external variables. Indeed, it is immune to them.

The joy in your heart is a mighty weapon for overcoming unpleasant situations and even grief. Your joy tells you: “It is well with my soul,” even though I have a headache and stomach cramps. “It is well with my soul, even though someone just stole my cell phone.”

Let Hannah’s Magnificat sing loudly in your heart at all times:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies because I rejoice in Your salvation.” (1 Samuel 2:1).

God’s peace that surpasses all human understanding is in your heart. Do not allow anything to steal your peace. Your peace of mind is a very precious gift of God. Jesus says:

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27).

Don’t allow your heart to be troubled. Whether you are troubled or not is entirely dependent on you. If you let your heart be troubled, you will lose your peace. So, guard your heart with all diligence for out of it comes the issues of life.

Keep the Garden

Adam failed to keep the Garden of Eden, otherwise he would have seen the serpent lurking in the shrubs.

The Lord said to me:

´Femi, I have planted another garden in your heart. Keep the garden.

Tend it:

“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted must be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:13). 

Faribisala@yahoo.com; www.femiaribisala.com