"Watch over your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the springs of life."
Proverbs 4:23
It appears the Bible considers the heart the control center of the soul; the mind, will, and affections. If we look at it from a physical standpoint, it is a fist sized organ that pumps blood throughout your body. It is the primary organ of the circulatory system. The conditions of your heart determine whether you live or die physically. Looking at it from a spiritual standpoint the condition of your heart determines how you live out your spiritual life on this earth which decides your fate eternally. I think we can all agree it is a worthy subject to contemplate.
Having been in the fitness industry and living an athletic life my entire life I know the benefits of a healthy heart. However, I have also closely observed folks with unhealthy hearts resulting in death at all ages. To maintain this muscle you must keep it strengthened by exercise and a healthy diet. Having only a muscular outward appearance without a healthy heart is like a Cadillac with a dead engine. The heart is like any other muscle. Even though it is hidden from the eye, it is a muscle that has to be worked on a regular basis to maintain strength to perform its duty within our bodies.
However, today I want to focus more on what the Bible has to say about the heart. We are commanded to watch over it with all vigilance, and told out of it flow the springs of life. As we take a moment to meditate on this, we can visualize a stream that continually flows out to influence people around you, you come in contact with. I understand this to mean hearts with wells filled with eternal truths of God’s Word. Perhaps a more clear understanding is it is a symbol for salvation and a true knowledge of God, Jesus, and the K
Holy Spirit. if we maintain filling our hearts with this truth and understanding, it will bubble forth from our being to others. That is your eternal purpose in life. It is also the purpose of every child born. Christ died for all mankind, and every child needs to know that truth. Ours and their purpose is to glorify God with our lives.
Let’s look at a few other verses pertaining to our hearts. In Luke 6:45 we read Jesus exclaiming:
"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."
Are we honestly hearing what Jesus is saying? What kind of treasure are we allowing into our lives and our children’s lives through the media today? The media is like a gun. It can’t make its own decision on how it is put to use. Neither can your computer or other media devices. You are in control. We determine whether we store up good treasure or evil. If we have small children we will give account for what we have allowed into their young innocent minds while living in our homes.
I made a decision when I was twenty one years old to get rid of my TV. This was in 1977. When I married, we continued not to have a TV in our home. That was a decision I have never regretted due to it resulting out of obedience to the Holy Spirit’s leading. That simple obedience revolutionized the rearing of my children’s lives. If you asked them today, you would find they never felt deprived, and actually realized they were much better educated than most, because we were all avid readers of excellent books, especially unrevised history books that were made up of original writings found in books provided by the homeschool conferences we attended yearly. The unrevised history of our nation is remarkable, unique, and inspirational. It is a shame so few children have never been taught the truth about our nation. There is no greater treasure for us to seek than truth.
In Philippians 4:6-7 Paul reveals how to not have an anxious heart filled with anxiety, but a peaceful heart:
"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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus."
We have become a society dominated by our anxieties! The Bible addresses the issue here, and gives us a solution if we’re willing to obey what Paul instructs us to do. Through prayer and supplication, which means praying earnestly, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. We let our request be made known to everyone but God, when He is the only One who is God, and has the power to change us. So many times it is not our circumstances that need to change, but we need to change our responses. That happens when we pour out our whole heart to God, and allow Him to reveal to us how to pray. He will reveal the truth to you which will produce thankfulness when otherwise we can only see reason for grumbling and complaining, because of our lack of understanding. We must come to learn His ways from His Word. We do that in prayer with our Bibles in hand. Then we receive peace which passes all comprehension, no matter our circumstances, because we are promised the peace of God will rule our hearts and minds. Who doesn’t want that? You can have it. Start by memorizing this verse and apply it to your life when full of anxiety brought on by focusing on the cares of this world more than the God we have access to.
Let us conclude with Romans 10:8-10:
"But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart –that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
We began our devotional with emphasis on guarding our hearts and we see clearly from this verse our mouth will speak what is in our hearts. We believe with our heart. The heart is the source of everything we do.
What do you believe in your heart? That is what you are knowing or unknowingly teaching your children to believe. I believe with all my heart the words of faith. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead. I believe in the salvation I am promised, as I try to live out my belief by prayer and Bible reading, that I may know my God and His ways. With all my being I tried to impart this same truth to my children, and I continue to strive to do the same with my adult children and grandchildren today.
I believe the God I believe in is worth dying for, because He believed I was worth dying for. I have often said to my children,
"If you do not believe in something worth dying for, you have nothing worth living for."
I believe that. I have never desired a life of shallow comfort and acquiring stuff, or fame. There is much more to life than the message the world is screaming to you:
"It’s all about you!"
If you never love anyone else more than yourself you will never know true happiness. God never designed us to remain in our sinful nature. He made a way of escape. Give all your heart to Him that He may have His way in your life. He is the Life Giver. Through Him, and only through Him, will you find your true purpose and the love we are all searching for. I know this is the truth, His truth.
In His love.
Teresa Roberts
Masterpiece Fitness
276-237-6680
A little family I believe to be the Carolina wren, has taken up residency at the cabin this summer, and serenades me from dawn till dusk. The volume is astounding coming out of those tiny, fragile beings! Another added amazement of God’s creation.
