FROM YOUR HEART - PART 4

FRIDAY 08 AUGUST 2024

Reference: Proverbs 4:23 New International Version (NIV)

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Many a time, the hearts of mankind could be exposed to devilish condemnation, ultracritical carping, evil-inspired imagination, prolonged anxiety, unnecessary worries, cynical responses, prodigious discontent, pointless unbelief, negative turn of mind, disgusting indignation, shocking news, selfish thinking, sceptical reasoning, inhospitable tolerance, jaundiced disillusion, distorted interpretations, pessimistic approach and motivated distasteful disapproval. Entertaining most of these negative influences can programme the heart to function from a disadvantageous position, thereby leading to futile way of handling the issues of life.

But when the heart is focused on the Word, it will continually withdraw deep wisdom that will translate into conscious understanding, and when you do so in a habitual manner, you'll gain a fixed ideal of attitudinal paradigm portraying a properly guarded heart. This is because, in the Word, you'll find and obtain grace and truth, plus how to gain the "know-how" expression of free gift of righteousness and divine revelations in Jesus Christ, which will empower you to guard the heart. To that effect, Colossians 3:1-2 reads, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things" (NIV).

Beloved, you must understand the necessity of Colossians 3:1-2, and how to regularly apply it to your Christian walk. To set your heart and mind on things above, is to fix your gaze on spiritual realities, which in turn, activate and ennoble your mind to function beyond the material concerns of the world. Moreover, fixing our gaze on spiritual realities, which are bigly embedded with eternal values and influences, doesn't just guard the purity of our hearts; it exerts a more powerful effect, and that is:

Remember that our soul's inspiration gained from biblical insights - aggrandize the power of the mind through the noble thoughts the insights convey, and when those thoughts are transmitted into immediate and effectual expressions, they carry divine messages or spiritual signals that influence our actions and all-round acumen. This is why we must regularly renew and fill our minds with God's Word, because it is abundantly able to keep and guard our hearts with all diligence, as well as dignify our decisions and actions with divine rightness. Hallelujah! Stay tuned for part 5. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Proverbs 23:26; Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:6-7; Colossians 3:5.

Guided Prayer:

Heavenly Father, the supernatural influence of your Word constantly awakened in my heart is perfectly comprehended by my spirit, and I'm full of increased gratitude for enabling the comprehensive flow of the thematic elements in my spiritual understanding, denoting the result of your all-encompassing favour, in Jesus' Name, Amen!