The Excellence of the Guard; My Conclusion

(picture from pinterest .com)

Our hearts hold untold treasures. Go ahead, try to list them. That's sure to renew your joy!

We’ve also stored plenty of memories in there; we’ve buried feelings and emotions there.

How can we guard it with excellency?

God said to “Guard your heart above all else,” Why? “for it determines the course of your life.” – Proverbs 4:23 NLT

He doesn’t tell us to do anything we’re not able to do – with Him.

I believe our hearts are that hidden place where our spirit and soul come together; the place where God lives, if we let Him. Just as we have a triune God, we are triune beings. We ARE spirit, the part of us that is redeemed from the sin of the world; the part that joins into union with God Himself. We HAVE a soul (our mind, our will and our emotions) and we LIVE IN our body till we leave this world. When we come to Christ and invite Him to live in our heart, it involves submitting ourselves to Him completely. Many of us want God to save us from hell’s destruction after we leave this world but have absolutely no desire to become one with Him and submit the smallness of our humanity to the only all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent God.

Whether we know Jesus or not, we can guard our minds. We can be disciplined and hyper-vigilant about what we take in, at least for a while. We can stive to watch wholesome entertainment, we can study certain topics while deliberately avoiding others. We can limit who and what we surround ourselves with.  But plenty of garbage gets past us. We’d have to live alone on a deserted island to not get input from others. That’s not where we live.

(picture from pinterest .com)

Whether we know Jesus or not, we can guard our bodies, though few of us have the discipline or perhaps resources to do so. Some are very determined to have healthy bodies. We do the best we can with what we have. But we all have unwelcome input that makes its way into our bodies, via our food or the air we breathe or the water we drink. To not get that input, we’d again have to live on that island and now it would have to be an island that could provide for healthy body requirements.

Only when we DO know Jesus are we supernaturally empowered to adequately guard our heart. That power comes from being united with the source of ALL power. By guarding our hearts, we become better equipped to guard our soul and our body.

The ONLY way to guard our heart is to follow biblical instruction, given to us in Romans 12:1-2 (NIV). “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

This means submitting ourselves to God, renewing our minds (spending time with God and His Word) and putting our hearts in His hands. Does doing this mean we will never suffer attacks? No, we’re promised attacks. But the more quality time we spend in His Word, the more easily we’ll recognize the assaults the god of this world and come against them. With God, we are the most excellent of the Guard.

(picture from youtube .com)

With God living on the inside of us and being joined together with us in the most intimate way possible, we can tap into His power. When we do OUR best, we weary ourselves. There’s so much to pay attention to around us. All our energy is consumed by constantly being on guard. We lose our creative energy and abilities to glorify God. By joining WITH GOD, we become capable of guarding our hearts, (where our being comes together), and doing it well. We are too weak to do it without Him and the struggle will make us weaker. The excellence of the Guard comes only through relationship with the God Who created our heart in the first place.

Hidden Treasures?

(video courtesy of youtube.com)

“I will give you hidden treasures,

riches stored in secret places,

so that you may know that I am the LORD,

the God of Israel, who summons you by name.”

~Isaiah 45:3 (NIV)

Since I have precious little of your time, today I’ll be brief with my words and ask you to watch the video inserted above and answer this question: Are the treasures He’s hidden for you (not from you) not worth risking your life to find?

“Fear not….”

Found 63 times in the King James Version of the Bible

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

~II Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

~Matthew 16:25 (NIV)

Prove Yourself, God!

A thought that enters into many conversations in various forms comes out in a question that begs: Why doesn’t God prove Himself if He’s real?

If I stand beside a nonbeliever and compare what I have with what they have, looking for who has the most ‘blessings’ – I won’t necessarily see that I have more with my natural eyes. But natural eyes are all the nonbeliever has to see with.

If God always showed the world how He blesses the believer, nonbelievers would find it easier to want those blessings, too, and accept that He is. But God doesn’t want any of us seeking Him simply because of what He can give us.

If I say I prosper more because I’m a Christian, and a nonbeliever sees that his bank account puts mine to shame, he’s likely to say that he prefers his prosperity over mine.

If I go into a third world country and expect God to provide me with a large house with clean running water, grand furnishings and more food supplies than I could distribute, many might believe it’s my God providing for me and seek after that same God. But would they be seeking Him, or merely what He has to give?

God wants us to love Him, to seek after Him – for who He is, not just for what He can provide for us.

Old movies show a king or millionaire making himself out to be a commoner to find the love of his life who will love him for who he is, not for the riches he has. Why would God want any less?

Seek His heart – not His hand.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness..." Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

What's a Haboob?

I woke up with a story for you.

An offer is made to you that sounds too good to be true. But, through whatever appropriate channels, you check it out and discover it’s a legitimate offer.

The wealthy businessman that’s made the proposal is giving you, yes, for free, what amounts to a small city. You can invite your family and friends to live with you there, if you’d like. We know almost everything about you can now be discovered through the internet, so it’s reasonable to see that he’s designing it to your likings. Everything you’ll ever need or want is within your reach, including a treasure at the center of the city, valued at more than you can fathom. And it’s even located right where you’d have built it yourself if you’d had whereabouts to do so.

The decision to accept it or not has faded from existence. It’s yours!

However there’s a little man (in my mind he looks rather like the man that begs for hamburgers in the old Popeye cartoons, Wimpy) that walks the perimeter of your city pushing a small vending cart. You approach him and ask what he’s doing there. He offers to sell you protection for your city. He tells you a giant haboob (an unreasonably large sandstorm) will come and bury your city, but he’ll protect it for you in exchange for your treasure. You still have everything else the generous businessman is giving you, he simply wants the treasure. The choice in this story isn’t whether you take the city from the businessman; it’s whether you give your treasure to the Wimpy-man. What do you choose?

God is already at work building you a mansion – your city. It’s yours. The treasure at town center is whatever it is you hold dearest. The Wimpy-man is Jesus.

A Cherished Treasure

Surely you've heard the line: One man's junk is another man's treasure. Keep that thought in mind.
Together, my husband and I are finally reading the book The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I'm not used to reading only one chapter in a book a day, but as he suggests, that's what we're doing, giving time to think about each chapter throughout the day.
Yesterday we read the chapter that drives home the idea that everything belongs to God, we are merely stewards or priviledged users of what truly doesn't even belong to us. Mr. Warren has given me much to contemplate in the first few chapters of his book - but I found this chapter particularly convicting.
I don't consider myself a materialistic girl. I could care less how big our house is or how new my car is or if there's a label on my jeans. Honestly, I often shop at the Goodwill Store for the bargains, you'd be amazed at what other people get rid of, many times with the original price tags still on them! (Yes, that's where I got my perfectly new looking copy of Rick Warren's book for only 75 cents!) Recall the thought: One man's junk is another man's treasure.
So, yes, everything belongs to God. Okay. I have no reservations about that. I'm good with it. But as I read through this chapter an emotional charge blasted away at my heart as I heard God speaking to me, convicting me and drawing me to repentance. Graciously, God has forgiven me, so there's now no shame attached to what I have to share.
My father in law lives with us and has for several years now. He's not a particularly likeable person. He's paranoid, unkept, has quirky habits and a disgusting past. He doesn't hear, so we write down everything we want to communicate to him. When we took him in I don't think I realized what a long-term responsibility this would be. I admit it, I have some very carnal-minded days.
But as I read, the words on the pages faded and gave way to the images permeating my brain; my whole demeanor fell.
I saw God holding my father in law in His hands, protectively as if holding the most precious treasure on earth. With a look of intent on His face He looked around His creation for the perfect place to put His treasure. He smiled with delight, almost giggling as He said, "Oh here! There's plenty of room in Dave and Helen's hearts." -And he deposited this man into our lives.
What I've shamefully found revolting is one of God's greatest treasures. My father in law. I'm humbled. God has entrusted this treasure to our household -to our hearts and I've resented it far too much for way too long. Recall again the thought: What was one woman's 'junk' is God's greatest treasure!
Believe it or not, after asking God to forgive me and love this man through me - something inside of me has changed. My hearts now breaks over this man. This man that won't even acknowledge there is a God, is one of God's favorite treasures. Pray with me if you will, for God's treasure: Donald Lee Williams.