7/7/13 DESIGN FOR LIFE
Guard Your Heart
“God never measures the Mind. He always puts His tape measure in the Heart.” Corrie ten Boom
What do words say about people?
Google Word Search Shows Rise of Individualism
A few years ago, Google released a database of over 5 million books published between 1500 and 2008. You can now type a search word into the database and discover how often words have been used over the centuries.
Based on this data, The New York Times columnist David Brooks offers what he calls the “story of the last half-century”. The first part of this story is the rise of individualism. In the past 50 years, “individualistic words and phrases increasingly overshadowed communal words and phrases.” For instance, these individualistic words have been used more frequently: “self,” “personalized,” “I come first,” “I can do it myself.” In contrast, the following communal words have been used less frequently: “community,” “share,” “band together,” “common good.”
The second part to the story Brooks sees is the decline in moral virtue. Certain words were especially hard hit, including words associated with courage or gratitude. But all of the following words have dropped in usage: “modesty,” “humbleness,” “discipline,” “honesty,” “patience,” “faith,” “wisdom,” and even “evil.”
Brooks offers his interpretation for these trends:
So the story I’d like to tell is this: Over the past half-century, society has become more individualistic. As it has become more individualistic, it has also become less morally aware, because social and moral fabrics are inextricably linked. [The first two trends] have led to certain forms of social breakdown, which government has tried to address, sometimes successfully and often impotently.
David Brooks, “What Our Words Tell Us,” The New York Times (5-20-13)
This is an interesting study. Who would think to check out the words people use in writing? These observations show where people are and our culture is. There have been so many changes in the world, so many changes in society, and so many of those changes are not positive. People are more and more concerned about “self” and “what I want”. What is on the inside comes out.
The Bible says your heart is the source from which your life flows. Are you dealing with the source so life’s output is clean and attractive? We are continuing to talk about the heart.
The heart represents the center of our being—the source of desire and decision.
The Bible points to the heart as the center of our being - let’s look at these verses again:
Proverbs 4:23 NIV
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
NLT -- 23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
NKJV -- 23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
New Testament teaching from Jesus.
Luke 6:43-45 NIV
43 No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Guard your heart! An important command. What is in our heart is what comes out as life goes on. Never allow anything to come into your heart that does not please God and is not helpful for our personal spiritual growth. Don’t let anything into your heart that you don’t want to come out when people can see.
God spoke to Israel about their actions and their spiritual inaction. He was pleading for them to return to serving Him.
Jeremiah 4:1-3 NIV
1 “If you will return, O Israel, return to me,” declares the LORD. “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, 2 and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.”
3 This is what the LORD says to the men of Judah and to Jerusalem: “Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.”
They needed to plow the soil they had been ignoring. Their hearts were hard against God. They were facing impending disaster because of their hard hearts. In order to avoid the terrible coming disaster, God’s people needed to experience a total moral renewal—a change of heart. They needed to commit themselves to doing what God says is right and staying in right relationship with him. Their consciences needed work, they needed to listen to God. They had to break up the hardened soil of their hearts. The evil in their hearts had to be removed.
In Proverbs, a chapter warning a son about the snare of the adulteress - it starts out Proverbs 7:1-2 NIV
1 My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. 2 Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
It ends: Proverbs 7:24-27 NIV
24 Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say.
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. 26 Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng. 27 Her house is a highway to the grave, leading down to the chambers of death.
Keep your heart on track and don’t let the sin resident in the hearts of others cause you to stray.
Who we are on the inside determines our outward behavior. Our “inside” must change from what we were in order to comply with God’s standards and intention. With no inward change, we won’t live God’s will or fulfill his plan for our lives.
Many believe that people are basically good at heart. The Bible is clear about a heart that is separated from God. It is wicked and deceitful.
Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Human nature is not foundationally good. A heart that is not in communion with God is dangerous. By itself, the heart is desperately evil and corrupt and leads to devastation and death. The only way we can listen to our heart is when we are hearing God speak to and through it. Without Christ in control, the heart is desperately dangerous.
People are basically selfish and follow paths contrary to the ways of God. Because the heart is corrupt, we can’t make the necessary changes by ourselves. Salvation purchased by Jesus on the cross, His grace is the only solution. Transformation comes from the heart change Jesus makes.
Let’s look at a few Bible examples and insights to the heart.
SAMUEL
The prophet Samuel was sent to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons to be the next king of Israel, since God had rejected Saul as king.
1 Samuel 16:6-7 NIV
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
God looks at things completely differently than we do. We are impressed by looks, by first impressions, by the standards of the world. God knows that the easiest way to impress and fake something is to clean up the outside. But, He also know that what is on the inside is what counts. The inside is genuine.
DANIEL
Jerusalem was under siege by King Nebuchadnezzar - attacked and cut off from outside help and supply. They were at war, experienced destruction, the capture of its king and many future leaders. Among the young people Nebuchadnezzar took hostage were Daniel and his three friends. They were prisoners of war, but their faith in God was not shaken.
The King put Daniel & his friends in a top training program. They had a bright future for good positions in his administration. But, in the process of that training they would be asked to eat things they knew would not please God. They had to decide. Daniel resolved not to defile himself, whatever the cost. Babylon’s moral and spiritual climate was totally corrupt.
Daniel determined not to compromise his spiritual values and convictions, even if it meant death. Even though he was in a foreign culture and didn’t have his parents around to tell him what to do, his love for God filled his heart so that he never lost his desire to serve God.
Daniel 1:4-5 NIV
4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
Daniel 1:8 NIV
8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
NKJV
But Daniel purposed in his heart
TIMOTHY
Paul’s advice to Timothy.
II Timothy 2:22 NIV
22 Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Everyone faces the pull of evil desires. It is especially challenging when you are young. To be tempted does not mean there is anything wrong with you, it means you are alive. The key is to do the right thing - get as far away as you can. Avoid the places where temptation hangs out. If you get surprised by temptation, then RUN.
What is in the heart comes out. Last week I shared a story. Jesus used parables to get a point across. This is a modern parable, a story written by a man named Russell Kelfer.
Key people: Edith Burns, a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas. She was the patient of Doctor Will Phillips.
Dr. Phillips’ head nurse, Beverly.
Hospital head nurse, Phyllis Cross.
“My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?”
LIFE APPLICATION: The Next Step
DESIGN FOR LIFE
What are the key points of this message?
How can we apply this message?
Discussion Questions
What should we learn from the parable about Edith Burns?
What do you think the general public doesn’t understand about Bible teaching about the heart?
What questions do you have about the heart? (Some questions we might need to write down and research.)
