Guarding our Heart

Proverbs 4:23, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life" (NLT). The wisdom that God speaks through Solomon offers a great challenge to all of us. We must be careful in what we allow to dominate our thought process and we must guard against those things which desire to take us away from our relationship with God. We must remember that we do have an adversary that seeks to hinder our relationship with God. God desires to keep me headed in the right direction and the enemy seeks to get me off the path of a life that pleases God. The days in which we are living are demanding that we take a very careful approach to the way that we live our life. I can sense the spirit of deception that is being released in our world today. The spiritual culture of our day is one of compromise and true spiritual apathy. But I am convinced that someone will answer the call from God and respond to trust in Him with all of their heart. Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked" (NLT). The heart which I believe is the center of our emotions is a battle ground in which the enemy seeks to control. The enemy wants our heart full of anger, envy, evil desire, jealousy, strife, and countless other "attitudes of the flesh" which seek to interfere in our walk with God. But our heart has the potential to be influenced by both good and evil desires. Sometimes we only recognize and remember the evil and sinful desires that try to take control of us but remember through the grace and strength of God we can be influenced and directed by the good desires that God has placed in us. I have come to realize this truth in my life over the years of my walk with God; God not only desires to take away sinful actions He desires to add to my life the traits and characteristics of a faithful walk with Christ. The above mentioned option is open to all of us; we must make the decision regarding what we allow to dominate our thought process. Will we allow God to control our thought process or will we choose to reject His plan for our lives? His plan includes a successful completion of our life which will ultimately find us in His presence for all of eternity. Let this be a day in which we either commit or re-commit to God's direction having first place in our life. Allow the Spirit to direct your decisions so that you can guard your heart at all times.