In the past few days I’ve spent hours on my phone, learning,  listening, counseling and praying with my people. My ears and eyes have overwhelmed my heart.   My best friend’s family suddenly lost a beloved father. The sweetest God-fearing young woman watched her husband walk away for another woman. A girlfriend’s husband faced a heart procedure and  his kidneys are fighting him in a big way.  “Kids” who became part of us some 30 years ago stood by their father as he had multi-by pass surgery & waited, wondering if that old heart of his was going to keep on ticking. Even closer, a  family member sat in the doctor’s office & heard, “That’s a skin cancer,” and left waiting for what the next appointment will reveal.  My dear Sister-friend’s heart aches as she continues to wait on an unanswered prayer.  At the same time, and because of the evil and cruel behavior of their spouses, two friends struggle in their marriages each trusting the Lord as their  battles rage and the pain cuts deeply.  Another “son” (by life and love, not by birth) learns his unborn baby has all the markers for downs-syndrome…and his wife’s thoughts for saving this baby mean ending its life.  I’ve learned of the turmoil in a mother’s heart as she watches her grown child struggle and wrestle in life where the ugly world cunningly tries to replace what  once upon a time Momma’s kiss and  godly encouragement would fix.   Friends, this life is plain hard sometimes. 

Difficult times

I’ve heard pastors say over the years, “If you’re not in the valley now, hold on, you will be soon.”  I’d like to think that’s not true but  we know the truth about this world because John told us.

I John 5:19 We know that we are children of God, and  that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 

This world is full of evil, lest we tell ourselves something different. We have to realize the world we live in is evil, and the evil one wants to sift us as wheat,  to pummel us leaving us in a pile of worthless dust  under his feet.  You feel it, don’t you?  The beating of our own battles tear at us every day and often times to the point of discouragement, fatigue, exasperation and even hopelessness.  And that’s right where the evil one, the one who concertedly schemes to destroy us, want us to be. He is a liar.  He deceives you and me with our own feelings. And why not? With so much of our attention on social media, we gravitate and listen to things people tell us that make us feel good about ourselves. Daily, memes with pretty pictures,  beautifully scripted wall art, even blunt sarcasm- on anything, thank you, bombard us with all this self-reliant, seemingly scriptural, hullabaloo we allow to soothe our souls. I’d like to quote some of these here, but I won’t.  My plight  isn’t to cause contempt toward any one person,  which surely would happen if I pointed out any of the quotes easily found on social network this very moment. Neither is this  a fight against wrong. No, this is a champion toward what is right. We are deceived, by the very definition, to believe something that is not true. Truth is, we are not enough. We do not deserve a life free of pain and hardship.  Sacrifice of self is necessary -and good, though it  wars against the popularity of a self-seeking life of pleasure. But you know what? Not one of these things adulterates the truth of God’s enormous love and grace toward us. 

Grace upon grace.

Friends, we are allowing the world’s idea of praise to steal away the truth of God’s person,  His rightful place in our lives, and His peace in our hearts. Please, I implore you as I remind myself again, we must  protect our minds.   We are confusing God’s grace with flowery words and God’s unchanging truth with moral racism.    We belong to Christ, therefore our inspiration must be rooted in biblical truth. When we settle comfortably with the deceivingly good the world is offering, we forsake the transforming of our minds to holiness.  Sooner or later, harsh reality finds us we are left  desperately pining for something more. That something we can’t find from the places we’ve been letting hold our hearts-the places we were never meant look.    Truth is, we’re not enough. God is. In our weakness it is only God who makes us strong. Loving others is impossible unless and until we first love the Lord with everything  we are, with everything we have. Then, we will be able to love others through Him. I think you will agree, when we go forth to make someone feel better with an encouraging word or a kind gesture, and we should, what we really want is to make a difference in their lives. We do just that when what we have to offer is an overflow of Christ in us.

Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

The world’s words are easy: easy come, easy go. Like a favorite candy bar, they may boost our mood for a time, but before long we’re left with alone with the crash of our despair realized anew.  But God’s words stand forever. His ways change us. His love lifts us to truth and hope. Struggling friend, we will only find  joy, truth, love and kindness fully in the person of Jesus Christ. This world is a battlefield.  So above all else, we must guard our hearts.

Proverbs 4:23  Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Today, we can start with guarding our hearts by what we allow into them.

We should be aware of what we allow to take up space in our hearts both passively and actively. There is a big difference. Passively: what we hear to, what we see, and who we are around all affect us spiritually even when we don’t realize it. On the contrary, we influence our heart’s condition actively, too: what we listen to, what (and who) we watch as well as the people we surround ourselves with. These are intentional decisions that will change our hearts either toward or away from the person of Christ. Guard your hearts, sweet friends. For every little thing we do starts there.

Guard Your Heart

Lord, You see our hearts. Search our hearts and show us how to be more like Jesus. Teach us to guard our hearts that we may overflow with only You; the world needs to see You. We need to see You. Amen