Guard Your Heart Like An Athlete Guarding A Football

I don’t play sports at all and I know nothing about football. Yet, I have seen a football in the hands of an athlete, held tightly like it was a gold nugget, and being carried through the hustle and bustle of other players serving as obstacles aiming for a chance to steal the ball and thwart the player’s chance to make it safely to the opponent’s end zone. And so I think about what if the player, who is carrying the football, fumbles and drops it. He must carry the ball and protect it with his force, focus and perseverance.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 NLT

How much so must we guard our hearts, not our physical hearts (which need taking care of too) but the part of our being that carries our souls. Our hearts are more valuable than a football. Our hearts are the breeding grounds for thoughts and seeds to be planted, and prayerfully the right seeds. They are the epicenters of our emotions, wills, desires, intellects, goals and dreams, etc.

Now, I am no expert on the body, soul and spirit either but I do know we are a three part being (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We possess all three: a spirit, body, and soul. All three must be tended to with care in order to function in this earth realm and live a quality life. And moreso to fulfill our God-given destinies.

So back to our hearts. Just like our bodies, our hearts are so vital to our existence here on earth. Our hearts exude our perspectives on things and direct our actions. It is crucial that our hearts our cared for and guarded because they are just as precious, valuable, and imperative to who we are and how we impact the world around us. So, let us protect and care for our hearts. And remember every part of our being matters to God, our bodies, souls and spirits.

Our thoughts, our self-esteem, our goals. Everything concerning our hearts concerns God.

So, why must we guard our hearts. Well, first we must remember that if we have to guard something, it is because it is valuable. We guard our hearts because our hearts are:

1. Valuable

2. Necessary for survival

3. Will impact others in some kind of way.

Our hearts and we in totality are valuable to God and to each other. Moreover, relationships are imperative for our survival, relationship with God and relationship with others. We were all created with purpose, talents and gifts that are to be operated in good stewardship, wisdom, and according to God’s will to help and bless others. We are valuable and we are here to make an impact in the lives of others. And we as the Body of Christ especially should be impacting others through the wisdom and love of God.

Now lets look at the second reason we must guard our hearts. We must guard our hearts because we have an enemy.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NLT

1. We have an enemy, the devil, to protect our hearts against.

2. The enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy.

3. The mind is often our biggest battlefield.

Anxiety, depression, and suicide is on the rise. The minds and attention of our youth are gravely under attack. Parenting is difficult more than ever. Marriages are crumbling. Perversion, lovers of self, and haughtiness are growing rapidly. Destinies and dreams are also going to the graves. And a person with a wrong perspective, unguarded heart, and one wrong decision can derail his/her future. Some of us are courting secret sins and shame, and I am talking about those of us in the Body of Christ. Some of us are in despair and straddling the fence with God, losing hope and zeal for God. Let us guard our hearts. Let us repent and draw close to God.

So, let’s look at that again:

We must guard our hearts because they are valuable epicenters that house our thoughts, emotions, intellects, wills, etc. that not only affect us but others. And we have an enemy that sees this and wants to distort our epicenters, derail our destinies, steal how we see ourselves and others, kill our hopes and dreams, and destroy the very things (like relationship) that God created us to use to impact the world around us.

Guarding our hearts mean to protect and care for them. Plain and simple. And now we know from who and why we must guard our hearts. So now how?

Guard your heart by protecting its gates (eye gates, ear gates, etc.):

1. What are you watching?
2. What are you listening to?
3. What are you saying to yourself or others?
4. What are you meditating on?

Guard your heart by taking every thought captive.

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT

Catch them thoughts and check them?
Is this a thought lined up with the beliefs of God? Is this a thought from God or the enemy? What are you rooting your belief system in: witchcraft, conspiracy theories, what they say, or God? We cannot serve two masters. Are you feeding your spirit with the Word of God? It is so easy to just let your thoughts slide. But we have to have discipline over what we allow in our heads and what we allow to dominate our thoughts. People who are anxious tend to worry about the future. They tend to overthink and worry and struggle with a spirit of fear. People who tend to struggle with lust need to address when they tend to lust and what does the lust feed on. Pray that God destroy every proud obstacle that keeps us from knowing Him and that He captures our rebellious thoughts and teaches us to obey Him.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 NLT

Guard your heart by reading the Word of God and meditating on it.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Hebrews 4:12 NLT

His Word cannot return to Him void. Get His perspective, His views, His thoughts and His wisdom on the matter, about you and the world that surround you.

Guard your heart by developing discipline and obeying God’s word.

It is not enough to just hear and read God’s word but we must obey God. Trust His intentions and purpose for us are good. Do not harden our hearts when we hear God’s voice. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. Seek God for help. Rely on His grace for it is sufficient. His strength, power and Word enables us to develop the mindset and discipline we need to live pleasing before God. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” 1 Timothy 4:8 NLT

Read these relative chapters also.

Ephesians 5

1 Timothy 4

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. James 1:22‭-‬24 NLT

Now mentioning seeing yourself, guard your heart by seeing yourself the way He does.

It is so imperative to see yourself the way God does. If we are unable to see ourselves the way He does then I wonder if we are truly able to live, act and respond from the most authentic place. Can we really dwell richly in God’s love, that is unconditional and pure? Can we wholly communicate and impact from the Creator who created us with such a zeal and impact that is necessary? If we are unable to see ourselves the way God does, are we leaving cracks in the epicenter that let the enemy slip in?

So there you have it! It is not easy to guard something right? We have to have sharp focus. We have to persevere through countless obstacles and not give up. We have to be vigilant in watching and praying. We have to discipline our thoughts and that alone takes work and surrender to God. We have to not naively guard our hearts because we have a constant enemy. We have to remember the value of that which we are protecting. And we have to guard our hearts as we allow God to prune us and develop us in the fear of the Lord and wisdom of God as well as help us to bear fruit and subsequently more fruit, showing ourselves to be disciples of Jesus. Listen. Moreover, every human should not be guarding their hearts to restrict love, but guarding their hearts so that they can truly love. But to guard our hearts we need Jesus and His grace to be able to do so. We need God’s wisdom and Helper to direct us and heal us to guard our hearts and to also be able to walk in His love and receive His love. That is the last reason why we should guard our hearts. To walk in God’s love and receive it. Let us break it down further; we should guard our hearts:

1. to not be hindered in receiving the love God has for us and

2. to be able to love others as we love ourselves, and lastly but not least

3. …”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Start today in guarding your heart by asking God for wisdom and grace to do so. Gather some scriptures to post on your wall or mirror and meditate upon them daily. Set a plan in place to guard your heart and seek to draw closer to God who loves you with an unfailing love.

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The Enemy’s Trick (Lesson From Walking Dead)

Picture from AMC

I love The Walking Dead tv show. I just recently began watching season 10 which first aired October 6, 2019. I love seeing Rick’s people evolve, persevere, and overcome challenge after challenge. And I can always find a lesson or two in an episode. In episode eight, we see how Ziddiq’s PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that isn’t mentioned but one can conclude that is what he is dealing with including survivor’s guilt) has heightened. Finally, Ziddiq (played by Avi Nash) shares with someone the pain from seeing those he loved murdered right before his eyes. We also find out that there is a traitor in Alexandria. I felt something was off about this person but dismissed it. However, later in the episode and as they flashback to the traitor’s story, my suspicions turned out to be right. He was actually an imposter. When his true identity is discovered, what he tells Rosita made me immediately think of one of the enemy’s tricks. The imposter at Alexandria tells Rosita (played by Christian Serratos) that they are not as strong as they think they are. She expresses her growing fear to Gabriel (played by Seth Gilliam) and is starting to believe what the imposter says. And that is one trick our enemy uses to weaken and disarm us. He wants to bind us with fear and doubt. Fear and doubt are crippling, accusing, and draining. However, we do not have to walk around with fear. As believers, we must remember that God did not give us a spirit of fear but that of power, love, and a sound mind. We do not have to let doubt weaken our faith’s muscle. He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world and we can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us. The enemy will use trials and tribulations, lies, doubts and fear to cause us to shrink back and lose confidence, feel alone, doubt or forget God’s providential care, unfailing love, and almighty power. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one (2 Thessalonians 3:3 NIV). The enemy will also send imposters our way like enemies posing as friends as well as distracting and toxic baes and boos when we least expect it. But let us be alert and guard ourselves with the truth and power of God. Jesus guarded Himself in His time of weakness and wilderness during his 40 days and nights of fasting. He guarded Himself with the truth of God’s Word and by remaining confident in His Father.

So, let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus for He is the author and finisher of our faith. God is omnipotent and omniscient. He will protect us and guard our lives from the lies and imposters of the enemy. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31‭-‬39 NIV)

The devil’s Loss

The devil wants me to believe

God’s purpose for me will never be achieved

So he whispers in my ear

he tells me things my flesh wants to hear

his plan is to destroy me

he is at work day in and day out

he walks around and maliciously about

When I was born, he immediately placed a bet

he told Jesus, “I bet I ruin her yet.”

“While she’s young, I’ll make her forget

Why she needed You in the first place.

Her world is perfect and her dreams are ripe;

Jesus, when You’re ready, let me tamper with her life.

I’ll mess it all up, send my demons disguised her way.

She will duck and dodge and forget to pray

And how about her teens?

Let me give her depression

Send her confusion

Fill her with anger

Break her heart and disappoint her too

As she moves one step forward, I’ll push her back two.

I bet You Jesus, she’ll curse Your name

Then run to me and give me Your fame

You protect her too much

and You gave her too many gifts

What will she do then, if she had so much to miss?”

Then the Lord, my God said, “you just wait devil

Stop your ranting

Shut your mouth; you didn’t win with Job

And you won’t win now.

I know my Father’s children, Their weaknesses and strengths

They are not like you

And this one here will remain true.

This faithful soldier of mine I trust her so

More than you will ever know.

I see her faith in Me and attentiveness to My Word

In addition to the prayers I’ve heard

you can take from her But I’ll give

you can try to kill her But I’ll let her live.”

The devil wants to destroy me And take my life

But the devil has already lost the fight

It is God’s strength, grace and mercy

That sustains me

When I am weak

In God’s love, I will suffer no defeat.

Written by: Tannika Moore