Proverbs 4:20-27 (King James Version)
20My son, (my daughter) attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
21Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
22For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
24Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Today we are going to review with verses 23-24.
It is with your heart that you hear God, not with our physical ears.
Have you ever programmed your cell phone to call people by your voice commands? I can take your cell phone and say the same name and the phone will not recognize my voice. Our voices are as different as our fingerprints.
There are many voices clamoring to get your attention. To hear the voice of God you must keep your heart with all diligence.
That means paying attention to who you are listening to. In Genesis 3:8-11 after eating the fruit, Adam and Eve hid themselves when they heard the voice of God. When He asked why, Adam said because he was naked.
God then asked, "Who told you that?"
When my pastor taught us this illustration, I began making it a practice of challenging some of the things I was hearing in my heart. If it didn't bring me peace, I would challenge myself with "Who told you that?"
I am walking out of a lot of drivenness and performance. Sometimes I feel pushed to do things, even to meet other's expectations, but it is not God asking me to do these things. The person I need to please is God. What is He asking me to do.
With all diligence means to post a guard around your heart. Build a wall around it.
Proverbs 25:28 He that [hath] no rule over his own spirit [is like] a city [that is] broken down, [and] without walls.
No diligence. Yet in verse 23 says Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. This is the key to happiness. The issues of life means the fountain of life of happiness according to the Strong's Concordance.
Put a guard on your heart. See it as your personal gated community. Let only those people and things who honor God come in. Yes, there will be times when God will send you out, but your spirit man will be a walled sanctuary where you can commune with your Father.
No matter what addiction you need to overcome whether television and computers or cocaine, we must guard our hearts. When we give our heart back to the Father and realize how precious it is, we will have that "gated community of fellowship".
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