Michael Koelling: Guard your heart/2

GUARD your HEART week 2

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

• There is in the word of God a proper remedy for all diseases of the soul.

• Above all else guard your heart.

• We must set a strict guard upon our souls; keep our hearts from doing hurt, and getting hurt.

Question Is it possible to have a BLAMELESS heart before God?

Genesis 17:1 God told Abraham to walk before him BLAMELESS.

Duet 18:13 God said to the children of Israel You MUST be blameless before me.

Psalm 101:2 David said – “I will be CAREFUL to live a blameless life…when will you come to help me Lord.”

Matthew 5:48 “You are to be perfect even as your Heavenly Father is perfect."

BLAMELESS does not mean a sinless or flawless heart!

• See when you receive Salvation, you get a NEW HEART.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV) "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

• After Salvation you and I still need WORK!

• So having a Blameless Heart is simply keeping your heart in RIGHT PLACE with God.

• DAVID's life was 4 ever marked with Adultery and Murder…yet when you read Psalm 51 you see the CRY of his heart to have forgiveness.

2. A Blameless heart is a RESPONSIVE HEART!

• Your heart QUICKLY answers to the HOLY SPIRITS whispers or warnings.

• Your heart must stay RESPONSIVE…quick to respond to WHATEVER He tells you.

• Whether it is a temptation that you are facing…the Holy Spirit will immediately give you a way out…you just have to listen to Him!

• We cannot IGNORE the Holy Spirit.

HOW do YOU and I KEEP a BLAMELESS HEART…a heart that GOD is pleased with EVERY DAY?

3. Your heart must stay SEARCHABLE!

1 Chronicles 28:9 (NLT) "And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever."

Psalm 139:23 "Search me Oh God and KNOW my Heart…test me and know my anxious thoughts, POINT OUT anything in me that offends you and lead me along the right path.”

EXAMPLE:Our HEART is a HOTEL with many rooms and behind every door is something…God wants the KEYS to every room!

• Giving Jesus the KEYS to your life will UNLOCK HIS power and plan in you.

• THE PROBLEM is that PEOPLE love their SECRETS or are so ashamed of them but either way they keep them HIDDEN.

• The RESULT:

Isaiah 29:15 (NLT) "What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! "The Lord can't see us," they say. "He doesn't know what's going on!"

• The BLAMELESS HEART wants the HOLY SPIRIT to SEARCH it!

• The BLAMELESS HEART wants the Holy Spirit to SHINE the light on ANYTHING that is not right with God!

• The BLAMELESS HEART wants the Holy Spirit to DIG and EXAMINE and EXPOSE anything that does not please our Lord.

4. If you have this kind of heart, a right heart before God...here are the results:

• Isaiah 6:5 – “It’s all over, I am doomed, I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips…verse 7 – then his lips were touched, the guilt removed and he was forgiven…WOW!

• Don't get MAD at GOD for showing you your junk…be thankful that you can still feel his touch and that He still changes hearts!

• Jesus does not give you a COVERING…He gives you a CLEANSING! (Huge difference)

• The cover me thing is just for a QUICK FIX.

No CROSS + No PAIN=No CLEANSING!

The WORD of GOD is what convicts us, GROWS us, and CLEANSES us, on a DAILY BASIS!

Bottom line…we need to be searched everyday!

I John 1:6-7 Teaches that we are CLEANSED from all sin.

“God’s purpose for SEARCHING our hearts is not to CATCH you in your sin…but rather to CLEANSE you from your sin!”

Matthew 5:8 – “God blesses those whose HEARTS are PURE, for they WILL SEE GOD!"

1 Timothy 4:11-16 (NLT)
"Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. [12] Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. [13] Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. [14] Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. [15] Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. [16] Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you."