A Guarded Heart

Proverbs 4:23
^{23} Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Your top priority is your heart.  It is what keeps you living and keeps you loving.  You must protect it.  You must nurture it.  You must guard it.

The writer of Proverbs said that we are to guard our hearts.  It is the source of everything else in our life.  The heart of man is important beyond understanding.  It is also vulnerable beyond understanding.  The heart of man must be protected.  We must not let any harm come to it.  It is our duty to keep the evil out of our heart.  Christ says in Matthew 15 that anything evil that we do comes from our heart.  Whether it is a harsh word or a violent act makes no difference, the source is our heart.  We have to keep our hearts safe from evil.

Now, if only that were all we needed to do!  You see, guarding our hearts is twofold.  Not only must we keep evil out of our hearts, but we also must keep good in them.  The first defense to keeping evil out is to make sure there is no room for it to begin with.  We must keep our hearts filled with good.  Filled with hope.  Filled with God.

The quantity of your heart determines the quality of your actions.  If your heart is full and overflowing with good and with God, then you will be a caring, compassionate person who looks for ways to help and benefit others.  How guarded is your heart?

Mark 12:33 (ESV)
^{33} And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Romans 10:10 (ESV)
^{10} For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Family Values

My daughter and I were headed back to the hotel after a fun day together.  It was time for something to eat so we stopped at one of my favorite fast food places, Chick-fil-A.  I got her the small nugget kids meal and fed her the nuggets as we drove.  When we got back to the hotel I noticed that the “toy” was a book.  I looked it over and was pleased with the concept.  A “Build a Book” for young children is an incredible idea in my opinion.  The different books were titled:  “All About My Family,” “Me by Me,” “My Really Good Friends,” “Why I Love My Dad” and “Why I Love My Mom.”  Essentially, these were small-scale scrapbooks kids could put together and keep track of what was important to them.  Then I saw the top right corner of the package.  It read, “If this book doesn’t fit your family, feel free to swap for another one.”  That one sentence broke my heart.  I hate to think that any child in this world couldn’t build one of those books, but I know it’s true.  Families in today’s society are struggling.  They are struggling so much that children can’t put into one book stories about their families or explain why they love their parents.  The value system in families today is struggling.

Before we talk about the importance of family values, we need to understand just what values a family should have.  According to the Bible, the ultimate manual for a person’s life, families are suppose to be God-centered.  In Deuteronomy 6, the Lord’s command to families is simple:  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (5-9).  God is to be the focus of our families.  The relationship between parents and God should be present in every aspect of their lives and especially in their parenting.  The relationship the parents have with their children should reflect the relationship the parents have with God.

Biblical family values are important for many reasons.  Not only do they provide the support that each member of the family has a great need for, but it provides a foundation for each of their lives as well.  When trying to decide what the “value system” is going to be for your family, ask yourself this question:  “What do I want to be my number 1 priority?”  If you can answer that question, then you’ll find the values you want to instill in your family.  I hope that your answer to that question is God.  If God is your number 1, everything else will make more sense.  The challenges of life will grow easier because you will have the foundation laid and can know to turn to God for all your strength.

To the parents, the foundation of your family is chosen by you.  Choose wisely because it will affect your children for years to come.  Choose carefully because it’s extremely difficult to change that foundation down life’s road.  Choose Godly because that’s wise.

To the children, keep your family as one of your top priorities.  God must always be number 1 and following Him should always be your top concern, but care for your family and their walk as well.

Could your family pick up any of those “Build a Book” books and write in them?  If so, what would they look like?  I pray that your books reflect God and His impact in your life.

Joshua 24:15 (ESV)
^{15} And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

What Are You Growing?

What are you growing?  Personally, plants are not my specialty.  Never have been and I doubt they ever will be.  I’m the guy that bought a cactus because it “looked cool and didn’t need much care,” just to let it die because I didn’t give it enough water.  My cactus literally died of thirst.  Any time my wife talks about planting bushes or shrubs or even grass, I get a little nervous.  This isn’t just a little plant I’m keeping in a pot somewhere…this is the front of our house now.  And somehow I’m supposed to change from the kid who starved a cactus to death into someone who can help keep real plants alive?  That, my friends, is a challenge.  Needless to say, the positive changes to the outside of our house have been my wife’s doing.  I can mow and weed-eat…but she gets the plants where they need to be and makes sure they get the nutrients they need.

What are you growing?  Much like a plant, we need nourishment.  We need water and food to help us grow physically, but more importantly we need nourishment to grow spiritually.  Matthew records a parable about growing that Christ told His followers.  Chapter 13 begins, ^{1} That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. ^{2} And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. ^{3} And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. ^{4} And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. ^{5} Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ^{6} but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. ^{7} Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ^{8} Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Later on in the chapter, Jesus explains the meaning of this parable.  The soil is us.  Whatever walk of life we find ourselves in, we are the soil.  The seed is the Word of God.  When we hear the Word, we must keep it close to us.  Satan will try to tear it away, we can’t let him.  The world may think differently of us for making application to the Word with our lives, we must not stop applying it.  Our work or life (or, honestly, anything else) will try to take priority in our life over the Word, we have to keep it first.  If we can do all this, we will find ourselves in the position of the “good soil” and able to produce fruit many times over.

This is not a battle we fight alone.  As we study through the Bible we find that we are to learn from those around us.  We are to listen to the lessons taught by those who are spiritually more mature than us.  We are to work together, seeking out opportunities to grow our faith and encourage the faith of those around us.  It can be through a worship service, through a class or through any number of different workshops that the church organizes.  One such workshop is coming up the first Saturday in May.  I hope and pray that you will be able to join us for this workshop as we will have opportunities to listen to and learn from men and women of the church who will be helping us grow our faith.  You can find a link to more information about this workshop as well as other resources here:  http://www.eastsideduncan.org

May God bless you and help you increase in faith!

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (ESV)
^{5} What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. ^{6} I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ^{7} So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

 

 

 

A Light in the Dark

The old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” took on a new meaning for some roofers in Miami recently.  As they were beginning to take off an old roof at a client’s house, they discovered literally hundreds of bats!  I don’t know about you, but when I think of bats I think of caves or forests…not roofs.  I can’t imagine how surprising and fearsome it had to be to take the first ceramic tile off and be greeted by several flying creatures scurrying away from the light or taking flight to get away from the intruders.  As I watched the bats reactions, I couldn’t help but think about the class my middle school and high school students and I had last night.  We talked about the parable Jesus taught in Matthew 5 about being a lamp to the world.  The parable reads:

^{14} “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ^{15} Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house  (Matthew 5:14-15, ESV).

Throughout the New Testament, the point that light drives away darkness and that evil pursues, almost lusts after darkness is brought to our attention.  It is easy to conceal actions or traits in darkness.  Sin loves darkness.  It craves the cover of night, where people cannot see it coming or going, where people cannot prepare themselves for the onslaught.  Thieves break in at night; murders take place in dark alleys…even the Pharisees came after Jesus in the dark of night.  Good people live in fear of the dark.

But there is hope, as they say, in the darkest night.  No matter how deep the cave, no matter how dark the night, a little bit of light can change things quickly!  Christ came when we needed Him the most (Romans 5:6).  When the world was in its darkest moments, when it looked as though Satan was going to win, Christ came.  He came as a Light in a dark world.  The flame that He was drove out darkness.  It made Satan run for cover.  It’s no coincidence that His followers received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in the form of “divided tongues as of fire” (Acts 2:3) before they spoke to the crowd.

Are you a light in the world today?  Would you be able to show the way to those around you?  Can they see Jesus in you?  I pray that they can see Jesus in all His followers and that we lead them to Him and His teachings.

Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
^{16} In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

The Man and the Grizzly

I recently saw a video of a man and a 400 pound grizzly.  Normally, a story starting out like that does not have a pretty ending for one or the other.  This time it’s different though.  The man and the grizzly were obviously familiar with each other because they were playing.  The man was sitting on the ground and the grizzly was just nuzzling up against him.  Every once in a while the grizzly would, playfully, take the man’s arm or hand (and on several occasions it appeared as though he had the man’s head) in his mouth and the man would just tell him no and move a little bit.  There was no panic from the man and the grizzly appeared to have a smile on his face as well.  How incredible of a sight!  It caused me to think of a couple of things, however.

In Genesis, God brings all the animals by Adam and has him give them names.  As he is naming them, we are told that mankind is to rule over all the beasts of the field, birds of the air and fish of the sea.  The supremacy of man is evident and part of God’s plan.  We are to rule over them and part of ruling over them is to take care of them.  Now, I’m not saying we need to go to the extremes, but we do need to be consciously aware of the effect we have on nature.  If we have been put in charge of it by God, than we better make sure we take care of it the way we are suppose to.  Remember the parable of the talents Jesus tells in Matthew 25.  The servants who take care of what their master leaves in their possession are told, “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master.”

The other thought that came to my mind as I watched this man let the grizzly literally lay on top of him was whether or not the man knew the danger he was placing himself in.  This is a strong, powerful, 400 pound beast that could easily tear his limbs apart!  He was treating him like I would my bulldogs!  I found myself in awe at the lack of concern the man had for his own well being.  And as I continued to watch, I couldn’t help but think how we put ourselves in harm’s way every day.  We all need to remember the words of 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from every form of evil.”  How often do we treat temptation or sin as a lapdog when in reality it is a 400 pound grizzly with its mouth around our arm?  It is a dangerous world we live in and preach to, we can never forget that.

1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV)
^{8} Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. ^{9} Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Foundations and Roots

The Empire State Building in New York City set records for being the tallest building in the city.  It stands 1,453 feet and a few more inches above the ground below it.  It is truly a marvel of science.  When it was being built, the construction crew had to dig downward before they could build upward.  In fact, they dug deep enough to make the foundation of the building 55 feet under the surface.  Why did they do this?  Because they learned a lesson from other architects.  Everyone knows of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  A remarkable structure that, because of wars, took well over 100 years to complete.  After the third level of the tower was built, it began to earn it’s now famous name.  Being built on the soft, sandy soil it needed a strong, stable foundation.  The plans that were drawn up did not call for that however, so the construction started with a foundation that was only 3 meters deep.  It was not adequate for the task and it found itself to be a major flaw to the structural integrity of the tower.  The foundation of a building must be deep.

When my wife and I traveled to California we went to see the mighty Redwoods.  Trees that stand around 394 feet above the soil they grow in.  As we walked through part of the forest and learned about the trees and how they grew so tall, we learned that the individual root structure of the trees was really not that stable.  The roots were fairly small (compared to the height of the trees) and did not go as deep as you would think.  What kept them standing as they reached higher and higher to grab moisture from the fog?  The other trees.  The roots of all the trees had intertwined themselves to hold each other up.  Each tree depended on the trees around it, and likewise all the trees around that tree depended on it.

When we take up the task of sharing the Gospel with someone we need to remember two things about the process.  Firstly, we must remember to build a firm foundation.  There is more to the Gospel story and the plan of salvation than Christ’s physical life here on earth.  In fact, the plan of salvation goes so “deep” into human history that it is talked about in the Garden of Eden.  Christ’s coming was already being prepared for.  We need to teach the Old Testament truths to people when telling them about the Gospel.  Remember, the Ethiopian eunuch was not reading one of our New Testament books before he was convicted of his sins, baptized and “went on his way rejoicing” (Acts 8:39), he was reading from the Old Testament book of Isaiah.

Not only do we need to remember to lay a deep foundation, but we need to remember that Christians must lean on each other as we look upward for the Living Water.  It is true that God gives us all we need in this life and the next, but we often forget that we need each other too.  When studying with someone we must stress to them that the church is not a man-made institution, but a God-given support system.  Our “roots” must help those around us, just like we need them to help us.

We can easily get discouraged when it comes to studying with someone because it we will not always see the results of those studies.  That’s okay though.  As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”  The encouraging thing about sharing the Gospel is not that we always see the results, because we won’t, but that people will listen to the message.  Paul says in Acts 28:28, “Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”  The Gospel is for everyone, who will you share it with today?

Desperate Households

Families in America are hurting.  There have been many different studies done and they all show basically the same thing, the “American family” isn’t what it used to be.  The days of sitting around the table and eating together are gone.  The days of family vacations are no more.  The times that parents would sit down and talk to their children about school (or even help them with their homework) have been forgotten.  The picture of the American family has changed so much, you almost can’t even recognize it.  Parents are busy with work.  Kids are busy with school or sports or clubs or any number of other things.

As people, we see what society and the world tell us how a family is to look and act.  That model is not working, not even by the world’s lack standards.  So what do we do?  As Christians, we are to look to God and His Word to show us how to live as a family.  Everything from the responsibilities of each individual relationship to the very values our families are founded on.  It’s easy to say that we look to God and see the verses, but how do we apply them?  How do we set the standards of our families to match those that God has set for our standards?  How do my wife and I live up to the standard set for us by our heavenly Father?  How do we raise our little girl to be the Christian young woman she is called to be?

The first step after realizing that what the world calls a “family” is no family at all, is changing our model.  After that, a daily effort is required by everyone.  Focusing on God, His Word, His standards and His example and then doing everything in our power to live like that is a daily choice we must all make.  Without God as our example, our families will continue to fail.

For those in the Duncan, OK area (or who can be for a few days) there is a program in a few weeks to help get your started.  The Eastside Church of Christ is hosting a meeting appropriately titled “Desperate Households.”  This is the perfect time and opportunity to refocus your family on God.  If you are interested in what God’s Word has to say about making YOUR family stronger, please join us.  If you have any questions, visit our website:  www.eastsideduncan.org

May God bless you and your family as you strive to be pleasing to Him!

Joshua 24:15 (ESV, emp added)
^{15} And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

3 John 1:4 (ESV)
^{4} I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.