If you’ve been reading the Bible for any length of time, you may be familiar with the words of Proverbs 4:23, which counsels us to be diligent to guard our heart, because the “issues of life” flow from it. And this has been interpreted to mean many different things… but if we aren’t sure what it means then we also can’t be sure if our heart is guarded properly!
Thankfully, the scriptures do not leave us guessing about how to guard our heart, and the benefits of doing so; and as we examine this today, we can see that it is not only simpler to guard our heart than we might think at first, but also incredibly beneficial for us to do so.
As we begin today, let’s first take a look at Proverbs 4:23:
“Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Now most of us do not talk like this today, so this meaning here might be a bit strange to us when it comes to the phrase “issues of life”, but it basically means the source or the flow of life actually begins with your heart; and as we have mentioned before, the word “heart” here actually is not referring to the muscle in your body that pumps blood, but it is instead referring to your mind and emotions.
The verse here is saying that we should keep a close guard on our thoughts and emotions because life actually flows from them. That seems pretty important! But why is this true? Doesn’t another proverb say that both life and death are in the power of the tongue…?
Well, yes it does – that’s Proverbs 18:21… so how is it that both can be true? There’s actually no contradiction here – in-fact Jesus Himself clears this up in Luke 6:45 when He says that “… out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
So we can see that, yes indeed, the tongue holds the very power of life and death, and what we say actually has great importance, but all of that flows from our heart (our mind and emotions). This is why it is so important that we guard our heart just as our Proverb here in chapter 4 verse 23 tells us to.
You might be surprised how often we do not do this. Instead we often allow our mind and our emotions to dominate and rule us without even paying any real attention to it. For example, thoughts of worry, thoughts of fear, and general anxiety that comes from situations, can sometimes rob us of peace, cause us sleepless nights, or in more extreme cases even health issues – but why? Because instead of guarding our heart (mind and emotions) we often allow these things to influence us instead of exercising our authority over them.
And this is the first key point to understand, is that we do indeed have authority over our heart; over our thoughts and emotions. It may seems silly at first, but there are some people who have not truly realized this. There are some people who just accept the thoughts of the day that come into their head, and allow the emotions of the moment to influence them.
If that is you today, then what we are about to learn is going to change your life, and give you a power that you never would’ve imagined. And it all starts with accepting this one truth, that you can indeed guard your heart (that is your mind and emotions). It is your God-given right and authority to do so.
He wouldn’t give you an instruction to guard your heart, your mind and your emotions, if it was not within your power to do so. But it is precisely how to guard our heart that we must understand, because people have a lot of different ideas about how to go about guarding our heart.
There are some within church buildings that say that we “guard our heart” by avoiding sin, and improving our performance; by trying our best to keep the Law, and to please God… and I know that many people are taught that, and that they have believed that their entire life – it’s ingrained into us many times, to always find some way to trust in our efforts, to rely on our performance – it sounds right many times, but it leads to nothing good. In-fact the real (and only) way to ultimately please God, is through Jesus Christ.
There is a reason why the Father spoke from Heaven declaring for all to hear in Matthew 3:17, that this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
There was no need for the Father to tell Jesus this, He already knew it for Himself. The whole reason that the Father declared this for all to hear, and the reason it was recorded in the scriptures for us to know, was precisely for our benefit.
It benefits us to know that Jesus is the beloved son that is not just pleasing, but well pleasing to the Father. Because now we know from God’s own mouth, that Jesus is well pleasing to Him.
How does this benefit us? Because as the scriptures state repeatedly in a variety of ways: you are in Christ Jesus. The Father doesn’t see you in your humanity, in your weakness or your imperfection – spiritually-speaking, that’s not even who you are anymore! The Father sees you in Christ, in His Beloved Son. And as Ephesians 1:6 says plainly: you are accepted in the Beloved.
You see, while it is true that we are able to please God, and indeed, to guard our heart, it is only possible to do through Him. You are accepted in Him, and all of your power flows from Him. It is His Spirit that enables you to accomplish the objective here (and any objective for that matter!) and the way in which this happens is quite different than what standard Christian religion tends to teach, and what you would hear from behind most pulpits.
Take a look at Philippians 4:4-7:
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Now, in the light of what we have just learned regarding our beloved position and status in Christ Jesus, we can now look at these verses here in the proper perspective. And what we see first in verse 4, is Rejoice in the Lord always…
If you have listened to standard sermons in the past, you have probably heard this preached at least once. And what you have probably heard was something along the lines of just gritting your teeth and pushing through, regardless of how bad your situation may be, God’s ways are mysterious and unknowable, so you can smile and rejoice for that bad situation.
That’s how I heard it in the past – and I know everyone else there with me then heard the same thing.
And again, it may sound right, but it’s not what this verse here is saying. Let’s examine it:
The verse does not say to rejoice in your situations. It doesn’t say to always be glad about your circumstances. It’s important to notice this detail so that you know that you don’t have to strain and try to find some hidden mystical good in every bad situation that comes along. There are people whom I’ve met that try and rejoice in every bad thing because they think that’s what this verse is saying – and as a result, they never stand against anything that comes into their life… they just roll-over for all of it, and that’s not what this is instructing us to do at all.
Look at the verse again: It doesn’t say to rejoice in all of your circumstances – it says to rejoice in the Lord. That’s a big difference!
It doesn’t say that you must roll-over and accept every bad circumstance that presents itself to you… not at all! Jesus didn’t present Himself that way… not one single time when someone came to Him for help, did He ever turn them away and say “this is just the hand you’ve been dealt. Just grin and bear it!”
No – He helped all who came to Him. He had compassion and healed all who were sick. He drove out demons. He loosed the chains of the oppressed. He fed the hungry. He healed the blind and the lame. And He patiently taught all who would listen.
Whatever the need was, He was the supply.
So when this verse here, says to rejoice in the Lord. It’s not telling you to grit your teeth, and do some kind of mental gymnastics to force yourself to be happy about some kind of evil thing that has come your way. No.
Instead you are to rejoice in the Lord always. And you cannot truly do that until you fully understand and accept what we have learned today about you being fully accepted in Christ, and well pleasing to the Father by Him as well. That is what you are to rejoice in! And that is also the position you are to rejoice from, as well!
You have a standing and position with God that is the envy of all creation. Today, by His Spirit on the inside of you, you can rightly and without a hint of arrogance or blasphemy, call God your father – or more accurately, your dad, your papa. Romans 8:15 says it like this:
“For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
That word adoption, is more accurately translated as “sonship”. Because we have not simply been adopted into the family of God, but we have been born (born again, reborn) into it, and we are blood relatives with God, because of the very blood of Jesus Christ.
This is so important to know, because this is the very reality of your identity in Christ, and you cannot properly “rejoice in the Lord” without understanding this.
Now returning to our verses from Philippians 4, now looking at verse 5, we see:
“Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.”
That word “moderation” can be better understood as mildness or gentleness. What it is saying is to let everyone see how mild and gentle you are – but it’s not telling you this without explaining why you can be that way: because the Lord is at hand.
And I want you to see how all of this is always focused on the Lord. It’s not really founded on you, it’s not focused on your works, or your performance, but in all cases the Lord is the focus here.
You can be mild and gentle, not because you are some kind of a doormat for everyone and everything to step on, but because you have the most amazing strength with you and in you; that strength is the Lord Himself… and He is right there at hand, always.
Do you understand that you can be mild and gentle, without being weak and a wet-noodle? You don’t need to be a push-over, or overly soft. And you can also be strong and solid without being harsh and overly rough.
Jesus was the perfect combination of both at all times – showing amazing grace and gentleness, but never allowing others to steamroll him or compromise on the truth. And you are in Him, and His Spirit is also in you.
Then we have verse 6:
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Be careful for nothing… in other words, be care-free – don’t be burdened with cares, but rather by prayer (which is communion and communication with God, your daddy) and supplication (which is asking and petitioning) with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
Now I love this verse for so many reasons, because I have heard it said many times before that we shouldn’t be so selfish as to ask God for things – and that by asking God for things which are being carnal and fleshly and we shouldn’t be so worldly-minded because God really only cares about spiritual things anyway!
Have you heard things like that before?
Well if so, this verse probably just made you laugh out loud a bit, because it destroys that kind of typical religious thinking.
Not only can we ask God for things, but He tells us to! And when we ask, we should do so with thanksgiving, for all of the reasons which we have studied today. We shouldn’t approach Him with uncertainty or trepidation… because if we are approaching that way it just shows that we don’t know who we are in Christ – that’s why this verse expects and encourages us to ask with thanksgiving… because we are the beloved children of our daddy God!
And when you have settled all of this for yourself personally, what is the result? You’re going to love this! Look at verse 7:
“And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
The way for you to truly guard your heart, is to let Him guard it with His peace. When you are standing securely in your identity as a new creation in Christ Jesus; a beloved child of God, then His peace will guard your heart through Him.
It’s not about your works. It’s not about your efforts. It’s about His finished work. And your identity in Him.
I encourage you today. Guard your heart… by placing it safely in His hands.
Be blessed.