Follow
Your Heart
Many believers are blown away with so many worldly doctrines, that in some cases, they do not know what to do.
That
we henceforth be no more
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the
sleight of men, and cunning
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; -- Ephesians 4: 14
If you study the word ‘sleight’, you will see that it is referring to a game or gambling. This is what men of the world will do with your life if you give them the opportunity. They will entrap you by deceit and gamble with your life.
So it is
important to know what to do in each and every situation. The point of this teaching is to help you
make decisions IF you do not know what the Word of God says about a specific
situation. This principle is extremely important and will make null and void
man’s ability to gamble with your life.
For example,
you may run across a situation that is not specifically written in the Bible,
especially in these modern times. YOU
WILL HAVE TWO (2) WAYS TO MAKE A DECISION:
One is by your five senses and the other is by the Spirit of God in
Christ in you. You want to always
make your decision by the Spirit of the true God. Why?
The
carnal mind is the mind of the five senses and God Almighty says it is in
conflict with Him. Now let’s look at
the previous verse.
For to be carnally minded
is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. –
Romans 8: 6
Sometimes I cannot help but wonder why people would
choose to be carnally minded. But
actually it is because they choose not to study spiritual truths which are
clearly written in the Bible. Notice
the word ‘choose’ implies free will.
The reason you are reading this teaching is so that I can teach you
spiritual truths as they were once taught to me by people who were taught by
God. I too am fortunate to be taught,
at times, truths directly from the true God.
Many of those truths God allows me to share with you. God is a respecter of conditions, not
persons and He will give you revelation if you fulfill certain conditions.
Now take a look at the second part of the above
verse. To be spiritually minded is life
and peace. The more spiritual matters
(pneumatikos) you understand and apply, the more life and peace you will have
in your life. And this is life to its
fullest – life in the fast lane. You
must always remember that the more of the Word of God you apply and the more
accomplishments you obtain for God in this life, sometimes the more tribulation
or mental pressure you will experience.
The adversary is not going to go after the person or believer who is
doing nothing for the true God. He is
going to try and hinder the strong believer.
This is normal – expect it. You
stand in good company.
This is why it is so important to know what to do in
every single situation according to God’s Will, not man’s. If your heart is right with God, your heart
will guide you when you are uneasy about any situation. IT IS A TRUTH that cannot be disputed, that
with God’s Word and the revelation manifestation of Word of Knowledge, God has
covered every possible situation we can run across in this life. There is not one opportunity, tribulation or
situation that can defeat us. NOT ONE! Tell
me that’s not a comfort. Always turn to
the arm of God and not to the arm of man.
Before we go any farther, I want you to know that I do
not mean for you to follow your heart as it refers to your old man ways. We have to distinguish between the heart of
a believer and the heart of an unbeliever.
An unbeliever’s heart is basically evil, but God’s Word cleans up the
heart of a believing believer. So you
say there are unbelieving believers.
Yes, it is a figure of speech referring to a believer who no longer
studies or applies God’s Word. Many
people cop out because they cannot take the pressure they receive from other
people. Yet they choose a life of death
instead which is much worse. This is
caused by fear which is the believer’s only enemy in its least common
denominator. If you know a lot of God’s
Word, your heart will be in the right place.
AND GOD LOOKS ON THE HEART. He
knows what you’re thinking at all times.
The adversary does not. If he
did, we’d be in serious trouble. So
remember, when I refer to the title of this teaching, I am referring to the
purified heart of the believer DOING HIS OR HER BEST to walk for God and with
God.
Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the
issues of life. – Proverbs 4: 23
What does it mean to keep thy heart with all
diligence?
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because
he trusteth in thee. – Isaiah 26: 3
Keeping your heart with all diligence means to keep your
thoughts on God. Stay put. This is how you stay in perfect peace. There is no true peace to those who are
outside of God’s Word. There is some
occasional happiness which is fleeting, but there is no everlasting joy. Happiness is only Satan’s counterfeit for
the real thing – which is joy. Joy is
an inside job and can be permanent if we always stayed in fellowship. Happiness is temporary and doesn’t last very
long – it is external. Believe me, if
you stay your mind on God, you will experience true peace and true life. If this were not true, then why would I be
doing this? Think about it. I don’t receive any compensation for these
teachings, neither do I ask for any and neither do I need any. I do this out of pure joy because I to want
you to be able to crush the enemy in your life like I have done in mine. The only thing that defeats the enemy in
this world is God’s Word rightly divided and applied. I’m going to say that again: “The only thing that defeats the
enemy in this world is God’s Word rightly divided and applied”. Ok?
Don’t forget it.
Since we were just studying a Scripture in the Book of
Proverbs, we are now going to return to that book since much is said about the
heart of man. These next three
Scriptures say a great deal.
Trust in the Lord with all
thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he
shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in
thine own eyes: fear [respect] the Lord, and
depart from evil. – Proverbs 3: 5, 6, 7
God’s Word is perfect so His Word must be perfect. Notice the order and arrangement of the words. First, we are to trust in the Lord. How do you get to know someone? By their words, correct? So how are you going to trust in the Lord if you do not study His Words? Does God tell you to study?
Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word
of truth. -- II Timothy 2: 15
Now back to Proverbs above. You are exhorted not to lean unto your own understanding. You are to go to God and pray for His guidance and He will direct your paths. Then God says, don’t be wise in your own eyes, in the innermost part of your mind, which is your HEART. Don’t use the old man ways of the heart to make your decisions, but turn to God Almighty. Don’t you think that the Creator of life knows how to live it?! Acknowledge means to recognize as having force or power. In all our ways, we are to acknowledge God. Also, notice how the last verse 7 is worded after the colon. We are to first respect God and His Word and then we are to depart from evil. Renewing your mind to God’s Word gives us the strength we need to be able to depart from evil. That’s why the verse is worded in that manner. Because God is perfect, then His Word must be perfect which means that the order of the Words must be perfect.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. – Proverbs 4:
7
Where do we get understanding? In our heart. And how do
we get this wisdom which gives us understanding in our heart? By studying God’s Word and applying it in
our everyday life. It’s that
simple. Man complicates matters – God’s
Word is very simple. When you have this
Godly wisdom, you are then able to make correct decisions because you had the
best teacher in the universe – God.
Here is another group of Scriptures where God is telling
us to stay with His Words for they will lead to the more than abundant life in
all categories. Let’s study one
Scripture at a time from the same Chapter in Proverbs, chapter four (4).
My son, attend to my words;
incline thine ear unto my sayings. – Proverbs 4: 20
What does God want us to attend to? What does He want us to listen to?
Can
you imagine all of the promises that God has made to us in His Word? There are about 1,000. How many do you know? This Scripture states that we will have
excellent health and an enriching life to all of those that find God’s
Word. How do you find God’s Word? You search it out like a treasure because
truly it is the greatest treasure of all.
You study it. I’m doing it for
36 years. The deeper you dig, the
greatest treasures you will find. It is
exciting and full of adventure and it is a lot of fun.
For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous. – I John 5: 3
God
is telling us that His Word is not oppressive.
It is actually adventurous, exciting and more rewarding than anything
else on earth. Make it your own and
then you will see. Keep God first and
everything else will fall into its proper place.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. -- Matthew 6: 33
Let’s get back to Proverbs
for the final Scripture in this set.
This will be a necessary review and will tell you again you just how
important the heart is pertaining to everything in our lives.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. – Proverbs 4:
23
[Again, we are
covering this same verse due to its utmost importance concerning the subject
matter of this teaching and also to complete the thought and purpose of the
previous three (3) verses (20, 21, 22).
The approach and explanation of the verse is different than above. It is an established fact that we learn by
repetition and we can never learn the Word by reading and studying a Scripture
only once.]
Everything that
exists in our life emanates from the heart which, again, is the innermost part
of our being. As was taught before, we
are to keep that heart with all diligence by having its thoughts line up with
what the Word says. Remember Romans 8:
6. God’s way is the way of life while
man’s way is the way of death. You can
put the world’s thoughts in your heart or God’s. The choice is up to you.
You have free will and the true God will never overstep that free
will. He wants you to love and obey him
by your own choice. When you do, God
will always help you to make the correct decisions in your life. You are only responsible for the amount of
God’s Word that you know and apply.
However, you should know that you are expected to renew your mind for
all your time on this earth.
I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. -- Romans 12: 1, 2
The renewed mind is your key to power. Remember, you want to acquire wisdom, for
her price is far above rubies. You can
only get Godly wisdom via the renewed mind.
You need to put on the thoughts of Christ and of God. This next verse tells us where wisdom
originates and how we are to obtain it.
Along with wisdom comes understanding and again there is only one
source.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts. – Proverbs 21: 2 [emphasis added]
Next time you are in a difficult situation, get quiet and
away from any noise or confusion. Then
pray to God and ask Him to help you do the right thing. Then think deeply about your situation and
decision and listen closely to your heart – your innermost self. If your heart is right with God, your heart
will guide you and you will clearly see what is the right decision.
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