Directing the Locomotion of Your Heart

I have been thinking a lot about how important it is to stay connected to your heart. The importance of this is stated in Proverbs 4:23. After digging into the original Hebrew terms which comprise this verse, here is my magnified version of it.

“Guard your heart by confining it to very close watch, for it is the source of your present and future living.”

You keep a close watch on your heart ultimately to ensure that what comes out of it sustains life. Think about yourself as a train with all your treasure in tow, and your heart as the mechanism which lays the track determining how you move forward and to what destination. The reliability of the track and the sense of bearing relies on the composition of the heart. These truths make it imperative to ensure your heart is filled with the substance of Life. YESHUA tells us what eternal life consist of:

“¹ Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, ² as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. ³ And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:1-3 NKJV)

 Eternal life is the knowledge of YAHWEH in the expression of YESHUA the Messiah. YESHUA is the expression of Life. His words and acts are the seed of life.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:33 NKJV)

The message of GOD has not changed. The words of YESHUA the Messiah are consistent with the words that YAHWEH gave to the Israelites through the prophet Moses for a commandment to ensure that they lived long and bountifully in the land of promise. As you read the words of this prophecy, you will see that keeping a close watch on the heart is central to living well.

“¹⁶ Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, ¹⁷ lest the Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸ “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ¹⁹ You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ²⁰ And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.” (Deuteronomy 11:16-21 NKJV)

We have to embrace this continual exhortation to abide in the expressions of GOD with our whole heart. We have to stand firm and immovable in the faith and hope of GOD’s acts and promises. The Lord begins this block of scripture by commanding us to keep watch over our hearts to protect it from deception. In other words, be vigilant to keep darkness and lies from entering or remaining in our hearts. As you study and meditate in scripture, as you rejoice in the many blessings of Christ our Savior, as you are stirred by the glory of YAHWWEH manifest throughout creation, allow your heart to be saturated with His grace, mercy, and extravagant love. Be intentional about this as you go through your day. YAHWEH is the originator of mindfulness as He has said, “Be still and know that I am GOD.” If we will not gobble down our days but stop and remember to savor our moments, the sweetness of GOD will come through, and He will captivate our hearts. This is behind the truth Christ spoke when He said, “They that love me keep my commandments.” This is also the root of 1 John 5:1-3,

“¹ Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. ³ For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 john 5:1-3 NKJV)

What makes keeping our hearts pure and wholly committed unto GOD difficult is a love for the things of this world. When we are enticed by the corruptible, counterfeit, and temporal things of this world, we open our hearts to things that are degenerate. The degenerate things of lust and pride weaken the heart and bring instability into our lives. When our heart is weak, we succumb to the temptations of the Deceiver. As you abide in the Word of YAHWEH, be attentive to your actions and words because they tell you what is in your heart.  Any actions or statements not in line with the word of GOD is an indication that there is something in the heart that needs uprooting and expelled. Renounce the thought, turn away from the deed, and remember all good things come from GOD alone. This will keep your life from being derailed by lying wonders and deliver you to your appointed destination in GOD instead of a dead end.

So, remember to guard your heart by confining it to very close watch. Break out of the automaticity of worldly programming and be intentional about living unto GOD with all your heart.

I’ll end with this sweet prayer and meditation.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

¹² Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
¹³ Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

(Psalm 19:7-8 NKJV)