Proverbs 4:23


Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it ~ Proverbs 4:23

The heart is a precious organ, from which arteries carry blood throughout the whole body. From this organ oxygen is carried to feed the cells, and the waste of the cells is carried away, only to be replenished by the new. Cholesterol can block these arteries, as can a break-down caused by a clotting. When this happens, the life-flow is cut off, or inhibited from its full potential of granting life. So long as the heart can receive and propel the blood, so long is life continued. Care must be taken that nothing can stop that fountain. The proverb is telling us a double watch must be kept for its spiritual safety. The heart, it is said, is the seat of the Lord of life and glory. We must be diligent then, that our heart is not sealed up or the streams be cut off from receiving and giving this glory to God. What we feel goes into our head, and that thought is what we act upon. If my heart feels evil, I will act evil, for my head will think of the ways in which I can seek revenge, or gossip, or be envious, or prideful, and I will act upon those thoughts and feelings. But if my heart is full of God’s grace and mercy, full of His love and compassion, full of His acceptance and healing, then I will act in those ways. But be warned, the heart is deceitful! Guard that the love is pure, that the mercy is just, that the acceptance is holy. The heart is the source of all human contact, so strive with all you have to keep it pure.
Devotion by Pastor Julia

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