Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
Our senses are bombarded with a lot of news and information everyday. Most news we hear from the media and sometimes even well-meaning colleagues and friends are usually not healthy news.
“1 in 11 Australian women will develop breast cancer before the age of 75.”
“If your family member has died of cancer, you had better go for a check-up.”
Is that good news to you at all? Does it not cast doubt, bring fear and worry into your life?
Yet we readily believe and accept these words into our heart. We put more trust in what man and his limited understanding of our bodies than our trust in the good news found in the supernatural Word of God. Yes, the very same life-changing words which promise “With long life I will satisfy you.”
Such media news when read is transmitted to our brains. Our brains acknowledge and process the sense of the news. Our inner minds of intellect attempt to comprehend the facts. When we accept the facts, we receive it into our thought processes and the allow the ‘power’ into our lives. And ultimately into our hearts.
Our Minds and Our Hearts
Deuteronomy 11:18 (NIV)
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
God has designed our minds to be extremely powerful. Our minds can have the power to turn what is spiritual or virtual into its real or physical equivalent. If our minds are not guarded, all kinds of bad news will get into our heads. And when the bad news drops into our hearts, they will be so real for each one of us.
2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV
"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity EVERY THOUGHT to the obedience of Christ;"
Our Hearts and Our Words
Deuteronomy 30:14
The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
Luke 6:45
For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Proverbs 18:21
The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Just like our minds and our hearts, our mouths and our hearts are also interlinked. If we hear of economic downturns and we watch news of companies laying people off, it is so easy to accept this news as the truth and agree with the world. When we watch advertisements and read magazines about the problems medical studies have found in our bodies, we believe them as the truth.
And so we have a tendency to say as the world says:
“Better don’t travel too much because swine flu is spreading like wildfire. I might catch it.”
“I think I’m going to be the next person to get the golden handshake from the company.”
My beloved friends, fact and truth are two separate matters. Facts are temporal and subject to change, but the truth remains forever. And knowing the truth will set you free.
It was once thought that the world was flat. That was a fact during that age and time. But nothing is further from the truth because the world has been round from the beginning God created it. What more can we say when God has ordained that He has plans for us to have a good future - plans of prosperity and hope.
Jer 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
In Luke 9 “Feeding of the Five Thousand”:
It was getting late and the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd into the nearby villages for food. They brought to Him five loaves and two fish.
Jesus looked around at the five-thousand crowd (excluding women and children). They had followed Him and had been with Him all day as He taught. Now they were tired and hungry. The skies were darkening. He peered down at the five loaves and two fish in His hands. Turning to His disciples, He exclaimed, “Wah how come so little? Do you know how many people are here? How to feed all at once?”
Did Jesus say that? Did he see the lack and the limited resources within the physical realm? Or perhaps when God saw into the darkness in Genesis, He said, “Eeewww, it’s so dark!”
No, instead God saw light in the darkness and called it forth. Likewise Jesus did not proclaim the lack. Instead He took the food in His hands, looked up towards His Father and gave thanks. Gave thanks for the abundance He is about to receive. Gave thanks that God is Jehovah Jireh. the Provider. Surely God’s name is not El-Cheapo! His name is El-Shaddai, the God Almighty!
The Benefits of God’s Word – Health and Wealth
Proverbs 8
20 My child, pay attention to what I say.
Listen carefully to my words.
21 Don’t lose sight of them.
Let them penetrate deep into your heart,
22 for they bring life to those who find them,
and healing to their whole body.
23 Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.
Keep God’s words within our hearts. Do not lose sight of them. For they are health to our bodies and faith and hope to our minds and hearts. God’s will is for us to prosper and succeed but He leaves the choice to us.
3 John 1:2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
The Bible has stated very clearly that it is the will of God for all believers to be prosperous in both health and wealth. Being rich does include having a lot of money.
If you are a believer and you are poor, it is the will of God for you to receive your riches and be rich. However, you will not be forced nor threatened to do so. You have the freedom to reject God’s will in your life, believe in the heresy of theology and remain in poverty. This is one of the main reasons why so many Christians are poor. They choose to believe in the lie that God does not want them to be rich. This false belief has caused them to reject the blessing of prosperity from God.
While God has the power to exercise full control over our lives, he will never do it without our direct approval because he has too much respect for us. In the previous Proverbs verses, we have the right to determine which course we wish to take in our lives and we do it by guarding our hearts above all else, and speaking forth the words according to what God had said.
And this goes for our health. Symptoms and outward physical appearances are facts. They are there for our eyes to see, our touch to feel. Remember facts are temporal and can change, but the Word of God is eternal and it will never change.
The truth is that God has put all our diseases and sicknesses upon the body of His Son at the cross. The sickness or disease cannot be at two places at one time! It’s either in your body or in Jesus’ body.
Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
When you look to the cross, see the sickness there on Jesus. He is your substitute lamb. The sickness will soon lose its power and its hold on your body. Just like when the Israelites were bitten by snakes in the desert. They were told to look at the bronze serpent. Either they look at the serpent on the pole, or they continue to look at their snake wounds.
Bronze means judged and the serpent represented the snake bites. See the snake bites (your lack, your sickness) judged on the bronzed serpent (Jesus). For those who looked, they were healed. But there were many who did not look at God’s provision for healing and rather focused on the snake bites. They all died.
The snake bites are as real as the money in your bank account or body symptoms. Instead turn your eyes towards the cross and see the healing and provision in our beautiful Jesus.
How do we guard our hearts?The question here is how to guard our hearts? How are we supposed to prevent bad news from getting into our minds and hearts? The answer is we can’t. Everything we see and hear will go straight into our brains and minds. We cannot stop this flow. However, we can present the information to create a positive impression for our minds. We can align ourselves to what God says about us.
As in the news, you read that many people are getting laid off from their jobs and how they are suffering. When this information gets into your brain, add in a few lines like:
“Thank God, I am in this world but not of this world. God’s promise to prosper me will still hold despite the poor state of economy right now.”
“I am an ambassador in Christ. The laws of the world do not govern my life. I am a citizen of heaven and a child of the Most High God. I am governed by His Spirit who guides and prospers me according to His word and faithfulness.”
“Jesus died poor for me to live rich. I am glad Jesus’ death at the Cross is more powerful than the effects of the bad economy right now. So, I will still be rich regardless of the circumstances. With this wealth, I can bless more people.”
When you add in positive interpretations to your mind, you are effectively positioning your minds to think positive and subsequently your mind will make those positive impressions captive and you will speak them forth to come true. This is the way we guard our minds/ hearts.
In addition, we should not meditate on the bad news. After you read the bad news, put it aside and move on. Do not meditate on it or you mind will start making it real for you.
In conclusion, God has made in clear that he has given us the freedom to decide on the course of our lives.
What type of future do you want? Do you want to be rich, healthy and successful? Do you want to have a long life like days of heave on earth and see your children’s children?
If you do, fill your minds with eternal truths in God’s word. And isn't the Word of God none other than Jesus and Him alone. Never allow your heart (mind) to think on anything that you do not wish to have and you do it by flooding your mind with thoughts on the future you want.
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In short, let God's peace in Christ Jesus guard your hearts and minds.
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