Key Verse:
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
- In these verses, the writer of this proverb, Solomon, encourages us to place great importance on protecting our hearts.
- What does he mean by our heart? The physical organ or the inner man?
Hebrew word for Heart – lēḇ
- Inner man, mind, will, heart & understanding.
- Inner Part of you.
- Mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
- Seat (throne) of all appetites, emotions and passions and of courage
- This heart is not the physical blood pump of a person but rather the central core place, inner person or soul of a person.
- This part of us needs protection because it is the part of us that can be most affected or vulnerable to things like fear and anxiety!
- The heart is the engine room of us that experiences manages and processes things like fear, anxiety and worry, as well as joy, happiness and hope.
- Solomon calls for us to be a watchman concerning:
- What is trying to get in.
- What you allow or welcome in.
- The Devil wants you to have a heart attack by attacking your heart.
John 10:10
Luke 21:26
- Fear is a root that causes other things like worry, anxiety, depression, hopelessness.
But What is it to Guard?
- Visual example: To be like a doorman or bouncer at the entrance of your life.
Guard – Hebrew word – nāṣar
- To guard, watch, watch over, keep
- To preserve, guard from dangers.
- To keep, observe, guard with fidelity.
- To be a watchman
- We may be living in fear-filled times, but we should have peace-filled hearts.
- God did not give us fear and so we do not need to let it in. 2 Timothy 1:7
God wants you to know His peace and to be kept in “perfect peace”.
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
We can know peace that comes from Jesus.
John 14:27 NKJV
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
- Not worldly peace, which is fickle and temporary, rather God’s peace which is stable and constant.
- This verse calls us to control the activity happening within our hearts!
John 16:33 (NKJV)
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
This is Jesus saying, “Don’t worry, I got this”!
Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
- God’s peace is the other doorman that protects the entrance of your life.
Colossians 3:15 (NKJV)
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
- Let (allow) the peace of God not fear from the devil or this world rule in you.
- Rule = brabeuō – to be an umpire, decide, determine, direct & control,
How to get more peace?
- Time with Jesus Prince of Peace
- Time in the Word hearing His thoughts and promises