Direct Your Heart Proverbs 23:19 Proverbs 12:15 Proverbs 23:12 Proverbs 23:22-25 Proverbs 1:7 Ephesians 4:17-24 James 4:1-4 Romans 7:21-25 Psalms 37:4-8 05.03.21

 

DIRECT YOUR HEART

BREAD

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.   Proverbs 23:19 (NIV)

 

¹⁵ The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.  Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)

 

¹² Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.  Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)

 

²² Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. ²³ Buy the truth and do not sell it; get wisdom, discipline and understanding. ²⁴ The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him. ²⁵ May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!   Proverbs 23:22-25 (NIV)

 

⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.   Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)

 

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. ²⁰ You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹ Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  Ephesians 4:17-24 (NIV)

 

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  ⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  James 4:1-4 (NIV)

 

²¹ So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.  Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)

⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:  ⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.  ⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. ⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil.   Psalms 37:4-8 (NIV)

 

BUTTER

“Our hearts need to be directed away from following deceitful loves and treasures, and toward what is truly lovely and valuable.”   Jon Bloom

 

“If you neglect a careful watch, you will certainly enter into temptation, and just as certainly fall into sin.  Do not flatter yourselves:  ‘Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.’  Past grace received will not preserve you from evil; you must stand upon your watch.”  John Owen  

 

“We must direct our hearts (often through seeking good advice) to discern how power, manipulation, and sinful gain can lure us into danger.”  Jon Bloom

 

“God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.”   Thomas Brooks

“They do not go wrong who go in the company of God.  Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road.  You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you.  ‘The LORD’ – note the word – ‘The LORD’ will guide you always.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“We all know from experience that our affections ‘are at war within [us]’ (James 4:1). The new self ‘delight[s] in the law of God,’ while the old self ‘wages war against God’s law’ (Romans 7:22-23). So, because we experience both of these selves for now, the Bible generally encourages us to direct our hearts rather than follow our hearts. We direct our hearts away from the corrupt, destructive things that delight our old selves, and toward the pure, profoundly wonderful realities God has designed to delight our new selves.”  Jon Bloom

“As true champions, we must realize God is the One who brings victory, and we must fulfill our roles as humble servants, submitting to His plan for our lives. Though the temptation may be to do things our way, especially when we know that God is leading us in a certain direction, we must resist that temptation and trust His timing. Doing things God's way is the only way to go.”  Michael Youssef

“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Romans 1:21-23 puts it this way:  ‘What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.’ The Message

“To serve and honor God at every turn in life, we must follow the voice of the Holy Spirit and not our flesh. In our desire to live holy and righteous lives, we must determine to rely upon Him for guidance and direction. When we do, we will avoid potential pitfalls and heartache.”  Michael Youssef

“The Bible doesn’t say the just shall live by feeling; it says the just shall live by faith (see Romans 1:17). We read the Word of God and then take the principles found in it, put them into practice, and start going in the right direction.”   Greg Laurie

“The word translated ‘commit’ in Psalm 37:5 quite literally means “to roll (in blood); be dyed red; figuratively meaning to take your ways to the foot of the cross.  The blood of Jesus cleanses all our plans and our sins, purifying them.  Enabling us through His power to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in all things.  The heart is deceitful beyond all cure.  It is God alone Who can cleanse and direct us in the path which we should go – redeeming our time for His glory, for our good.”  BHY

HEART SAVOR

·         We are to direct our hearts to God’s Word and apply it to our lives.  He will keep us on the right path.

·         The flesh seeks to control us but we must war against it.  We are to get wisdom, discipline and understanding.

·         If we are a friend of the world we are an enemy of God.  The world is passing away, God is eternal.