Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Your mind is the guard of your heart. Jesus made it clear
that all sin comes from the heart and not the mind. This may be counter to what
most people believe, but many struggle with guilt unnecessarily because they do
not understand the role between our minds, our hearts and our thoughts. You
cannot control thoughts from entering your mind, but you can control whether or
not you entertain thoughts and then welcome them into your heart. We do not
fall under condemnation until sin is conceived in our hearts. Consider these
words of Jesus from Matthew 15:18-20
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
You are not defiled because of what goes in, but what comes
out[1].
Food, drink or anything going in cannot corrupt a man. This is also true about
thoughts in the mind. What thoughts arise in the mind does not necessarily
corrupt until we allow it a place, receive it into our hearts and allow it to
become part of the corruption that comes from our heart into our lives. We are
taught in scripture that we sin when we are drawn by our own sinful desires and
enticed[2].
It is the desire from our heart that draws us into sin and our actions are
conceived first in our hearts before acted out in our lives. Even if we are
restrained from acting out, the sin in our heart still condemns us and defiles
our lives. What we put in our minds and entertain in our thoughts will make it
into our lives. This is why the Bible warns us not to be conformed to this
world, but be transformed by renewing our minds each day[3].
The passage above explains that what comes out of the heart defiles us, but
also the heart can bring forth good things. Look at Matthew 12:
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
The heart can bring forth evil things that defile us, but it can also bring forth treasures of good things. Notice that Jesus did not say that our heart produces these things, but instead brings forth the treasures we have stored there. Men who have corrupt minds will be destitute of truth and reject the faith God has given[4], while the minds of the pure are renewed by the word of God and the power of God’s Spirit within us[5]. The key is what we treasure and allow into our hearts. If you daily pour corruption into your mind through movies, books, music and other sorts of entertainment, you are welcoming these into your heart. What you value is what you treasure up and your values are directly influenced by what you saturate your mind with. What you set your minds on to watch, read or listen to is what you are receiving as a valued treasure and will store in your heart.
You may have heard it said that doubt and fear are a sin. Some go as far as to teach that fear and doubt activate the devil but faith activates God. This belief is not taught in the scriptures and is far from the truth. God is always active in our lives and faith is trusting in the work of God, not trusting that God will do our bidding when we believe in our own ways and try to speak our own plan into existence. The plan of God was established before the foundation of the world[6]. We do not bring the plan to God and have Him approve it and do as we have proclaimed; rather we seek the Lord and allow Him to lead us down the paths of righteousness He has already established for us to walk in[7]. If you are trying to make God act, you will become frustrated when circumstances are not as you wish and you will be blind to the leading hand of God. Remember that the scriptures tell us that Jesus, our Good Shepherd, leads us through the valley of the shadow of death, but we are comforted by our faith in His strong hand[8].
Rather than activating the devil, fear and doubt are used to try our faith and even tempt us. The devil uses fear and doubt to tempt the Christian to abandon God’s plan and to take matters in their own hands, but God strengthens us through faith and uses these things to refine us and draw us close to Him. Some will cry out “Why God?” and others will cast their cares upon Him believing in His promises to work all things for our good. God often does not give us a clear view of how He is working as we go into trials. If we could see the whole picture, where would faith be? The true follower of Jesus Christ will trust Him even when life doesn’t make sense. This is also the one who will see the end result and experience the gratitude that comes from experiencing God’s goodness. Short term pain or suffering is a small price to pay for the goodness of the Lord. This is especially true knowing that God carries us through our darkest hour.
Fear and doubt cannot overcome faith any more than darkness can overcome light. Faith is of the Spirit but fear and doubt are of the flesh. Your battle of the flesh will be a life long struggle and temptations will arise throughout your life. Unfortunately, there will never be a time in your life where you will be above temptation. Temptation will lose its grip as your grow into spiritual maturity, but there will still be times when you will struggle. In fact, the times when I get blindsided by temptation is when I feel on top of the world. I suppose that during the times when we feel the most spiritual are also the times when we let our guard down and allow ourselves to become vulnerable.
Fear and doubt are both temptations of the flesh. These are human emotions that will always be a part of our nature, but we do not have to let them dominate our lives. Teaching people to feel guilty because these feelings arise only compounds the problem. When you believe you have sinned because you had a feeling of doubt, you will already have feelings of defeat. It is also self-defeating to think that you have to muster up faith in order to get God to act. Faith is not man-made. Faith is a fruit of the Spirit[9], gift of the Spirit[10], and it is measured to every person by God so that we have the power to receive salvation[11] and believe the word of God. Not once is faith ever attributed to man. Faith is of the Spirit and man in his flesh cannot produce anything of the Spirit. The truth is that faith is the Spirit revealing the plan of God and giving us the power to put our trust in God while fear or doubt is the flesh challenging our God-given faith. The scriptures tell us that faith comes by hearing the word of God[12]; therefore, when our human eyes see circumstances that make us afraid, we have feelings of doubt and then we must decide whether to put our trust in doubt or to put our trust in the word of the Lord. This is why the Bible states that whatever is not of faith is sin[13]. Faith is believing the word of God and anything not of faith is a rejection of God’s word and our willful act of turning from the faith God has given.
If fear overthrew our faith, what would have happened to the
great men of faith in the Bible? Gideon was afraid. As a young man who was
probably around sixteen an angel of God appeared to him while he was hiding
from the Median army in a wine vat. God raised him up to be the captain of the
army of
Moses fled from Pharaoh and then was too afraid to speak
publicly. God had to send his brother Aaron to be his mouth piece. Nehemiah
prayed for an opportunity to speak to the king that inherited the throne after
Consider all the men who followed God’s promises in spite of fear and doubt. King David, Jeremiah, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Moses, Peter (who denied Jesus three times out of fear), all of Jesus’ disciples fled and then hid in an upper room, and the list could go on. I believe the biblical account of Jacob gives a wonderful example of dealing with fear through faith that we can all apply to our Christian lives.
If you are not familiar with the history of Jacob, he fled
from his brother Esau to live with his uncle Laban. Esau sold his birthright to
Jacob for a pot of stew. This was a foolish act and very significant for the
birthright was the spiritual leadership of the nation of
At the end of 20 years, God instructed Jacob to return to
the land of his fathers (which would one day become the Promised Land of Israel).
God promised Jacob that he would be with him and would deal kindly with him. As
Jacob prepared to cross the river into his homeland, he received word that Esau
was coming with 400 men to meet him[14].
Jacob was terribly afraid as he should have been. His brother would not have
gathered four hundred men just to welcome Jacob home. The Lord commanded Jacob
to return home with the promise that He would be with him and make him a great
nation, but on the other side a small army was pursuing and Jacob had no
defense whatsoever. Fear called him to turn back and flee, but the word of the
Lord was to go forward without any defense except the command and promise of
God. Look at Jacob’s response in Genesis
32:9-12
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
The testimony of Jacob is precisely what the faith of the Christian life is all about. Jacob did not try to pretend he did not fear. He didn’t try to suppress his doubt and muster up a false, man-made faith. Jacob was honest before God. He acknowledged the commandment of God and then stood upon the promise God gave if he would obey. God softened Esau’s heart and the two were reconciled instead of Esau attacking Jacob and his family.
We as Christians stand upon the promises of God by faith or we put our trust in fear and doubt. Fear and doubt will attempt to take over our minds, but we must not put our trust in fear and we must not disbelieve God’s word because of doubt. We must not pretend that these feelings do not exist when they arise, but acknowledge them before God and agree to stand upon the word of God regardless of circumstances. The promises of God are to those who obey – even when we are doubtful and fearful.
Fear and doubt war against our minds and attempt to turn our
hearts from our faith in God. The truth is that faith cannot be overthrown; we
either stand upon it or depart from it. Faith is based upon the word of God and
we either believe God’s word and obey or believe doubt and disobey. If you
study the scriptures you will see that not one person is condemned for feelings
of fear or doubt. Condemnation is to those who disbelieve the word of God.
Unbelief comes from the heart – not the mind. The thoughts will arise, but only
when we place value on these things of the flesh, receive them and treasure
them in our hearts will we have consequences. Only when we place our trust in
fear or doubt will we be persuaded to reject the word of God and turn from Him
in disbelief. Jesus warned not to doubt in our heart but trust in the power of
God[15].
The Bible also teaches that we must allow the peace of God to rule in our
hearts and that this is only possible when the word of Christ dwells richly within
us[16].
The battle of the heart is described well in Hebrews 3:12-15
12 Take heed, brethren,
lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God. 13 But exhort one
another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin. 14
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence
stedfast unto the end; 15
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as
in the provocation.
Consider
the treasures tucked away in this passage. First take note that unbelief is
found in an evil heart – not a feeling or a thought of doubt. Unbelief is
departing from the living God. In other words, we depart from the word and turn
our backs on God when we put our trust in doubt. When doubt corrupts the heart
it becomes unbelief and turns us away from God. Unbelief is a declaration of
the heart that we do not believe what God has said in His word. Our words may
or may not testify to this but our hearts will either turn to the Lord or away
from Him. We will either hear his voice through the word or harden our hearts
and turn from the Lord. Those who guard their hearts and minds to obey God will
become a partaker of Christ and conform to His likeness. The provocation
referred to above is where the Children of Israel rebelled against God in the
desert and wanted to turn back to
If you stand upon the commandments and promises of God by faith, you are guarding your heart through your mind. Take notice that the word of God is the foundation for our stand in the faith. We must know the word so we can evaluate every thought and subdue it or receive it. We are told to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and cast down every imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God[18]. This is only possible through knowing the Lord through His word. As we allow the word to dwell richly in our hearts and minds, we will have a sure foundation to stand upon so that we can guard our hearts and minds. We must not allow our hearts to become corrupt for out of it come the issues of life.
This type of topic is always a little touchy because it does indeed shift a bit of responsibility on those who may be suffering. I am aware of this, but it is true that anyone who follows these biblical principles will reap the rewards. I have experienced some of these things and can testify that these biblical principles are effective to bring a life that is out of control under subjection to God and will give us the peace that goes beyond our human understanding.
We all have our reasons why certain areas of our life bring us under the power of our flesh. Some struggle with addictions that date back to childhood, some have fears, phobias and depressions, some have circumstances that are extremely difficult. Our problems are very real and sometimes very threatening; however, we as Christians have been given the power to rise above these things of the flesh and walk with power in the Spirit. This does not mean overcoming these things will be easy and it will NOT be a one time victory. It takes faith, patience and discipline to put down the flesh and bring it under subjection to godliness and it continues to take spiritual discipline to keep the flesh from rising up and bringing us back under its subjection again.
We live in a fallen world with many difficulties; however,
the Bible teaches us that we must endure in the faith for we must enter the
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God. 3 For
consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Jesus is our example for He joyfully endured the cross even though He despised its shame. How can you have joy in what you despise? Jesus’ focus was not on the cross, but what was beyond the cross. He saw the victory that overcomes the world and the reconciliation of you as a son or daughter of God. Your victory was the joy that He endured. We also must learn to look beyond our circumstances and into the hope that has been given for our joy. Can you have joy during times of depression? You certainly can. King David was a man given to depression and there were times it threatened to overcome him, but the Bible says that he learned to encourage himself in the Lord[20].
Can you have joy when fear is all around? Without a doubt we
can find joy by standing by faith during times of fear. The Psalmist declared
that when he was afraid he put his trust in God[21]
and hoped in His word. The apostles declared that even in fear, they found
comfort in God[22]. There
will be times when we cannot change our circumstances, but we can change how we
view those circumstances. We can face them in the flesh and allow our human
nature to drive us into despair, or you can stand firm in the Spirit by trusting
in the word of the Lord. Paul’s letter to Timothy applies to all the church.
Look at 2 Timothy 1:6-7:
6 Wherefore I put thee in
remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands. 7 For God
hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound
mind.
We also have to be put in continuous remembrance of the gift of God given to us. One such gift is the promise that we have been given power, love from on high and a sound mind. In this passage the phrase ‘sound mind’ is the Greek word sophronismos (pronounced so-fron-is-mos') which means: soundness of mind and to have moderation and a mind under self-control. It is far too easy to allow our minds to bring us under control rather than us practicing self-control over our minds. Our minds get out of control when we allow ourselves to dwell on things of the flesh. We can let our thoughts carry us into lust, hatred, bitterness, fear, gloom, despair and any number of other things. In Christ we are not bound by these things but must put ourselves under subjection to the flesh. We have the promise that through the grace of God we have been given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind.
In the previous portion of this study we looked at the
importance of being brought into constant remembrance so that our hearts are
stirred and we recognize the gifts of God – including the promise that God has
given us the ability to have a sound mind through the power and love of God. The
scriptures give us a clear path out of the things that corrupt our minds in
this passage from Philippians 4:6-9
6 Be careful for nothing;
but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your
requests be made known unto God. 7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus. 8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think
on these things. 9 Those
things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me,
do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
This is much easier said
than done. Everything in our fallen world tends to naturally drift toward chaos
rather than order. I like to garden. If I allow my garden to go unattended for
even a short time, the weeds take over and completely overrun anything good
that was growing. If I go out daily and pick the weeds out, the task is short
and requires little effort; however, if I allow the weeds any time at all to
get established, the task quickly grows more difficult and in a short time the
overgrown garden will seem all but hopeless. Some weeds have an intricate root
system that spreads under the surface and is unnoticeable until the weed
appears. Plucking the weed doesn’t kill the root and I quickly find that this
one underlying root is the cause of many new sprouts springing up all over the
place.
This is not much
different than how our thought process works. Sometimes what appears on the
surface is only a symptom of something rooted in our minds. We have to take
care to keep these from taking over our thoughts and find the root cause for
our anxieties, bitterness and other sinful behaviors. We have been given the
power by God to overcome through faith. Faith comes by hearing the word of the
Lord[23] and
is put into action in our lives when we trust Him and act upon the word of God.
Notice the foundation of
our sound mindedness in verse 4. This is a treasure of truth for those who
apply this principle to their lives. We cannot benefit from this promise
without all three actions in verse 4: prayer, supplication and thanksgiving. People
often speak about prayer but rarely do Christians accept the principle of
thanksgiving. Thanksgiving and faith go hand-in-hand for if we understand that
God has established all our ways we can rejoice as we await the end of our
faith and not be bound by an immediate circumstance. Psalm 139 testifies that
God not only formed us in the womb, but also fashioned our days and established
our paths before we stepped foot on this earth. Also consider this passage from
Romans 8:28-31
28 And we know that all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. 29
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to
the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us?
If God promised that all
things work together for our good, He fashioned our days and predestined our
lives, what evil can befall us? We still live in a fallen world and God did not
promise that we would be sheltered from the curse of sin that has been a part
of creation from the beginning, in fact, we have been promised the opposite.
Jesus said that in this world we will have tribulation, but we should be of
good cheer for He has overcome the world[24] and
we are overcomers in Him through faith[25].
Will we have pain and sorrow in this life? Yes, but be of good cheer for we are
overcomers in Him and if God is for us, who can be against us?
Consider the example of
Joseph given to us in the book of Genesis. If you are not familiar with this
account, Joseph was despised by his brothers. They hated him so much that they
could not speak a kind word to him. They first plotted to kill him, but then
saw a band of traders and decided to make a little money by selling him as a
slave. By their own testimony, Joseph pleaded with them and they heartlessly
ignored the anguish of his cries. When the traders arrived in
17 He sent a man before
them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: 18 Whose feet they hurt with
fetters: he was laid in iron: 19
Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Joseph had pain and
suffered through many trials, but it was necessary to prepare him for the work
God would do in His life. Joseph remained faithful to God even though he would
not understand the reason for his suffering until much later in life. It was the
word of the Lord that tried him for all this was from God. Joseph testifies
that even though his brothers meant this for evil, it was actually the work of
God to bring deliverance to his father, brothers and their children and their
wives. In this age of the prosperity gospel, the church does not understand how
God deals with our lives and we are only willing to take comfort from God’s
hand and not trials. We are not preparing people to endure hardship or to know
that God is preparing their lives for Him to reveal His mighty work. Because
our focus is on a life of ease and comfort, we kick against the Lord and get
discouraged when trials come. Many think that hardship is the result of sin or
a lack of faith but in reality it is necessary to try our faith, prune away the
things that must be removed and prepare us for God’s glory to be revealed in
us.
We cannot control the circumstances
we find in our lives, but we can look at the path before us knowing that in the
end the promise awaits us. We can be assured that God has created our path and will
use all circumstances for our good. The Lord’s ways are always good for they
are established in eternity even when our focus is on the temporary things that
are passing away. He ordains prosperity and hardships in our lives for a
purpose that we may not see or understand until we look back at the finished
work He has done. We do indeed acknowledge our pain through our time of prayer
and petition God for our needs through supplication, but we do so with
thanksgiving. Thanksgiving doesn’t mean that we pretend pain doesn’t exist, but
that we trust God for what He will do – and is doing – in our lives. If we had
a choice, we would take the road of ease and would avoid pain at all cost. This
is why so many variants of the prosperity gospel are so appealing to so many
people. Everyone wants to be happy, prosperous and healthy; however, we are
promised that God will try us, refine us and perfect us. Look now at 1 Peter
4:12-13
12 Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you: 13
But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when
his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
When you find yourself in
hardship, don’t think that something is wrong with you or that something is
wrong in your spiritual life. Many times people believe that sin in their life
is the cause of their own suffering. Obviously if we do something wrong and
this creates consequences, our sin is the cause of our suffering, but suffering
is not always the result of our personal sin. We are promised that God will
prune the fruitful Christian’s life so that they can bear more fruit. We are
promised that we will be refined with fire to remove the things that are not
pure in the Spirit. We are promised that we will be shaken so that the things
that are not eternal may fall away. Do not think that it is strange, but
rejoice knowing that God is removing what is earthly to establish the things in
your life that will be eternal. Consider the refining of gold. Even a beautiful
golden nugget is filled with impurities. Each time gold is refined, the
impurities rise to the top, are removed, and the precious metal becomes more
valuable. When we submit ourselves to God with prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, we have the promise that the peace of God which goes beyond our
understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ.
The word ‘keep’ we looked
at earlier in Philippians 4:7 is the Greek word phroureo (pronounced
froo-reh'-o). The word ‘phoureo’ is a very interesting word which means to
protect by a military guard to either prevent a hostile invasion or to keep the
inhabitants of a besieged city from fleeing in fear. That is a powerful truth
packed in a simple passage. When you learn to apply prayer, supplication and
thanksgiving to your life, the Spirit of God guards you like an immovable force
against the invasion of this world. This is why the Bible says that the wicked
flee when no one is pursuing but the righteous are bold as a lion[26].
When you stand upon the confidence that ‘if God is for you, who can be against
you’, nothing can move you away from the confidence of Christ. He will truly be
your Rock and your Fortress.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
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Return to the Bible Studies Page
[1] Matthew 15:11
[2] James 1:14
[3] Romans 2:12
[4] 2 Timothy 3:8
[5] 2 Peter 3:1, Titus 3:5
[6] Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 139:14-18, Hebrews 4:3, Revelation 13:8, Ephesians 1:4
[7] Ephesians 2:10, Psalm 23:3, Proverbs 8:20
[8] Psalm 23:4
[9] Galatians 5:22
[10] 1 Corinthians 12:9
[11] Romans 12:3
[12] Romans 10:17
[13] Romans 14:23
[14] Genesis 32:6-8
[15] Mark 11:23
[16] Colossians 3:15-16
[17] Acts 7:39
[18] Colossians 10:5
[19] Acts 4:16
[20] 1 Samuel 30:6
[21] Psalm 18; Psalm 56:3-4
[22] 2 Corinthians 7:5
[23] Romans 10:17
[24] John 16:33
[25] 1 John 4:4
[26] Proverbs 28:1
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