Above All Else

Above All Else
By Don Vess
 
Prov 4:23 NIV- Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
 
Complete Jewish Bible- “Above everything else, guard your heart; for it is the source of life’s consequences.”
 
The Hebrew word for heart, levav: includes our thoughts, our will, our discernment, and all our affections.
 
Why is it so important to guard our hearts? Matt. 12:33-37 “Either MAKE the tree good, and it’s fruit good; or MAKE the tree bad, and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of what fills the heart. 35 The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. 36 And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgement. 37 For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
 
Let’s talk about careless words.
 
Careless: Grk. Argos: inactive, unemployed, lazy, useless:- idle, insincere, false, unprofitable.

Word: Rhema: an utterance, a spoken word.
 
When we speak, we loose the power of death and life! Proverbs 18:21 Jewish Bible: the tongue has power over life and death: those who indulge it must eat its fruit.
 
Jesus spoke of a spiritual “heart condition”. Mark 7:14-23 -Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”      

17 Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used.18 “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? 19 Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.) 20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

The thoughts we allow from the outside contaminate what is on the inside. Food and other substances go into our stomach and are discharged through the digestive system. But what goes into our heart is discharged through our mouths. That is why it is crucial to our spiritual health that we guard our hearts ABOVE ALL ELSE!
 
We cannot relax for a moment because the enemy of our souls is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to devour us! How does he do it? He has his means. He is a deceiver, an accuser, a liar, and a killer. (John 10:9). Paul said, 2 Cor. 2:11 KJV- Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.                                    

Advantage: Grk. Pleonekteo: To outwit, to trick; to take advantage of someone through some sinister or sneaky means. Compound word: Pleon: more, and Echo: to have. Together- form pleonekteo: a desire to have more, and more, and more… it is a form of the word pleonexia: the Greek word for greediness. It pictures someone whose lust for something is so intense that he will take any actions required to obtain what he wants.

Paul used this word about Satan. Satan desperately wants something he can control. He wants US! The devil will use any method necessary to take advantage of us and get us under his control. He will deviously and artfully endeavor to outwit us, trick us, dominate us, and enslave us if possible. That is why Paul said, “We are not ignorant of his devices.”
                                                                                                                                        

The word, Ignorant: Grk. Agneo: refers to one’s ignorance or lack of certain facts. It also includes making mistakes or errors due to a lack of understanding. Is the picture of an uneducated person who, due to a lack of knowledge, is prone to arrive at mistaken collusions. It also describes somone who is in the dark or without a clue. Because this person lacks understanding, their conclusions are faulty, erroneous, and misguided. This is where we get the word agnostic. He is literally claiming to ignorant!  

So, the enemy will try to plant seeds of doubt, bitterness, lust, greed, anger, unforgiveness, etc., etc. Therefore, we must, above all else, guard our hearts!  The things that flow out of us will determine who we are. It is an outward manifestation of the person inside.

I cannot say this enough: “What we allow into our minds will affect our thinking, our thoughts will affect our actions, and our actions will determine our destiny.”  Faith is released from within! Romans 10:8-10 NASB- “The word of faith is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” that is, the word of faith which we are preaching., 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; 10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Faith begins inside, in the heart, and is released through the mouth as we Confess- homologeo: Agree with, speak, or say the same thing) the Word.

We also release either blessing or cursing out of the heart.

James warns us, James 3:1-15 NLT  Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.2 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. 3 We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. 4 And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. 5 In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches.

But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. 6 And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.                                                

7 People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, 8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. 9 Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. 10 And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! 11 Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? 12 Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. 13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

The way to cleanse our hearts is: Ps. 119:9, 11 Jewish Complete Bible- How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to Your word., Verse 11 I treasure Your word in my heart so that I won’t sin against You.

This is to be priority number one in our lives. ABOVE ALL ELSE -Guard your heart! Treasure God’s word in your Heart. Your heart is the SECRET PLACE in your life.                      

Ps. 91:1-6 TPT When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of God Most High. 2 He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me, the only God for me! and my great confidence. 3 He will rescue you from every hidden trap of the enemy, and He will protect you from every false accusation and any deadly curse. 4 His massive arms are wrapped around you protecting you. You can run under His covering of majesty and hide. His arms of faithfulness are a shield keeping you from harm. 5 You will never worry about an attack of demon forces at night nor have to dear a spirit of darkness coming against you. 6 Don’t fear a thing! Whether by night or by day, a demonic attack will not trouble you, nor will the powers of evil launched against you.