He is all we need . God ’ s presence is to humanity and it becomes a disaster when a man decides to live independently . The moment we lose it , we become exposed . It ’ s like a fish ; you expose a fish and put it at the risk of dying the moment you remove it out of water . Fish cannot survive without water , no matter what happens , and to us we risk ‘ death ’ in all its forms when we get out of God ’ s presence . Having the reality of the presence of God is not dependent on our being in a particular circumstance or place , but it is only depended on our determination to keep the Lord before us continually . It means putting Him in the first place – the place where He belongs .
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness , and all these things will be given to you as well ~ Matthew 6:33
We are living in a generation of ‘ worriers ’; worrying about everything and anything . Jesus makes it clear that worrying or being anxious about all the things of this world will not solve anything . Your heart must be set for something else – something more important – for it is only pagans who worry about the things of this world . As for us , first things must come first ; the Kingdom of God and His righteousness . This simply means that you cannot seek the kingdom without seeking the King . And so , God comes first .
The main reason why people are vulnerable to conmen and are being deceived and robbed in broad daylight is because they are after stuff , not God . When your heart rejects God and it departs from Him , it suddenly becomes needy and you start seeking God for what He has not for who He is . Give yourself to God first ; seek Him first and let Him take the first position in your life and in every other area of your life , enthrone Him back to His position and let Him occupy the throne of your heart .
Our greatness starts and ends with God ’ s presence . God has great plans for all of us but many are times we just make the wrong choices and decisions and end up leaving His presence . God does not revoke His promises ; they are delayed because most times we choose to walk alone . God is a God of second chances and I believe that we can still be restored back . The only thing we need to do is to get back to God ' s presence and He shall restore us back .
Guard your Heart
The heart is the most important thing you have and I believe that your heart is actually the heart of everything in your life . The course or direction of your life is determined by the condition of your heart . Your response towards life is determined by what occupies your heart . This means that whoever or whatever occupies your heart controls your life . This is the reason why the heart of man is very critical before God . It ' s His dwelling place . His throne – a place of Lordship that only belongs to God – is in your heart . When God says “ I will make my home with my people and live among them ” it means that He will come and dwell in our hearts .
Jesus replied , “ Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching . My Father will love them , and we will come to them and make our home with them ~ John 14:23 NIV
Your heart is actually the home of God . His house is not a building or a geographical location , it ' s your heart . And so for God to dwell with you , your heart must be conducive . The condition of your heart is what determines whether or not He will make his home in it . If it is full of bitterness , hateful feelings , evil passions , anger and every other kind of wickedness , God is not there because sin and God cannot dwell in the same heart at the same time . Righteousness and unrighteousness cannot dwell in the same temple . This means that if God is not in your heart , someone or something else has taken preeminence over your life . Knowledge , experience and skills are important , but it ’ s the heart that matters above everything else .
Above all else , guard your heart , for everything you do flows from it ~ Proverbs 4:23 NIV
The reason why we should guard our hearts is because they are extremely valuable . We don ’ t guard things that are worthless . For example , you can leave your garbage outside unguarded and forget about it without even wanting to know what will happen to it because that garbage is completely worthless , but this is not the case with our hearts . It is actually the essence of who we are . It is our authentic self – the core of our being . It is where all our dreams , desires , and passions live . It is that part of us that connects with God and other people . Guarding our hearts must be a priority . This is why proverbs says ‘ above all else ’.
The second reason why we must guard our hearts is because they are the source of everything we do . Another version says ‘ from it flows the springs of life .’ This means that it is the source of everything else in our lives . Our hearts overflow into thoughts , words and actions . Their conditions determine the final outcome or results in our lives and everything else that concerns us .
“ No good tree bears bad fruit , nor does a bad tree bear good fruit . Each tree is recognized by its own fruit . People do not pick figs from thorn bushes , or grapes from briers . A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart , and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart . For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of ~ Luke 6:43-45 NIV
The third reason why we need to guard our hearts is because they are under constant attack . The enemy is real and he will do anything to destroy us . He opposes God and everything aligned with Him , including His children . He knows that when he gets a hold of our hearts , he will prevail against us . He uses all kinds of weapons to attack our hearts including disappointments , discouragements or anything else that is negative . It is our individual responsibility to guard our hearts and we must do it all the time . It is a full time job .
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