Heart of Kim

I am convinced more and more each day of the importance of “guarding our hearts” from the deadly poison being spewed from the world’s system of thought. We are told in the Word to “guard our heart with all diligence”. Look at the following scripture:

Proverbs 4: ²⁰My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.  ²¹Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.  ²²For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.  ²³Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.  ²⁴Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.  ²⁵Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.  ²⁶Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.  ²⁷Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Look at verse 23 in the Amplified: ²³Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

Another translation says “the forces of life”.   In a world of constant distractions it’s all too easy to fall asleep at the wheel, so to speak, and allow just anything and everything to pass through our eyegate and eargate. 

The Word begins to take a backseat to all of the affairs of life.  The word is worked in only when it becomes convenient and doesn’t interfere in our busy schedule. By the time we get around to the Word of God, we’re so tired; we fall asleep.  Then when it’s time to be on guard against all the wiles of the devil, we are dull of fresh revelation, thereby not on guard against the subtlety of the enemy.  This weakened condition causes us to become prey to deception.

In this hectic world that we live in we must make choices that side with the written Word of God if we are going to realize the “more than conquerors” that we have been made through Christ.  We have been made His righteousness, we have been made kings and priests unto our God, we have been made free from the law of sin and death and we have been given everything that pertains to life and godliness. 

Tests and trials are a part of this life.  Jesus said in John 16:33  

  ³³These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

But He overcame and has given us authority over all the power of the enemy. However;  lack of knowledge and knowledge with no faith/action equals to nothing.  We can find ourselves bound and frustrated by the circumstance of life rather than victorious and overcoming.  In the Revelation of Jesus Christ it says they overcame him (satan) by the blood of the lamb, the word of their testimony and loving not their lives unto the death.

Sorry, but the third part of that verse we don’t even like to quote because we equate it with physical death.  Look, if we won’t die to ourself now and put His Word first place in our life; let’s not kid ourself, we certainly wouldn’t physically give our life willingly.

But, to overcome, we must “guard our heart”.  Why?  Because, out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth speaks and we get what we say!  (Matt 12:34, Luke 6:45, Mark 11:23-24)

Honour and Respect for the Word of God must be first place in our life, especially our “thought life”.   We must realize and have revelation that the Word of God “is God” and it is the power of God unto salvation from whatever we need saving from.  Guarding our heart, realizing that from it comes the power of life and death rolling off our tongue and affecting every area of our life.  We will live and eat the words that we speak.  Jesus, said three times  when He was tempted “it is written”.  If it was important enough for Jesus to overcome temptation with the Word, we must conclude that it is just as important for us to be full of the Word and on guard at all times and ready to fight the fight of faith.

Keeping and guarding our heart with all diligence will help us to stay strong, alert and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It will help us keep a mindset that is free from being watered down, diluted and tainted by the world’s way of thinking.  Remember; satan is the god of this world’s system.   We are new creations that should be thinking according to the kingdom of God’s system. We are told to cast down imaginations (thoughts) that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God!  It’s easier to recognize those thoughts and deal with them when our library of information that we have received and loaded into our mind is the Word of God!  Let’s begin to set a watchman at the door of our mind/thoughts and our tongue and take our rightful places as overcoming and victorious sons and daughters of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!   

All of us at one time or another have felt alone.  We don’t necessarily have to “be alone” to feel lonely. We can find ourself  alone with nothing but our own thoughts and the world around us  becoming a blurr.  All kinds of negative emotions can invade our hearts and minds and try to take them captive.   If there is absence of peace and joy in an “alone place” and all you are experiencing is sadness or depression,  it is the beginning of an attempt of satan to isolate you.  His plan is to get you to a vulnerable place; a place of weakness.  The intentions of satan are to implant suggestions in your mind so that you begin to question your value and worth to yourself and others.  These negative thought patterns are sent to ultimately destroy self esteem and confidence.  But - YOU ARE NOT ALONE!  You are very valuable to God.  In fact,  He is thinking of you right now!  Look at the following scriptures: 

Jeremiah 29:11 says in the KJV -
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

Look at this passage in another translation –

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Now that’s the way God is THINKING about you!  You are not alone, even if you feel like you are.  His thoughts are to give you HOPE! Jesus said that He would never leave us or forsake us and in  Psalms 94:14 He says – For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.  When Jesus hung on the cross, He cried out; My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  He was cut off, out of the land of the living and bore all our sin alone.  He did it for us, that we might never have to be alone or lonely.  What a compassionate and loving God!.  He loves you more than you can comprehend and He is closer to you than your breath.  He is there with you now.  Yes, there are times we may “feel”  lonely.  But “feelings” do not always tell the truth.  Feelings can be deceptive and satan will use our feelings and emotions to deceive us and manipulate us.  The Word of God is Truth and when we KNOW the Word of God, our knowledge will make it a lot more difficult on the devil to confuse us, deceive us and manipulate us with unwanted thoughts and emotions. The Truth that we know will make us free from the lies of the enemy. The truth is:  You are not alone! The truth is:  You are in the thoughts of God!

 In fact, the truth is, Jesus is thinking about you right this moment.  He is interceding for you as you read this!  He is representing you to the Father.  I’m going to give you two scriptures to prove it!

Hebrews 7:24-25  But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Romans 8:32-39  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.  34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.  35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Put on the garment of praise today for the spirit of heaviness!  Know that He is there with you! Know that He cares for you!  You are so special to Him, He sent His son to die for you! But also know, Jesus didn’t stay dead.  Jesus was raised to life for you that you might be raised to life.  Jesus is alive. Jesus sits at the Father’s right hand thinking of you!  My, what a Saviour!   You are NOT alone. He is with you this very moment. You are on His mind.  He is Thinking about YOU!

There is a scripture that some folks use when they cannot explain something tragic or devastating.   It is where Job ascribed to God as being the one behind all his troubles.  Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.  Now I know there have been endless debates by theologians throughout the years over this one topic.  However, I am not here to debate and a single post is not nearly enough space to write a discourse on this portion of scripture.  The point I want to make is this:  God is never the one who takes away!  I say that emphatically and with confidence. Job made this statement based on insufficient  knowledge of the character of God. I believe people still make this statement today because of the same reason, hence, I see people hurt, angry and bitter against God because of it.  Look at some of the following scriptures with me:

 Jesus himself said in John 10:10 – The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Now think about it for a moment.  Jesus himself answers the age-old question concerning Job.  Jesus is plainly telling us that it is satan who is the thief.  It is satan who steals, kills and destroys.  But what about God’s sovereignty you ask?  I’m glad you ask.  Adam gave away his dominion when he sinned in the garden of Eden.  Guess who he gave it to?  He gave it to satan.  Yes, God is sovereign!  But God is also just.  God didn’t act unjustly and take back dominion from satan when Adam lost it.  What makes us think that God would take away anything that is legally someone elses.  God Almighty is the Righteous Judge and he always judges righteously. 

 Mankind is in the state it is in because of sin.  Jesus willfully came and paid our price and satisfied the righteous justice of God when he hung on the cross and went into hell.  Whether we like it or not, satan is still the god of “this” world and he is god over anyone who has not received Jesus Christ as their saviour and Lord.  It is not till a person receives Jesus as their saviour that they are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  

Another reason that I know that God does not take is because the scripture says that Jesus was the express image of God. Hebrews 1: 2Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; 3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:   Jesus kept saying, If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.  Show me somewhere in the new testament where Jesus ever took from anyone.  Jesus was the epitome of  GIVE, GIVE, GIVE.  He hasn’t changed.

 Another reason:    People get the idea that they got to carry the cross of Jesus by the suffering of sickness, disease, poverty, tragedy, loss, etc.  This is not so!  All these sufferings are listed in Deuteronomy 28 and are labeled as curses of the law.    Then, Galatians 3:13 says: Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree…  Once again, God is giving, not taking away!  Every one knows John 3:16 which says that God so loved the world that He gave….   Every thing that Jesus suffered was for us. But everything that Jesus bought and paid for us has to be received “by faith”.  

Another reason:  I hear a lot of folks say that they or someone they know is sick because God wants to teach them something.  My dear friend,  who in their right mind would teach their own child something by making the child sick or breaking its legs, etc.  To even consider that God would teach His children in that manner is utterly ridiculous.  The Word of God says in John 14:26 says But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  In correcting His disciples, Jesus always corrected them with His words. Jesus has not changed; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to perish from lack of knowledge.  And I certainly don’t want to be accusing God of things that are totally out of character for Him.  And I shutter to think that I would misrepresent Him to others.  I pray that the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him be upon all who are part of the body of Christ.

I know this has been a long blog post, but I thought it necessary to try to fully explain to the best of  my ability why God is not the Taker but He is the Giver.   I will conclude with the real suffering that we enter into and the real carrying of a cross with Him.

Paul said in  2 Timothy 1:11 - …for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.  Paul was talking to Timothy concerning the sufferings of imprisonment  and persecution that he continued to experience because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.   This was written close to the end of Paul’s life and he is writing to Timothy words of  wisdom and encouragement from his cell in a prison in Rome.  We are told in verse 12 of chapter 3 of 2 Timothy that  all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  There are those all around the world today who are suffering this type of persecution.  We don’t see a lot of this type of persecution in America.  I am thankful to live in a free nation that has been built on christian principles!   However;  there is verbal, mental and emotional persecution against the church everywhere.  Yes, there is suffering.  But the sufferings that Jesus shed His blood to redeem us from, let us receive by faith our healing and deliverance to the Glory of God.  And the suffering that comes from persecution, let us endure to the end to the Glory of God! 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5   ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:  ⁴(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)  ⁵Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The illustration above is a good picture of how we can feel when we have been trying to fight lifes battles our own way!  When we do it “our way”, we end up tired, weary, disgusted, frustrated and down.  There is a mental treadmill that satan will lead us to and  keep us on and then will use our own energy as fuel to keep it going round and round and round.  God has provided a much better way!  He gives us the strength to face life and He gives us the way in which to win. 

Ephesians 6 says:

¹³Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  ¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;  ¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  ¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  ¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  ¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

No matter what’s going on around us and the circumstances that we find ourself in, the entire outcome is dependent upon what goes on WITHIN.  Everyday we have opportunity to build our arsenal of weapons within our hearts and minds, Everyday we have opportunity to use what we have stored away in our arsenal.  To take our thoughts into captivity as II Cor. 10 says is dependant on verse 14 in Eph. 6.  Step one is having truth available in our mind for recall when other thoughts (darts) from the wicked one have been thrown at us.  When we venture out to desire and learn how to incorporate all these spiritual weapons into our life,  the Holy Spirit will teach and train us, and we will then experience the reality that we are truly more than conquerors thru Jesus!  

2 Chronicles 32:8  With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

Romans 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Ever noticed someone seemingly running in circles?  Ever noticed people that just can’t seem to settle down or don’t seem to be happy anywhere they go or with whatever they do.  They house hop, job hop and partner hop and  nothing ever seems to satisfy them.   Sometimes it makes you tired just watching !   Well that’s the way we are in our faith sometimes and the scripture is clear;  if we find ourself in an unrestful state then it’s real simple: we are in unbelief!  Ouch!  That stung just typing it!  But it’s true, take a look at the following passage:

Hebrews 4:  ⁹There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  ¹⁰For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.  ¹¹Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Now, I’m not talking about being busy!  I’m not talking about working or labouring,  I am talking about not being at rest in your heart, being fearful and being anxious and all tied up in knots about something, someone or a situation your facing. I’m talking about us trying to help God work it all out!

The word “rest” in the passage above is a word that means, reposing down, to settle down, cause to desist, cease, give rest, colonize.  

 I Peter 5 says:

⁶Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  ⁸Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  ⁹Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

If we find ourself anxious and worried today, my dear friend, we’re not resting and if we’re not resting, we are not in faith!  The scripture says to “labour” to enter into that rest.  So let’s grab the Word and begin refreshing ourself  on the promises that we might have let slip. Let’s pull out those old tapes or cds and listen to good, Godly teaching concerning our situation.  Let’s pray in the Spirit, and build ourself up on our most holy faith.  let’s begin to pour it in, until its coming back out of  our mouth!

We may not “see” things change immediatly on the outside, but I guarantee, we will  begin to “know” things have changed on the inside.  And when the inside is lined up with the Word of God…….  watch out!  The adversary will have to flee, and our faith will work and the outside will soon look like what we are seeing on the inside!  

Have you seen the commercial for a high income job placement company where a tennis pro is on the court and all of a sudden people come from out of   the stands and interrupt his game by beginning to play tennis on his court?  The tennis pro just stands there and looks dumbfounded.  Well, that’s a good picture of our mind where our thoughts reside.   Proverbs 23:7 says: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he….”  The word think in this scripture is (Shaar) meaning; to split open, to act as gatekeeper, to estimate or think. 

 The thoughts that we have allowed to dwell in our mind become part of our ”thought inventory”  in our heart, thereby causing us to become just that.  We think of ourselves, others, and everything around us based on these thoughts.  It is here, at the gate of our thoughts that satan desires to enter.  But is is also here that he can be cut off. 

 No wonder Paul tells us to “think on these things”.  No wonder Paul tells us to “bring every thought into captivity and subjection to the Word of God”.   All kinds of thoughts (those from satan and those from the Holy Spirit) are going to come, it’s up to us to choose God’s thoughts in order to filter which thoughts  are allowed to remain and become part of who we are.  

Words are the fundamental communication tool of the human race.  In the beginning, God made us “speaking spirits”.  Having the personal understanding of a word that is the same as the one speaking the word is where the enemy can trip us up and cause confusion and strife, etc.  If you have ever been in a foreign country or have known someone that speaks a foreign language, you will find that some words can be used to mean two or more entirely different things; so if the speaker means one thing and the hearer interprets something different, you have a short circuit in communicating thoughts with precision. 

 For example:  The word repent used in many scriptures simply means “to change your way of thinking” or “to turn and reconsider”.  Now I don’t know about you, but that is Good News to me!  I always thought it meant that I had to feel guilty, remorseful, and sorry for everything I had ever done!  In the past,  when I heard the word repent, all I wanted to do was crawl under the closest thing around me, go hide, or run away as fast as I could.   I just didn’t want to feel like a worm,  a loser, or a terrible person. I just didn’t want to go thru the pain of just how awful I must be and then become frustrated because I didn’t know how to fix it.

   However;  after realizing that the word repent meant that there was another way of “thinking” about whatever it might be, I began to embrace the word and actually became inquisitive realizing that God had something to say to me that would be for my benefit and my good.  He is a Good and Loving Father and wants me to enjoy His best.  So if I need to repent, “change my way of thinking” concerning something,  I no longer avoid Him,  but I realize that it’s through this process that His love for me  is being exhibited.

  Next time you hear the word repent, refuse upfront condemnation immediately and ask the Lord about the issue.  When the condemnation is out of the picture, you will be able to hear more clearly and choose to change your way of thinking.