Love God • Love People
Guarding Your Heart – Week 1
Bryan Jones
April 16, 2023
A. Introduction
- (Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Mark 12:28-31. C/R: Matthew 15:18)
Ranking system everything is ranked. Max McChesney in Special Friends… told
me
Towards very end of Jesus’ ministry. He is moving closer to Jerusalem. He
has cleansed the Temple. And there is widespread anger. They are trying to
trap Jesus to take Him out. He is getting a barrage of hot topic questions.
What is the most important teaching of Scripture? Happening in the Temple…
what’s most important priesthood? Sacrifice? What’s most important?
Mark 12:28-31 (NIV)
28
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing
that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked Him, “Of all the
commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered
Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your
strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than
these.”
Rabbinic law- 613 laws 365 negative 248 were positive.
Deuteronomy 6:4 this was central cry of people- Shema prayer.
If this is the greatest commandment of all…, do we understand what it means
to love God with our heart, soul, mind, strength… For years I didn’t
understand what that meant… to love God with our heart means guarded our
heart, we love God with our emotions, mind means we think like God not just
affectionately about Him. Love God with resources means time talent
treasure.
We don’t get to choose what…
Central practice said every morning and night. Mezuzah tube on the side of
door. They would bind to arms…
but we can’t get an outside in change… this happens when the Spirit
changes us from the inside.
1). What is your heart?
At a 20,000-foot view I want you to think of the heart as the command
center of a person. It’s the operating system, the CPU that drives us, it’s
the engine that drives the body…
The heart relates to your will, your commitment.
Heart in the Hebrew understanding is the core of person’s identity, source
of thoughts, words, and action. It is more than an organ. It’s the command
center. Heart is where our religious commitment takes place, where we
decide for or against God.
Purity of heart is the precondition of the vision of God
.
Most important part of our faith is that our heart has been changed.
Now in the Shema in
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (NLT)
“Listen, O Israel! The
L
ord
is our God, the
L
ord
alone.
5 And you must love the Lord your God with
all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.”
You will notice it’s a bit different than what Jesus said in Mark 12
That’s because in Hebrew culture the heart was a thinking organ…
In Greek as in English, the thoughts are in the mind, not the heart, so it
is good communication to include "mind" for a Greek audience. To cover the
meaning of Hebrew "heart" one needs both heart and mind in Greek and
English.
One of the questions I usually hate is when someone asks me how’s your
heart? How do you answer that? But recently I’ve found out how to do a
diagnostics test on my heart and it’s pretty easy. I just re-trace my words
for the past week. Were they seasoned with salt? Was I quick to forgive?
Was I more judgmental towards others? Did I find myself swept up in
critical or negative self-talk? Listen to what Jesus says….
Matthew 15:18 (NIV)
But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,
and these defile them.
2). How is your heart?
Dead
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (NIV)
25
“‘I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse
you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will
give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I
will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful
to keep My laws.’”
The systemic problem in the world isn’t with education, economy, trade
policy, violence. The issue is with our heart, it’s bent towards sin. Our
hearts our dead towards Jesus. See the gospel according to Ezekiel 36 is
about making mean people nice, or bad people good. It’s about bringing dead
people to live in Jesus. To awaken your hearts to the redemptive story of
Jesus. To understand joy, purpose and life that Jesus has invited us into.
Dead Distracted
Satan wants you to be distracted. Isn’t it funny the moment you sit down to
pray or read the Bible a million things come to your mind… I can’t remember
anything but when I go to get alone with God, my heart and mind start to
get distracted.
We are addicted to distraction.
Parable of the soils, thorns come in a create distractions…
Dead Distracted Dry
Parable of soils shallow soil… you aren’t spending time with God… and the
roots aren’t deep.
Dead Distracted Dry Devoted
B. Is your heart DEVOTED?
(1 Kings 8:61; Proverbs 4:23; Jeremiah 17:9; 29:11-13; Ezekiel 36:25-27)
1 Kings 8:61 (NASB)
“Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to
walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)
11
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the
L
ord
, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future.
12 Then you will call on Me and come and
pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13
You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.”
I remember before my wife and I came to the Heights we took about 6 months
off. We attended this small church and I remember during one of the
services they had a few people in the choir singing. One was this really
old lady who just seemed like she was just completely out of it. So, the
band gets done and everyone walks off but her and she is just walking
around. I was convinced she had lost her mind, so I looked at my wife and
said go help her. At this point I’m the only one standing up and as soon as
I start making her way towards her and the stage, the lady grabs the mic
and says, “I’m about to sing a song that’s meant so much to me.” So, I just
do this move (spin around) make my way back to my seat. I sit down and
everyone is looking at me and Steph says, “Well at least that wasn’t
awkward.” But that’s not why I remember the story. I remember the story
because this 75-year-old lady grabs the mic and says, “I’ve been following
Jesus for 40 years and it’s still a wonder to me. I have never gotten over
how much Jesus loves me.” She said, “I want to sing the song Wonder of It
All.”
I’m telling you that moment was forever etched in my heart. Honestly, she
wasn’t a great singer. But her joy. 40 years with Jesus and it was still a
wonder. Still a roller coaster. I long for a heart that beats like that for
Jesus. I never want to get used to or take Jesus for granted. I don’t want
to just go through the rhythms. I want Him to be my marvelous obsession.
How to live out of a devoted heart?
Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) (Memory Verse)
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
1). Protect your heart.
2). Cultivate (take care of) your heart.
Listen, in any marriage that really works you guard and protect the
covenant relationship you’ve made.
The purpose of a garden isn’t the absence of weeds in the flourishing of
life…
The purpose of a devoted heart isn’t the destruction of sin but deep life
in spirit.
But to find that deep life we have to protect and cultivate…
Imagine a marriage where I said I love my wife, why? Because I don’t cheat
on her or yell at her.
Or imagine a marriage where I say I love my wife, but I don’t spend any
time with her, my friends are my main priority, I don’t really care about
what she thinks…
Some people go I love Jesus because I don’t do this, and I don’t do that….
But have you cultivated your heart towards Him?
Or I love Him. I don’t really attend church and I put things before Him,
but He knows how much I love Him… you didn’t protect that relationship…
It’s both protecting and cultivating…
Picture (Nicolaus Zinzendorf) was leader of protestant denominations known
as the Moravian church. Zinzendorf led a group of people to the mission
colony in Pennsylvania on Christmas Eve, and they named the place Bethlehem
because of the Bethlehem star. The Moravian church had widespread rival.
They saw God work in amazing ways. God was pouring out His blessings. The
story goes that a visitor came to Bethlehem and saw the Moravians waking up
early praying and singing songs throughout the day. They were asked why
they were doing this stuff all the time; you are living in revival.
Zinzendorf said they were fending off lukewarmness. They were cultivating
their heart for God.
One of my mentors was saying that he was in Pennsylvania, and he stopped by
a garage sale at a church. He walked down and saw that it was a Moravian
Church. A church filled with revival and the presence of God was now
reduced to selling cookies in a basement to keep building open. This is
what happens to the church when people don’t fend off lukewarmness. When we
live with a dry heart.
Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for
cornflakes or toast and eggs. -
Dallas Willard
C. How to cultivate and protect your heart…
1. Schedule.
(meditating)
(Joshua 1:7-8)
Joshua 1:7-8 (NLT)
7
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions
Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right
or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.
8 Study this Book of Instruction
continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey
everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all
you do.”
Meditation
Western culture- intellect.
Eastern culture- it’s about emptying yourself.
Biblical mediation is about filling your heart with Word of God.
I used to ask people, “are you a morning person or a night person?” Now I
ask people a different question… what price are you willing to pay? People
wake up at all hours of morning to do CrossFit and they guard what they eat
for their bodies… which I think is wonderful… but imagine I went to
CrossFit and they said, “hey, we are going to meet at 6,” and I said,
“well, I’m not really a morning person”… “ok, well come at night”… “yeah,
I’m really tired at night”… so maybe… “ok, well let’s talk about your diet.
We need to cut out those sugars and fried food” … “Yeah, I’m not really
looking to change my diet” … Those people would look at me and go, “you’re
not ready… they aren’t being mean… they’re being honest…
So, the invitation from the Spirit is that God will grow your faith beyond
your wildest imagination… God is in the business of taking small things and
making them mighty… but what price are you willing to pay to protect and
cultivate your heart? Are you willing to carve out time throughout the day
to mediate to fill your heart with the word of God?
1. Schedule.
(meditating)
2. Idols.
2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV)
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God
has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be
their God, and they will be My people.”
In Matthew 12 there is an interesting passage… on demonic activity and
possession…
Matthew 12:43-45 (ESV)
43
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes
through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none.
44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my
house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty,
swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes
and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they
enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than
the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”
Demonic possession and influence can only happen with empty things…
It’s about repenting and replacing.
1. Schedule
. (meditating)
2. Idols.
3. Negativity.
Do you know one of the reasons that stress, worry, anxiety and depression
are greater than ever before… because your heart wasn’t designed to carry
the weight of all this…
Growing up newspaper was where we heard about news. Now we hear about every
tragedy from every part of the world.
We wake up and grab our phone and read news reports. We turn on the news
station and all is it is both sides republican and democrat create fear and
a weight…
I’m not advocating burying our heads in the sand… I’m advocating for us to
bury our heads in this book (Bible) so that we know the promises of God and
not the perspectives of news reports, and governments, and culture don’t
Limit time on Facebook… Fill your mind with gratitude.
Take away questions:
1.) Does your schedule reflect God as your first priority?
What might you need to let go of so you can say yes to Jesus (not asking do
you love God, does your schedule reflect it)
2). What is competing for your heart beside Jesus?
3). Is there something/someone you need to create healthy distance from to
help increase positivity?