Tag Archives: heart

Christian Soapbox, Journal, Nathan Dooley

WAIT ON THE LORD

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“Alexa, play thunderstorm sounds.” So majestic is the sound of thunderstorms that I could listen to it on loop. It seems to soothe the soul much like when David played the harp for King Saul when terrified by an evil spirit from the Lord according to 1 Samuel 16:14-23, not that I have an evil spirit that terrifies me, but I’d like to think I’m aware of such a spirit.

God means what He says because of the serious consequences experienced when disobeying His instructions. And as I discover more and more His instruction to the Church—myself a member—I am terrified at what His instruction means as I come to understand the Spirit of Christ in me. It’s simple to hear and read the words, “whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospels will…find it…save it…keep it…to eternal life”, but to make that spiritual principle of understanding, a reality, is not so simple and in fact, it’s a figure of death to self through the literal death of Christ, the ultimate means of worship and praise to the glory of God. How to exemplify that is envisioned by revelation when looking to the Word of God.

My heart stirs as the spirit moves within me to the skill of a coach. It’s dark in the belly of a fish; scales blind the eyes. To see, one must become blind to this present world of blood lust, pride and sexual immorality. To hear, one must become deaf to the sirens of worldly devices and coins clanging in the pockets of the rich. Don’t go the way of a fool seeking to save their life by selling their soul to secrets of darkness for the pleasures it’s of. Wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord.

I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Put away from you a deceitful mouth | P4-V24

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A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:24

I die daily devotional.

23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.

I take notice in how Wisdom addresses the heart in our previous verse, then moves to the mouth in today’s verse by addressing our speech … before moving to the eyes and addressing our line of sight in our next verse. But why is that do you think? There are certain biblical texts that begin to emerge in my mind, prompting me to consider!

15 Peter asked Him, “Explain this parable [about what defiles a person] to us.” 16 And He said, “Are you still so dull [and unable to put things together]? 17 Do you not understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? 18 But whatever [word] comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what defiles and dishonors the man. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). 20 These are the things which defile and dishonor the man; but eating with [ceremonially] unwashed hands does not defile the man.”

How we construct our speech reveals the nature of our hearts, and I know when I judge myself by the words of Jesus am found guilty of what He described to be…evil thoughts and plans, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). And that goes without boasting, a head full of shame, but I think it goes without saying my confessions in detail—of which is volumes of books only this world contains—when they’re on display by the truth of Jesus’ words and my life span on this earth … as good as dead.

If we believe in Jesus Christ, having died in baptism, born again through faith, then does our speech not change to reveal the new creatures that we are in Christ? Or if we were to have a conversation, would the knowledge of the truth that all possess in their conscience judge me to be a liar?

RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V24) Commentary
III. We must set a watch before the door of our lips, that we offend not with out tongue (v. 24): Put away from thee a froward mouth and perverse lips. Our hearts being naturally corrupt, out of them a great deal of corrupt communication is apt to come, and therefore we must conceive a great dread and detestation of all manner of evil words, cursing, swearing, lying, slandering, brawling, filthiness, and foolish talking, all which come from a froward mouth and perverse lips, that will not be governed either by reason or religion, but contradict both, and which are as unsightly and ill-favoured before God as a crooked distorted mouth drawn awry is before men. All manner of tongue sins, we must, by constant watchfulness and stedfast resolution, put from us, put far from us, abstaining from all words that have an appearance of evil and fearing to learn any such words.

I die devotionals, Nathan Dooley

Watch over your heart | P4-V23

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A Father’s Instruction

Proverbs 4:23

I die daily devotional.

22 For they are life to those who find them
And health to all their body.
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.

Thank you Father, thank you for giving Your Son so that I/we might have faith in the Holy Spirit to help us in our time of need through belief, ‘belief’… such an awesome word of utility for revealing the medium between that which is Holy and Unholy, as righteous or unrighteous, the justice of your vengeance is the knowledge of our state and consequence for sin that so immediately separates us from eternal life to death for eternal judgement, and justifiably so, but belief is what You’ve sown.

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us get past the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, [doing this] without laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of teaching about washings (ritual purifications), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago.] 3 And we will do this [that is, proceed to maturity], if God permits.

I believe in Your Spirit, that by Jesus Christ my eyes will see and watch over my heart with all diligence so that from it flows springs of life rather than issues of sin that speak death even to the end.

Matthew 18:6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

RESOURCE

Proverbs 4 (NASB)—blueletterbible.org | biblegateway.com

COMMENTARY

Chapter 4

Matthew Henry (P4-V23) Commentary
II. We must keep a watchful eye and a strict hand upon all the motions of our inward man, v. 23. Here is,

1. A great duty required by the laws of wisdom, and in order to our getting and preserving wisdom: Keep thy heart with all diligence. God, who gave us these souls, gave us a strict charge with them: Man, woman, keep thy heart; take heed to thy spirit, Deu. 4:9. We must maintain a holy jealousy of ourselves, and set a strict guard, accordingly, upon all the avenues of the soul; keep our hearts from doing hurt and getting hurt, from being defiled by sin and disturbed by trouble; keep them as our jewel, as our vineyard; keep a conscience void of offence; keep out bad thoughts; keep up good thoughts; keep the affections upon right objects and in due bounds. Keep them with all keepings (so the word is); there are many ways of keeping things-by care, by strength, by calling in help, and we must use them all in keeping our hearts; and all little enough, so deceitful are they, Jer. 17:9. Or above all keepings; we must keep our hearts with more care and diligence than we keep any thing else. We must keep our eyes (Job 31:1), keep our tongues (Ps. 34:13), keep our feet (Eccl. 5:1), but, above all, keep our hearts.

2. A good reason given for this care, because out of it are the issues of life. Out of a heart well kept will flow living issues, good products, to the glory of God and the edification of others. Or, in general, all the actions of the life flow from the heart, and therefore keeping that is making the tree good and healing the springs. Our lives will be regular or irregular, comfortable or uncomfortable, according as our hearts are kept or neglected.