Guarding Our Hearts

Guarding Our Hearts

Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Proverbs 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Intro:

A list came out this past week listing the top 10 most secure places in the world. Let me give you four of the ten.

George Bush’s Air Force One

Area 51 Top Secret Air Force Base in Nevada. So secretive that the military refuses to acknowledge that it exists. Said to have sensors that actually are able to determine what enters the area by smell. 1000 miles off-limit airspace.

The most interesting....A mulit-story car park in the heart of England. It is ten floors high and will house 440 cars. It uses for security a barcode system and sensors. In six years of operation, no cars have been stolen, broken into or vandilized.

Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado...location of the US war room which is housed under 600 metres of solid rock.

But the most secure place in the world is said to be Fort Knox.

Fort Knox is located close to Louisville, Ky. and is home to much of the nations gold reserve. Let me share with you how this reserve is protected. Our nations gold reserve is housed in a two story building constructed of granite, steel, and concrete. It is 105 ft by 121 ft, and is 42 ft above ground level. Within this building is a two level steel and concrete vault that is divided into compartments. The vault door weighs more than 20 tons. No one person is entrusted with the combination. Various members of the staff must dial separate combinations known only to them. The vault casing is constructed of steel plates, steel I-beams and steel cylinders laced with hoop bands, and encased in concrete. The outer wall of the depository is constructed of granite lined with concrete. Construction materials used on the bldg included 16,500 cubic feet of granite, 4,200 cubic yards of concrete, 750 tons of reinforcing steel and 670 tons of structural steel. At each corner of the structure on the outside, but connected with it, are four guard boxes. Sentry boxes. Sentry boxes, similar to the guard boxes at the corners of the Depository, are located at the entrance gate. A driveway encircles the building and a steel fence marks the boundaries of the site.

The building is equipped with the latest and most modern protective devices. The nearby Army Post provides additional protection. The Depository is equipped with its own emergency power plant, water system and other facilities. In the basement is a pistol range for use by the guards.

There is another place which needs to be well guarded. We need to make certain of it’s security because it is the most important place in the world. That place is our heart ! Why is the heart so important ? Why does it need to be guarded with such diligence ?

The word heart is found 963 times in the Bible. Of these usages the heart can mean the mind, the emotions, the will, or the inner man. It can even refer to the person as a whole.

The heart is of important because The Lord Considers The Heart.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

When Samuel was considering the sons of Jesse trying to determine which one the Lord has chosen, he looked on the outside of the man at his appearance, and statue....but the Lord considers the heart of a man !

Psa 44:21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

The Heart Is Important Because Life Is Conceived In The Heart.

Think of the heart as being the womb from which all of our actions, attitudes, ambitions and articulations are conceived. When Solomon encourages us to keep our hearts....he is saying "above all things that you keep.....keep your heart because life springs from it ! The word "Keep" is elsewhere translated preserve, observe, watchers, watchmen, and even besieged.

What we do is a product of the heart ! What we say is evident of what lies within the heart ! Think of the heart as the womb where all of our actions, attitudes, and words are conceived.

Mat 15:18-20 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.