Guarded

I have learned to guard my words and my input into certain situations. It’s so easy to be misinterpreted and misunderstood. There are times I feel like I made my position or point clear only to learn that it was misunderstood. I would rather guard my words carefully than to have them splatter all over the place and harm others or cause confusion.

I should also guard my behavior since what I do speaks louder than anything I could possibly say. I am a broken mess most days as I try to live out my faith. I’m learning daily to guard my heart and my mind against the enemy who seeks to destroy my faith and all I have. I realize that my behavior comes directly from my heart so if the Lord can help guard my heart, He is really guarding my life. I loved this passage in Psalms after speaking about the sheer power and greatness of God, the Psalmist speaks of the tenderness of the Lord. Check this out…

¹⁰ Let those who love the Lord hate evil,
    for he guards the lives of his faithful ones
    and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light shines on the righteous
    and joy on the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,
    and praise his holy name. (Psalm 97:10-12 NIV)

I feel protected by the Lord even when I’m in the middle of suffering. I feel protected by the Lord even when I’m celebrating a victory. I want to grow in my trust of Him even when I can’t see what is next or how I’m going to make it from here. He knows the future. He holds the future. He has earned my trust because He is so Faithful and Present.  Check this out…

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    and lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
    and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

This is a song we’ve started singing at Southern Hills that came from Passion 2017. You Are Worthy (featuring Sean Curran)

The Lyrics of this song can be found here.

The Lord guards my heart – He guards my coming and going. He guards my words and my actions. He guards my choices.  I constantly need Him to guard my heart.

Pressing On!

Dwayne