Daily Huddle - Sun Aug 4, 2019 Eyes, Ears, And Mouth

Love you all, praying for you!
 
God prompting me recently.  Proverbs 4:23 – Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.  (Other versions say… for it is the source of life… for from it flow the springs of life… for it determines the course of your life…  above all else guard your heart - for everything you do flows from it.)  I’ve encouraged you for years – not to ask for the thing, but the thing that brings the thing.  Don’t just ask for patience, ask for wisdom.  (Proverbs 19:11 – a man’s wisdom gives him patience…) or don’t just ask for strength, ask for joy (Nehemiah 8:10 … for the joy of the LORD is your strength).  The same applies to guarding your heart.  Don’t just try to guard your heart – guard the things that fill your heart.  Matthew 12:34 - For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.  (Other versions say… For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks… For whatever is in your heart determines what you say).  Trying to guard your heart can feel like trying to catch the leaves that the wind created.  Have you ever had a truck pass by you in the fall, and all the leaves scatter in all directions?  Guarding your heart can be like that.  Like the whack-a-mole at the County Fair.  By the time you catch one word, another has already popped up.  You can never guard outputs, you must first guard inputs.  And since what’s in your heart – flows out of your mouth – and that is what determines the course, the success, the experience of your life – it’s probably a good idea to follow God’s advice through Solomon on this one.   Guard your heart.  You do that first by guarding your eyes, then your ears, then your mouth.  Then – you’ll guard your heart.  Praise God – we can refill our heart!  Your heart is not permanent.  Not only does He give you a new heart, He can restore your heart, reshape your heart.  First – you must be born again – to get a new heart.  Then you need to fill your heart by the Holy Spirit.  Ezekiel prophesied (Ezekiel 11:19)  I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.  Jesus fulfilled this prophesy.  If you have put your faith in Jesus' death on the cross to be the covering for your sin, and the ransom for your life, you have been given this new heart of flesh.  And if you walk in the Spirit – you won’t fulfill the lusts of your old flesh (or your old heart) you will walk in newness of life!  Walking is like guarding.  You guard and you walk – with your eyes, your ears, and your mouth.  Your mouth reflects your heart – but your mouth fills your heart.  What is your mouth saying?  What you say when you don’t think first – that’s what’s in your heart.  For good to come out – good must first go in.  Matthew 12:35 says. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him…  So the key to guarding your heart – is storing it up with good.  You do that with your mouth.  This is intentional, strategic and consistent – the filling of your heart with your mouth.  David was good at it.  He was always saying what God said, and then always saying that He will do – what God just said.  You guard your heart by filling it.  And you fill it with your eyes, ears, and mouth.  When you were little – your mom or your grandma probably sang you this song.  “Oh be careful little eyes what you see? Oh be careful little ears what you hear? For your Father up above is looking down in love, oh be careful little mouth what you say.  Your mouth will say what you see and hear.  Those two have greatest impact on your mouth, so guard your eyes, guard your ears, and you’ll guard your mouth – and guard your heart.  Fill your eyes, and fill your ears, and you’ll fill your mouth, and fill your heart.  So what comes out is glory to God, and success for you.  It’s much easier to fill your eyes, than guard your eyes.  Not just - don’t look at that – but look at this and move forward – towards it.  Proverbs 4:25 – Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.  This is wisdom in action.  Your mouth talks about what your eyes look at – don’t try to guard your eyes – fill them.  Fix them straight ahead – and move toward where God told you to fix them.  Every Equestrian Hunter Jumper Event – the moment the jockey finishes the jump – his eyes immediately shift to the next target – and the next jump is often a severe angle within a short distance.  His whole body and the horse will follow his eyes – every time.  When taking a turn in your car or a motorcycle a little too fast, you don’t look at the outside line – where you are careening dangerously toward – because you’ll overrun it – you look at the inside lane line, against that centrifugal force – the place you need to recover to!  Your eyes are the first thing that fills your mouth and your heart.  Next fill your ears.  That was Eve’s problem – she started listening to the wrong voice.  Listen to the devil and you’ll soon be singing his tune.  Have the wisdom to fill your ears – so you guard your ears, so you fill your mouth, so you guard your mouth, so you fill your heart so you guard your heart.  Whatever you listen to whether someone talking to you, or TV or internet or movies or music, or even your own voice – make sure it’s life – not death.  Finally your mouth is what guards your heart – and you guard it by filling it.  Proverbs 18:21 – the tongue has the power of life and death that those who love it will eat its fruit.  What are you saying?  Is it life or death?  Are you complaining? That’s death.  Are you critiquing? That’s death.  Are you venting? Why? That’s death.  Overlook offense, don’t add your mouth to it.  Don’t look at ungodliness, don’t listen to slander, and don’t say anything harmful about others.  Fill your eyes, your ears and your mouth with life – and your heart will be filled.  Praying that you will fill your eyes, ears and mouth with the Life of Christ – nothing else.  That your heart will be filled – and overflow.  Praying that you will never miss PiVAT before dinner – that’s where God reveals what He wants you to do today, and what He wants you to say today!  In this hour!  The best weed prevention is thick grass!  Set your eyes on the destination God has for you.  Don’t waste time on anything else.  Let your PRISM every day - fill your ears with praise, not perversity. Fill them with truth – not deception.  Let nothing deter you or get you off course – the best way to do that is know what God told you to do and fully obey in this hour!  Open your mouth – let the Holy Spirit fill it – you will fill your heart and the overflow will be ridiculous.  That’s how David could say – “Surely Goodness and Mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”  David filled his eyes, his ears, his mouth and his heart – with the words, the love, and the heart of God.  Nothing else.  He made his choice, he had set his course.  Praying that you will See, Hear, and Say – everything that God told you to see, hear, and say today – exclusively.  That your joy may be full – and that the blessing he has for you – every good thing will chase you down.  You couldn’t escape it if you tried.  Praying that As For You - that your mouth will set you in motion.  That your PRISM Topic for today will help you see life, hear life and speak life. That you will fill your heart, so you guard your heart – so the overflow of it – will be your testimony of praise!   
 
Love you all,
dad