“Guard My Heart”?

Guard my heart? As my beloved co-worker, Kim, would say, “What the hun does that mean?!”

It’s a phrase I’ve heard a lot, used a lot, and yet-not thought about a lot.

What does it mean to guard my heart? When I give that advice to others, and to myself…what am I actually saying?

For some reason, today, when thinking about being “on guard” for my heart’s sake- I immediately got this mental picture of two little french men:

Okay, that’s not exactly what surfaced in my imagination-but it’s pretty close. The french warning “en garde!” is a term in fencing translated “On [your] guard”. It is a call to a fellow fencer to adopt a defensive stance in readiness for an attack or bout. It’s what I shout to my brother just as I am about to hit him with the empty Christmas wrapping tube!

Be prepared for an attack!

Hm. So that’s what I’m telling people do with their heart? Guard it, because it is going to be straight up attacked?

Yes. That is precisely what we should mean. Guard your heart, your valuable heart, because there always is something/someone attacking it.

[Fear//Stupid Satan//The world//Other’s Negativity//Lies//Insecurities//Disbelief.]

Guard your heart, your seat of emotions, constantly-KNOWING that it is going to be attacked! To guard is to be alert, attentive, and ready to fight. And we fight with the sword of truth-read God’s word constantly! Hear God’s truths through pastoral wisdom and encouraging friends!! Believe God’s truth by acknowledging the lies you are tempted to believe and walk yourself to what is Truth.

Don’t be a sucky guard for your heart.

 

Expect to be attacked.

Pay attention.

Know how to fight.

And for goodness sake, fight to protect the heart you were given to guard.

 

All I Need and Trust is the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

When my eyes are wearied by what I see around me–and by what I do not see, I realize that I am often looking in the wrong places. Instead of what I lack, or what pains me, I turn my eyes to the Founder and Perfecter of my faith, and find my once heavy heart now light and peaceful. 

Dear friend, pray for a heart that understands and delights in this precious love. His love changes everything!

VERSE 1
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free
Rolling as a mighty ocean
In its fullness over me
Underneath me, all around me
Is the current of Your love
Leading onward, leading homeward
To Your glorious rest above

CHORUS
Oh the deep, deep love
All I need and trust
Is the deep, deep love of Jesus

VERSE 2
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Spread His praise from shore to shore
How He came to pay our ransom
Through the saving cross He bore
How He watches o’er His loved ones
Those He died to make His own
How for them He’s interceding
Pleading now before the throne

VERSE 3
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Far surpassing all the rest
It’s an ocean full of blessing
In the midst of every test
Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus
Mighty Savior, precious Friend
You will bring us home to glory
Where Your love will never end

A Hymn to Start Your Day!

“Jesus isn’t an escape from life’s trials, but he’s our closest friend through them.” —Burk Parsons

What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy-laden,
Cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge—
Take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee,
Thou wilt find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised
Thou wilt all our burdens bear;
May we ever, Lord, be bringing
All to Thee in earnest prayer.

Soon in glory bright, unclouded,
There will be no need for prayer—
Rapture, praise, and endless worship
Will be our sweet portion there.

A Question for my Married Friends

So this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while.

The Old Testament is full of the relationship between God and his chosen people being compared to a husband and wife. And then Jesus, in the New Testament of course, says that awesome bit in Ephesians 5 about husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church. So I infer that the opposite is also true. Wives then are to love their husbands like the church love Christ, right?

So I’ve been asking myself, what does that really look like?

This is what I’ve come up with. God/Christ/Husband Figure is supposed to be the pursuer, the delighter, the sustainer, and the provider. That is what God does with his people. He chooses us, he lavishes love and (TOTALLY UNDESERVED) grace upon us. He is the one that keeps the relationship together. Though we are prone to wander (Lord, I feel it!), it is HE who fights for our unity. He gives his children all that they need and satisfies them.

The proper response of the church-is to be crazy about Jesus, right? We are to be all about praising Him, and lifting Him up,and helping others see Him as glorious and awesome as He truly is. We should LOVE being with Him more than ANY other thing, and we should respond to his love with delight and thanksgiving. We should be ALL ABOUT serving Him, and ALL ABOUT pleasing Him because we are so grateful for the way that He loves us.

Right?

And our marriages are supposed to reflect that, right? OBVIOUSLY, no couple will ever be perfect. And OBVIOUSLY we should NOT worship our husband, and we DON’T save our wives. But in a smaller, defaced humanistic sort of way, isn’t that what it should look like to the outside world and feel like to us?

I need to know what my married brothers and sisters think, because I know I dream big and am a die hard optimist. Am I seeing this correctly?

One day I hope to be married, and I so badly want people to watch the interactions my husband and I have, and say “that’s awesome”. So that my response will be: It’s awesome because it’s a reflection of God and us. And then they’ll be all like “whaaa” and I’ll tell them the gospel, and how awesome God’s love is, and how easy it is for me to serve Him with my life because of his love. Then I want to look to my awesome husband, and point out that though he is faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar from perfect (am I equally, if not farther from it), he loves me awesomely, which makes it’s easier to selflessly serve him.

Where am I wrong in this analysis? Where am I right? Help a sister out!

If I Was in an Arranged Marriage

Imagine with me, that my awesome parents set me up in an arranged married.

Scary, but let’s go with it.

So they tell me that they have my amazing groom, and, crazy as it seems, hes royalty. Duchess Betty, now that has quite a ring to it. Anyway, I am going to marry this guy in a few years (he’s got family things to attend to before wedlock can happen) and that fortunately I am going to be able to talk with him via email, letters, chat, etc., but I won’t be able to see him face to face (or even Skype!) until the wedding day.

Humph. Well that is a bummer.

But just because I can’t SEE him, isn’t going to stop me from trying to get to know him AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE before we actually get hitched. I am going to talk with him ALL THE TIME, and read about his family and their history, get to know what his country will be like, and prepare myself to be his wife. Because, as much as possible, I don’t want to be surprised by anything! I want to know him so well so that when I finally do see him face to face, I already know him, and being with him is just what I imagined it would be. It won’t be a stranger I see in white that day, it’ll be my long distance best friend, and acclimating to full time life with him will be a breeze. 🙂

It would be really silly, unbelievable even, to be apathetic about seeing him. I would be a big ol’ goof if I didn’t want to get to know him as much as possible before the wedding, right?

Well…here’s the thing. I believe that one day I am going to see Christ, face to face. After years of getting to know him through letters and late night prayer conversations, finally, I will be with him. 

So here on this earth, I want to get to know him, and tell others about him so that they can get to know him. Just because I can’t SEE him, isn’t going to stop me from trying to get to know him AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE before we actually start spending eternity together. I am going to talk with him ALL THE TIME, read about him throughout history, get to know what his kingdom will be like, and prepare myself to be his bride.Because when our day comes, as much as possible, I don’t want to be surprised by anything! I want to know him so well so that when I finally do see him face to face, I already know Christ, and being with him is just what I imagined it would be. It won’t be a stranger I see in white that day, it’ll be my long distance best friend, Savior, King, and acclimating to eternity with him will be a breeze.