Devotional for Sunday, May 1, 2016
“The Abundance of the Heart Has a Voice”
by Dona Hake
The Lord desires that we diligently care for our hearts, minds and tongues. It is up to us what we deposit into our hearts and minds. If you are a person that takes it seriously to guard your heart then you well understand the battle that it can be. Daily we are bombarded with things that serve to pull us away. Thoughts can seemingly come out of nowhere and if your heart is not rock solid with His Word, you will not know how to properly discern right from wrong. We find out quickly that all that is in our heart indeed will come out in words whether they be good or bad. For out of the abundance of our heart, our mouth will speak.
Today I want to exhort you in the importance of filling your heart and mind with thoughts of who you are in Christ. As we tend to our hearts and fill it with powerful scriptures of our position in Christ we will stand strong in time of temptation and struggle that this life can bring. I want to exhort you and ask you, how do you see yourself? You know that how you think and meditate about who you are is how you will eventually speak. One may speak words such as , “I can’t do this!” “I’m a failure!” “I give up!” If someone speaks such words it is merely a reflection of the meditations of their heart. It is a reflection of the fact that they do not know who they are in Christ.
So how do you speak about yourself? Is it negative or is it positive. When we understand who we are in Christ, we will view ourselves in light of His Word. We will view our strengths as a gift from Him and our weaknesses need to be viewed as those things that God is still graciously working on within us. He has perfect timing, and His ways are just as perfect. He promises to perfect that which concerns us as we bring all things to Him in prayer.
Sometimes when we make mistakes we can be tempted to not forgive ourselves, and we keep thinking about our mistake. As we meditate upon negative thoughts about ourselves that negative will grow bigger and bigger in our mind. The strength of any negative will be an arrow that the devil will use against us. One of the devil’s main tools will be our own tongues. You may begin to speak things about yourself and put yourself down. Eventually the more you hear those words from your own mouth, you will begin to believe them. Let us purpose to speak truth over every area of our life. Those words of truth are life giving and strengthening to our soul.
Proverbs 4:24(ERV)
“Don’t bend the truth or say things
that you know are not right.
We well know it is wrong to lie but let it be established that we never permit the devil to lie to us about who we are for we are being changed by the power of God. Let us stand bold and strong as to who we are in Christ! As we stay full of His Word and remind ourselves of who God says we are, we will not fall prey to lies and discouraging thoughts. I encourage you today to guard your heart with ALL diligence for from it truly flows the issues of this life.