Ellen Chauvin | Soaked & Sprouting

Soaked in God's Word, Sprouting Seeds of Faith

How to Keep Your Heart Out of the Danger Zone

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He fell out of the nest a little early. I watched the baby mockingbird making his way across the yard. He went from one spot to the next, trying to stay safe. Mama bird would bring him food, and attack intruders (me and my husband) who got too close. She also screeched loudly when baby was headed in the wrong direction – toward potential danger.

I’ve heard those loud warnings in my life recently. Like a mama bird warning and protecting her chick, I felt the Holy Spirit whisper into my soul: Watch out! You’re getting into dangerous territory!

My heart attitude was wrong, and I wasn’t sure how to correct it. 

Cynical, that’s what I had become. Distrustful of human sincerity. Contemptuous and mocking. That’s where I was. Thankfully, God was not going to let me stay there. His warnings pierced my heart. Surely that’s what a mama bird’s peck on the head feels like, when you’re too close to her baby. It’s sharp, stings and causes me to pause and examine my thoughts and feelings.

Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life. Proverbs 4:23 (CSB)

I needed to guard my heart. It had been so very easy for me to slide down the slippery slope to an attitude of anger and contempt.  These are not from God, and did not honor Him. 

Often, we don’t even realize our thoughts and behaviors are dipping into the danger zone. It’s  gradual and hardly noticeable. Until it takes over our lives, and everyone notices!

We need to guard our hearts above all else. Above everything. It’s that important. When you get that holy warning that you need to make a course correction, listen to it…above all else!

How can we guard our hearts? Philippians 4:6 tells us not to worry, pray and be thankful. Then

“…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7 CSB

But, how do we keep God’s peace? The next verse tells us. Whatever is just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent or praiseworthy, dwell on these things.

I had not done this. Oh, I was prayerful and thankful. But I didn’t stay there. I’d gotten sucked into social media “news” and all the comments, critiques and infighting that came with it. 

Have you been there lately? None of that stuff is pure and lovely. I had to stop reading, liking and commenting, and begin pondering on God’s truth and beauty.  Maybe you do, too?

Here’s the thing, though. It’s not a one and done deal. We must continue dwelling on the things of God.

We must continue dwelling on the things of God.
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The most important piece of advice from this passage is in verse nine: Do what you have learned. Guard your heart; keep putting into practice all that you have learned; model it in the way you live. 

Keep on doing what you have learned from God’s truth. Keep dwelling on those things that are pure and lovely. Then His peace will guard your heart and keep it out of the Danger Zone. 

I need that kind of peace today, don’t you?

Grace be with you,

Keep on Movin’

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He was plodding along in the mud. You could see the route he’d taken, straight along the bottom of the ditch. Slow, but determined. Focused on his destination. As so often is the case with turtles, he was taking his dear, sweet time getting wherever he was going. He wasn’t focused on how long the journey would take, but on moving in the right direction.

I’m kinda like that turtle. I’m just slogging along, dragging my feet. Unlike him, I suddenly realize I’m not getting anywhere, and I get in a hurry.

I’m like that in my walk with Christ. For goodness sake, I’m sixty-one years old. Shouldn’t I be further along than I am? Shouldn’t I know His word better, pray harder and longer and with passion? Shouldn’t I realize that not focusing on moving forward will derail my pilgrimage? As long as I’ve been walking with Christ, shouldn’t I be more like Him by now??

Sadly, I often let the circumstances of my life distract me. I focus on them, not Him. And I get stuck in the mud. I throw my hands up and say “What’s the use?”

How about you? Are you bogged down, baffled and beaten up? Are you ready to “be there”? Do you feel like stopping to rest indefinitely, instead of continuing on?

Paul tells us in Philippians to work out our salvation⁠1. This means to carry out a task until it is finished, to produce, or to put something into effect entirely or thoroughly.

Warren Wiersbe explains it this way: 

In Paul’s day it was also used for “working a mine,” that is, getting out of the mine all the valuable ore possible; or “working a field” so as to get the greatest harvest possible. The purpose God wants us to achieve is Christlikeness, “to be conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29)⁠2.

Sanctification is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Sanctification – becoming increasingly more like Jesus – is hard work. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.  The good news is, we don’t have to do it alone or in our own strength. 

“Because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey His own purpose.” Philippians 2:13 GNT

God is working in us to energize us, creating the desire and the power to work for His good pleasure. 

Remember that, when you’re plodding along, feeling like you aren’t making headway. We have the Holy Spirit of Jesus in us. Even though it seems like we’re stuck in the mud, not making progress in our Christian walk, God is working in us to give us the strength we need. His strength. Like the turtle, we are moving forward, because it’s God doing the work. It may seem slow to us, but it’s His timing. 

‘The essential thing “in heaven and earth” is . . . that there should be long obedience in the same direction.’ Friedrich  Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.

God is at work in you. He will complete the work He began.

Don’t give up.

Keep moving forward.

Lord, Forgive our impatience! We just want more of You, and are in a hurry to get it! Bring to our minds Your words “Cease striving, be still…⁠3” so that we can rest in You, learn from You and become more like You each and every day. In Jesus powerful name, Amen

Grace be with you,

 

 

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1 Philippians 2:12

2 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 77). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

3 Psalm 46:10