Guard your hearts (Luke 21:34-36), January 4, 2017

Today’s Podcast


Subscribe in: iTunes|Download

  • Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
  • What does it mean to guard your heart? Have you ever thought about that? Let’s see what Jesus has to say.
  • Scripture
    • Luke 21:34-36
    • So be careful. Guard your hearts. They can be made heavy with moral laxity, with drunkenness, with the hassles of daily life. Then the day I’ve been telling you about might catch you unaware and trap you. Because it’s coming—nobody on earth will escape it. So you have to stay alert, praying that you’ll be able to escape the coming trials so you can stand tall in the presence of the Son of Man.
  • Devotional
  • Have you ever thought much about that command from Jesus? Guard your hearts.
  • We aren’t doing very well as a society.
    • Description of what He said makes it heavy
    • Moral laxity
    • Drunkenness
    • Hassles of life
  • Drag by day after day with heavy hearts, what does it mean?
    • Sounds a lot like depression – listless, purposeless, everything hard
    • Anxiety – worry about everything, anything that can go bad will go bad for you
    • Frustration – things never work out the way they should according to your plan
    • Despair – never get there, never succeed, never accomplish your goals
  • Direct result of some of those warnings.
    • Think tolerance of all things would improve society, it hasn’t and it won’t
    • Drunkenness loosens judgment, leads to moral laxity, creates the same problems
      • Nothing good happens after midnight
      • Never lose control of mental faculties unless under a doctors care
    • Rut of daily life underwhelm and make us trudge through life
  • Military know how to guard things.
    • Put barriers in place, physical and electronic, to keep the enemy out
    • Put warriors in place to keep watch on all those barriers to make sure no one and nothing slips through
    • Trains almost daily, even while in combat, to make sure they are ready to face the enemy and repel him
  • Do we know how to guard our hearts against the enemy?
  • Do we even try in these days? Sometimes I’m not sure we do as I look at the state of the world and our society.
    • Back to Jesus warning – Guard your hearts. They can be made heavy with moral laxity, with drunkenness, with the hassles of daily life.
    • Moral laxity – rampant
    • Drunkenness – 20% of all drivers on the road are intoxicated, that means over the legal limits, with drugs or alcohol, but over 65% of all drivers are on the road with a buzz or some sedation from drugs or alcohol. Drunkenness? Here!
    • Hassles of daily life – road rage, gun sales, violence, hatred spring up everywhere
      • criticisms instead of complements
      • petitions instead of praise
      • complaints instead of thanksgiving
      • we live in a pessimistic, hate filled time surrounded by evil
  • How do we guard our hearts?
    • Spend time with God
    • Listen to Him from His word, hymns, devotionals,
    • Pray – a lot
    • Study His word, don’t just read it
    • Keep garbage out
    • Put up barriers to the things Satan would use to fill your mind
    • Be aware of your weaknesses and watch carefully in those areas
    • Did I say pray – a lot
    • By the way – pray – a lot
  • If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
  • Music exit
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.