1 00:00:01,034 --> 00:00:03,236 Hey everybody, welcome to Christ Community Chapel. 2 00:00:03,236 --> 00:00:04,037 My name is Joe, 3 00:00:04,037 --> 00:00:08,308 I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm really glad that you've come. 4 00:00:08,391 --> 00:00:11,428 And if you are worshiping in East Hall and I'm up on the screen 5 00:00:11,428 --> 00:00:14,431 or you worship in the gym, I'm up on the screen, 6 00:00:14,481 --> 00:00:15,949 you know, I'm really glad you're here too. 7 00:00:15,949 --> 00:00:17,867 So thanks for coming. 8 00:00:17,867 --> 00:00:18,318 All right, 9 00:00:18,318 --> 00:00:22,956 this is our last week of our ten-week series in Proverbs. 10 00:00:23,273 --> 00:00:26,076 We've been looking for wisdom, and we have called 11 00:00:26,076 --> 00:00:29,229 this series More Wisdom, More Life. 12 00:00:29,396 --> 00:00:30,714 And the Proverb 13 00:00:30,714 --> 00:00:34,067 we're going to look at today, we saved for last 14 00:00:34,067 --> 00:00:37,070 because it's so fundamental. 15 00:00:37,187 --> 00:00:39,639 This is the Proverb. Proverbs 16 00:00:39,639 --> 00:00:45,228 chapter four verse 23 says, keep your heart with all vigilance, 17 00:00:45,428 --> 00:00:49,115 for from it flow the springs of life. 18 00:00:49,482 --> 00:00:52,802 Keep your heart with all vigilance, 19 00:00:52,802 --> 00:00:55,905 for from it flow the springs of life. 20 00:00:55,922 --> 00:00:58,241 I've memorized that in a different version 21 00:00:58,241 --> 00:01:01,961 years ago, and the version I memorize says this. 22 00:01:01,961 --> 00:01:05,281 Above all else, guard your heart, for from it 23 00:01:05,281 --> 00:01:08,935 flow the issues of life above all else. 24 00:01:08,952 --> 00:01:12,789 I like that because it's talking about priority 25 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:16,559 and it says above all else it doesn't say guard your career, 26 00:01:16,559 --> 00:01:20,713 or guard your reputation, or even guard your family. 27 00:01:20,914 --> 00:01:24,434 It says above all else, guard your heart. 28 00:01:24,634 --> 00:01:26,202 Guard your heart. 29 00:01:26,202 --> 00:01:27,070 I have a friend, 30 00:01:27,070 --> 00:01:32,559 I'll call her Mandy, who is very allergic to anything 31 00:01:32,592 --> 00:01:34,961 dairy. All dairy products. 32 00:01:34,961 --> 00:01:39,999 And I have known other people who've been allergic to dairy where they have, 33 00:01:40,033 --> 00:01:43,670 if they eat ice cream or something, they have to run to the bathroom. 34 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,239 Mandy is in a different category. 35 00:01:46,239 --> 00:01:48,441 A couple of months ago, she went to a restaurant 36 00:01:48,441 --> 00:01:52,362 and she ordered a vegan meal to make sure it was dairy free. 37 00:01:52,362 --> 00:01:55,398 And evidently, on the way out of the kitchen, 38 00:01:55,799 --> 00:01:59,035 the chef took some parmesan cheese 39 00:01:59,035 --> 00:02:02,238 like this and just sprinkled it on the top by mistake. 40 00:02:02,238 --> 00:02:04,040 Real parmesan cheese. 41 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,961 And Mandy took one bite, one bite. 42 00:02:09,279 --> 00:02:09,996 She had to have 43 00:02:09,996 --> 00:02:13,233 four EpiPens and ended up in ICU. 44 00:02:14,033 --> 00:02:14,551 Right? 45 00:02:14,551 --> 00:02:17,437 I've talked to her, say, how do you keep safe? 46 00:02:17,437 --> 00:02:20,123 And she says, oh, you know, I am very careful. 47 00:02:20,123 --> 00:02:22,709 Like she never eats anything on a plane. 48 00:02:22,709 --> 00:02:25,028 No matter how far she is flying. 49 00:02:25,028 --> 00:02:30,400 She rarely eats in restaurants, is very careful in someone else's home. 50 00:02:31,234 --> 00:02:34,120 She has to be vigilant 51 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:36,589 because her life depends on it. 52 00:02:36,589 --> 00:02:39,309 That's what Solomon is saying here. 53 00:02:39,309 --> 00:02:44,030 He's saying, guard your heart because your life depends on it now. 54 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:44,914 Here are my three points. 55 00:02:44,914 --> 00:02:46,633 The really three questions. 56 00:02:46,633 --> 00:02:49,552 First, what is your heart? 57 00:02:49,552 --> 00:02:51,521 What is your heart? 58 00:02:51,521 --> 00:02:53,523 Why guard your heart? 59 00:02:53,523 --> 00:02:56,159 And then finally, how do we do it? 60 00:02:56,159 --> 00:02:57,076 What is your heart? 61 00:02:57,076 --> 00:02:58,628 Why guard your heart? 62 00:02:58,628 --> 00:03:01,397 Why do we do it first? What is your heart? 63 00:03:01,397 --> 00:03:02,432 You're in our culture. 64 00:03:02,432 --> 00:03:05,268 When we talk about heart, we're really connected to passion. 65 00:03:05,268 --> 00:03:07,470 If you're sitting watching a basketball game 66 00:03:07,470 --> 00:03:10,557 and the guy next to you says, oh, that kid plays with heart, 67 00:03:11,391 --> 00:03:13,710 you know what he's saying is that kid 68 00:03:13,710 --> 00:03:16,880 tries harder than anyone else like that. 69 00:03:16,913 --> 00:03:19,232 He is all in. Right? 70 00:03:19,232 --> 00:03:20,600 That's the the big thing. 71 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,354 If I tell my wife I love you with all my heart, I'm telling her 72 00:03:24,387 --> 00:03:29,242 that I am exclusively hers romantically, that I am all in. 73 00:03:29,242 --> 00:03:33,313 But when the Bible talks about heart, it doesn't just limit it to passion. 74 00:03:33,713 --> 00:03:37,233 It talks about your thoughts. 75 00:03:37,750 --> 00:03:42,839 It says as a as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. 76 00:03:42,989 --> 00:03:45,074 It talks about your will. 77 00:03:45,074 --> 00:03:48,912 You choose based on what your heart desires. 78 00:03:48,962 --> 00:03:52,599 I mean, we we talked about that a couple of weeks ago, that given 79 00:03:52,599 --> 00:03:58,821 any choice, every human being will choose what you most want, what you most desire. 80 00:03:58,838 --> 00:04:02,992 And that's the result of your heart, what you love. 81 00:04:03,243 --> 00:04:06,713 The poet Emily Dickinson was the first one to say your heart wants 82 00:04:06,763 --> 00:04:10,433 what it wants and you cannot fight that right. 83 00:04:10,483 --> 00:04:15,188 So your heart is the center of your your will, 84 00:04:15,238 --> 00:04:19,275 your desires, your thinking, your passion. 85 00:04:19,309 --> 00:04:20,677 It's the real you. 86 00:04:20,677 --> 00:04:23,763 And first Samuel, God talks 87 00:04:23,763 --> 00:04:27,717 to the prophet Samuel sends him to find the next king of Israel. 88 00:04:27,917 --> 00:04:32,472 And he sends him to the home of a man named Jesse, who's got a slew of sons. 89 00:04:32,472 --> 00:04:36,392 And Samuel is surprised that God picks 90 00:04:36,392 --> 00:04:40,363 the youngest son, David, to be the next king of Israel. 91 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:45,601 And the way God explains it to Samuel's, he says, basically, 92 00:04:46,002 --> 00:04:48,871 people look on the outside appearance, 93 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:52,191 but I look on the inside. 94 00:04:52,191 --> 00:04:54,761 Well, God is saying is I 95 00:04:54,761 --> 00:04:58,081 look at the real person 96 00:04:58,231 --> 00:05:01,918 and he refers to it as their heart. 97 00:05:02,552 --> 00:05:04,787 And so what is your heart? 98 00:05:04,787 --> 00:05:07,390 Your your heart is the real you. 99 00:05:07,390 --> 00:05:10,827 It's everything that you are all combined. 100 00:05:10,877 --> 00:05:13,880 It's why you do what you do. 101 00:05:14,430 --> 00:05:15,999 It's your heart. 102 00:05:15,999 --> 00:05:19,268 The second question is why guard your heart? 103 00:05:19,952 --> 00:05:22,955 I'll give you three reasons, right? 104 00:05:23,556 --> 00:05:26,759 The first is that your heart is evidently in danger. 105 00:05:26,793 --> 00:05:28,878 Otherwise God wouldn't say to guard it. 106 00:05:28,878 --> 00:05:29,829 It's. 107 00:05:29,829 --> 00:05:34,233 It's both precious and it's vulnerable. 108 00:05:34,317 --> 00:05:36,753 It has to be both. Like in my house. 109 00:05:36,753 --> 00:05:38,354 I have a couple of old shovels. 110 00:05:38,354 --> 00:05:40,356 If I'm out working in the yard and I forget, 111 00:05:40,356 --> 00:05:43,993 and I leave those outside all night, I'm not worried about it. 112 00:05:44,027 --> 00:05:45,878 One, they don't mean that much to me. 113 00:05:45,878 --> 00:05:48,398 Two nobody. One of them, right. 114 00:05:48,398 --> 00:05:51,401 But I have a very expensive bicycle 115 00:05:51,401 --> 00:05:56,322 that I would never leave outside because I like it. 116 00:05:56,322 --> 00:06:00,793 I want to keep that bicycle and other people might want it. 117 00:06:01,794 --> 00:06:04,630 Your heart is vulnerable because your heart is 118 00:06:04,630 --> 00:06:08,951 constantly being influenced, whether you realize it or not. 119 00:06:09,118 --> 00:06:13,122 Every advertisement you have ever seen is designed 120 00:06:13,189 --> 00:06:16,192 to influence your heart. 121 00:06:16,392 --> 00:06:21,481 You have an algorithm in your phone that is influence its design. 122 00:06:21,481 --> 00:06:25,251 They design those algorithms to influence your heart. 123 00:06:25,268 --> 00:06:28,071 I remember talking to a high school kid when I was in high school ministry, 124 00:06:28,071 --> 00:06:30,706 and we were talking about the movies he was watching, the music 125 00:06:30,706 --> 00:06:33,709 he was listening to, and he was saying, they don't impact me. 126 00:06:33,709 --> 00:06:36,796 And I was going, I think they do. 127 00:06:37,029 --> 00:06:40,867 And I remembered I read an article about how much it cost 128 00:06:40,917 --> 00:06:45,321 to have a Super Bowl commercial, and I looked it up this week 129 00:06:45,321 --> 00:06:50,309 just so I could use this illustration for a 32nd commercial during the Super Bowl. 130 00:06:50,309 --> 00:06:53,079 It cost $8 million just for that slot. 131 00:06:53,079 --> 00:06:55,998 And so what I told this kid basically 132 00:06:55,998 --> 00:06:59,836 is, listen, you may think that it's not impacting you. 133 00:07:00,036 --> 00:07:04,474 There are some really well paid advertising executives who are betting 134 00:07:04,507 --> 00:07:05,992 $8 million. 135 00:07:05,992 --> 00:07:10,279 They can influence you in 30s at least a little bit. 136 00:07:10,430 --> 00:07:14,267 You have to believe a two hour movie and constantly listening 137 00:07:14,317 --> 00:07:18,137 to music is going to influence you, right? 138 00:07:18,154 --> 00:07:23,042 You are constantly having things influence people want. 139 00:07:23,075 --> 00:07:26,679 I am trying to influence you right now, right? 140 00:07:26,712 --> 00:07:29,115 That's the way it works. So that's the first thing. 141 00:07:29,115 --> 00:07:32,201 You guard your heart because your heart is vulnerable and it's 142 00:07:32,201 --> 00:07:35,271 constantly being influenced towards something. 143 00:07:35,555 --> 00:07:40,159 The second thing is, whoever has your heart, whatever has your heart has you. 144 00:07:41,627 --> 00:07:44,680 Whoever whatever has your heart has you. 145 00:07:45,148 --> 00:07:46,599 I remember being at a banquet 146 00:07:46,599 --> 00:07:50,753 that was a fundraiser for a ministry, and it was a ministry to kids. 147 00:07:50,753 --> 00:07:54,040 And the speaker who got up to do the ask, 148 00:07:54,073 --> 00:07:57,793 you know, you go to any fundraiser, somebody's going to get up and do the ask. 149 00:07:57,827 --> 00:08:00,830 He used like a 150 00:08:00,997 --> 00:08:04,000 an image I don't think I'll ever forget, 151 00:08:04,150 --> 00:08:07,520 he said, imagine that there are two buildings side by side. 152 00:08:07,753 --> 00:08:11,040 Each of them like 90 stories high. 153 00:08:11,557 --> 00:08:14,277 And in the 90th story 154 00:08:14,277 --> 00:08:17,630 window, there's a plank between the two buildings. 155 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,434 What would it take for you to walk across that plank? 156 00:08:21,834 --> 00:08:24,187 And then he changed it to himself. 157 00:08:24,187 --> 00:08:29,842 He said people could offer me money, but the wind blowing and it being 1000ft 158 00:08:29,842 --> 00:08:33,079 fall, you know, I don't know how much money you could offer me. 159 00:08:33,079 --> 00:08:36,115 Because what good is money if I fall and die? 160 00:08:36,148 --> 00:08:39,602 You could try to make me do it through fear. 161 00:08:40,002 --> 00:08:40,836 Maybe. 162 00:08:40,836 --> 00:08:43,839 Maybe I'll tell you how you could do it. 163 00:08:43,956 --> 00:08:47,560 He said you put my kids in the other window, 164 00:08:47,910 --> 00:08:49,879 and then you set that building on fire. 165 00:08:49,879 --> 00:08:52,348 You could not stop me. 166 00:08:52,348 --> 00:08:54,267 Do you feel that? 167 00:08:54,267 --> 00:08:57,203 But whatever has your heart 168 00:08:58,521 --> 00:09:00,590 has you, right? 169 00:09:00,590 --> 00:09:02,158 That's the second thing. 170 00:09:02,158 --> 00:09:05,194 The third reason you guard your heart is that your heart 171 00:09:05,194 --> 00:09:08,548 is the key to your capacity to love. 172 00:09:09,432 --> 00:09:10,833 Period. 173 00:09:10,833 --> 00:09:14,637 To love God, to love other people, even to love yourself. 174 00:09:14,670 --> 00:09:17,840 Your heart is the thing that determines that. 175 00:09:17,957 --> 00:09:22,278 You know, some years ago I developed a heart condition called AFib. 176 00:09:22,311 --> 00:09:25,398 Now I'm fine now, 177 00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:30,036 but AFib for some people, it makes their heart race 178 00:09:30,036 --> 00:09:33,189 so they feel like the shot of adrenaline. 179 00:09:33,189 --> 00:09:35,391 And that's not the way my AFib works. 180 00:09:35,391 --> 00:09:38,678 The way my AFib works is my my heart goes out of rhythm 181 00:09:38,828 --> 00:09:42,081 and it just beats weird inefficiently. 182 00:09:42,081 --> 00:09:44,083 And the way I describe it to people is it. 183 00:09:44,083 --> 00:09:48,788 I know when I'm out of rhythm because I feel systemically poor, 184 00:09:49,272 --> 00:09:51,958 it impacts everything. 185 00:09:51,958 --> 00:09:54,961 That's where your heart is with love. 186 00:09:55,244 --> 00:09:57,630 Your heart is the is the key 187 00:09:57,630 --> 00:10:00,950 to unleashing your capacity to love God. 188 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,387 I mean, every week I feel like I meet people here 189 00:10:04,387 --> 00:10:07,189 who will say that their lives have been totally changed. 190 00:10:07,189 --> 00:10:12,228 Last week, you know, we had baptism and I did the same thing at every service 191 00:10:12,228 --> 00:10:16,482 where I said, listen, if you're here and you want to get baptized, 192 00:10:16,482 --> 00:10:19,318 you can leave right now and it won't hurt my feelings. 193 00:10:19,318 --> 00:10:23,673 I was out in the tent on Sunday morning and I did that thing 194 00:10:23,673 --> 00:10:26,909 and I didn't notice, but a guy slipped out. 195 00:10:26,959 --> 00:10:29,028 He's about my age. 196 00:10:29,028 --> 00:10:32,398 Zach told me his story later on in his story was that 197 00:10:32,398 --> 00:10:35,668 he just said six years ago, he's in a really dark place. 198 00:10:35,668 --> 00:10:39,672 And his wife forced him to come to church. 199 00:10:40,122 --> 00:10:45,795 And he said, I have been absolutely, utterly and completely changed. 200 00:10:46,078 --> 00:10:49,882 And I happened to I didn't know that story at the time. 201 00:10:49,882 --> 00:10:55,788 But after I preached out in the tent, somebody had asked me to baptize them 202 00:10:55,788 --> 00:11:00,643 in East Hall, so I had to have somebody else close the service. 203 00:11:00,643 --> 00:11:03,479 And I was walking to east, and I ran into this guy 204 00:11:03,479 --> 00:11:08,234 and he had his shirt on, you know, that, you know, the baptism shirt. 205 00:11:08,234 --> 00:11:10,469 And he like, he was like, I'm getting baptized. 206 00:11:10,469 --> 00:11:11,387 I said, good job. 207 00:11:11,387 --> 00:11:14,440 And he was so full of joy. 208 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:19,395 And his eyes just brimmed with tears and joy. 209 00:11:19,395 --> 00:11:20,996 And then I heard a story. 210 00:11:20,996 --> 00:11:22,348 What happened? 211 00:11:22,348 --> 00:11:25,267 And I hear stories like that all the time. 212 00:11:25,267 --> 00:11:26,068 This is what happened. 213 00:11:26,068 --> 00:11:28,988 This is the prophet Ezekiel. 214 00:11:28,988 --> 00:11:33,993 God says, and I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you. 215 00:11:34,193 --> 00:11:37,029 And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh 216 00:11:37,029 --> 00:11:40,032 and give you a heart of flesh. 217 00:11:40,116 --> 00:11:41,600 That's the first thing that happens. 218 00:11:42,802 --> 00:11:43,719 Then it impacts 219 00:11:43,719 --> 00:11:46,722 your your capacity to love other people. 220 00:11:46,789 --> 00:11:51,427 The night before Jesus went to the cross, he gathered his disciples 221 00:11:51,427 --> 00:11:55,881 and he said, I new commandment I give to you, that you love each other. 222 00:11:55,881 --> 00:11:59,952 And then he said this, by this all people will know 223 00:12:00,152 --> 00:12:04,907 that you're my disciples by your love for each other. 224 00:12:05,641 --> 00:12:10,796 40 days later, when the church exploded on the day of Pentecost in Acts 225 00:12:10,796 --> 00:12:16,068 chapter two, the defining kind of factor 226 00:12:16,519 --> 00:12:19,238 of the defining characteristic 227 00:12:19,238 --> 00:12:23,109 of the group of people that had become Christians was their love for each other. 228 00:12:23,109 --> 00:12:25,795 That's what made the early church so attractive, 229 00:12:25,795 --> 00:12:29,115 because people would come in and they had never seen people 230 00:12:29,115 --> 00:12:31,834 love each other the way Christians loved each other. 231 00:12:31,834 --> 00:12:33,469 What happened? 232 00:12:33,469 --> 00:12:35,721 The heart was changed. 233 00:12:35,721 --> 00:12:38,073 Your heart is the key to your capacity 234 00:12:38,073 --> 00:12:41,360 to love God, love others, but also even love yourself, not listen. 235 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,681 I'm not a big proponent of people who say, you know, you got to love yourself first 236 00:12:45,681 --> 00:12:47,283 before you love other people because, 237 00:12:47,283 --> 00:12:50,269 you know, the people I've known who really love themselves 238 00:12:50,269 --> 00:12:54,323 never get around to loving other people very much. But 239 00:12:55,591 --> 00:12:56,242 the people that 240 00:12:56,242 --> 00:12:59,962 I know that struggle with loving themselves are people that 241 00:12:59,995 --> 00:13:05,117 have been damaged, usually as children, but they didn't experience love, 242 00:13:05,351 --> 00:13:10,156 or they didn't feel like they experienced love the way they needed love. 243 00:13:11,073 --> 00:13:14,076 And it makes me think of Matthew chapter eight. 244 00:13:14,593 --> 00:13:19,632 What they need is a love that comes into them that is so strong 245 00:13:19,632 --> 00:13:23,419 that it can actually heal the wounds from not being loved. 246 00:13:23,435 --> 00:13:24,787 That's what you need. 247 00:13:24,787 --> 00:13:29,358 In Matthew chapter eight, there's a story of a leper who goes to Jesus. 248 00:13:29,358 --> 00:13:33,712 Now in the first century, if you had leprosy, you had to shout 249 00:13:33,712 --> 00:13:38,200 all the time, unclean, unclean, so that people could stay away. 250 00:13:38,234 --> 00:13:41,187 It was considered a contagious disease. 251 00:13:41,187 --> 00:13:45,241 People didn't want to come close to somebody who was a leper. 252 00:13:45,474 --> 00:13:49,595 And in Matthew eight it says, he went up to Jesus and he fell on his knees. 253 00:13:49,595 --> 00:13:52,631 And he said, if you are willing, you can make me clean. 254 00:13:52,882 --> 00:13:57,469 And Jesus, it says, reached out and touched him. 255 00:13:58,721 --> 00:14:00,840 You didn't have to touch him, 256 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:05,961 but he touched him and doesn't say how he touched him or where he touched him. 257 00:14:05,961 --> 00:14:11,317 But in my mind's eye, always think that this guy knelt in front of Jesus. 258 00:14:11,317 --> 00:14:17,756 And I think Jesus knelt and then cupped his face in his hands 259 00:14:17,790 --> 00:14:21,310 and looked at him and said, be healed. 260 00:14:22,478 --> 00:14:24,079 Be healed. 261 00:14:24,079 --> 00:14:27,833 What would it be like to look in the eyes 262 00:14:28,517 --> 00:14:31,270 of the headwaters of love 263 00:14:31,270 --> 00:14:34,273 and have him say, I love you? 264 00:14:35,157 --> 00:14:37,826 Be healed? 265 00:14:37,826 --> 00:14:41,914 The reason you want to guard your heart is that it's vulnerable. 266 00:14:41,914 --> 00:14:43,599 You're being influenced all the time. 267 00:14:43,599 --> 00:14:46,268 One way everybody wants to influence your heart 268 00:14:46,268 --> 00:14:50,155 because if they have the heart, your heart, they have you. 269 00:14:50,923 --> 00:14:54,076 And your heart is the key for your capacity 270 00:14:54,193 --> 00:14:57,029 to love God, love others, love yourself. 271 00:14:57,029 --> 00:14:58,631 It's the whole kit and caboodle. 272 00:14:58,631 --> 00:15:01,200 If you love God, love yourself, love others. 273 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:05,070 You are having a great life, right? 274 00:15:05,437 --> 00:15:07,573 So that's why guard your heart. 275 00:15:07,573 --> 00:15:10,593 The brings me to my last thing is how do you do it? 276 00:15:11,043 --> 00:15:12,711 How do you guard your heart? Two ways. 277 00:15:12,711 --> 00:15:17,866 Two things protect it and feed it first. 278 00:15:17,950 --> 00:15:21,186 Protect it. My friend Mandy, 279 00:15:22,321 --> 00:15:25,307 the one with dairy allergy. 280 00:15:25,641 --> 00:15:25,874 You know, 281 00:15:25,874 --> 00:15:30,112 she didn't get in the ICU because she decided to go on an ice cream bender. 282 00:15:30,596 --> 00:15:32,831 I mean, she didn't say, you know, throw caution to the wind. 283 00:15:32,831 --> 00:15:35,951 I'm going to finally live my life the way everyone else lives their life. 284 00:15:35,951 --> 00:15:37,152 I'm going to curl up 285 00:15:37,152 --> 00:15:41,707 with a pint of Haagen-Dazs and just binge my my favorite series. 286 00:15:41,757 --> 00:15:43,759 That's not what she did. 287 00:15:43,759 --> 00:15:47,162 What she did was she took one bite 288 00:15:48,147 --> 00:15:51,317 of a dish that had what for her 289 00:15:51,951 --> 00:15:55,671 was poison, something she was allergic to. 290 00:15:56,555 --> 00:15:59,558 This is what I think. 291 00:15:59,558 --> 00:16:01,160 I think you're much more. 292 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:05,431 Your soul is much more allergic to sin than you think. 293 00:16:05,431 --> 00:16:08,150 It is my soul. 294 00:16:08,150 --> 00:16:09,268 Much more allergic. 295 00:16:09,268 --> 00:16:13,238 I think we we look at sin like we think, you know, we can indulge in a little bit. 296 00:16:13,272 --> 00:16:15,357 It's kind of like having a little bit ice cream. Yeah. 297 00:16:15,357 --> 00:16:19,478 You may you may pay for it later on, but it tastes good and it's not that bad. 298 00:16:19,478 --> 00:16:20,312 And you're going to recover. 299 00:16:20,312 --> 00:16:23,315 But that's not what the Bible says. 300 00:16:23,399 --> 00:16:25,434 The Bible says you were wildly. 301 00:16:25,434 --> 00:16:28,754 Your soul is wildly and terribly, 302 00:16:29,388 --> 00:16:32,391 terribly allergic to sin. 303 00:16:32,508 --> 00:16:36,395 This is what it says in James, he says, but 304 00:16:36,395 --> 00:16:40,599 each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 305 00:16:40,632 --> 00:16:45,070 Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin 306 00:16:45,070 --> 00:16:48,157 when it is fully grown, brings forth death. 307 00:16:49,274 --> 00:16:49,842 So I want 308 00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:52,828 you to know is when I say protector, I mean 309 00:16:53,762 --> 00:16:55,714 stop thinking that you're just going 310 00:16:55,714 --> 00:16:58,717 to indulge in a little, just a little lust. 311 00:16:58,834 --> 00:17:02,037 You're going to indulge in a little bit of greed, 312 00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:03,839 a little bit of envy, 313 00:17:03,839 --> 00:17:08,077 a little bit of holding a grudge because you deserve to hold a grudge. 314 00:17:08,627 --> 00:17:11,830 You think it's a little bit, but you don't know how 315 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:14,199 allergic your soul is to sin. 316 00:17:14,199 --> 00:17:16,151 You don't know what will land you. 317 00:17:16,151 --> 00:17:19,271 And I see you, Solomon, as I grabbing us, 318 00:17:19,271 --> 00:17:22,307 trying to shake us, and said, don't you know 319 00:17:23,358 --> 00:17:26,111 above all else guard your heart. 320 00:17:26,111 --> 00:17:31,867 You are allergic to some of the stuff that you put in your heart. 321 00:17:32,201 --> 00:17:33,952 That's the first thing protected. 322 00:17:33,952 --> 00:17:35,838 The second thing is feed it. 323 00:17:35,838 --> 00:17:39,508 You know, there are a lot of people on our staff that are very health conscious. 324 00:17:41,393 --> 00:17:43,762 You means you can stop a certain person on our staff. 325 00:17:43,762 --> 00:17:47,950 They can tell you how much protein you ought to be eating per kilogram. 326 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,318 You know, 327 00:17:49,318 --> 00:17:53,756 you'd stop somebody else to tell you the advantage of collagen or creatine, or 328 00:17:54,273 --> 00:17:59,111 how much if you sit in a sauna, how much it will reduce your risk of stroke. 329 00:17:59,361 --> 00:18:00,312 It's a lot. 330 00:18:00,312 --> 00:18:04,800 And the reason they do that is because more and more we realize, 331 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:09,555 all of us realize that to be healthy, you can't just stop doing bad stuff. 332 00:18:09,555 --> 00:18:14,243 You have to start doing good stuff if you really want to be healthy. 333 00:18:14,593 --> 00:18:18,197 And that's the way it is with God. 334 00:18:18,797 --> 00:18:21,400 And I was trying to think of it, of an image to give you. 335 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,702 And I came up with this. 336 00:18:23,702 --> 00:18:26,755 If I could give you like a jewel 337 00:18:26,789 --> 00:18:30,042 like this, just a little trinket. 338 00:18:30,075 --> 00:18:34,079 And I said, if if you will hold it in your left hand 339 00:18:34,830 --> 00:18:39,118 for any length of time, it'll increase your capacity for love. 340 00:18:39,468 --> 00:18:42,471 Love of God, love of other people, love of yourself. 341 00:18:42,588 --> 00:18:46,241 It'll give you the the possibility and the the probability 342 00:18:46,241 --> 00:18:50,279 of having more joy, more peace, more patience. 343 00:18:51,213 --> 00:18:53,348 Well, every day when you woke up, it'd be right there. 344 00:18:53,348 --> 00:18:54,433 Be right on your nightstand. 345 00:18:54,433 --> 00:18:56,235 You'd pick it up first thing in the morning. 346 00:18:56,235 --> 00:18:59,188 You drink your coffee with this in your left hand, 347 00:18:59,188 --> 00:19:01,990 you're going your car and the soft light you'd reach over. 348 00:19:01,990 --> 00:19:06,361 Pick this up and grab it and hold it, because you would want your soul 349 00:19:07,396 --> 00:19:10,399 to be as healthy as possible. 350 00:19:10,632 --> 00:19:14,203 You know, every morning when I wake up, I spend time 351 00:19:14,203 --> 00:19:18,073 with God, and I don't do it because I'm checking a box. 352 00:19:18,073 --> 00:19:21,877 I do it because of this, because I'm thinking I want to be 353 00:19:21,877 --> 00:19:23,162 as healthy as possible. 354 00:19:23,162 --> 00:19:26,949 I want to do I do it because it's like exercise to me. 355 00:19:27,516 --> 00:19:30,919 This is what Paul says in Philippians four. 356 00:19:30,919 --> 00:19:34,122 He says, finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 357 00:19:34,122 --> 00:19:37,509 whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, 358 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:40,796 whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is 359 00:19:40,796 --> 00:19:44,600 anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 360 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,669 What he's saying is think about Jesus. 361 00:19:47,669 --> 00:19:50,589 Like when you get up tomorrow morning, what I want you to do 362 00:19:50,589 --> 00:19:53,592 is just just spend a little time 363 00:19:53,675 --> 00:19:56,161 thinking and telling yourself the gospel. 364 00:19:56,161 --> 00:20:00,716 There's a God in heaven who loves you so much that he sent Jesus. 365 00:20:01,083 --> 00:20:02,918 This morning when I was sitting with my Bible 366 00:20:02,918 --> 00:20:06,071 and my journal, which I do every morning, decided 367 00:20:06,071 --> 00:20:10,559 because I knew I was preaching this message, decided to close my eyes. 368 00:20:10,676 --> 00:20:15,030 And what I tried to imagine is what it would be like to kneel before Jesus 369 00:20:15,631 --> 00:20:19,635 and have him kneel, cup my face in his hands 370 00:20:20,035 --> 00:20:23,872 and say to me, Joe, be healed, 371 00:20:25,507 --> 00:20:27,509 Joe, I love you. 372 00:20:27,509 --> 00:20:30,596 What would it be like to look into the eyes 373 00:20:30,913 --> 00:20:34,483 of the headwaters of love and have him 374 00:20:34,516 --> 00:20:37,519 say, I love you? 375 00:20:37,603 --> 00:20:40,322 Solomon says above all else, 376 00:20:40,322 --> 00:20:43,675 if you don't do anything else, guard your heart 377 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,629 because your heart is vulnerable. 378 00:20:47,629 --> 00:20:50,198 The heart is the real you. 379 00:20:50,198 --> 00:20:53,151 Your heart will determine your capacity 380 00:20:53,151 --> 00:20:56,471 for love and joy and peace. 381 00:20:56,471 --> 00:21:01,393 To love God, love each other, love yourself for life. 382 00:21:02,561 --> 00:21:05,147 So this is my thing. 383 00:21:05,147 --> 00:21:07,349 Protect your heart. 384 00:21:07,349 --> 00:21:10,035 Feed your heart. 385 00:21:10,035 --> 00:21:12,788 More wisdom, more life. 386 00:21:12,788 --> 00:21:15,357 Do you pray with me, 387 00:21:15,357 --> 00:21:16,758 father in heaven? 388 00:21:16,758 --> 00:21:18,310 I'm so grateful. 389 00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:23,598 I'm grateful that you want us to be as healthy as we possibly can. 390 00:21:23,632 --> 00:21:28,720 I'm glad that you tell us in the Bible what we are allergic to, and the sin 391 00:21:28,754 --> 00:21:31,757 that can absolutely land us 392 00:21:31,757 --> 00:21:35,160 in ICU and really destroy our souls. 393 00:21:35,761 --> 00:21:38,747 Thank you that you gave us a heart 394 00:21:38,830 --> 00:21:43,302 for passion, for our will, for our desires and our love. 395 00:21:43,302 --> 00:21:47,756 And I pray for everybody here that you will transform our hearts, 396 00:21:47,756 --> 00:21:51,443 that we will spend time with you 397 00:21:51,877 --> 00:21:54,596 every day so that you can renew our hearts. 398 00:21:55,597 --> 00:21:58,200 Make us as healthy as we can possibly be. 399 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,187 Give us more life as we grow in wisdom. 400 00:22:02,187 --> 00:22:03,188 Thank you. 401 00:22:03,188 --> 00:22:05,957 We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.