Guard your Heart

Today I am angry.  I am just so tired of this.  Tired of "them"  influencing my life and the lives of those around me.  Why?.....Because what "they" are telling us and showing us does not line up with truth, God's truth.   I see so clearly how we have been deceived.  And not just us, but the body of Christ, as well.  We have allowed them to shape our thinking about so many things.  How? By leaving our hearts wide open. Others may not agree with me and think I am overly sensitive and maybe they are right.  

Proverbs 4:23 says "Above all else, GUARD YOUR HEART, for everything you do flows from it." Are we guarding our hearts or are we ignoring what the Word of God says? Romans 8:5 says "If people's thinking is controlled by the sinful self, the flesh, there is death.  But if their thinking is controlled by the spirit, there is life and peace.  Missing some peace lately? Is your thinking controlled by the Spirit of God or by the world? 

Maybe it is time to consider what I am allowing to entertain me.  HOW can I GUARD my HEART and walk after the spirit and not the flesh IF I am allowing the world to plant seeds of unrighteousness in my heart? Can it be done?  Most Christians, including myself, would say...."but it's just a movie, it's just a TV show....I would NEVER do THOSE things, or act THAT way." BUT are you GUARDING YOUR HEART?  How is it that I can claim to have the spirit of God in me and yet, I can sit through an R movie  (PG13 now days), or  countless TV shows and not be grieved by the unrighteousness that is being portrayed? Do I just ignore Phil 4:8 which says "Whatever things are true, just, pure, lovely...think on these things?" Can I allow my heart to be entertained by the media  and obey that scripture at the same time?  Unfortunately, day after day, week after week, we let "the world" into our hearts through our choices of entertainment.  Are our choices of entertainment any different than those who are unsaved?  Are we paying money to encourage movies, commercials, magazines, etc., that go against what the bible teaches?

God calls us to be holy as He is holy.  Do we think those kind of scriptures do not apply when it comes to our entertainment?  The world's system is all about money. And the body of Christ is paying a high price.   What about advertisements and commercials?    So many say, "I know what's right and wrong, they do not effect me." Really? When you are slightly hungry, and sometimes even when you aren't,  and you see a commercial for a juicy hamburger or a Braum's Ice-cream Sunday, does it make you MORE hungry?  Does it make you WANT to eat? SO, did it effect you? They are made to effect you.  Millions of dollars are spent trying to get your attention every year.  We have been told over and over "America has an obesity problem." Wonder why?  Could it be because over half the advertisements we see are for FOOD??  

What about beauty?  This is a BIG one.  EVERYWHERE we look the world is showing us what beauty is and what beauty isn't.  We have so bought into this one, men and women alike.  Beauty is ALL about the outward appearance.  Hollywood flaunts it all over the place.  SO what does that do for us as women?  It causes us to be so self-focused.  It make us feel ugly, insecure, like we are not good enough, skinny enough, pretty enough.  Our eyelashes must be long. Our skin must be flawless. Our hair must be perfect!  We MUST cover the gray!! And we all know that blonds always have more fun! Our waists must be super little, our bellies must be flat, and our boobs must be big...we must not have wrinkles or stretch marks.  Our teeth must be the whitest of whites.  Our fingernails must be long...fake is the only way to go.  Our lips must be plump.  Double chins are unacceptable. Then there are the latest styles.....we must wear name brands and the shortest shorts, skimpiest swim suits, tightest tops...and oh yeah... cleavage is so very attractive...got to have it!!!. AND we must be tan!!!  It's all about showing skin. It's all about turning heads.   As Godly women, we may not dress this way, but we will pay money to watch and support this way of thinking.  It's all about causing men to lust and women to feel insecure. THESE are the kinds of things the world is teaching us, our daughters, our sons.  When are we going to say NO to what the world is telling us?  

We wonder why there are just as many divorces in the church as the world....the church is allowing the world to entertain us and it's destroying us.  We are not guarding our hearts or our children's hearts.  Men cannot sit in front of a TV day after day and see scantily dressed women and not be effected by it....they may say it does not effect them but that is the lie of the enemy.  We, as women, cannot keep looking at the magazines, the talk shows, the movies, and walk away untouched.  The world's portrayal of beauty is false.  They want us to be unhappy with our less than perfect bodies so we will spend billions of dollars every year trying to make ourselves more attractive....and it's working.  What are girls asking for as they graduate from High School these days?? Boob jobs....what does that say about us as a nation?  How sad is that?  We are not happy with the way we look.  Because the way we look is not what the world says is beauty.  Who told them that their boobs weren't big enough?  The media has shouted it loud and clear by what they are flaunting, and they (we) are believing it.

Do we even know what sexuality is anymore? The media has made sexuality all about appearance, the external. It's made sexuality into a fictional world not at all about relationships. Go back to the garden. WHY did God create male and female? He created them for RELATIONSHIP with Him and with each other...he did NOT create Eve as a sex object to be lusted over and for her to use her beauty to seduce Adam..... The world has painted a corrupt picture of sexuality filled with selfishness and focused on the outward appearance.

What IS true beauty??  The smile of a women who knows God loves her, who gives to her family and those around her, who's heart is full of compassion is beauty that cannot be defined by the world's standards.  1 Peter 3:4 says "you should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."  This kind of beauty is not self-centered.  This kind of beauty does not provoke power and lust but love and compassion. Satan has used the media to train men to value what they see with their eyes above what God declares as true beauty.  We women have also believed his lie.  We are caring more about what we see in the mirror than what God sees in our hearts.

Look at the TV shows and movies these days geared towards teenagers.  What values are they teaching? Are they teaching our sons and daughters what true beauty is?  As parents, we can tell them all we want but it's what they are SEEING portrayed around them that will actually define it for them.   Will we continue to let the media take away our God given dignity?  

I could go on and on about what we are allowing into our spirits on a daily basis. ...all in the name of entertainment and MOST of the time these things are glorified with no consequences......wiil we continue to let the world conform us to what THEY say is acceptable? We must think about it because I am sorry to say, that in the days ahead it is only going to get WORSE. When will we draw a line in the sand and say that's it??  Remember in the bible we are told that in the end times it will be like the days of Noah...and what about Sodom and Gomorrah?   Are we allowing ourselves to be entertained by the very things that was taking place then and more? Just go back and read what God thought about it.   Our eyes are the doorway to our hearts.  We are not only sitting back and allowing ungodliness into our homes and spirits but we are ENJOYING it!  We all know the Word of God says we WILL reap what we sow.  What have we allowed to be sown in our hearts?  What kind of fruit will be produced in our lives?
Turn the TV off for a few days and see if you sense a difference in the atmosphere of your home, in your spirit. I challenge you to try it.  It is a difficult thing to do because we are so driven by entertainment.  It's what we do to unwind, to relax, to escape. The enemy is so subtle and has been a master at desensitizing us to the ungodliness we put in front of us everyday. We don't actually "do" what we see on the big screen so that makes it ok to watch. But should it be?  

So today, I am angry that my marriage and family has suffered because WE HAVE ALLOWED the media to be a priority in our lives. WE have did the very things I have mentioned above over and over again. WE have paid money to condone ungodliness, laughed at their jokes and only squirmed by what WE were seeing and hearing. By doing this, WE have accepted the world's values and standards. We have accepted their lies.  We have compromised on SO many levels.   What are we doing about it?  Unfortunately, We didn't get this way overnight. It's been so subtle, a desensitizing that has taken place over years.   Thank the Lord that He is so gracious to us.  

May what grieves the heart of God, grieve our hearts. May me and my husband let go of those things in our lives that leaves our hearts unprotected to the lies of the enemy. May our hearts become sensitive to the spirit of God in ALL areas of our lives. May we GUARD OUR HEARTS and be intentional about the choices we are making everyday. Lord, help us.