Week Four - Guard Your Heart

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."
Isaiah 61:1

     Confession time. This has not been the best week for me to follow my own study. It seems that time has conspired against me, and I let my resolve weaken. No excuses, just truth. It is easy to let "things" get in the way of time with God. When we do, we become weak, tired, broken-hearted. That's why the verse above is so very important.

     Did you know that when Jesus first revealed himself, it was with this verse? At the beginning of His ministry, He was at His synagogue in Nazareth, and was asked to read from the Holy Scrolls. The verse He chose was Isaiah 61:1. Then He sat down and said "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luke 4:21) Think of it. All the different ways Jesus could have announced His Glory, His Majesty, His Kingdom. Yet the thing He considered most important was to bind the broken heart. He knows our weakness and failures even before we are aware of them, and is there to heal and restore.

     Harry Emerson Fosdick, in his book "The Meaning of Prayer" says (and I paraphrase) that prayer is the deepest desire of the heart. That thing we feel most passionately. I think it is in this passion that God most often will use us. This passion is the individual spark He has placed in each of us, to make us each individual and important in our part in His Kingdom. And it is in this passion the enemy most often attacks, telling us we are not good enough, no one will listen, or even worse, people will listen, and reject us. Our hearts are broken. That's why guarding our hearts is So Important.

"Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." Prov. 4:23

     Come to Him humbly, contrite, broken. Come to Him with your deepest desires. He doesn't want to take them from us, but to heal them to our full potential.

     The Psalm this week is Psalm 51. Let healing waters refresh your soul. Let sin and guilt be washed away. Let your broken heart be healed.