Let’s take things a bit further. We have been studying the Beatitudes (in Matthew 5) and the completely counter-cultural, topsy-turvy, revolutionary and upside down things Jesus said it means to be a transformed believer.
It goes without saying that this has been challenging!
Thats why we always try to supplement the weekend teaching with CPXL podcasts to further the discussion, a daily reading schedule that re-infuses the same teaching, and Grow Group lessons that complement and expand on the issue.
Serieously, if you use the resources at your disposal, there are miles of potential growth in front of you each week.
I was especially interested in this week’s Grow Group passage following our study of “Blessed are the pure in heart” from Matthew 5:8. It was an Old Testament connection that legitimately gave some step by step instructions for guarding your heart.
I did NOT what you to miss these, so, let me outline them for you here:
23 Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
Proverbs 4:23–27 (ESV)
Although you could find much more in detailed study, here are the major takeaways. To guard/watch/keep you heart, the writer of Proverbs encourages you to:
Watch your mouth - to put devious talk far from you is to literally put some distance betweeen you and the foul, gossiping, doubtful, innuendo-us, hateful, useless kind of talk that corrupts the hearer or speaker. Literally, create some space and get away from it, even if it’s you! Remember that Jesus said it’s not what goes a into a person that makes them unclean, it’s what comes out.
Watch your eyes - So goes the eyes, so goes the head. So goes the head, so goes the body. So goes the body, so goes the life! Becareful with where you let your eyes wander because wherever they go, everything else will follow. The word “gaze” in this passage is the Hebrew for eyelids and hints at the fact that you need to physically point your eyes in the in the right direction if you want to go the right way!
Watch where you go - Ponder the path of your feet... what a reminder! When was the last you actually thought about the places that you go and how they affect your spiritual life? There are some places you should never set your foot because it always leads to a catastrophe for your soul. And, there are other places that always lead you in the right direction. There are several roads ahead of you... pick the righteous one.
Well, there you have it. Just a few ways to continue living out what we learned this past weekend. It’s my job to provide a teaching, and it’s all our job to live it out.
Let’s make a decision to apply His word to our life today!