Guarded Heart

Hey, this is Tim Pratt Jr. and I want to welcome you to the Student of Life podcast. Listen, we're going to get into so many transferable truths throughout the content of these episodes that I believe God is going to use to help you apply, because he's going to reveal what's already been there the entire time. Enjoy. Yo, what's up? So this is your host, Tim Pratt Jr., man. Listen, I've got one that I feel like it's going to be really, really good for us today. I know I've been in this Kingdom Mindset, um, 3-part series, but we're kind of gonna take a switch back, man, and just get into some of that, uh, just raw content, man, getting back into the word of God in a very practical way. Like I said, we, we, like, I, I love all the, the, uh, theology, and I study a lot of books, a lot of concepts, man. My wife blessed me with Logos, uh, I don't know, and a few different type of culture Bibles and, uh, just hermeneutics and things like that. And I, I really love them. I really love them because, you know, you want to make that you are— you have integrity when you're approaching the word of God, not making it say what you wanted to say, but through the power of God and the Holy Spirit. Um, I mean, through the power of God, of course, the Holy Spirit, and, uh, through others, because God works through others. Man, you just want to examine things line upon line. Uh, so that being said, man, uh, I want to just say, for one, you know, I hope you enjoyed your Christmas or holiday break. Uh, you know, I'm I'm hoping that everyone's having a happy New Year. Um, and man, I just want to— like I said, I'm continuing to pray for you all, pray for the listeners, pray for the followers. And, uh, man, I just continue to hope God just continues to reveal himself, uh, and you just— we all collectively, man, just have this desperation to truly do the work of God. Uh, so that being said, man, Season 6, Episode 10, uh, I want to talk to you a little bit from the title of Guarded Heart. Now, I did have the opportunity to preach this message and teach on it, but I'm kind of going to take a little bit of different approach— a lot of similarities but a different approach for this podcast. So I'm gonna come to you from two verses today, and we're gonna, uh, use Proverbs 4:23 and Philippians 4:7. And I'll be reading from the King James Version on both of these. So let's jump right into it, man. A guarded heart. So Proverbs 4:23 reads, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Some translations say the source of life, but we're going to unpack that a little bit more as we, as we navigate through this episode. Philippians 4:7 reads, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So in other words, right here what we are seeing is instructions from the Bible, instructions from the Lord, our Lord God, man, through the power of the Holy Spirit, uh, man, the integrity of the scriptures. We are seeing right now that we have instructions to be diligent, to be proactive, to guard our heart, but also to guard it through Christ Jesus. So in other words, man, God gave us instructions that we have to participate in, but at the same time said, I love you so much that I'm going to empower you to do this through the power of the Holy Spirit. And we know that the only way we can have the Holy Spirit, man, if we have truly accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior and confessed and believed in our heart, man, uh, confess with our mouth. And so, uh, it's not just lip service, but truly that scripture also say believing in the heart, because we have a lot of people that confess things, say all the right things with their mouth, but their heart is far from it, their heart posture. And that's why I want to talk a little bit about a guarded heart. Why should we be diligent, man, when it comes to guarding our heart? Because when we look in this world, man, with so much social media— I'm not saying social media is bad. A lot of things are neutral. A lot of things are very neutral, but it's our heart posture towards those things. So how do we maintain and, and keep a heart posture? Well, for one, we have to be willing to first always examine our heart according to the scripture. Uh, now I know some people, you know, preach we have a corrupt and bad heart. Some people say that we no longer have a corrupt and bad heart, uh, because we've accepted Christ. And I'm not going to necessarily get in that, but what I will say is that, um, if you have truly accepted Christ and you have the Holy Spirit, uh, I do believe in, and in a certain context, that you can listen to your heart because you have the heart of God. You, you have the Holy Spirit residing in you, but at the same time, you do have this humanity. You wrestle with your flesh. So you just want to make sure that and listening to your heart, it's in line with scripture. Because listening to your heart is never going to contradict scripture if you truly have the heart of God, if you truly have the mind of Christ because of the Holy Spirit. So when we're guarding our heart, uh, first thing we have to look at is that we have— well, first thing we have to understand is that the attitude of our heart, the attitude of our heart posture, will determine the focus of our eyes and the direction of our feet. It will determine the focus of our eyes and the direction of our feet. It's the issues of life. When we, when we go around life and just basically live casually and maintain an unguarded heart, we allow everything to penetrate it. This is why most times we can say things just don't happen out of the abundance of the heart, because basically something was deposited in us that resonated deeply in our heart and then when it's time to demonstrate it, it comes out, especially when we're tested in certain areas. This is why we make certain decisions, and one minute we can be like, I don't know why I did that. Like, in that moment I was led by my heart to do it, but now I hate that I've done it. I hate that about myself. Uh, it's because, man, your heart is being renewed, your mind is being renewed to the things of God. And so now you are putting on the mind of Christ. You, you, you are starting to have the heart of God, man, in the context of the Holy Spirit. And so you're starting to, you penetrate— let the word of God penetrate your heart. You're starting to let, uh, you know, community, other people of God, man, penetrate your heart and share things. And then the Holy Spirit starts to illuminate the scriptures and illuminate things and bring them back to your remembrance. And it's like, wow, man, this— I need to get this out of my heart. For example, David. When David prayed that prayer, you know, creating me a clean old heart, in the book of Psalms, he was talking about renewing his spirit with God. Uh, it was right after the act of what he did, man, when he had, uh, this man's wife killed. He had this man's wife killed, man, and he committed adultery. He had a soldier that was close to him put on the front line, man, and basically murdered. And when David realized, wow, like, man, this was totally wrong, like, why did I make this decision, uh, man, he had to pray and say, Lord, I'm realizing that I really had a bad heart at that time. But this is the same Bible to say this was a man after God's own heart. So Uh, it lets me know that one minute, man, he was in his flesh, but at the same time he was like, man, once I realized that I did a bad thing, I should have guarded my heart. So now, and to guard my heart, first I was like, Lord, create in me a clean heart. So we have to be willing, man, to allow the word of God to penetrate our heart and show us and examine that we have not properly guarded it. In other words, um, many times in life, in this life with so many distractions, we spend more time allowing things, everything else to penetrate our heart, and we guard it against Christ Jesus. I'm gonna say that again. Like, we spend so much time allowing so many other things to penetrate our heart, and then we guard it against Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ. And so in other words is that we should be keeping it through the power of Christ, through the power of Jesus, you know, because of the Holy Spirit but yet we're guarding it against the Holy Spirit. Now, even when we guard— let me add some clarity to that. Truthfully, we can't guard our heart against God. Like, he knows us inside out. Like, you know, the secret things— God knows us more than we know ourselves. But what I'm saying is that in our humanity, we try, we try to make the attempt, we fall for the illusion of like, man, I'm guarding my heart from God, but I'mma allow everything else to come in it. I'ma allow every, uh, like TV show, every song, people, friends or associates, and things to just continue to deposit in my heart. And then these things end up getting stored in our hearts, and then we're wondering why we have certain desires. We're wondering why, uh, our heart or our mind is wondering on certain things, like, you know, why do I want to do this? Why do I want to commit this? Why do I want to act like this? Why did I do that? Why do I have such a hard time? Why am I wrestling with something like this? Well, when we trace it back to it, we can ask the fundamental question: what am I allowing to penetrate my heart? What am I allowing to be deposited in my heart? Am I guarding it from certain things? So like, for me, as much as I read my word, as much as I pray, uh, consecrate, and, you know, truly strive to live this life through the power of God, there are certain things that are just non-negotiable for me. Like, for example, my wife, uh, she would say oftentimes, babe, I don't think we should watch this. And I'm like, man, it's just a show, it's just a movie. Like, like, man, come on. Like, this is how I was. She's like, no, I don't think we should watch that. And my wife, you know, I wasn't always like this. Like, I used to be— oh my God, it was like pulling teeth with my wife getting the truth out of me. I mean, I was just lie, lie, lie, lie for no reason, uh, lie about things. And, you know, thank God for growth, man. Thank God for her patience and Um, and I would— I was just like, I haven't always been this way, man. So there's a level of, uh, you know, sanctification, uh, that's ongoing through the power of the Holy Spirit. But nevertheless, to stay on topic, is that, uh, what I'm saying is that now I'm very transparent, you know, authentic about my struggles in the past. And so although I know God, I have overcome a lot of things, there are certain, uh, things I just don't want to dig up no more. I don't want a TV show speaking to a part of me that wants to show itself strong. So in other words, I have to take the time to guard my heart. I have to take my time and say, you know, know what, this might be a good show by the world standards, but— or this might be a good movie by the world standards, but I'm not going to entertain that right now. Uh, as a matter of fact, I'm not going to entertain it at all because as much as I can say, hey, I know I'm being led to teach on this show or teach on this and this and that, for me, because of what it speaks to in my humanity, and I don't want to struggle with something that I don't have to struggle with, I'm going to guard against that and just stay away from it. So there are certain shows and TV movies that I just don't entertain. Like, I don't care. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I'm just like, man, I'm going to guard my heart in this capacity and just obey the scriptures. So no matter how spiritual we think we are, certain things, man— all of us have different vices. I don't want to get into a whole personal conviction thing, but at the same time, there are certain things when we are believers and we have the Spirit of God and we have the Holy Spirit, there are certain things, man, that as Christians, we just should not be entertaining. There are certain things that we just shouldn't be depositing our spirit. And then when you look at that, like I said, all of us have different vices and different struggles, different deep convictions, and you— we don't want to put those on other people. Like, for example, uh, matter of fact, I'm not going to say that to this audience, but I'll just say it like this: there are certain things that I am perfectly fine with doing in proper moderation and context. But however, however, there are certain things that I'm not where someone else is. It's not that it's a sin, it's just the fact that like, okay, they are good in that area. That is something that they never struggle with, whereas I did. And vice versa, there are things that I don't struggle with that someone else did. And so this is a personal conviction thing. So we can help each other say, man, what are you doing to guard yourself in that area? What am I doing to guard myself in this area, instead of attacking each other and being subliminal and, you know, basically like putting our personal conviction on each other, we could just look at it from what are you doing to be proactive about guarding your heart? What are you doing to guard yourself against that vice? Because man, God want us to— he wants us to do that. A wise person realizes that temptation is real. Like, temptation is real. Temptation is different from a test, but a wise person realized that temptation is real and we have to take the appropriate action. I mean, we can read about this in 1 Corinthians 10. Like, we have to take the appropriate action. That's why Proverbs was saying, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life— the source of life, as some other translations say. But then the beauty of it in Philippians 4:7, man, is when Paul was saying, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So, man, we can do this because of what our Lord and Savior has done for us, and then turned around and left an advocate for us. So we want to like truly make sure that we understand that throughout scripture, this is not talking about a vital organ, but throughout scripture, the heart refers to the center of one being, including the mind, emotions, and will. Like, man, I think I was even— when I was preparing for this message and studying and just, you know, considering that day and just meditating on the things of God, man, it even took it to the point where it's more than our mental and emotional capacity. It's like it— the God was showing me that it encompasses one's values. And so I was just tracing it through like logos and, you know, different word, uh, like different word books and just research on the internet. And, you know, just allowing God and prayerfully considering like, Lord, you know, help this make sense to me. And that's why I came back. It's like, why is it so important to guard our hearts? Why is it so important to not entertain certain conversations? Why is it so important not to listen to that song? Why is it so important not to you know, watch that movie and let that deposit. Why is it so? Because like that movie can lead to something else. For example, I'm gonna take someone with a promiscuous lifestyle. If you watch a highly sexual movie, that can trigger like, oh man, I used to, I used to be a porn addict. So now you watch that movie and it's not enough. So now your humanities are coming. Oh man, I just, I want to be satisfied. I want to look at more. And trust me, I can speak like this from a practical standpoint because I've had this struggle. And it's like, oh man, I wanna, I wanna watch more, I wanna watch more. So now that's not enough, man, I'm gonna just watch pornography one time. Then we watch pornography, then now it leads to objectifying women. So it's like, well, I'ma only keep it in masturbation. Wait, listen, we very transparent on this podcast, and I'm so thankful for Tim Ross because I love dude, man, he's very open. But hey, this is the Student of Life Podcast. We're transparent. So anyway, getting back to it, um, we balance transparency, I should say, because you authentic with everyone, transparent with you. But in this, I, I've shared this a lot. So anywho, like I said, getting back on topic, um, now it leads to masturbation. So now it's like, well, I'm, I'm, I'm not stepping out, I'm not doing anything So now it's this struggle, man, you know. And I can't remember the verbatim, I can look it up, but James talks about this, man, how our own desires and then it eventually leads to full-blown sin, which is death, you know. So in other words, like, we got to cut things off and we can start with guarding our heart because now masturbation is not enough. And so now it's like, man, um, I wonder why I'm sleeping with somebody else. I wonder why I'm operating in, uh, adult, uh, not a fornication. Why am I sleeping with so many different people? Oh, I wonder why I'm up and I've just committed adultery. Oh, I wonder why I'm habitually practicing this now. Well, most of the time you can trace it back to an unguarded heart, or you can trace it back to not properly dealing with the heart and zoning in and examining it and getting that stuff up out of you through the power of God. And like I said, when I say you, it's all-inclusive. Only one person talk one way in the context of you all, and that's Jesus Christ, and he didn't. So, uh, well, if you read the scripture, you know, he said some things— you, you use pronouns like that— but the thing that I'm saying is that, uh, he didn't bash us, he didn't beat us. So we just have to, man, truly get back to the thing of just like saying, Lord, how do I guard my heart the right way according to your scripture? Because you place a lot of importance on this. And like I said, you love us so much that you were like, man, you can do this with my spirit. Because listen, what we think is hidden in our hearts to others, we could truly hide anything, but it's always visible to God. Like, it's always. So why not just be honest and approach him boldly and say, Lord, This is what's in my heart. It has been very unguarded. I hate that I continue to practice this. I hate that I continue to do this. Help me guard my heart, Lord. Help me do the, the work on my heart. Help me with the heart transplant. And after this heart transplant, that I take the next practical step to guard my heart, to be more vigilant in what I'll allow to come into my heart and penetrate it. Because it's like, man, when we allow ungodly things and worldly things to continually bombard us It's like poison in the body, both physically and spiritually. It makes us so vulnerable to temptation, man, because it starts to speak to our humanity. And this is what leads us to hurt others as well as ourselves, man, with certain actions and words. Like, straight up, for real, like, it— most of the time you can trace it to an unguarded heart or a heart that hasn't truly been examined. And, you know, not having the right accountability, not faithful to the word of God, not faithful to community and true sound doctrine, not beating people up, but a balance of grace and truth, always presented in love. So we want to make sure that we are truly taking the time to examine our heart, and then as well as like make sure we follow instruction to guard it through the power of the Holy Spirit. So like I said, man, remember, God gave us the instructions. This is a tandem relationship. I like to give the illustration of a bicycle. Yes, God gave us instructions. But at the same time, man, he empowered us. He has equipped us through the power of the Holy Spirit and other believers and community to say, this is how you guard it, and this is how you stay consistent in guarding your heart. And I just want to say this to anybody that's out there, you know, like I said, your struggle might not be, uh, the promiscuous, but like, what about a profanity-laced mouth? What about, you know, saying all the right things but living a life that's like, you see, like, I'm saying the right things like a Judas, like I'm, I'm saying everything is right, God is first. But then when we— when I look at your life, you know, or all inclusive, when someone look at our life, it's like, man, I don't see someone dying to theirself. I don't see— when Jesus said, if any man would like to follow me, he must first basically die to himself, basically crucify the flesh, meaning that you have to make some decisions to mortify the flesh. You have— you cannot— yes, your flesh is going to want to do things, but you need to bring self-control to it through the power of the Holy Spirit. So what am I saying? There are certain things that I'm going to want to do. Jesus was saying there are certain things that you are gonna want to do and love doing in your humanity, but if you are my follower, if you are my disciple, you are going to crucify it. You are not going to let it have the victory over you. So yes, you're going to feel this intensity, like this battle, this war inside, and say, man, I really want to do this and I don't see nothing wrong with it. This is what I love to do. This is what I want to to do. But at the same time, the Holy Spirit is saying, no, you can't do that. And so yes, that war is going to be real. I mean, we see it in the Garden of Gethsemane, man, where— I mean, Jesus truly felt the weight of this. Like, he knew that he was going to the cross and was going to die for mankind, give up— no man could take his life, but choose to give up his life so that we may have eternal life, because he was going to be raised up. In the flesh. He conquered in the flesh. Nothing ever had dominion over God, but he came to basically— because Adam relinquished it, he had to come back and take it in, in our humanity. He had to come back and do it in the flesh. And so the beauty in it, man, it's like God felt that in his humanity. He, he, I mean, to the point when we read the scriptures with the sweat and so on, like he felt this. But imagine if he would have let that dictate his heart. In the flesh. Like, just imagine if he would say, man, you know what, I can't do it because I'm, I'm going to allow everything to take me away from my divine purpose on this earth, the whole reason I'm here. I'm going to allow it to penetrate me, so I'm going to bypass the cross. But he prayed and he called out to God, you know, basically when he was asking about letting this cup pass, is there any other way but not thy will, let thy will be done? So he showed us that yes, your humanity is going to want to rise up, but you have the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome. And so lean into that tension. And I tell people all the time, and it's the tension that we feel— I mean, like, I experience it a lot, but what helps me is just maintaining a guarded heart. And I get it wrong, like, sometimes, like, bro, like, I'm going to get it wrong with my wife, I'm going to get it wrong with my kids, I'm going to get it wrong with my parents, my in-laws. Church members, work coworkers, friends, associates, whatever. Like, there are going to be times I'm not speaking anything but I'm going to get it wrong. But at the same time, man, having a guarded heart, maintaining a guarded heart, allowing the word of God to penetrate my heart and just, um, meditate on his word and let the right things in and, you know, hopefully reject the, the bad things out, is going to help me live a life, man, that's pleasing. And actually reflect the life of Christ in my life, where people look at me and say, man, it's not about Tim Pratt Jr., it's about I see the life of Christ, I see Christ in him through the power of the Holy Spirit. That's all I want to point people to Christ, man. I just, I just want to grow deeper and mature to the point every day, every week, every month, every year they see me, it's just like, man, wow, it's something different about this dude. And um, whether you hate him, whether you love him, man, he's living a life that's devoted to Christ in a very practical way. Not theoretical, not so deep, man, but just in a very practical way. So, man, I just want to encourage you all, uh, just like say, man, just make sure you're doing whatever it takes to guard your heart, man. Do the work. It's tough. It's— trust me, if some people say it's not, uh, I mean, some people say it's super easy if you have God No, man, it's real out here. And temptation, it is an all-time high because of what we have access to. So we have to be just that more diligent and intentional to guard our heart, because like the scriptures say, man, it's the issues of life, or as other translations say, it's the source of life. So I love you all, man. Praying that God continues to just give you what you need and you dig in more and more and more. And like I say, man, we're going to just fresh new content Interviews are coming back soon, but right now, man, I just want to stay where God has me in a few things, man, to just really deal with some areas. Like I say, with the balance of grace and truth, always presented in love, because I love you all, man, and I just want all of us to mature in our life with Christ, man, so we can represent him to a lost world and be the answer to a lost world. So I love you guys, man. Keep rocking with us. Share this, share this, share this if you know someone is struggling with any type of hard things or trying to figure out why Why might I be acting like this? Not to take away from counseling and therapy, but it could be starting with an unguarded heart. And trust me, and I have to say this, I know I'm kind of rambling at the end, but don't shy away from counseling and therapy, whether it's starting it with your pastoral staff, going out and getting a licensed therapist or counselor. Don't shy away from it because sometimes that's the practical way to discipleship. I just pray that you find someone that's, you know, possibly God-fearing. And if they're not, make sure that you are maintaining the level of relationship in a partnership with maybe a pastoral-equipped counselor as well as a licensed therapist or counselor. So, uh, man, I love you all. Do the work. Do the work. Hey, what's up? I want to thank you for taking the time. So, man, all that being said, always pray for you all. This content has impacted you in any way, whatever it is, please take some time and share it on your social media feeds. And also, if you want to connect with me Or just learn more about me, go over to www.timothypratt.org. Once again, thanks.