Psalm 16:7b   
Guard your heart  
David refers to his night-times of counsel as “being instructed by his heart!” There are so many references to the heart in Scripture and they have little to do with the physical organ that pumps in our chests.  Many have tried to define the “inner heart” and the definitions can get very complicated.  I like to think of it as the inner spring or fountain through which good and bad flow into our beings. Everything that we are starts with our heart. Thus, it is possible to harden our hearts and shut the pure water of God’s voice and God’s truth out. Conversely, our hearts can be open to receive Him and feel the flow of His emotions and discern His will. Our hearts reveal where our treasure is – open to God with a treasure that accumulates in heaven or closed to God and devoted to a worthless treasure on earth. God looks at our hearts, which can be full of evil intentions and deceitful above all things, OR they can be open and receptive to Him. Therefore, Solomon advises in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”  Could it be that our spirits are controlled by God for He gives us His Spirit, but our hearts are managed by us? It is God’s Holy Spirit who lights the touch paper of faith, who whispers those first sweet words of truth that burn within us. Our spirits come alive when we receive His Spirit and that is a work of His grace. However, we have to guard our hearts, we have responsibility for what flows through and from the inner core of our beings. The content of our hearts can affect everything that we do, we say and even how we look! The more we surrender to God, the more the heart of our inner being is transformed. The Holy Spirit is involved in changing hearts to produce fruit – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are not nebulous characteristics that ebb and flow according to how spiritual we feel.  These are heart changes that are permanent, this is God writing His character and His laws on our hearts, this is the only route to well-being. If we surrender completely to the Holy Spirit our hearts become, not just a wellspring but rivers of life flowing through and out of us. These are not my words but the words of Jesus.  John 7:37-39. Thus, when we awake in the night, our hearts will either flood us with violent, polluted or fearful thoughts OR draw us peacefully into intimate fellowship with our Father. Guard your heart. 

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