Because, "For as he thinks in his heart, so he is." (Proverbs 23:7)

It's not what we think in our mind that makes us who we are, but what we think in our heart that makes us who we are. It's a thought process that creates; consequently, it's a thought process that destroys.

Just as telling a child that he's stupid or worthless is destructive because he grows up believing it in his heart, telling a child that his virtue is recognized and praised leads him to grow up more confident and worthy than his counterpart. Don't be mislead about age for it's never too late to change the mind of the adult or to teach the octogenarian new tricks.

To guard our heart we must guard the entrances to our heart which are our eyes, our ears and our mouth.

The silly monkeys of "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil." have had it right all along.

   

We cannot guard our heart if we take for granted what we are looking at, what we are listening to and what we are saying.

Question #1: If I see, hear or say things that are not of God, will I go to heaven?

Probably yes, if you've given your life to Jesus and are saved by the grace of God, but you'll go to heaven not knowing the abundant life here on earth.

Jesus says, "I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

Until we learn how to apply ourselves by the laws that govern this world, God's promised abundance will just pass us by.

Heaven has a system. We must master God's system of operation by mastering the Word of God. By beginning to see, hear and speak selectively and skillfully we will be on our way to break barriers and do the impossible. "Put away from you a froward mouth [a not easily controlled mouth] and perverse [wicked] lips." (Proverbs 4:24)

Not only is this verse saying that we should not be saying nasty things but we should keep away from nasty influences. If we keep away from corrupted words we will not fall into the habit of speaking them?

Many people, even alledged Christians, use foul expletives defined as 'gutter talk' or 'garbage mouth' just because they think that everybody says them? or because it's popular on TV?

The real gutter is smelly and full of garbage that isn't very close to pretty. But if that's what we see, if that's what we hear, if that's what we think then we will be speaking the garbage that is in our heart, because that is all our heart has been taught.

Hell has a system too. It's called rationalization. We rationalize, "A little bit won't hurt me!"

Only fools rationalize and the devil is counting on it. "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove your foot from evil." (Proverbs 4:2) This is a proverb warning us not to rationalize.

Rationalizing involves evaluating the pros and cons of the right and left (two sides) to find a new right so that one can live in a 'gray area' . That's the place where many Christians live their lives rationalizing away what they hope God will accept, moreover thinking that God doesn't care anyway as long as they are basically good.

Continuously rationalizing inevitably leads us to always pushing the envelope of what we think God will accept until we come to the point when we don't care one way or the other what God thinks. Fall out of the will of God and falling out of salvation may not be far behind. "He that walks [as a companion] with the wise [those who know God] shall be wise [come to know God]: but a companion of fools [those who do not know God] shall be destroyed." (Proverbs 13:0)

The more we companion [associate] with the devil and his dominion, the more we'll act like him: evil. At first we'll become sarcastic, then cynical, then defiant, then depraved, then totally lost to God. Throughout this entire process, we may still label ourselves Christian but the walk is lost.

By seeing filth, hearing filth and speaking filth, we will eventually do filth, which leads to our ultimate destruction. This is not an assumption. Other than the fact that it's written in the Word of God, it's a fact of life. What we input into our hearts becomes an enticement to wanting more. Speaking from experience, it can happen to anyone.

This is a very important scripture.

Jesus says, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned." (Matthew 12:34-37)

GIGO (Computerspeak: The 'garbage input' to the computer makes caluclations based on it's input. Therefore, 'garbage output').

What Jesus is saying is that we must at all times put the good input into our hearts in order to get good output. Garbage input will always result in garbage output and every idle 'garbage' word that comes out of our mouth we will be held accountable for on judgment day.

Just as we make confession to become Christians, confession is required to condemn ourselves. It is by our own words we will justify our entrance into heaven. Judgment day for believers will be very interesting indeed.

Most important is to understand that what comes out of our mouth is the sum total of what is in our heart (man's spirit). If we've been feeding garbage to our spirit (heart), then from out of that abundance comes who we are. "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Matthew 12:34)

But if we have been putting God in, and putting in more Godly things into our spirit then ungodly things, we will speak Godly.

If we have been speaking any idle words lately, gossiping about someone, creating rumors, deliberately berating someone, gutter talk, etc., then this clearly shows that there are more ungodly things than Godly things in our spirit. We had better start thinking up a good excuse to give Jesus on judgment day right now for our idle words AND at this point, doubt our salvation.

Wait a sec... Is there a good excuse for idle words?

Nope, not according to Jesus. (Matthew 12:34-37)

Why doubt salvation? Because a true Christian would strive to live as Jesus instructed because Jesus is IN them. This is a serious statement against the magic incantation of confession. It's believing in one's heart that makes one saved and a recipient of grace. If the heart is full of garbage and then an unbelieving confession is made, there's no room for Jesus, salvation does not occur and no grace is given. If the heart is full of garbage and a believing confession is made, Jesus empties out the garbage so that we can fill it up with Him and God's Word.

Question #2: I have Jesus in my heart, I have a born-again spirit, how do I maintain my heart (spirit), so that I don't squeeze Jesus out because I have to walk in the garbage of the world everyday?

Just as we give time to build a relationship with a friend, our spouse, and our children, we must give time to build a relationship with Jesus by continually talking (praying) and listening (reading and hearing the Word of God).

The first thing this will do is to increase faith in our life. Our belief and trust in God and our obedience to His Word will be made stronger as our faith grows.

This creates within our spirit an alertness, like flicking on the light switch, so that when we let something slip out of our mouth that is ungoldly (against the Word of God) we will know it. We will learn to immediately take authority over it so that we don't backslide into the garbage that we had in our spirit before Jesus. This special spirit alertness must be maintained 'continually' so that we can keep on our toes.

God doesn't rationalize!

The system of heaven is to continually see, hear and speak the Word of God, to always glorify God in EVERYTHING. "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name." (Hebrews 13:1) In conjunction with, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)

Then, if we stub our toe we say, "Glory be to God!" If we burn our hand while cooking, then, "Praise the Lord!" If someone cuts us off on the highway, then, "Alleluia, Amen!"

Curses give glory to the devil, anger gives glory to the devil, road-rage gives glory to the devil, etc. Cursing empowers the devil to work in a Christian's life, because once again we are placing in our spirit (heart) with the devil's garbage.

In whatever we say, we must choose which master we are going to glorify [give power to], thus elevating that influence in our life. If we choose God, then we must consciously close the door to these curses and let it be God that we glorify with our words! Words open doors, either to God or to the devil.

There is power in God's Word demonstrated by God as He created the universe by simply speaking it into existence, "And God said, let there be light! and there was light." (Genesis 1:3)

Jesus is the Living Word, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... All things were made by Him." (John 1:1,3)

Not only is the Word of God powerful for God, it is powerful for us who believe and speak it, as God tells us, "For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." (Hebrews 4:12)

God has given us authority over that which we speak, for God said, "Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness and let them have dominion." (Genesis 1:26)

Much of what happens in a believers life occurs because of what comes out of the mouth. "A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth, but the soul of the transgressor shall eat violence." (Proverbs 13:2)

If we are not where we want to be in life, the devil isn't to blame. Some even blame their circumstances on God. The devil gets too much credit for his influence over us and God gets too much blame for not fixing what we broke.

We like to think that we are in the middle of the 'good vs. evil' struggle, and demons and angels are on either side of us pulling and tugging to influence our free will. Then we can blame them for our circumstances. "The devil made me do it!" or, "Why didn't God stop it!"

The truth is that, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." (Proverbs 18:21) The tongue ends friendships. The tongue ends marriages. The tongue topples governments. The words that a believer speaks 'out of the abundance of the heart' will determine salvation, deliverance and prosperity. In short, the quality of our life in this world, and in the world to come, rests on our lips.

We must challenge ourselves daily, hourly, every single solitary second, to guard each entrance to our heart (spirit) and work on altering our path so that we will receive all the abundance of God.