Bible League: Living His Word Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.— Proverbs 4:23 NLT I've often heard people greet me and ask, "How's life treating you today?" Greeting someone this way may sound cool, but it assumes that you are a victim of "life." But God's Word says our own heart determines the course of our lives. Our own heart got us to the place we are in today. I recently purchased some mangos from the supermarket. They looked beautiful and juicy and very tempting. But when I cut them open at home, much of the fruit was rotten inside. I was so disappointed. Prior to knowing God, I too was like this mango. I was kind, compassionate, and loving on the outside for the world to see, but my heart was rotten. That rottenness was determining the course of my life, leading me toward a life of failure, frustration, anger, pride, jealousy, and depression. As imperfect and sinful humans, our hearts are influenced by the experiences derived from our five physical senses. Our senses determine our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our hearts. Imagine your heart as a garden. It's a vibrant and thriving space where the seeds of your thoughts, emotions, and desires are planted. Just like a gardener tends to her garden, God calls us to be diligent guardians of our hearts. Why? Because everything we do, every action and reaction, flows from the condition of our hearts. Picture yourself driving in heavy traffic, running late for an important meeting. Someone cuts you off, and frustration builds up within you. Your initial reaction might be to honk the horn or mutter some choice words under your breath. In this moment, your heart is exposed, and the condition of your heart influences your response. Guarding your heart means choosing a different response. Instead of letting frustration take root, you could take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, and extend grace to the driver who cut you off. In doing so, you're tending to the garden of your heart, ensuring that love, patience, and understanding flourish, even in challenging situations. The verse for today is a call to make guarding our hearts a priority in our daily lives. So, practically, how do we guard our hearts? 1. Stay rooted in God's Word. Just as a plant in a garden needs water and nourishment to grow, our heart needs the Word of God to thrive. Regularly spending time in Scripture allows it to shape our thoughts which in turn influence our hearts. Not doing so will allow worldly experiences to shape our thoughts and hearts. 2. Choose your influences. Be mindful of what you watch on TV and social media. Be mindful of the people you allow into your life. Be mindful of the words you speak and the songs you listen to. 3. Pray continuously. Develop a habit of talking to God throughout the day. It is like regularly watering your heart's garden, ensuring it remains fertile and vibrant. 4. Guard your thoughts. Be intentional about the thoughts you entertain. Replace negative and condemning thoughts with positive affirmations rooted in God's promises. Guarding your heart is a daily, ongoing process. It's about making conscious choices that align with God's principles in the midst of life's ups and downs. By doing so, you'll find that the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—flourish in your heart and overflow into every aspect of your life. As you go about your day, take a moment to reflect on Proverbs 4:23. How can you actively guard your heart in various situations today, ensuring that the love and wisdom of God guide your thoughts and actions? By Santosh Chandran, Bible League International staff, New Zealand Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 20, 21, 22 2 Kings 20 -- Hezekiah's Life Lengthened, Shows Treasures to Babylon NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 21 -- Manasseh's and Amon's Wicked Reigns NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 22 -- Josiah's Good Reign; Repair of the Temple; Finding the Lost Book of the Law NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 6:45-71 John 7 -- Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Tabernacles; Diverse Opinions of Him among the People NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.Insight Daniel stood alone. Although he knew about the law against praying to anyone except the king, he continued to pray three times a day as he always had. Daniel had a disciplined prayer life. Challenge Our prayers are usually interrupted not by threats, but simply by the pressure of our schedules. Don't let threats or pressures cut into your prayer time. Pray regularly, no matter what, for prayer is your lifeline to God. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Colossians 2:9, 10 In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him.All the attributes of Christ, as God and man, are at our disposal. All the fulness of the Godhead, whatever that marvellous term may comprehend, is ours to make us complete. He cannot endow us with the attributes of Deity; but he has done all that can be done, for he has made even his divine power and Godhead subservient to our salvation. His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and infallibility, are all combined for our defence. Arise, believer, and behold the Lord Jesus yoking the whole of his divine Godhead to the chariot of salvation! How vast his grace, how firm his faithfulness, how unswerving his immutability, how infinite his power, how limitless his knowledge! All these are by the Lord Jesus made the pillars of the temple of salvation; and all, without diminution of their infinity, are covenanted to us as our perpetual inheritance. The fathomless love of the Saviour's heart is every drop of it ours; every sinew in the arm of might, every jewel in the crown of majesty, the immensity of divine knowledge, and the sternness of divine justice, all are ours, and shall be employed for us. The whole of Christ, in his adorable character as the Son of God, is by himself made over to us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, his knowledge our instruction, his power our protection, his justice our surety, his love our comfort, his mercy our solace, and his immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the recesses of the Mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for the hidden treasures. "All, all, all are yours," saith he, "be ye satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord." Oh! how sweet thus to behold Jesus, and to call upon him with the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of his love or power, we are but asking for that which he has already faithfully promised. Daily Light on the Daily Path John 5:26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;2 Timothy 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, John 14:19 "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, Hebrews 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 1 Corinthians 15:45,51,52 So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. • Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, • in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. Revelation 4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME." Revelation 4:9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, 1 Timothy 6:15,16 which He will bring about at the proper time-- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, • who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. 1 Timothy 1:17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. 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