A Heart On Guard

My husband, Jerry, perhaps because he’s an artist, has vivid dreams almost every single night. He can describe in detail, the color of clothing people are wearing, what their faces look like, and their word-for-word conversations. For me, that’s not the case. While I know I dream—for we all do—I don’t remember most of them. If they somehow stick, they usually are a blur of faces and events that don’t make much sense. One though, woke me up because I was laughing out loud, but usually, when my head hits the pillow, I’m pretty much gone, lost in delicious rem sleep, and making—as Jerry tells me—the most sweet, memorable sounds.

Recently though, I had a dream that was not like most. Clear and distinct in purpose and description, it wasn’t fuzzy in the least. Without going into detail, it had to do with words that were meant to wound, hurt, and destroy.

Have you ever experienced words zipping through your mind that don’t lead to encouragement, but discouragement instead? Tangled thoughts seeming to come from nowhere that penetrate your heart with angst? Whispered suggestions that lead to jealousy, envy, and strife? Definitely not the fruit of the Holy Spirit described in Galatians 5:22, 23.

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

Satan is described in the Bible, Ephesians 2:2, as being the “prince of the power of the air.” Always trying to spread doubt by questioning what God says, he sends fiery darts (see Ephesians 6:16) seeking to lead people away from the Lord. Read what happened to Eve in the Garden of Eden.

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV

Eve listened to the serpent’s question. In doing so, she let the intent of his words derail her trust in God, thus laying the foundation for a lie to take root in her heart. She then took the next step and believed it. That’s what we do when we choose to not follow the Lord. We have started down the path of believing a lie.

How do I know? That’s what has happened to me when I have chosen not to obey God in one way or another. Seeds of doubt begin to grow, and, before I know it, I’m awash in a sea of confusion.

How do we guard against this? How do we “resist the devil?” (See James 4:6b.) It’s simple really, but how easily we do forget.

• We must know God’s Word. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119).
  
  Where Jerry and I now live in the country is in the middle of fifteen acres. The first night we moved there, I cried because the darkness was so deep. Now we have strung tiny white lights on the archway at these end of the walkway. Even if I forget to turn on the front porch lights, just that little amount of twinkling light makes all the difference. The same is true with God’s Word. It is Light in an otherwise dark world.
  

 

• The Lord calls us to be doers of the Word, not just hearers only. If we only read God’s Word but don’t allow it to transform us, it’s as if we have looked in a mirror, have seen our true self, and have walked away.

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” James 1:22-25 NLT

• Finally, we must, with a humble heart, ask the Lord to draw us continually to Himself. Left to ourselves we will not seek Him.

“No one is righteous—not even one.
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.” -Romans 3:10,11

Satan’s words, like the ones in my dream, cannot hurt us if our eyes are turned toward God and we are listening to, and trusting in Him. Please, Heavenly Father keep us there.

Please protect our ears to hear only You and our eyes to see Your Goodness. Please cause us to fall so in love with You that we don’t look away. Please keep our hearts close to Yours. In Jesus name. Amen.

Kimberly