Proverbs 4 and verse 23. I'm going to read the verse and then I want everyone to read it with me. Ready? Proverbs 4, the Bible says, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Read it with me, say it with me. Proverbs 4, verse 23, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this special time and this different service. Lord, I'm reminded of your grace and your mercy tonight and your longsuffering and your peace and your goodness toward us. through the many times, Lord, in this church and in our lives. And I pray, Lord, that you would give us just a little bit longer in your word. I pray that you would speak to our hearts the things, Lord, that we need to hear. And I do pray, Lord, that you would keep the enemy far from us. And I pray, Lord, that these things that we've heard tonight and today would sink deep into our hearts that they may change us where necessary. And I pray, Lord, for Holy Spirit conviction where necessary, and I pray for the lost, Lord, that are in our world. I pray that we would be very cognizant to have a life, Lord, that leads them to you. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated now. I want to talk just for a few minutes here, because I only have a few. I was told I have 45 minutes, but I only have three minutes worth of notes, so I'm just kidding. I'll talk about the heart. The heart is a magnificent thing, and Brother Pelko mentioned the heart. The heart is something that God created inside of us. Did you know that there are three thinking systems in our bodies that God created? One is obvious, and it's the mind. But the other two is the gut, and the Bible's reference is that, but the third one is the heart. And there's actually over 40,000 neuro-connections that are the same neuro-connections as there are in the brain that are in the heart. It's very interesting to me that the heart pumps through over 60,000 miles of blood vessels in our body. So, the center of us that reaches every part of who we are, it is really, touches everything that we are as a person. There's an interesting article that Dr. Arthur put together in 1991 where he claims and proves that the heart, because of its thinking center, literally sends information to and from all the different organs and even sends information back to the heart, or back to the mind, that without the heart we wouldn't feel any pain. And he walks through a lot of scientific stuff about how that he believes that, but there's such an interconnectivity associated with the heart. And here we have in the passage of scripture, in Proverbs chapter 4, where God says, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. And I want to pray right now. Well, I already prayed, so we'll skip through that. Sorry. We already prayed. But I want to talk about three things. First, I want to talk about how the heart is defined, how the heart is developed, and the heart that is determined. It's a really interesting study and if you'll turn over while I'm talking to Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 7, there's a lot of definitions in the Bible for heart. Not all the time the heart is mentioned is what we think of, that center of us. But there's actually two definitions, and I could go on for a long time about this, but I'll just talk to you a little bit. And here in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse number 7, as we compare Scripture to Scripture, actually both cases are introduced here. And so in that passage, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. And we quote that verse a lot. eat and drink saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. Now that first mention of heart is not actually the heart, the real definition of heart. That first definition of heart where it's mentioned that we quote a lot for as he thinketh in his heart so is he is actually a definition for soul. And the Hebrew word there is for that first definition is nephesh, or N-E-P-H-E-S, and the second one is actually the definition for heart. And that's the one I want us to take a look at, this second reference here, but the heart is not with thee, and in our passage of scripture, but keep thy heart with all diligence. What this actually is, is our inner man. This is who we are, this is our belief system. It is the bedrock of who we are. The other definition is soul and it's in other places in scripture translated as creature as in Genesis chapter 1 and verse 20 talks about how the creature that hath life that's actually this word heart and in Genesis chapter 1 and 21 and God created whales and every living creature that's actually the same definition as heart here in this passage in Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 7. So, it's very important to understand the differences there, especially when you get to a passage like this in Proverbs chapter 7, because what's going on here is he saying, hey, you know, I want you to eat and drink here, but this guy that's trying to get him to eat and drink, he's saying that as you thinketh in your heart, in your soul, who you are, like what other people see, like your created being, like all of us, as you are doing this, but really, But his heart is not with thee. Meaning that his inner being, what he really believes, his belief system, it's not with him. And so, two definitions there of heart as they're defined. I'd love to go into that a little bit more at a later time. But I want you to think with me through, so there's the heart defined and the heart developed. And I won't spend a lot of time here, but when we're looking at our passage, the main passage that keep thy heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. We all have a great many of issues in our life. And we address them here all the time in various cases. There's the physical, our physical needs, those are issues of life, our economical issues, our political issues, and on and on and on. How did those affect us? Well, what the Bible is saying here is that you better believe in your innermost man the things that matter. So you may, as the illustration and the definition, you may come to church and you may go through the motions, but what happens when you're really confronted with a situation where you need to react in a certain way? How do you react Well, that's what the Bible is talking about here. How your heart, how your inner man believes your belief system, like this bedrock aspects here, that's why knowing the truth in scripture is so very important. And you have to have a heart that is determined and believed if you're going to react right. And that's why The Bible talks about that we need to guide our heart. In Proverbs chapter 23 and verse 19, hear thou my son and be wise and guide thy heart in the way. What we hear, what we take in, affects our belief system. And I'll prove it to you. If you watch a news station, whatever one you watch, but before long, that will affect how you think about certain things. And you know that that is a way that, because what's happening is your belief system is being changed as a result of the things that you are taking in. And we have to guide our heart into the scriptures to be able to not let that stuff happen, or we will be messed up. Our belief system has to be guided. Our heart has to be guided. But the Bible also talks about guarding your heart. And this is one of the more serious ones in my perspective, and I'll take you to two negative illustrations here. If you look at Genesis, you don't have to turn there, I'll read it. Genesis chapter six and verse five. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination in the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. This is not the definition of soul. This is the definition of heart that is the inner man. They were only evil continually in Genesis. And the next verse, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. Who God is. And so if we are not guarding our heart You can better believe that you can fake this thing and you can have a heart that everybody looks at and thinks is a good Christian and who you are can look like that. But if your belief system, if your inner man, if your heart isn't solid and fixed and guided and guarded, your, our heart can be evil. And you know the passage in Jeremiah chapter 17 where it talks about that. where it says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? We better guide our hearts and guard our hearts because the time is coming where we're going to get tested in all of that stuff. You can't read your Bible and not understand that we are going to get tested as a Christian. Light or heavy, we know what's coming. We have revelation. We have the entire Bible. And so, right now, if we don't bedrock these things in our hearts and really make them into our belief system, we will have trouble. And so, there's a heart. We defined it. We need to develop it. But we also need to have a heart that is determined. And this is what I've been alluding to the entire time. In 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 12, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know who I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. And see, to bedrock your belief so that others may see it. If we just have a superficial belief system, if it's just what we're trying to do here to get away and just be the Christian that does the things, checks the boxes, that is not bedrock belief. That is not who we really are. People will not see that. People will not see Christ. We have to bedrock that, and that's what 2 Timothy 1.12 is talking about. And then a heart that is determined, not only needs to be bedrock, we need to have bedrock in our belief system, but we need to believe with passion. And I was, when we were looking at Acts chapter, I was looking at Acts chapter one and verse three, or Acts chapter one, and when I came across verse three, It says, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion, many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Starting the whole book of Acts, starts right here where it talks about, and showed himself alive after his passion, his suffering. And I thought, Because of what Christ did, his passion, his suffering, we should have a belief system that is so foundational in ourselves that we should never be weary in well-doing. I think we get tired a lot because we're not fired up enough. because we forget or we don't bring to our mind the stuff that we should be fired up about. And what should we be fired up about? That Christ went to the cross. And he died for us. And that belief system should bedrock us so that others see Christ in every single thing that we do. And I always wondered, you know, this verse was never really, just to be quite honest with you, in the Bible where it says, ìBe not weary in well doing, for well season you will reap if you faint not.î That wasnít a very comforting verse to me. Just, honestly, just this recent period of time here where I was studying some of these things regarding the heart, has that been renewed in me that I should be passionate and, I'm passionate and fired up about a lot of things that keeps me going, that keeps me up at night, that I'll wake up thinking about? And this is exactly how we not faint, is to keep our minds and our passion renewed in what Jesus Christ did for us so that we can have a heart that's determined, so that we can have a heart that's developed, and as Brother Pelicone said, so that we can have a heart that doesn't deteriorate. We don't need a deteriorating heart. We need a heart that's energized and ready to serve God. And so, you know, I hope that we can take a look at this passage of scripture and really have a renewed understanding and a renewed appreciation for the heart because out of it are the issues.