Hi, Pastor Bob here. Welcome back to the Men of Valor podcast. The verse for today is actually one of my favorite verses. It's from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 23. And it states, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

"How many times do we allow the ungodly, dirt particles of the world into our mind and heart..."

The other day I noticed the water in the pool wasn't as clear and sparkling as it usually is, so I knew it was time - it was time to vacuum the pool again. As I started to vacuum the pool, I noticed that it wasn't picking up the debris that was on the pool floor the way it's supposed to! Eventually, I ended up taking the top off the pool filter, and I discovered that the powder in the filter that collects the very tiny particles of dirt had become so caked, so solid that the filter had very little suction powder. The water that was supposed to flow through it was blocked. I ended up taking the whole filter apart and thoroughly cleaning everything, and praise God, it works great! I was actually so excited, I went into the house and said, “Janet you gotta get out here! Look how this water flows into the pool now that the clog has been removed!”

“Guard your heart; guard your mind."

A short time later, I felt the Holy Spirit say, “Your heart works very similar to that pool filter.” When there are big pieces of debris on top of the water such as leaves, you typically quickly remove them with the pool skimmer to guard the pool filter from clogging. In the spiritual realm, hopefully we quickly remove the obvious temptations that try to entice us by immediately renewing our mind with the ultimate skimmer - the Word of God. However, it isn’t the big obvious things that usually clog the filter. It's those small, often unseen particles that start to clog the filter - and it’s those little foxes, as the Bible describes, that starts to clog our hearts, and it diminishes the fellowship that we have with the Holy Spirit. The blocked flow is often a result of us not guarding our hearts with such things as what we watch, what and who we listen to, games we play and what we read. How many times do we allow the ungodly, dirt particles of the world into our mind and heart because we say, “It's not really that bad compared to what's out there,” or we tell ourselves, “This really doesn't affect me?” It's really the result of us not listening to the Counselor - the Holy Spirit - who knows how to keep us clean so His Spirit can cleanly flow through us. The Holy Spirit - the Counselor - who tells us, “Be holy as I am holy.” He warns us, “Don't let those dirt particles into your heart and your mind. Guard your heart; guard your mind.” If we do, the flow of the Holy Spirit continues; if we don't, that clog starts building up and building up and building up, and eventually, the flow of the Holy Spirit stops, and the Counselor - He stops speaking to us.

"Christ’s forgiveness of our sins cleanses our system, cleanses our heart..."

God has given us the ultimate way to clean our clogged hearts - it's the gift of Godly repentance! When we ask, the Holy Spirit starts to show us where and when the clog started - and when we ask the Lord to forgive us for letting those sinful particles in, that clogging starts to break up, and praise God more water - the Holy Spirit - it just starts to flow through us again. Christ’s forgiveness of our sins cleanses our system, cleanses our heart, and eventually, the Holy Spirit has a free, unclogged heart He can use for the kingdom of Jesus Christ and God the Father. The result of this miraculous cleaning is a sparkling, refreshing place that has a sweet aroma of love joy and peace, as our relationship with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit gets closer and closer every day.

Heavenly Father, hallowed be Thy Name. You deserve all the praise, the honor and the glory, for You truly are the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We thank You for the Holy Spirit - the conviction He gives us, and the guidance that we receive from Him, and the gift of repentance that You have made available to us. What an amazing God we serve! God bless you all.