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GRC ONLINE DIGITAL CARE GROUP #11
Keys to Guard Your Heart
Main idea
How’s your heart doing today? Is it troubled, carefree, or have you been feeling anxious — now more than ever? Ever wondered why? In a world that assails us with information 24/7, and where bad news is always one notification away, we need to learn how to guard our hearts against fear, worry and anxiety. In this care group, our pastors discuss how it isn’t so much about what is happening on the outside, but what we are letting into our hearts that really matters. Listen on for practical keys on how to guard your heart.
Take part in this digital care group session on your own or with your friends and family. Feel free to use this guide to follow the conversation with our pastors, use it for your personal time of study, or to facilitate more conversations with your community.
This session is based on the message:
- Joseph Prince—Guard The Imaginations Of Your Heart (May 1, 2022) [Sermon Notes]
1. How is the condition of your heart today?
Often, we may not know why we’re feeling happy, stressed, strong, or overwhelmed. Was it a grace-filled sermon you heard this morning? A conversation you had with a friend that greatly encouraged you? Or was it the constant influx of bad news on your social media feed?
As you take some time to do this activity, ask the Holy Spirit to help you make divine connections between what you have been consuming lately and why you might be feeling certain emotions.
Activity time!
Heart Mapping Activity
- Grab a piece of paper and a pen or marker.
- Begin by drawing a heart.
- Fill the heart with words describing how your heart is feeling this season.
- Take some time to involve the Holy Spirit in this next part of the activity. Ask Him to reveal to you the things you’ve been watching or listening to in this season that might be creating some of these emotions in your heart.
2. How can you guard your heart?
“My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;”
— Proverbs 4:20–21
God’s Word instructs us to guard our hearts by guarding what we hear (our ears) and watch (our eyes) regularly. It also tells us that the heart is where the issues of life spring forth (Prov. 4:23). If we are not intentional about the things we consume daily, they can creep into our hearts and cause fear, worry, and anxiety.
That does not mean we completely abstain from any form of entertainment or stop being informed about current world affairs. However, if we are feeding only on news media, social media, or the unending stream of information on the internet, it is no wonder that we find ourselves constantly overwhelmed and tired.
On the flip side, the opposite is also true: As you feed on God’s Word, “they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh.” (Prov. 4:22) Get hold of faith pictures from God’s Word. See what the Lord says about you and your particular situation.
Don’t let these faith pictures depart from your eyes. Keep them in your heart and one day, you’ll be experiencing what you have first beheld in faith!
As you meditate on the faith pictures found in God's Word, you possess His blessings through your heart's imaginations first.
3. Own the Word
OWN THE WORD
Meditate on His Promises
Take some time to replace the negative emotions and thoughts you listed in the heart mapping activity earlier with positive faith pictures from the Lord. Let Him fill your imagination with His visions for every area of your life.
Find and meditate on the promises and blessings in God’s Word for your specific situation. Visualize them and see yourself possessing them in your heart first. You can also head to this link to access a list of verses and God’s promises for different areas in your life.
Don’t forget to involve the Holy Spirit in this process! As you study and meditate on the Word of God, allow the Holy Spirit to lead and prompt you, as well as to paint beautiful pictures of breakthrough for your life!
Questions about this topic
I don’t read a lot of news or use social media but my friends/family are worried about certain issues and it is making me anxious too. What should I do?
As we have learned in this digital care group session, it is important to discern what we allow through our eye-gate and ear-gates, regardless of where it comes from. While we cannot control what our friends and loved ones consume on a daily basis, we can choose what we allow into our hearts.
The world is always giving us pictures that fill our minds with negativity. The only way to overcome these images is to fill our minds and hearts with the wonderful visions that God has given to us in His Word.
While there are new issues and struggles daily, don’t steep yourself in the bad news in the world, and don’t be enslaved by what people say about the future. Instead, we can look forward with a confident expectation of good and live in the present, enjoying what God is doing now!
Additional resources for you to check out:
Why You Can Have Hope In A Hopeless World [Video]
I’ve been reading the Word and listening to sermons but why am I still not seeing a positive change in my life?
We possess the promises and blessings that God has for us by first possessing them in our heart’s imagination. While you may not see the physical manifestation of your breakthrough or miracle yet, God encourages us through His Word and He says that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matt. 24:35)
It also says in Matthew 6:33–34 (MSG), “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now.” As you choose to focus on God’s reality—as seen in the many faith pictures found in God’s Word—and see what the Lord says about you and your particular situation, in His perfect time, you will experience what you have beheld in faith!
Additional resources for you to check out:
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Hallelujah Hosanna, Hallelujah Hosanna!
All praise an glory to the Father,the son Jesus the Christ (Yeshua Hamashiach) an the Holy Spirit/the Comforter…let,your will be done. Amen Amen & Amen again
#STAYENCOURAGED
All glory to God Hallelujah thank you Jesus! This broadcast is a blessing to me. God bless
Thank you, GRCO, for giving us our Jesus back! We OWN the Word as God ordained for His people! This portal is a piece of art and a witty invention by the Holy Spirit. We are so BLESSED!!! Thank you Jesus for your Finished Work at the Cross! We are honored to be members of GRCO Digital Church! Thank you Pastors and leaders for making the garden of our inheritance so attractive! You truly are Guarding the Garden of our lives through Jesus Christ! This is life to us and health to all our flesh! The encouragement we receive through a timely word from Jesus is unrivaled. Hallelujah to the Risen One in Whom we have our being!!
How do I join the Care Group Zoom?
Hey Rachel, do join us on our online church lobby to get updates on our next Digital Care Group zoom recording 🙂
Amen
Amen! I was truly blessed by this video discussion and will also be using the experiments for recalibrating the imaginations of my heart. Let’s keep guarding our hearts by curating what we allow into our ear gates and eye gates while focusing on the word of God and His promises for us. Friends, let’s meditate and contemplate on His grace, not on the bad stuff going on at times. Cast your cares on Him. He will lift your burden and give you joy and peace in Him. And this is an all surpassing peace you can find nowhere else. May you be blessed in Jesus name.
How do I join your care group where I can interact with other members?
I’m tuning in from Jamaica.
So So God send, this ministry and Care group session is…. The Lord Jesus is surely good to us. More of His Grace, His Light and His Spirit to GRC Online. Shalom
Thank you so much for this insight of guarding my heart. I pray the bad things in my heart The LORD remove them and the Good things HE puts more there. Lord save me