Protecting Your Heart

Offering Message: Gal. 6:7-10 and Eph. 6:8. Don’t be deceived. Reaping what you sow is a positive thing. Whatever good each one does, he will receive back from the Lord. God meets your needs on the basis of your sowing. Manifestations of the flesh steal from you, such as not acting on the Word, being deceived into thinking that there’s only one opportunity, and you missed it, and giving up too soon. Sermon notes: Prov. 4:20-23 and Mark 4:13-19. “Keeping” your heart is strategic,  because it’s where battles are won or lost. Your heart is a garden; the seed is the Word of God; the soil is your heart. Satan comes to steal the Word with persecution and affliction immediately after you’ve heard it. He doesn’t care about you; he just doesn’t want the Word to grow and produce fruit. God comforts those who suffer to make them able to comfort others who need the same comfort (2 Cor.1:3). Distractions, such as cares, the deceitfulness of riches (materialism), and the lust of other things (being driven and feeling pressure) suck the life (the Word) out of you. The Word will not work in a heart of care, materialism, and lust. Let your heart be good soil: hear the Word, receive it, and do it.