Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:04] Hey, everybody. I'm Pastor Chuck Allen, and welcome to another weekday podcast, where today I want to ask you this question. What's in your wallet? No, no, no, no, no. That's not what I want to ask. I want to ask what's in your heart. Let's start with that simple, powerful question. What is in your heart? Not what's in your wallet or on your schedule or even your plans for the year, but right there in the center of who you are, the control center of your life, your heart. Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 23 says, Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
[00:00:44] Now, friend, that. That's not just good advice. That is absolute, divine direction. The heart, in Hebrew, thinking isn't just about something that's emotional.
[00:00:55] It's your inner compass. It's the truest you. It's who you are from head to toe. It's your entire being.
[00:01:03] So the question is, what is steering your heart right now? Is it fear? Is it worry? Is it anxiety? Is it distraction?
[00:01:12] Because if our hearts stay cluttered with the wrong things, our lives eventually drift in that direction.
[00:01:22] But when our hearts are centered on God's promises, on his goodness, on his grace, on his presence, then our steps start to align with his purpose.
[00:01:36] Jeremiah 29:11 says this. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to give you a future and a hope.
[00:01:44] Friend, those plans start in your heart. But I want to focus on two words, your future and a hope. Meaning that you are not defined by your past. You're not even defined by your present. You were defined by God's plans for your future, and they are filled with hope. But they are only that when you choose to follow his plan and lay down your own plan.
[00:02:10] I mean, maybe today's a great day to pause and say, God, would you show me what's inside me? What needs cleaning out, what needs to be restored, what needs to be filling in? Show me where I've got cracks in my heart. Show me where I've got blind spots in my walk.
[00:02:30] The takeaway from all this is, guard your heart, y'. All. Give God full access to your heart, because when your heart's in his hands, your life always moves in the proper direction.
[00:02:44] That's why we say all the time, when we get Jesus in the right priority of our lives, then the rest of life gets pretty simple. Now, it doesn't mean that it's going to be ideal. It doesn't mean there aren't going to be ups and downs. It just means you're never going to go through the valley alone and you're never going to celebrate on the mountaintop alone that you're going to experience his peace, his power, his provision and most importantly the greatest gift of all, his presence in your own life.
[00:03:17] So today ask the question what's in my heart? And then ask the secondary question, what am I filling my heart with? Because that's what you're going to drift toward.
[00:03:29] Most of us work on our heart through simple things like holy habits, time we spend with God, time we spend in God's word, time we spend talking with God and times we spend listening to God.
[00:03:44] I'm not suggesting this is easy but I am suggesting that it is the only way to find true peace, abiding, wondrous purpose and joy in your walk. So today ask yourself the question what is in my heart? God bless you friend. Thanks so much for joining me on today's weekday podcast.
