Garrison Your Heart: The Lord Is Your Helper
Dr RJ Sing, 1 hr 18 min
Originally recorded as “The Lord Is Your Helper”
Sermon outline
God's eyes search the whole earth to help those whose hearts are fully committed to Him, so guard your heart above everything and keep it free of offence.
Main text
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
- Proverbs 4:20-23
Opening
After worship he leads the church in confessions of blessing and authority, teaching that the tongue is the most powerful weapon under your nose and that believers walk by faith, not by what they see and hear. He says he is glad to be home after missing Sunday for a meeting in Johannesburg with Pastor Nathan, and that he wants to speak briefly on 'the Lord is your helper'.
God's eyes are running to and fro to help you
Reading 2 Chronicles 16:9 in four translations, he pictures God's eyes running across the whole earth, never sleeping, to show Himself strong for His people. Some trust in chariots and horses, but believers trust in God. It may sometimes look as if God is not with you, but that is a lying vanity; whatever you go through, He is with you and you are above your circumstances.
Illustration: Paul survived a shipwreck, landed on an island and was bitten by a poisonous snake while gathering sticks; instead of deciding God had left him, he shook it off and began healing the sick on the island.
“Paul was above his circumstance. And I'm saying to you tonight, you are above your circumstance.”
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
- Psalm 20:7
- Psalm 121:4
- Acts 28:3-9
- Hebrews 13:5
The key is a heart fully committed to Him
The verse does not say God shows Himself strong to those who pray, fast, come to church regularly or dress nicely, although prayer matters. It says He strengthens those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. So the question is whether your heart is fully committed.
“Is your heart fully committed to him?”
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
Keep God's Word in the midst of your heart
Attend to God's words and keep them in your heart, because they are life to those who find them and health to all their flesh. Your heart should have no room for fear, anxiety or care, only the Word; when a fearful thought comes, replace it with what God says. Your life source is not your family, your friends or your bank balance but your heart.
“Your life source is not on your money in the bank. Your life source is in your heart.”
- Proverbs 4:20-22
- 2 Timothy 1:7
Garrison your heart: let offence go
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life; it is not the pastor's job or your friends' job but yours. To keep it means to garrison it, placing soldiers around it like a fort. Offence and negativity clog the flow of life, so that you speak and pray but no life goes out, like a dam with nothing flowing out of it. Decide that you are offence-free.
Illustration: He stands a woman in the middle as 'the heart' and puts others around her facing outwards as soldiers guarding everything she will ever need.
“I'm offense free. That means nothing can offend you. You're too big for that.”
- Proverbs 4:23
- Mark 4:14-20
- John 7:38
Your heart determines the length of your days
Let your heart keep God's commandments, for they add length of days and peace. Holding a grudge poisons your own system, so forgive people in advance because you love yourself too much to shorten your life. Every day someone will offend you; if you reason about why people treat you badly, you paralyse your faith. Trust in the Lord with all your heart instead of leaning on your own data bank of experience, and do not let your heart become 'wicked', which comes from an old word for twisted wood.
Illustration: When another driver makes a mistake and still shows you his fist, you can stay angry until lunchtime while he has forgotten you. When he was younger he showed the fist back; now he simply says 'I'm sorry' first, whoever was at fault.
“You don't forgive people for them. You forgive people for you.”
- Proverbs 3:1-5
- Proverbs 4:4
- John 6:63
- Proverbs 18:21
- Jeremiah 17:9
God is looking for every opportunity to bless you
God is a giver who gives liberally and holds back no good thing, so meditate on His goodness until it becomes revelation. The blessing first follows you, then catches up with you, then overtakes you. News reports are facts, but God's Word is the truth; education alone does not make anyone rich, but doing the Word does, because God has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing and is waiting for you to catch up.
Illustration: He calls up Adrian and acts out the blessing following him, catching up and then overtaking him, so that he is the one running to keep up with it.
“These are facts. It's not the truth. The truth is God's word.”
- Deuteronomy 28:2
- James 1:5
- Psalm 84:11
- James 1:22
- Ephesians 1:3
- Deuteronomy 28:13
A heart that thirsts after God
David cried, 'You are my God, I can't get enough of you', and he was a man after God's own heart. Your eyes, ears and mouth are gateways to your heart, so watch what you see, hear and say. Many people keep their kitchens, cars and chequebooks in better order than their hearts, yet the inward adornment of the heart is what makes everything work. Stay away from toxic, negative voices, encourage yourself, and talk yourself up, because God already thinks good thoughts about you.
Illustration: Men around a boardroom table are discussing a contract; God moves on one of them to mention your name, and the contract comes to you because your heart is right.
“Some people place more emphasis in cleaning their kitchen than keeping their heart right.”
- Psalm 63:1
- Acts 13:22
- 1 Peter 3:3-4
- 1 Samuel 30:6
Putting it into practice
- Let offence go immediately and choose to be offence-free.
- Forgive in advance, for your own sake.
- Fill your heart with the Word and replace every fearful thought with Scripture.
- Guard what enters through your eyes, ears and mouth.
- Start each day by saying God is good to you, and encourage yourself instead of waiting for others to.
Closing
He declares God's favour and boldness over the church, then calls forward those who have lost their joy or become bitter and leads them in a prayer to let go of every grudge and walk in love. He ministers the grace of God to individuals, prays for a woman with chest pains, prophesies financial miracles and says an anointed word makes bitter things sweet, before handing over to Pastor Wesley for the offering.
Declarations he led
- The Lord is in my heart, lives inside of me. The power of the Lord is upon me. The peace of God is my portion. My way is open, shining brighter and brighter every day.
- Today I confess with my mouth the favor of the Lord rests upon me. My home is blessed. My family is blessed. My finances are blessed. My workplace is blessed. My business is blessed.
- Devil, I want to remind you tonight, we do not belong to you. I cast down your thoughts, your imaginations, your human reasonings.
- I'm growing financially. My future is bright. I shall not lack. I shall not be in poverty. Great things are in my path.
- God is with me.
- I'm offense free.
- Dear Lord Jesus, I thank you tonight as I heard the word I responded. Lord, I let go of any grudge, any malice, any unforgiveness in my heart. I choose to walk in love.
- Your way is open.
In his words
- “You have the most powerful weapon under your nose. It's called the tongue.”
- “If you become analytical, you actually paralyze your faith.”
- “You don't forgive people for them. You forgive people for you.”
- “Grace is having your needs met. Super grace is where you got left over to help others.”
- “It's not what others think about you. It's what you think about you. And what's more important than that is what God thinks about you.”
Every scripture in this message
- Nehemiah 8:10
- 1 John 4:4
- Mark 11:23
- 2 Corinthians 5:7
- Jonah 2:8
- 2 Chronicles 16:9
- Psalm 20:7
- Psalm 121:4
- Acts 28:3-9
- Hebrews 13:5
- Proverbs 4:20-23
- 2 Timothy 1:7
- Mark 4:14-20
- John 7:38
- Proverbs 3:1-5
- Proverbs 4:4
- John 6:63
- Proverbs 18:21
- Jeremiah 17:9
- Deuteronomy 28:2
- James 1:5
- James 1:22
- Ephesians 1:3
- Deuteronomy 28:13
- Psalm 63:1
- Acts 13:22
- Psalm 84:11
- 1 Peter 3:3-4
- 1 Samuel 30:6
- Psalm 119:105