Above all else, watch over your heart; diligently guard it because from a sincere and pure heart come the good and noble things of life. Proverbs 4:23 VOICE
Yesterday we learned about the inspiring life of George Mueller and how God showed Himself through his life. For the next 3 days we are going to look at 3 Keys that he used to develop an intimate relationship with God in his own words.
He said he exercised himself to have always a conscience void of offense towards God and man. He did this by diligently guarding his heart. As today’s verse tells us we can know what’s in our heart, but what comes out of it both towards God and others. He knew that offense is one of the most effective snares the Satan uses. It’s so effective because it works two ways; when we are faced with an offense and when we are the offense to someone.
Now the offense to others and God we often believe are obvious. But really they are not, and if we don’t know we offended someone, we’re not going to correct it. But when we have a desire to keep our hearts free from being offensive to others and God, Holy Spirit will show us and we will be willing to correct it. Doing this leads to a humble spirit and a contrite heart, which deepens our relationship with God. And it closes up ways for the enemy to work in our lives.
What are obvious to us are when we come up against offense. Here we have more immediate control; we can either dismiss it, or we can recieve it and become offended. If we choose to become offended, we open a pathway for the enemy to work in our lives in so many ways and none of them are good. And if we don’t address them, they will destroy us in every way we possibly can. It will steal our peace and joy, plant seeds of bitterness that will root and produce feelings such as anger, hate, slander, jealousy, envy and unforgiveness just ot name a few. Those feelings left unattended will begin to show up physically, stomach issues, headaches, joint pain, muscle aches and the list goes on. Finally our spirits become so suppressed and opressed our relationship with God is almost non-existent! But praise God He is faithful even when we aren’t and is willing to restore us back to Himself.
George Mueller knew how important that relationship was because everything else in life flowed from Him. And when we hinder our relationship with Him, His grace can’t flow freely and we can’t receive all the amazing things He has planned for us. Let’s take a lesson from George, let’s not give the enemy any opportunity to keep us from a deep relationship with our Father so we can show the world how awesome He truly is.
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