Cathy Duplantis - Keeping a Clean Heart

Keeping a Clean Heart

I don't remember when I was "awarded" the job of maintaining the flower beds around our home, but I would gladly step down from my position. This stuff is work! I don't claim to be an expert, but over the years, I have learned a lot about cultivating, spraying, weeding, trimming, pruning and fertilizing. I know how to keep things growing the way they should.

I have also learned that if I neglect my garden, weeds will rise up, bugs can invade and fungus may sabotage my dream of the perfectly landscaped home. However, if I daily examine every plant, eliminate wrong things and enforce right things, I will consistently produce results. Every hour spent on my knees will pay off.

This same principle will help anyone who desires to keep a clean heart. Now, I am not talking about the physical heart that pumps blood to your brain and legs. I am referring to your inner selfthe part of your character that thinks, feels and decides what your body will do. King David was a man who made serious mistakes in his life, but he discovered how to turn away from sin and get his heart right with God. In Psalm 51:10, he wrote, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me." The word "create" in this verse is used to describe a work of God, not something you do yourself but something He does!

The precious blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross has power to wash away your sin and present you blameless before the Father. His death and resurrection has creative power to transform every person that calls upon Him in faith.

Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.

For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved."

Romans 10:10, 13

You may be the worst sinner on the planet, but the moment you call on the name of Jesus, you are born again into the family of God. The instant you repent and ask Jesus to forgive your sins, you are saved. "Old things are passed away and all things become new " (2 Corinthians 5:17)!

Although this new life was totally created by God, you have a part in this process. As you made the decision to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth, God supernaturally birthed you into His kingdom. In the same way, you will have a part in maintaining this new life. Each day you will have the opportunity to either strengthen your new relationship with God or neglect it.

Your rate of growth will be determined by what you feed your newly created spirit. Daily prayer, study of God's Word and regular attendance at a Bible-believing church are essential to your spiritual development.

Neglect in any one of these three vital areas will generally produce dysfunctional Christians. You may have met people who could only be described this way. They may have been born again at one time in their life and started out with a clean heart, but somewhere along the way, they allowed things like offense, opposition or disappointment to stunt their growth. They may have stopped reading the Word, praying regularly or going to church. Before long, their newly created heart was overtaken with the "weeds" of life, eventually choking out God's Word.

This reminds me of a home in my neighborhood that was beautifully landscaped until the owner put the house up for sale and moved out. It didn't sell for a long time, and although someone was hired, to cut the grass, the plants and flowers were totally ignored. When new owners finally moved in, they had to start over. They hired a landscape company to create entirely new flower beds which must have cost them a bundle of cash. That is what neglect will do. It will cost youbig time.

If your heart is allowed to become overgrown with the cares of life, it can cost you.

However, if you turn to God in prayer instead of yielding to fear and worry, the peace of God will be a guard over your heart and mind.

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Adam and Eve were warned by God to "guard" their garden. They didn't. Genesis 2:15 says, "And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and guard and keep it." The devil came in one day when their guard was down, and seeds of doubt were sown in their heart. They listened to his lie, instead of God's Word, and lost their home.

The only way that you will be able to guard and keep your heart clean is through daily study of God's Word. It is the most powerful force in the world. This same power that created the world is able to transform your world and keep everything in order.

Hebrews 4:12 says,

For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

As you study, expect God to speak to you though His Word. Allow Him to penetrate the deepest part of your nature and expose the thoughts and purposes of your heart. You don't have to live a life that is tormented by fear, guilt and hate. God's peace, virtue and love can consistently flow out of your heart.

1 Peter 1:22 says,

Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart.

No matter what you have gone through in the past, you can purify your heart through the Holy Spirit. You can love others from a pure heart. When you apply these three basic steps, you are well on your way to keeping a clean heart.

Step #1: Examine

Mirrors are wonderful things. If you take the time to use them, they will reveal what needs to be fixed and save you from embarrassing situations. You will be able to see the lettuce in your teeth, the ketchup on your cheek or the stain on your tie. Most important of all, the mirror will reveal the hem of your dress tucked inside your pantyhose. But, you will have to examine the mirror or you will be exposed.

Years ago, I attended a meeting with my husband, Jesse. The bathroom of the church we were visiting did not have a full-length mirror, which would have allowed me to inspect my backside before heading out of the door. So, I just moved my hand down the back of my skirt to make sure everything was in place. The skirt that I was wearing had a lining and two layers of peach chiffon, and I assumed that everything was in order. What I did not realize was that everything except one sheer chiffon layer of my skirt was tucked neatly in the inside my control top pantyhose. I walked all the way up the aisle of the church to the front pew before someone told me what had happened. Since that time, I have come to understand how important it is to take one last look in the mirror before heading out the door. I don't take things for granted anymore!