Proverbs 4:23 (New King James Version)
“KEEP your heart with all diligence,
for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
“GUARD your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.”
The Word – the sower sows the Word; the Word is sown in their heart. “Keep your HEART.”
Why?
Your heart is your field. Everything that grows in your life, will grow out of your heart. That is YOUR piece
of land. GUARD your heart, for out of it grows my life.
How did I ever get here?
Your heart grew it. Hearts have issues. Issues manifest into lifestyles. So, God says, “Guard your heart.”
Now, the identity of your miracle is not in the soil; it’s in the seed. That’s why Paul told
Timothy how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.Identify what your needs are, and then go get the seed
that God spoke that fits your area of need.
Okay? If you need favour on a job, you don’t need to be running around saying, “By His stripes I am
healed.” Okay? You’ve got to start speaking Psalms 5:12 –
Psalm 5:12 (New King James Version)
“For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
with favor You will surround him as with a SHIELD.”
In other words, it’s on the left, it’s on the right, it’s in the front, it’s in the back, it’s over you, and when you
walk in the room, you become irresistible to that company. You say, “What did I do?” So, you went out
and rightly divided the Word and took the APPROPRIATE seed.
I can’t grow tomatoes if I throw okra in the ground. Okay? So, the IDENTITY is in the SEED. Now
heart is soil. Soil does NOT determine identity. Soil simply PULLS the potential out of whatever is
dropped in it. So, look at Solomon, way back, thousands of years before Christ, telling us something:
“Guard your soil.”
Be careful what you let people plant in you. When you have an opportunity to be offended,
you’ve got to GUARD your heart.
Why?
Because if that seed of offense gets in there, then out of it will flow an issue, that you’ll find yourself 12
months later dealing with.
If somebody does something, betrays you, and you become distrustful, you’ve go to immediately,
IMMEDIATELY, go straight to your field and start pulling that stuff out of it. Saying, “Get out of my
field, get out of there.” As soon as that sprout sticks out of that ground, don’t you wait 30 years until
you’ve got an oak tree.
I have closed doors on a meeting, that devastated me and I turned around and said, “I will forgive, I will
forgive, I will forgive. Grace and mercy floods my soul.” I mean, something where I had to turn around and IMMEDIATELY start dealing with my field. I will not let this get in me.
Years ago, Hope and I went to a ministry retreat and we picked up on something immediately. Every one
of those retired ministers were bitter as vinegar. Just old, bitter preachers. And me and Hope, going around
there like two kids in the park – innocent and had not had life experiences yet. And we looked at each
other and said, “Why are these old preachers so bitter – so cynical?”
And after 23 years of pasturing sheep, I have learned that sheep BITE. Sheep bite!
What happened to them?
Their experiences got in their garden, and has produced life as they know it.
‘The glass is now always half empty.’
You can’t control what life is trying to plant in you.
>> The only thing you can control is YOUR GARDEN!
If you go out of here tonight, begin talking about me like a dog, and start 50 rumours about me, I can’t stop
that. But, I will IMMEDIATELY begin to build a fence around my heart and say, “you’re not getting in
THIS field!” Because I’m not going to be old, bitter… I’m not going to let YOU put issues in me.
Some of you have let too many other people determine issues, because they got in your garden. That
means, you don’t let people into your life quickly. There’s too many of you that will sit down and have one
cup of coffee and open up you heart.
No, no way – you’re not getting in MY garden. You’ve got to earn the right to get in my garden. And you’ve
got to learn, that to have the love of Jesus, does not mean that you let people TRAMPLE in your field.
You have to qualify the people that get near your heart.
You have to qualify them, and they have to earn it.
Why?
Because that’s the place LIFE flows out of.
Ron Carpenter, Redemption World Outreach Center
“KEEP your heart with all diligence,
for out of it spring the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
“GUARD your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life.”
The Word – the sower sows the Word; the Word is sown in their heart. “Keep your HEART.”
Why?
Your heart is your field. Everything that grows in your life, will grow out of your heart. That is YOUR piece
of land. GUARD your heart, for out of it grows my life.
How did I ever get here?
Your heart grew it. Hearts have issues. Issues manifest into lifestyles. So, God says, “Guard your heart.”
Now, the identity of your miracle is not in the soil; it’s in the seed. That’s why Paul told
Timothy how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.Identify what your needs are, and then go get the seed
that God spoke that fits your area of need.
Okay? If you need favour on a job, you don’t need to be running around saying, “By His stripes I am
healed.” Okay? You’ve got to start speaking Psalms 5:12 –
Psalm 5:12 (New King James Version)
“For You, O LORD, will bless the righteous;
with favor You will surround him as with a SHIELD.”
In other words, it’s on the left, it’s on the right, it’s in the front, it’s in the back, it’s over you, and when you
walk in the room, you become irresistible to that company. You say, “What did I do?” So, you went out
and rightly divided the Word and took the APPROPRIATE seed.
I can’t grow tomatoes if I throw okra in the ground. Okay? So, the IDENTITY is in the SEED. Now
heart is soil. Soil does NOT determine identity. Soil simply PULLS the potential out of whatever is
dropped in it. So, look at Solomon, way back, thousands of years before Christ, telling us something:
“Guard your soil.”
Be careful what you let people plant in you. When you have an opportunity to be offended,
you’ve got to GUARD your heart.
Why?
Because if that seed of offense gets in there, then out of it will flow an issue, that you’ll find yourself 12
months later dealing with.
If somebody does something, betrays you, and you become distrustful, you’ve go to immediately,
IMMEDIATELY, go straight to your field and start pulling that stuff out of it. Saying, “Get out of my
field, get out of there.” As soon as that sprout sticks out of that ground, don’t you wait 30 years until
you’ve got an oak tree.
I have closed doors on a meeting, that devastated me and I turned around and said, “I will forgive, I will
forgive, I will forgive. Grace and mercy floods my soul.” I mean, something where I had to turn around and IMMEDIATELY start dealing with my field. I will not let this get in me.
Years ago, Hope and I went to a ministry retreat and we picked up on something immediately. Every one
of those retired ministers were bitter as vinegar. Just old, bitter preachers. And me and Hope, going around
there like two kids in the park – innocent and had not had life experiences yet. And we looked at each
other and said, “Why are these old preachers so bitter – so cynical?”
And after 23 years of pasturing sheep, I have learned that sheep BITE. Sheep bite!
What happened to them?
Their experiences got in their garden, and has produced life as they know it.
‘The glass is now always half empty.’
You can’t control what life is trying to plant in you.
>> The only thing you can control is YOUR GARDEN!
If you go out of here tonight, begin talking about me like a dog, and start 50 rumours about me, I can’t stop
that. But, I will IMMEDIATELY begin to build a fence around my heart and say, “you’re not getting in
THIS field!” Because I’m not going to be old, bitter… I’m not going to let YOU put issues in me.
Some of you have let too many other people determine issues, because they got in your garden. That
means, you don’t let people into your life quickly. There’s too many of you that will sit down and have one
cup of coffee and open up you heart.
No, no way – you’re not getting in MY garden. You’ve got to earn the right to get in my garden. And you’ve
got to learn, that to have the love of Jesus, does not mean that you let people TRAMPLE in your field.
You have to qualify the people that get near your heart.
You have to qualify them, and they have to earn it.
Why?
Because that’s the place LIFE flows out of.
Ron Carpenter, Redemption World Outreach Center
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