Heart Disease accounts for

• 6.7% of all Physician office visits
• 6.1% of all emergency room visits
• 30 million diagnosed cases
• 12.1% of all US adults suffer from some form of heart disease
• 647,000 deaths (2017)in the US alone
• Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States

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Heart disease is also the number one cause of Spiritual death

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the LORD commanded.
Wherefore the LORD said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.
Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake which I have chosen.
And the LORD stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.

1 Kings 11:9

It’s A Heart Issue

It’s always a heart issue with the Lord. The Lord is concerned with your heart, the things that defile a person come from within the heart, not from external things.

Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

Jeremiah 17:5

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

The Unconverted Heart

The unconverted heart is hostile towards God, we have all seen video clips of individuals who are so opposed to God, or even anything remotely connected with the Lord that they become hostile, and resort to yelling, screaming and name-calling

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

Psalms 53:1

The unconverted heart is hardened against God, the unconverted are more concerned with their desires than anything else, and they will refuse to listen to anything or anyone whom they believe would be against those desires.

And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Jeremiah 18:12

The unconverted heart is spiritually ignorant, their hearts have been blinded to spiritual things, and this blindness can only be cured by getting converted.

Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Ephesians 4:18

The Converted Heart

The converted heart on the other had has been changed by the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit

Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Ezekiel 36:25-27

The converted heart has purified desires, as opposed to the evil desires that we read about above in Jeremiah 18:12. Once converted you will start to love things, that before your conversion you didn’t give a second thought too.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:1-2

Your Heart Needs To Be Guarded

Since we now know how important our hearts are to God, and how important our hearts are to our spiritual well being, let’s take a look at some things that require us to guard our hearts.

Dangers to be aware

The dangers that we face, will often manifest themselves as carnal or fleshly issues, but we must never loose focus on the fact that they all have their beginnings and foundation in the spirit world. Just like the Lord told Solomon that since his heart was not right, he would have an adversary, we too, have an adversary:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1 Peter 5:8

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

To protect your self from physical heart disease it is wise to take some basic precautions, these precautions are well known and accepted by the health community and health professionals

• Eat Healthy Meals
• Maintain a Healthy Weight (not too heavy or to light)
• Get Regular Exercise
• Develop Good Habits

We should also take precautions in our spiritual lives if we want to avoid spiritual heart disease, the following three areas of your spiritual life would be included in these precautions:

Danger Of False Teaching

To protect yourself from false teaching, you will need to familiarize yourself with good teaching. Every Christian should be rooted, grounded, and settled in good doctrine. Doctrine is not just a subject for so-called Bible scholars, or teachers, and preachers. Every Christian is commanded and encouraged to “give attendance” to reading the work of God and to know doctrines.

Every Christian should know what they believe, and why they believe what it is that they believe. You cannot rely on tradition, or because that is what your family or church believes, if you don’t know why you believe what you believe, or if you aren’t even sure of what you believe in the first place, you will be a prime candidate for false teachers

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Romans 16:17-18

Dangers Of Temptation

Too many Christians “play around” with temptation. While it is true that once you come to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have eternal security, this does not mean that you can and/or should just live any old way that you like. If that were acceptable, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, whom we get our doctrine, would not have spent so much time reminding us that we need to put off the old man, and put on the new man.

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Romans 13:14

We can be victorious over our temptations, but that does not mean that we should flirt with the edge of the cliff, so to speak

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1 Corinthians 10:13

Danger Of Neglecting Gods Words

Don’t fall, victim, as so many Christians, have in the neglecting of reading the word of God on a daily basis. We are supposed to be spending time in reading Gods word and learning doctrine.

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:13

If you are not reading your Bible every single day, your heart cannot be right with the Lord, it’s just that simple. As a Christian you are commanded, not just encouraged, to study the word of God

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

Every Christian should have the goal to read through the Bible at least once per year. That may sound like a daunting task if you have never undertaken this before, but in reality it is not difficult to achieve. If you would just commit to reading the Bible daily and read just four chapters a day, you would have read through the entire Bible, old and new testaments, in a years time.

It’s time for a heart check-up….

How is your heart?

Our hope at Irvington Bible Baptist Church is that this podcast provided some encouragement and has helped you to develop a closer relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ.