The title of this blogpost would seem like an oxymoron, consisting of a phrase with conflicting or opposing ideas. It seems to be saying ‘don’t think‘ and yet ‘think‘ 🙂 It is impossible to continue to live and not think 🙂 so what is this blog about?

To guard something means to watch over it in order to protect and control it, to protect something against damage or harm.

The heart (mind) plays a key role in human existence. It is the seat of emotions, locus of thoughts and the centre of intellect.

Science describes the heart as a hollow muscular organ which pumps blood round the circulatory system and around the body. Thus far in human existence, no one has actually seen the heart (mind) as used in the Bible. However, we find from studying the scripture that a person’s personality, character and behavior reveal their heart.

“for as he thinks in his heart, so is he (in behavior -one who manipulates}. He says to you, “Eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you….” {Proverbs 23:7}.

“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” NKJV

Looking at the 2 scriptures above, we immediately see a link between the heart, behaviour (actions) and spoken words.

I was browsing through my last birthday messages from friends and family and I observed something that kept recurring through the messages from different people; “beautiful in and out” that stood out to me (*wink, wink). It’s a good report and I celebrate God’s Word in my heart 🙂

God wants us to guard our heart and by so doing control our actions, reactions and words.

“Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life”
Proverbs 4:23 NKJV

To keep means to continue or cause to continue in a specified condition, state or course.

This is so important because all issues of life spring from our heart. Emotions of fear, hurt, love, anger, worry all stream from the heart. Our intellect is built and influenced hugely by the things we expose our heart to, thoughts emanate from our heart.

Clearly then we must control what goes into our heart and by so doing automatically control what comes out of it- as thoughts, words or actions.

Truth is, our emotions, thoughts (and actions) can either cripple or energize us.

God wants us to be selective about what we permit or allow access into our heart and we have a reference;

Philippians 4:8

“Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy– meditate on these things. NKJV.

So we should consciously put every thought (from within or without) against true/noble/just/lovely/of virtue/of good report. Any thought/word/action found wanting on this weighing scale must be discarded and ignored. A thought flashes through your mind that does not pass the litmus test? Discard. Somebody says something to you that displaces the balance of the weighing scale? Discard and ignore.

Reminds me of an incidence that took place in my office some years ago; someone became very upset and restless because another colleague referred to him as ‘a rat’ 🙂 The matter escalated to the point that the overall boss had to intervene, he called a meeting. After listening to the two people involved, one of his admonitions to the offended colleague was a question ‘Are you a rat?’ If someone refers to you as a rat, and you are not a rat, you haven’t behaved like a rat, then why are you so upset. 🙂

I believe that the easiest way to align our thoughts according to Philippians 4:8, is to always operate in Godly wisdom. And Godly wisdom flows freely from the Word of God.

In recent times, my most treasured status is that of being at peace. So I purposefully ‘guard my heart to think’ by protecting it from harm and exposing it to the truth sourced directly from the word of God. I consciously resist any attempt by life issues to destabilise this state 🙂 I keep my peace. Sometimes I miss it, but then I chase after it until it returns.

You can do same 🙂

The peace of God is available to us always but we must choose to walk in it.

To have a well-kept heart, a well-guarded heart, there are places we cannot go, there are movies/shows we cannot watch, there are books we cannot afford to read, there are associations and gatherings we must avoid, there are discussions we cannot be part of, there are pleasures we cannot indulge in.

I leave you with the complete words of wisdom from Proverbs 4:23;

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”
Proverbs 4:23‭-‬27 KJV

Shalom.

A person is certified clinically dead when the two (2) criteria for sustained living (breathing & circulation) have been lost such that the body is unable to carry out its vital functions. So, the expression ‘dead man walking’ can readily fit into an oxymoron description, because it is naturally impossible for a dead man to walk! But I refer here to a man, physically alive and moving but spiritually dead.

You ask what I mean?

Romans 5:12 reads;

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”

This verse of scripture suggests the following;

1. That there was once a sinless world.
2. That sin brings death.
3. That sin and death were introduced through one man.
4. That every man received sin and death from this man.

And 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 helps us identify this ‘one man’

“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in ADAM all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”

So we confirm from the Bible that sin and death emanated from Adam!

But how did this happen?

Maybe we should start from the very beginning….

In Genesis 2:15-17 God gave Adam a clear and special instruction;

“Then the Lord God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord commanded the man, saying; ‘of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you Shall Surely Die’ “.

I want to assume that we all know the rest of the story; how that Adam disobeyed God’s commandment (Genesis 3).

Now, whether it was Eve or the Serpent that distracted Adam from keeping a commandment God originally and purposefully handed down to him, is a matter for another day’s discussion and we might consider that in the future.
But note with me that in Genesis 5:5 Adam lived well beyond the day God promised him he’d die if he disobeyed Him and ate the forbidden fruit.

“so all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years..”

Most times when I put these two scriptures before people I teach, (i.e Genesis 2:17 & Genesis 5:5), I push their imagination a bit, by suggesting that God may have lied! And every time I do that I see horror suddenly spread across people’s faces. Almost as if they want to scream…Blasphemy!! This always amuses me.

But you know, that simple exercise really gets them thinking and they almost always come up with another possible version of what God meant. While some say God implied man cannot live forever anymore, others suggest a ‘spiritual’ death. (this is always an interesting part of my class as everyone would usually have something to say).

So what do I think?

I doubt that God referred to man experiencing a physical death. I choose to believe that man would have died anyway as long as he’d not eaten the Tree of Life (Selah!), which was one of the reasons God gave for driving man out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:22).

Having established therefore that Adam did not immediately drop dead after he disobeyed God, and also that, man couldn’t possibly live forever without eating of the Tree of Life, I choose to believe that when God said to Adam “..you shall surely die…”, God referred to the real Adam (his spirit) not his physical body.

Adam died spiritually immediately he ate of that tree, and suddenly became aware of his physical body (Genesis 3:7);

“and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings”.

And every descendant of Adam is born spiritually dead from a corrupted seed inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12 & 1 Corinthians 15:21). The Bible tells us that; ‘…in Adam all died’.

But note, that ‘all men are not actually dead physically! Or are they? 🙂

While you ponder on that, let’s quickly consider the encounter between Nicodemus and Jesus Christ (John 3).
Nicodemus was a Jewish ruler in search of ‘sanctification’ and who although perceived that Jesus could sanctify him, was however too used to gaining gratification through lobbying rather than following due process (like so many rulers are today).

Jesus immediately saw through him and said to him, ‘you stop that joke!, don’t attempt to mess around with God’s business. Your fame, position etc cannot help you now, you need to be born of the water and the Spirit. As funny as that sounds, I can appreciate Nicodemus’ confusion as expressed in his question;

“How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4).

This question was a follow up to Jesus’ offer of sanctification for Nicodemus in John 3: 3, 6

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. …that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”.

Apparently, Nicodemus came in flesh form 🙂 so if Jesus is saying he needed to be born again making reference to a spiritual birth, then one can safely assume that Jesus was saying to Nicodemus; ‘hey man, you need a spiritual rebirth’!.

A spiritual rebirth only became necessary because man died spiritually following his disobedience to God’s commandment in Eden.

So then, how does one gain spiritual rebirth?

Jesus answers this in John 3:16-18

“…..that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved“.

The ONLY way to spiritual rebirth, salvation, redemption is through Jesus Christ! You believe in your heart that Jesus came, died and saved you, and you confess your believe with your mouth!

As 1 Corinthians 15:21-22 tells us that;

“For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive..”

That’s the good news! Halleluyah!!

This is the most thrilling part….

God did not take the old spiritually dead you, touch it up a little with His Holy and Pure Nature, to give you a spiritual rebirth. No!

He birthed a brand new spirit within you. Halleluyah!!

2 Corinthians 5:17, tells us that much;

“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

So the day you give your life, a brand new creation is born in the spiritual realm. The ‘old’ is completely done away with! You become born into God’s own family, where Jehovah is Father and The Lord Jesus Christ is our Big brother!

I am more than excited!!!

Satan tried to mess up God’s original plan of having a pure man in a sinless world. But God has made a way of escape for man in Christ Jesus. Yes, although you were made spiritually dead through Adam, you can be made spiritually alive today through Christ Jesus, if only you can make this simple confession;

Almighty God, I come to you today, recognizing my sinful nature. But more importantly believing that Jesus Christ came and died just to save me. I receive Jesus Christ into my life today and ask Him, dear Lord to come be the Lord and Master of my life. I believe that I am saved through Jesus Christ. Thank you Father. In Jesus name.

Congratulations to you if you said that prayer!!

You have just been moved from the kingdom of darkness and death, into the kingdom of God and His dear Son Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:13). And I join the host of Heaven to rejoice at your birth.

Just like any new born baby, you need to grow! You need to Build and develop your faith in Christ by seeking out a good Bible-believing and teaching church around you. And by continuously looking into the ‘mirror’ of God’s word (The Bible), your entire life will become Christ-like 🙂  (2 Corinthians 3:18, James 1)

We find all over the Book of ‘Acts of the Apostles’, that Water Baptism by Immersion is a crucial step in the Born Again process, as it signifies that we were buried and raised with Christ. (Mark 16:16, Acts 1:5, Acts 19:5, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:4 etc). Jesus Christ Himself was baptized by immersion (Luke 3:21, Matthew 3:13, etc).

You need to be baptized by immersion just as Christ.

You also need to be filled with the Holy Ghost with an initial evidence of speaking loud in other tongues (Acts 2, Mark 1:8, Acts 10:47 etc). Jesus promised the Holy Ghost to teach us all truth and help us lead fruitful christian lives.

 

Once again, Congratulations!

 

 

Love Always

Grace Obomanu.

 

Except otherwise stated, all Bible quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV).

The foundation for this particular article was mostly laid through my role as a Believer’s Class II Teach, at The Carpenter’s Church (Port Harcourt, Nigeria).