Guarding The Shrine Of Your Heart

We each have a shrine within our heart—a place of absolute worship. But what we allow in that shrine will either DESTROY us or BLESS us. No man or woman, boy or girl is fit to occupy it—for each has their own desperate need to worship. Every human is created to worship and—worship we do!

Can you identify what occupies your shrine?

We often say that God is the object of our worship. However, I often like to test myself to see if this is true, because a telltale sign of WHAT occupies the shrine of our heart is reflected in what we WORRY about. If paying the bills, winning a case, physical health, a relationship, etc., dominates our thoughts—THAT is what we are worshiping. Furthermore, our thousands of daily micro decisions also reflect who or what we worship. 

If we truly desire to worship God, we must make our love for Him the gatekeeper of our thoughts. 

We need to remember that our thoughts don’t necessarily originate in our own mind; rather, they grow from the seeds we plant. What we watch, who we listen to, what we read, who we believe…those things determine our thoughts. Our enemies desperately want to control our mind! We can’t plant weeds and expect to grow berries. Those who are born again have a choice to think in line with the mind of Christ. But sadly, for those who have rejected God’s gift of salvation, they are dead to Christ—and it is impossible for them to think like He does.

The struggle for our shrine begins in the mind—it is a hotbed of worship. 

Therefore, we must be careful about what we allow to captivate our mind and become our passion. The Psalmist explained how we BECOME what we WORSHIP:

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?” But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.”

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell; they have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat.”

“Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.”

Psalms 115:1-8

This passage reveals a profound revelation which strikes at the heart of our worship and its power to transform us. Those who worship idols can only have the thoughts, wisdom and perception of their idols. This Psalm is a call to honor and exalt God by recognizing His unmatched divine attributes and infallible nature, while a stark contrast is made as the Psalmist draws attention to the idols crafted by human hands. They are mere silver and gold, lifeless and incapable of speech, sight, or hearing. These idols lack the senses and abilities that characterize a living God—they remain immobile and unable to act or interact with the world. It is at this juncture that the Psalmist makes the above revelation about idol worship—a truth that transcends time and culture: 

“Those who MAKE them are LIKE them; so is everyone who TRUSTS in them.” 

Unfortunately, CHRISTIANS often choose to worship and invest in lifeless idols as well, and we ALSO become like them—blind and devoid of our ability to live influenced by the mind of Christ. For example, when money gets tight, we can quickly become desperate and develop an obsession for making money. In less than a day, we find ourselves neglecting spiritual needs in our blind and desperate pursuit to make money. The first time we put money before God—we’ve made a micro decision to dethrone God. Unless we correct this course quickly—it WILL make us blind and foolish because our shrine is no longer dedicated to God’s glorious, eternal purpose. This can happen in ANY area of our life that we make more important than God—sex, entertainment, sports, friends, our children our spouse, etc.

God knows this about us. He understands our weakness. Perhaps that’s why God’s first four commandments were all about making Him the Lord of our life:

“You shall have no other gods before Me.”

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” 

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

Exodus 20:3-8

‭‭ God gives us these commandments because we were created in His image and for His glory. He knows that the worship of ANYTHING more than Him WILL crush us and result in missing immense blessings! We must learn to worship God; that is—to make Him the center of our life. If we truly become WHAT we THINK about, then who better to become more like than—our wise, powerful, and loving Jesus??? There is critical significance to making God the greatest object of our devotion. By worshiping the living God, we build supernatural faith and we discover His amazing plan! We experience the richness and fullness of the life that He created for us to enjoy. When God is the center of our life, we enjoy the fullest experience of love, joy, peace, and goodness—the things money can NEVER buy!  

The evidence that we are worshiping God with all of our heart, soul, and mind is that we produce the fruit of His Spirit everywhere we go. The Psalmist wrote:

“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” ‭‭

Psalms 1:1-3

When God occupies the shrine of our heart, we are a tree producing the fruit of His Spirit.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.

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