Guard Your Heart

What you allow into your heart will eventually shape your life.

In this episode of Keepers of the Light, Dylan Burcham explores the importance of guarding your heart and why Scripture calls us to be intentional with what we allow to influence our thoughts, emotions, and spiritual condition.

Through Proverbs 4:23 and other key passages, this episode breaks down what the Bible truly means by “the heart,” how it’s affected by daily influences, and the subtle ways it can drift over time. More importantly, it offers practical, biblical steps to protect your heart and stay aligned with God in a world full of distractions.

If your heart feels heavy, distant, or in need of renewal, this episode also brings hope—reminding us that God doesn’t just correct hearts, He restores them.

A guarded heart leads to a steady life—and a steady life keeps the light burning.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back everybody to Keepers of the Light, the official podcast of Gospel Lighthouse Pentecostal Church. As always, I'm your host, Dylan Bircham, and I hope you're having an awesome day so far. And I look forward to today's episode because we're going to talk about something you can't see, but it affects everything. Today we're going to talk about your heart, not just emotionally, but spiritually. Your thoughts, your desires, your motives, your reactions, they all flow from one place. Proverbs 4 and 23 says, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. That word keep means to guard, protect, and watch carefully, because your heart determines your direction. And today we're going to talk about how to guard your heart. When Scripture talks about the heart, it's not just emotion. The heart is the center of your inner life. It's where decisions are formed, beliefs are held, convictions are shaped. Matthew chapter 15 and verse 19 says, For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. So your life flows outward from the heart. That means if the heart is healthy, life reflects a healthy heart. But if the heart is neglected, life reveals that too. So guarding your heart isn't optional. It's essential. Here's something we don't always think about. Your heart is constantly being influenced by what you watch, by what you listen to, by what or who you surround yourself with, by what you dwell on. All of these things influence the heart. Luke chapter six and verse forty-five says, Out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. What goes in does come out over time. That's why small compromises matter. That's why repeated exposure matters. That's why environment matters. Your heart absorbs more than you realize. One thing is for certain when your heart absorbs more than you realize is that sometimes our heart drifts when we don't even realize it. So here are some signs of your heart drifting. Maybe you are more easily offended, or you feel spiritually dry. You're more negative than you are hopeful. You lose sensitivity to your convictions. Or maybe you just feel distant from God. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 13 gives a warning to us, and that warning is about being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hearts don't harden overnight, they harden gradually. That's why guarding your heart matters, and it has to be guarded daily. So in this part of today's episode is where the question becomes practical. Because if guarding your heart matters so much, how do you actually do it? Because this isn't something that's automatic. You don't guard your heart by accident. You guard it intentionally, daily, consistently. And scripture doesn't just tell us to guard our heart, but it gives us principles on how to guard our heart. So let's walk through a few of those biblical principles today. We're going to take our time going through them, but we're going to talk about the biblical principles of guarding your heart and how to do so. One thing that is so important when it comes to guarding your heart is filter what you allow into it. Everything that we allow into our life has influence. Not always immediate influence, not always obvious influence, but eventually everything that comes into our life has influence. Proverbs chapter four and verse twenty three tells us to guard the heart. But guarding implies something so important. Not everything should get access to the heart. So think about it like a gate. If you would not allow it to shape your thinking, why would you let it sit in your heart? That's why what you watch matters. What you listen to matters. What you scroll through matters. Because over a period of time of repetition, the heart becomes familiar, and being familiar lowers resistance to things that should not be there. Philippians chapter four and verse eight is a very powerful source of scripture, and I won't read the entire thing, but the Bible says in verse eight, whatsoever things are true, honest, just pure, lovely, of good report, think on these things. Now let's take a second here. These things are a filter. These things are not legalism. They are protection. And here is something to consider. You don't have to expose yourself to everything to be aware of the world. You can be beyond popular belief, you can be informed without being influenced about the things in our world. Guarding your heart means that you are selective, not isolated, not fearful, but intentional on what you allow through the gate that is your heart. The next thing we can do is stay rooted in the word. And I know that we have, you know, kind of preached on that and preached on that for the last couple of weeks, but it's so important to stay rooted in the word of God. The word of God is not just information, it is formation of our lives and of our hearts. Psalm 119 and 11 says, Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. Notice that phrase, hid in mine heart. Not just read the word occasionally, but the writer here is given an idea that the word is stored or embedded or internalized into the heart. Because when the word of God lives in your heart, it shapes your reactions, it corrects your thoughts, it strengthens your convictions and your character. When something unhealthy tries to enter your heart, the word that you have stored there pushes back against it. But if the word is not there, there is nothing to resist the influence. And you can't guard what you don't reinforce. So daily time in Scripture isn't routine, it's reinforcement of the structure of the heart. It's protection, it's alignment. And we need those things. The next thing to do to help guard your heart is to maintain a strong and consistent prayer life. Prayer keeps your heart open to God and closed to the wrong things. Because when you're consistently in his presence, you become more aware of what doesn't belong. In Psalm 139 and verse 23, the Bible says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. That's a powerful prayer because sometimes we don't recognize what is creeping in, but God does. And prayer invites Him to reveal it to us, but not only to reveal it to us, but to also correct it, remove it. Because prayer softens the heart. And a soft heart is easier to guard than a hardened one. So if you stop praying consistently, you don't lose your faith overnight, but you do lose sensitivity. And when sensitivity decreases, compromise becomes so much easier. So prayer isn't just connection, it's protection for our heart. The next thing you can do that is vitally important and probably should have been uh up there in the top three that we've gone through is choose your influence carefully. Many of you that listen to this podcast have known me my entire life, but for those of you that don't, I did spend some time here uh serving at Gospel Lighthouse Pentecostal Church as a youth pastor. And one of the things I would tell young people in the years that I work with young people is that who you surround yourself matters. I would tell them, and I'm telling you today, show me your friends, and I can more than likely show you your future. Because who you surround yourself with shapes who you become yourself. Not instantly, and I'm not saying that a chance encounter with someone who is not where they should be is going to immediately impact your life. It's not going to be an instant thing, but it is a gradual thing. Proverbs chapter 13 and verse 20 says, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise. That's not just advice for us, but it is a principle. Influence is powerful and it works both ways. If you are constantly surrounded by negativity, it will affect your heart. If you are constantly surrounded by compromise, it will normalize the things that should not be normal in someone who is walking after the things of God. And if you surround yourself with people who are growing spiritually, grounded in truth, consistent in their faith, those people will strengthen you. That influence will strengthen you. It sharpens you and it stabilizes you. Guarding your heart sometimes means adjusting your environment to the things that are positive. Not out of judgment, not out of hate for anyone, uh, not out of ill will and negative thinking towards someone, but out of wisdom for yourself and for your heart. There are times that you must adjust your environment to align with the path that God is calling you to go down. The next thing we can do is respond quickly to conviction. This is another one of the most important things that you can gather from today's episode, and that is when God speaks to your heart, respond and respond immediately. Don't delay, don't ignore it, don't explain it away, because conviction is protection. It is God saying that doesn't belong here. And the longer you ignore conviction, the quieter it becomes. And eventually, what once bothered you won't bother you anymore. And that is how hearts harden. But when you respond quickly, when you realign quickly, you keep your heart sensitive, you keep it clean, you keep it guarded. The next thing you can do is watch your thought life. Guarding your heart also means guarding your mind. Because thoughts become belief over time, and beliefs shape the heart over time. Second Corinthians chapter ten and verse five says casting down imaginations and bringing into captivity every thought. Not every thought that we have deserves to stay. Some thoughts need to be rejected immediately. Fearful thoughts, negative thoughts, lies about yourself, lies about God. You don't have to entertain everything that enters your mind and allow it space in your mind. Whether you believe it or not today, you do have authority to filter it, to challenge it, to replace those thoughts that enter your mind with truth. And over time, that discipline alone protects your heart deeply. The next thing we can do is stay consistent and not worry about being perfect. I want to be clear today. Guarding your heart does not mean that you'll never struggle. It doesn't mean you'll never feel off. It doesn't mean that you'll never have moments of weakness. It doesn't mean you'll never fail. But it does mean that you'll stay aware, you'll stay responsive, you'll stay intentional, and consistency matters more than perfection does. A guarded heart is not a flawless heart, it is a maintained heart. Guarding your heart is not about restriction, it's all about preservation. Because your heart carries so many things when it comes to your walk with God. It carries your faith, your convictions, your purpose, your light. And if the enemy can influence your heart, he can deeply influence your direction. But if your heart is guarded, your life stays aligned. So protect it. Pay attention to it. Be intentional with it. Because what lives in your heart will eventually shape your life. Okay, so let's take a deep breath for just a moment. Because after everything we've talked about in today's episode, guarding your heart, being intentional, paying attention, all of these things, some of you listening today may be thinking, What if I haven't guarded it well? What if I've let things in that shouldn't be there? What if my heart already feels off? And I want to tell you something today, and that is that God is not intimidated by the condition of your heart. He's in the business of restoring hearts. Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse 26 says, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. That's not a surface level fix, that's transformation. God doesn't just manage behavior, but rather he changes everything about our inner lives. He doesn't just tell us to try harder, but he offers to make us new. And that matters because sometimes the issue isn't just discipline, it's damage. And God heals both. In Psalm 51, you'll find David in a point in his life where he had failed. He had sinned. He had allowed his heart to drift. And instead of hiding away, the Bible says that he prayed. In Psalm chapter 51 and verse 10, it says, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Notice that word create. That is the same language used in the book of Genesis. It means to bring something into existence that was not there before. David wasn't asking for discipline, and he wasn't asking for a small adjustment in his life. But David was asking God for a new heart condition. And God responded. That means that restoration is possible no matter how far you feel that you have drifted. One of the greatest fears that people have is what if my heart has become too hard? But Scripture shows us something so powerful, and that is that God specializes in softening a heart that is hardened. Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 15 says, Today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. So if Scripture tells us not to harden our hearts, that means we still have a choice. Hardness is not permanent, it is reversible. And the moment you respond to God again, softness begins to return. Conviction returns. Sensitivity returns. Desire returns. You're not stuck for the rest of your life with a hardened heart. I don't know who needs to hear that today, but you are not stuck. There's another thing that we need to talk about today that is very real, and that is that there are seasons where your heart just feels distant. Not rebellious, not resistant, not against God, but just distant. You don't feel the same passion. You don't feel the same connection. You don't feel the same hunger. And that can be discouraging. But distance does not mean disqualification. James chapter 4 and verse 8, and we've used this scripture before, but it says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Notice the promise. When you move toward him, he moves toward you. Our restoration is hinged on our movement toward God. Even small movement, even hesitant movement, even quiet movement, as long as there's movement toward him, he will meet us there. Another thing is that sometimes the condition of our heart isn't just about sin. It's about pain and disappointment and hurt and Uh sometimes it's about unanswered prayers and the weight that they carry and situations that didn't turn out the way that we hoped they would. And over time, those things do affect the heart. They can make you be guarded in the wrong way. They can make us be closed off and cautious and distant. But Psalm 147 and 3 says he healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. God doesn't ignore heart wounds, he heals them. He restores trust and peace and joy. And sometimes guarding your heart doesn't mean building walls, but sometimes guarding your heart means letting God heal what made you build those walls in the first place. Now I kind of want to shift gears here and talk about restoration for just a moment. Uh because when we talk about guarding our heart and we talk about allowing God into our lives, and we uh talk about letting God heal what made us build walls, I instantly think about the healing and restoration and all those things that we should welcome. Um and I kind of want to shift gears and talk about that restoration for just a moment uh and remind us that sometimes restoration is a process. Let me just be honest with you today and say that restoration is not always instant. Sometimes it is, and we celebrate when it is, but oftentimes restoration is a process. It happens in layers, if I can use that terminology today. Little by little, day by day, moment by moment, and that's okay. It's completely normal. So don't feel like if your restoration is taking longer than you thought, that it's not happening, uh, because it is completely normal for it to be a process. Philippians chapter one and verse six reminds us he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it. Because God finishes what he starts. And if he began restoration in your heart, he will continue it, but not only will he continue it, he will finish it. You don't have to rush it, you don't have to get a ETA on when it's going to be complete. Uh restoration doesn't come with a tracking number like our Amazon packages do, but we have to stay open to it and allow the process to take place. So what does restoration look like in real life? Well, restoration looks like choosing to pray again, even though it may feel different, or opening your Bible even though it feels quiet, worshiping even when emotions aren't strong, or letting go of things that God is dealing with in our lives, and one of the hardest things to do is being honest with God about where we really are. Restoration is built through response, not perfection, just response. So if you're listening to this episode and your heart doesn't feel where it used to be, you're not alone and you're not too far gone, you have not disqualified yourself, you haven't missed your moment. God is still calling, still restoring, still working. And even the fact that you're aware of it and you feel it, that you're thinking about it right now, that's already a sign that your heart is still responsive to God's call and to his love. And that means restoration is already trying to begin. So if I could give you a final charge today before we pray, it would be this don't sit in regret, don't stay discouraged, don't assume that it's over, but bring your heart back to God. Let him clean it, let him heal it, let him restore it, because a restored heart becomes a guarded heart, and a guarded heart becomes a steady life. And a steady life is what God wants for all of us. He wants us to be steady and consistent in our faith and in our life, and the only way we can do that is if we guard our heart. So I encourage you today, guard your heart. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you today with honesty. Lord, we're not pretending, we're not hiding, we're just opening our hearts before you. So Lord, I'm asking you to search us. Reveal anything in us that doesn't belong. Not to condemn us or to bring us shame, but to restore us. Lord, create in us clean hearts. Where there has been distraction, bring focus. Where there has been distance, draw us close again. And Lord, where there has been compromise, bring conviction back to us. Lord, we don't want to just look right on the outside, but we want to be right within. Lord, I ask you today for those who feel heavy, bring them peace. For the ones that do feel distant, remind them you are near. And for the ones that feel hardened or as if they've already failed. Lord, I ask you to soften their hearts again and help them to guard it moving forward. Lord, I ask you to heal what life has wounded, restore joy, restore clarity, restore our connection, and teach us to guard what you restore. Give us wisdom and what we allow in. Give us discipline on how we live and what we do. And Lord, help us to be sensitive to your voice. Make our hearts steady, pure, and aligned with you, because we surrender our hearts to you again, and we trust you in the process. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode of Keepers of the Light. I know it's been a little bit of a longer episode, but when you talk about a topic such as guarding your heart, it's not something you can do in a quick manner because it has so much importance in our walk with God. I want to remind you today that your heart shapes your life. So protect it, guard it, be intentional with it, because what you allow in will eventually come out. So stay aware, stay grounded, keep your heart aligned with God, and until next time, keep the faith, keep the fire, and keep the light burning.