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Ruth Marlene Friesen: Welcome!
This site is like Ruthe,
the heroine of my novel,
Ruthe's Secret Roses
Ruthe is . . .
intimate with God,
prays a lot,
a bleeding heart for the hurting,
a big sister,
rescues friends,
has creative ideas,
likes to give
surprise gifts,
loyal to friends,
dreams of love and
marriage,
dreams of writing a book
goes the extra mile
So this site offers;
good books to read!
help to become Friends with Jesus,
The One Ideal Real Friend
a cure for loneliness
An Older Sister's Coping Secret
how to pray Panic Prayers,
& regularly/daily
devotionals,
how to grow in faith
Christian mentoring,
how to share your faith
character development
how to become a writer

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Guard Your Heart
© Ruth Marlene Friesen
Have you noticed how commercialized Valentine's Day is getting? Everyone is trying to add a heart
theme to their advertising this month. Or romance. Or things cute and cuddly.
Well, I'm waving at you to come follow me. I'm going down a completely different path concerning
hearts. Your heart. Mine too.
Proverbs 4:23 NIV says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
Guard it from what? You think I'm referring to heart disease, do you?
Nope. Serious as that is - for I watched my mother die of congestive heart failure - not pretty I
tell you! No, I'm talking now about the spiritual dimension, where the condition of our heart will
affect how we spend eternity.
Our heart is the poetic term for our spirit, a third of our composite being which came from God and
communes with Him. Or else turns away and grows cold and calloused towards Him, and if so, gets sent
to the place of continuous dying.
God made Adam out of the earth and breathed into him (spirit) and the result was a human soul, that
part of us that has a unique will and personality. If it were not for the soul, the spirit (life)
would have no way of expressing itself through the body's senses.
Ultimately, God planned that our spirit should be in sweet fellowship with Him, and by the soul and
body given it, express that fellowship in lovely worship, service and good works. However, mankind,
as shown by Adam and Eve, the first humans, continually choose to do or follow evil. That's why we
see so many messed up lives. You may know what I mean from close personal experience.
So then it is these wrong choices that we must guard against. We must stiffen our will to choose to
obey God's laws, and do His will. When we line up with that Will, our lives take a turn for the
better. They improve.
For example, if we allow bitterness to creep into our spirit through nursing the wrongs done to us,
our body begins to wither and grow old faster, and so does our spirit, for what affects the one
affects the other. The soul gets warped too. I saw what bitterness did to me when I allowed myself
to wallow in hurts and disappointments. I became sick and depressed.
Thanks be to God, I saw this progression and insisted I wanted out of it. Turned out the answer was
in my own will. I had to reverse my decision to be bitter and unforgiving.
Since then, I've watched several others wither and grow sick and crippled, both emotionally or
spiritually, and in their bodies. Unfortunately, there is a certain kind of blindness that comes
with this. It's hard to persuade you that you're bitter when you are; you only can see that you've
been greatly wronged.
Now I have a passionate dislike for bitterness! I guard my heart against it. I'd like to guard yours
too if I could, but I'm afraid all I can do is warn you, and plead with you to do it yourself.
Guard your heart against all evil thoughts, feelings, desires, and affections. Bring it under the
loving authority of the Master who made it and can make it beautiful beyond compare. Why, it will be
like a refreshing spring of water, bubbling good things all over you, and those who come near
you.
Here's one more secret. Put on the breastplate of the righteousness of Christ Jesus, it will cover
and duly protect your heart from all harm.
How ever in the world do you do that?
By choosing to believe that His righteousness cancels out all your unrighteousness. You have no
defense to stand before a Holy Creator God-Judge except that of His Son. Take it with thanksgiving
and be glad!
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Ruth Marlene Friesen makes friends wherever she goes!
Just like her heroine, Ruthe, in Ruthe's Secret Roses,
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com/RSR.html Her friends
become her rare roses.
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
Subscribe to RoseBouquet, her biweekly blog/ezine
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com/RoseBouquet/index.shtml
~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
[Article may be reprinted only with this resource box].
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