This morning, we’re continuing our message series entitled, “Elevate – Rise Above.”  This world, fallen due to sin, is full of challenges for us.  Daily we face opposition of many different kinds and severities. 

However, we never face them alone.  Jesus invites us to rise up above them.  He invites us to be elevated with Him in Heavenly places.

Colossians 3:1-10

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Our hearts.  There are prideful and arrogant hearts that look down on others.  There are broken hearts pierced by many griefs and hurt.  There are heavy hearts burdened down by worries and anxiety.  There are hardened hearts that hate.  Lustful hearts that always long for what they cannot have.  Doubting hearts that cannot trust. 

There are also compassionate and generous hearts that just want to love God and love others.

Most of our hearts consist of a mix of all of these and more.  Parts of us are wounded in need of healing.  Some parts are hardened and need plowed up.  Some parts are out of control and need reigned back in.  Some parts are perfectly healthy and prosperous.

Now when we refer to the heart this morning, we’re referring to the core of who we are.  It consists of our mind, will, and emotions.  It is a part of us still being sanctified by the Holy Spirit as we are renewed and transformed by Him.

There is a cliché saying out there that encourages us to “follow our hearts.” This sounds like sound and encouraging advice.  However, scripture teaches us differently.  Jesus said that:

Mark 7:20-23

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

Well, we certainly know enough to understand that we don’t want to be following something that leads us down those paths!  God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah and said:

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

I’m sure that even right here among us this morning, we could hear story after story of how our hearts have deceived us and lead us astray.  Stories of trusting a friend, who betrayed us.  Stories of falling in love with a person only to find out that they haven’t been honest about who they were.  Stories of giving sacrificially to help someone’s need who wasn’t really needy after all.

We have another cliché saying used to justify someone’s wrongdoing saying that ” well, their heart was in the right place.”  Well, if they acted wrongly toward someone, then perhaps their motives weren’t all that pure.  Doing even what appears to be the kindest of deeds or the most generous acts of service for people who don’t want to receive them is rape, not love.

So how do we avoid falling into these cliché heart traps?  If our own heart is deceitful, yet at the core of who we are, then what are we to do?  If all of these evils come from within our hearts, then how should we respond?  What are we supposed to do with these hearts of ours?

Proverbs 4:23

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Though our hearts may be deceitful and lead us astray at times, they are not evil or bad in and of themselves.  They do, however, need to be guarded by us.  We have to be on our guard of what we allow into them and what we permit to grow within them.  We need to cautiously choose who to allow to certain parts of our hearts.  We need to often prune our hearts when we realize that there are things there that do not