The Ballestero Blog

You’ve Got Guard Duty

Readers of the Bible are familiar with all kinds of Guards.

Some Guards Mentioned In The Bible Are:

• Jail Guards,
• Prison Guards,
• The King’s Guards,
• Temple Guards,
• Watchmen on the wall.

 Shepherds Were Guards Also.

• David guarded the sheep. He protected them from the lion and the bear.

In The Early Days Of America,

• There were Guards on Trains called Pinkertons.
• There were Guards on Wagon Trains,
• Soldiers were always used to guard the settlers.
• Even Cowboys guarded the cattle herds at night by using watches, which they called, 1^st watch, 2^nd watch, etc.

In More Modern Times,

• We have Airport Guards,
• TSA,
• Bank Guards,
• Loss Prevention,
• Bouncers in Beer Joints,
• Crossing Guards,
• Guards in the Schools as well.
• Life Guards.
• We have the National Guard.
• Then there are the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
• We all have seen Guard Dogs that have been trained to defend and attack.

In High School in the 1960’s, we became familiar with the term D.E.W. or Distant Early Warning System. It was an anti-missile shield to protect American from enemy attacks. Today, we hear the term, Star Wars used to describe our High Tech Defense System.

Body Guards Are Now More Common. They Guard:

• Rich people,
• High-Level Politicians and aspirants.
• Movie Stars,
• Famous Singers all have them too.

We Have Several Branches Of The Armed Forces That Are Trained To Defend Our Great Country.

In Guard Training, You Are taught:

• To recognize the enemy and what he looks like.
• He may use disguises
• This is his M.O. or Method of Operation.
• This is what your response is to be to his threat.
• It’s up to you.
• You are the 1^st line of defense.
• You may be the last line of defense as well.

Guards Are Warned.

• Don’t go to sleep.
• Don’t get distracted.
• Don’t leave your post of duty.
• Stay alert.
• Don’t get overpowered.
• Here is how to Guard and Who to let in and not let in.
• There is the punishment for dereliction of duty.

Pastors are Guards

• Watch for your souls
• Standards, Holiness preaching of separation from the world.

Parents are Guards.

• Curfews
• Discipline
• Instructions
• Family rules

Only You Can Guard Your Heart.

• A guarded heart is a heart that is at peace.

Solomon’s Wives Turned His Heart.

• Can you keep up your guard even if you have to defend yourself against your own family and loved ones?
• Solomon didn’t.

Evil Kings Caused Israel To Sin. The Guards Of Israel Let The Enemy In.

• We hear of Pastors going Emergent and Charismatic and taking the whole church with them.
• The Guard, let the guard down.
• The seducing spirit of the age got past the guard.
• Both the guard and what he was guarding became a spoil of the enemy.

God Is Your Guard. He Is For You A…

• Hedge
• Buckler
• Rereward (rear guard)
• Shield

 But You Have To Guard Your Heart.

 We Guard Our Computers.

• We Guard our private life with passwords
• We guard our PC’s with Anti-Virus software.

 We Guard Our Vehicles:

• We guard our vehicles on the outside with under coating and wax.
• We guard our car’s drive chain with special oils and lubricants.
• We guard the car with door locks and anti-theft devises.

 We Guard Our Homes:

• Alarm Systems
• Termite inspections

 We Guard Our Bodies.

• We guard our eyes with safety glasses.
• We guard our eyes with sunglasses.
• We guard our skin with sun blocker
• We guard our hands from cold with gloves.
• We guard our hands with oven mitts so we won’t get burned.
• We guard our necks with scarfs in the cold.
• We guard our ears with earmuffs in the cold.
• We guard our ears with earplug in noisy environments.
• We guard our feet with steel-toed shoes in factories.
• We guard our head with helmets.
• We guard our knees and elbows with pads.
• We guard from the sun with hats.

 Why Don’t We Guard Our?

• Heart
• Spirit
• Thoughts
• Attitude
• Modesty
• Marriage
• Purity
• Tenderness,
• Innocence.
• Love,
• Joy,
• Peace

Why Don’t We Guard Our Heart Against:

• Bitterness
• Rebellion
• Jealousy
• Disobedience
• Pride
• Compromise.
• Worldly Friends
• Envy
• Lust
• Anger
• Discouragement
• Greed

How Do We Guard?

• Praying daily
• Reading God’s Word every day.
• Submitting our self to God
• Submitting our self to God’s Word
• Submitting our self to our Pastor
• Not being influenced or intimidated by the negative actions of others.

How Do We Guard Our Heart?

• We guard our hearts by forgiving
• We guard our heart by repenting
• We guard our hearts by humbling ourselves
• We guard our hearts by loving one another
• We guard our hearts by praying for our enemies.
• We guard our hearts in the prayer room.
• We guard our hearts in the worship service.
• We guard our hearts by saying amen to preaching.

We Only Have One Heart.

No One Else Will Guard It Like We Can.

 KJV Prov. 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

NIV Prov. 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

You’ve Got Guard Duty.