Guard your heart. This is the LifeSpring One Year Bible Rewind and coming to you from Riverside,
California, podcasting since 2004. I'm so happy to see you today. I'm Steve Webb, your OG Godcaster.
This is the podcast that comes to you every day and we're reading the entire Bible. The home base
is lifespringmedia.com. You look so nice today. Today is National Compliment Day and this is
Gospel Saturday. We'll read Mark 7 and 8. And remember, tomorrow we'll have a time of praises
and prayer requests, so let me know if you have something to share with the family. I'll remind
you a little bit later how to do that. Let's begin. Our Heavenly Father, we love you and we thank you
so much for the Gospels and we thank you for the book of Mark. I pray, Lord, that you would teach us
today. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Mark chapter 7. Then the Pharisees and some of the
scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. Now when they saw some of his
disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees
and all the Jews don't eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of
the elders. They don't eat when they come from the marketplace, unless they bathe themselves,
and there are many other things which they have received to hold to, washing of cups,
pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches. The Pharisees and the scribes asked him,
Why don't your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with
unwashed hands? He answered them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship
me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For you set aside the commandment of God,
and hold tightly to the tradition of men, the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many
other such things. He said to them, Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may
keep your tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and, He who speaks evil
of father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, If a man tells his father or his mother,
Whatever profit you might have received from me is korban, that is to say, given to God.
Then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,
making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down.
You do so many things like this.
He called all the multitude to himself and said to them,
Hear me, all of you, and understand.
There is nothing from outside of the man that, going into him, can defile him.
But the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about
the parable.
He said to them, Are you thus without understanding also?
Don't you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can't defile him, because
it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying
all foods?
He said, That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.
For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual
sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, and foolishness.
All these evil things come from within and defile the man.
From there he arose and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon.
He entered into a house and didn't want anyone to know it, but he couldn't escape notice.
For a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him,
came and fell down at his feet.
Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race.
She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.
But Jesus said to her, Let the children be filled first,
for it is not appropriate to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
But she answered him, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs.
He said to her, For this saying, Go your way, the demon has gone out of your daughter.
She went away to her house and found the child having been laid on the bed with the demon gone
out. Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and came to the Sea of Galilee,
through the midst of the region of Decapolis. They brought to him one who was deaf and had
an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside from the
multitude, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.
Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, Ephatha, that is, be opened.
Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released,
and he spoke clearly. He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them,
so much the more widely they proclaimed it. They were astonished beyond measure, saying,
He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak. Mark chapter 8.
In those days many people were gathered together. They had nothing to eat. Jesus called his followers
to him and said, I pity these people because they have been with me three days and have nothing to
eat. If I send them home without food, they may be too weak as they go. Many of them have come a
long way. His followers said to him, Where can anyone get enough bread for them here in this
desert? He asked them, How many loaves of bread do you have? They said, Seven. Then he told the
people to sit down on the ground. Jesus took the seven loaves of bread and gave thanks to God.
He broke the loaves and gave them to his followers to give to the people.
The followers gave the bread to them. They had a few small fish also. He gave thanks to God and
told the followers to give the fish to them. They all ate and were filled. They picked up seven
baskets full of pieces of bread and fish after the people were finished eating. About four thousand
ate. Then Jesus sent the people away. At once, Jesus got in a boat with his followers and came
to the country of Dalmanutha. The proud religious law keepers came and began to ask him for something
special to see from heaven. They wanted to trap Jesus. He breathed deep within and said,
Why do the people of this day look for something special to see? For sure I tell you, the people
of this day will have nothing special to see from heaven. Then he left them. He got in the boat and
went to the other side of the sea. The followers had forgotten to take bread. Only one loaf was in
the boat. He said to them, Look out. Have nothing to do with the yeast of the proud religious law
and of Herod. They talked about it among themselves. They said, He said this because we forgot to
bring bread. Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said to them, Why are you talking among
yourselves about forgetting to bring bread? Do you not understand? Is it not plain to you?
Are your hearts still hard? You have eyes. Do you not see? You have ears. Do you not hear?
Do you not remember? When I divided the five loaves of bread among the five thousand,
How many baskets full of pieces did you pick up? They said, Twelve. When I divided the seven loaves
of bread among the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you pick up? They said, Seven.
Then he asked, Why do you not understand yet? Then they came to the town of Bethsaida. Some
people brought a blind man to Jesus. They asked if he would touch him. He took the blind man by
the hand out of town. Then he spit on the eyes of the blind man and put his hands on him. He asked,
Do you see anything? The blind man looked up and said, I see some men. They look like trees walking.
Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes again and told him to look up. Then he was healed and saw
everything well. Jesus sent him to his home and said, Do not go into the town or tell it to anyone
there. Jesus and his followers went from there to the towns of Caesarea Philippi. As they went,
he asked his followers, Who do people say that I am? They answered, Some say John the Baptist,
and some say Elijah, and others say one of the early preachers. He said to them, But who do you
say that I am? Peter said, You are the Christ. He told them with strong words that they should tell
no one about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He told them
that the leaders and the religious leaders of the Jews and the teachers of the law would have nothing
to do with him. He told them that he would be killed and three days later he would be raised
from the dead. He had said this in plain words. Peter took him away from the others and began to
speak sharp words to him. Jesus turned around. He looked at his followers and spoke sharp words to
Peter. He said, Get behind me, Satan. Your thoughts are not the thoughts from God, but from men.
Jesus called the people and his followers to him. He said to them, If anyone wants to be my follower,
he must give up himself and his own desires. He must take up his cross and follow me.
If anyone wants to keep his own life safe, he will lose it. If anyone gives up his life because of me
and because of the good news, he will save it. For what does a man have if he gets all the world
and loses his own soul? What can a man give to buy back his soul? Whoever is ashamed of me and
my words among the sinful people of this day, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes
in the shining greatness of his Father and his holy angels. Have you ever heard the advice,
follow your heart, or when pondering a difficult decision, have you been asked,
what does your heart say? Yeah, you probably have. How do you think that goes along with Scripture?
Jeremiah 17, 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
And what did Jesus say about the heart? Well, today in Mark chapter 7, verses 14 through 23,
Jesus talked about what it is that defiles a person. Jesus was speaking to the crowd here,
and what he said here was new information. He said, There's nothing outside the man which can
defile him if it goes into him, but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the
man. You see, most of the people in the crowd were Jews, and you can be sure that some who were
listening were Jewish leaders, well-versed in the law. And from a very young age, these people were
taught that there were certain things that would defile them if touched, among them a dead body,
certain skin diseases, bodily fluids, unclean foods.
And in this instance, Jesus is talking about eating foods that some would consider unclean.
And he says that what you eat does not make you unclean or defiled.
He says that what comes out of a person is what defiles them.
Later, when Jesus and the disciples were away from the crowd, they asked him to explain.
He said that food doesn't go into the heart, but into the stomach and then is eliminated.
It's what comes out of the heart that makes a person defiled, because that's where evil thoughts,
murder, sensuality, envy, pride, and all sorts of evil things come from. That's why Proverbs 4.23
says, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. The thoughts
and ideas we entertain can either help us conform to Jesus or to the world. Proverbs 23.7 says,
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
What are your thoughts centered on?
What comes from your heart?
I'd love to hear from you.
Tomorrow we'll read 1 Corinthians 11 and 12.
Here's the verse of the day.
Verse of the day is Mark 7.15.
Jesus speaking, of course.
There is nothing from outside of the man that going into him can defile him.
But the things that proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
Mark 7, 15.
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Well, what happened on this date in church history, January 24th?
Well, let's go back to 1821 with a journey of profound courage.
On this day, Lot Carey set sail from Virginia for the coast of West Africa.
He was born into slavery, but eventually purchased his own freedom and became a leading voice in the Baptist Church.
His departure for Sierra Leone marked the beginning of a historic chapter,
because he became the first African-American missionary to the continent of Africa.
His work eventually led to the founding of the First Baptist Church in Liberia.
And on this date in 1945, we remember a much darker but equally significant moment.
Helmuth James von Moltke was executed by the Nazi regime.
Moltke was a jurist and a founding member of the Kreisau Circle,
a group of thinkers who spent years planning a democratic Christian future for Germany
after what they knew would be an inevitable Nazi defeat.
And interestingly, he was not executed for an assassination plot or a physical coup.
During his trial, the judge told him directly that his only crime was that he was a Christian.
The regime viewed his belief in a higher moral authority as a direct threat to their power.
We will be having a time of praises and prayer requests tomorrow, so now's a great time to send yours in.
Now, when you send them in, of course, I will pray for you in my daily prayer time,
and I'll share them right here on the show.
As always, if you would like to remain anonymous, just let me know.
To submit your praise report or your prayer request, just go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com.
You'll find an easy-to-fill-out form there.
Or if you'd like to email me, that's okay, too.
The email address is steve at lifespringmedia.com.
In the subject line, just put prayer request.
And if you'd like to text me or if you'd like to leave a voice message, this is the number to dial.
High Spring Family Hotline, 951-732-8511.
Beloved, don't follow your heart today.
Guard it.
You want what flows out of you to reflect the heart of Jesus rather than the ways of the
world.
Until tomorrow, may God bless you richly.
Thank you so much for being here.
Thank you for making me a part of your day.
my name is Steve Webb. Bye.