Better Without You and Better than You

First off, maybe this is just a 'Matt' thing. I actually don't know if a lot of other people think about this, and if you don't, I'm sorry in advance. Allow to talk about myself for a few paragraphs.

One feeling that seems to rear its ugly head every so often with me is a feeling of insuperiority. Actually, that sounds wrong. That makes it sound like I'm whining when someone is better than me. That's not it at all, really. It's more of a feeling of 'You try so hard... and yet, you can't accomplish what you try... and here's someone else who can.'

I've talked about about lies of the Enemy to degrade ourselves to make us think the worst about ourselves, but this one is tricky. I'm not saying this one is not common, but it's easy to misunderstand by ourselves (and others) as selfishness. Here's a good example.

There's an amazing scene in the newest Harry Potter film, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One' where Ron Weasly and Harry Potter are standing, together, preparing to destroy the Horcrux. If you don't follow the series, you're probably like 'What.' but that's that's okay. The Horcrux is basically the soul of their greatest Enemy, which they are basically battling for seven movies now. Sound familiar?

There they stand with the sword promised to be able to combat the Horcrux, and to destroy it, they must expose it (The allegory is unmistakable). They open the locket, and a flood of darkness and shadow encircle Ron and Harry.

(Note: this is an illegal video someone recorded in the theater, and the title of the video... might detour you from watching it, but it's the scene I'm talking about. Listen to the dialog.')

Wow, huh? How often have we heard the same lie? 'You are nothing... compared to him?'

Voldemort (the Enemy, in our case) uses the same tricks to get us to believe the worst. Poor Ron is attacked over and over again in this scene: "Least loved by your mother who craved a daughter..." "Least loved by the girl who prefers your friend..." Ouch. Voldemort, are you sure you're not talking to me, Matt Walker? It goes on.

A vision appears before Ron. His best friend... saying something that kills him inside. "We were better without you. Happier without you..." Then, Hermione speaks. "Who could even LIKE you..." "What are you... compared to [Harry?]" "What woman would take you... you are nothing..." Yikes.

Seem familiar? Have we not all had the same attacks laid against us before? Have we not all been through exactly what Ron is dealing with in that scene right there? The Enemy telling us things that we know aren't true... but that seem more true than anything else?

"Your friends are happier without you." "Your not at all what your parents wanted." "What woman/man could ever love you?" "So-n-no is superior; why do you even try?" "You are unlovable." "You are nothing."

I know, personally, I deal with at least half of those on a daily basis. The Enemy has a way of digging into the quietest openings in our heart, and despite the Proverbs urging us to 'guard them above all else,' (Proverbs 4:23), he finds a way in. He exploits our weaknesses. He plants thoughts and ideas that turn on us, and eat us alive. Our most clever Enemy knows our heart better than we do it seems... and he knows how to destroy it.

What do we do? How do we stop it? All these lies feel so true. You know they do to Ron Weasly. You know they hurt him deeper than anything. What on earth does he do now? What on earth do We do now?

We have to destroy it.

Like Harry in that scene, we have our friends and people that love us shouting 'It's lying!' or 'Kill it!' but what about when they don't? What about when they let it happen? What if they don't even seem to realize it's happening? What if it seems they don't care?

"Though an army might encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war may rise against me, in [God] I will be confident." (Psalm 27:3)

God is willing to fight with and for you. When the Enemy comes and begins his attack, God is on your side. He wants you to know the truth. He wants you to know your worth. He wants you to know the plans he has for you are for good, a hope and a future; not disaster. (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants you to know that YOU are here because YOU are the best person God could think of, in all of eternity, to do what the work he has planned. Isn't that something? Not only that, but to God, you and the plans he had for you were important enough to die for, before you even knew Him.

Nothing is better without you. Nothing is better than you. God doesn't think so; don't think so yourself. You would not exist had God not said 'They are worth it.'

You are worth it!

How, then, do we fight the Enemy? We attack back. With our own swords (Hebrews 4:12), like Ron did. We attack back.

And we will always be victorious.

Talking to God

It seems to me, the more I grow as a Christian, as a man, as a friend, as just a person in general, the answers we struggle the hardest to get and the solutions we fight for most are the most obvious. When we get them, we suffer a moment of 'Naw-duh, Sherlock,' and that can make us/me feel stupid and embarrassed, but I think it's something we all have in common.

This blog post has the potential to get very personal with a lot of people, but for the sake of anonymity, I suppose it would be polite for me to be as vague as possible while still having some sort of meaning without sounding like I'm a whiny teenager. Ooh, boy. Specifics aren't important anyway, hah.

I'll begin with a question: Have you ever been in a situation where you had no where to turn to for help? I know what you're thinking. 'I ALWAYS HAVE JESUS, HALLELUJAH - AMEN!'

While that's true, be honest - how often do you turn to God for help? That's what I thought. An embarrassingly small amount of the time, isn't it? I can say the same. Whenever something's got me down, or worse... I can honestly say that sometimes God is the last place I will turn for help.

It seems odd to say that, though. Usually, outside of Christianity, we see people only going to God when we need help, but I bet for a lot of us, as Christians, it's easy to maintain a regular prayer life filled with ins-and-outs, daily 'quiet-times' (sweet child of mine, I hate that term), and what have you, but I find myself never really going to God with my problems or... I guess my heart.

I wrote a little bit about this a few weeks back - about opening up to God. I think that is a major part of it. I haven't been nor have I really ever opened up to God, and I find that when I do, He is able to show me things I'd never expected or things I'd never thought of otherwise.

In the past few months, I've been struggling pretty badly with... life, hah. Things got pretty low at one point - they still continue to drop down there now and again. It got to the point where I was physically hurting myself because, you know, apparently that's supposed to help. It didn't. My doctor put my on antidepressants which have helped a tremendous amount, but still... it doesn't fix anything.

So, I figure I could turn to people. My pastors. My family. My closest friends. I've opened up very little to anyone, and when I do, I find myself stuttering, censoring myself, and never really even releasing a coherent thought. Even talking to the people I love most (they can tell you this and are probably reading this now, hah), I'm very secretive, cryptic, and quiet about what goes on in my own heart.

And pretty soon, I found myself in a situation where there was nobody I could talk to. At all. Don't get me wrong - without a doubt in my mind, God places people in our lives to hold us up, pray for us, talk to us, and help us... but what about when we find ourselves going there first? Instead of having people there as pillars of support, I found myself treating them as a foundation of it.

So, in this situation, I found myself getting deeper and deeper into confusion, pain, sadness, and numbness. What was I supposed to do? Recently, it got to the point where I was, literally, angry at God. You know, like the cheesy Christian movies where the protagonist is like 'God, why did you allow this to happen! It's your fault! BLAH!' But I was basically like that.

'God... why are you even allowing this to happen to me? Why... in all of your ability as God and Ruler of the freakin' Universe, would you allow these little things to line up so perfectly that not only are my feelings hurt and my heart in shambles, but I have no one to talk to about it? Why on earth would you allow me to be so alone here?''

That's when I had my 'Naw-duh' moment.

And it's pretty much a recurring theme in the Bible, especially the Psalms.

"Seek the Lord and His strength; seek his face continuously." (Psalm 105:4)

"Those who know your name trust in You; for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." (Psalm 9:10)

"Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." (Psalm 55:22)

"In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened; he saved me from all my troubles" (Psalm 34:6)

I think that's what He was trying to tell me. I think God allowed me to fall so deep into this literal depression so that I could see, sooner or later, that the only - the only - way out would be to rely on Him.

The Enemy, of course, was hell-bent (pun intended) on making sure that I felt everything that ever happened to me was the result of my surroundings and not the way I was choosing to deal with them. Think about it - if I break my arm accidentally doing something, who do I go to for help? The people I love? They can comfort me and give me advice, sure, but does that heal me? Do I just go through it alone? No, because my arm would remain broken, wouldn't it? I need the doctor, don't I?

It's a simple, Elementary school analogy, yeah, but it's what I've been doing. Does going to God first with my heart, my troubles, my concerns, my everything fix the situations I'm in? No, not necessarily. There's still going to be pain because the attacks of our most relentless Enemy do not stop because we notice him performing them.

I think the most important thing for us... and me, really... to remember is that God is Father, and I am his son. He wants me to come to Him, because he loves me, and is willing to help me. He's willing to just listen if that's all I need. How many times has that happened to you - you're talking something out to someone, and they say nothing at all but continue to let you talk because they know you'll eventually come to the conclusion yourself? I think God does that a lot with us.

The bottom line I want to say is the God listens, and God helps. Sometimes, He allows absolute crap to pour into our lives from every direction so we see that there is no one else that can really help us but Him.

Questions for you now: How much do you trust God? I mean 'trust' in the sense can you really tell him everything, like a best friend... like a Father the Bible says He is? Can you be open to God? He did everything in His Power (and the God of Eternity has a lot of power) to be with you; can't you spare more than a campy ritualistic 'quiet time' with Him? It's something to think about.

As I pray today, I ask that you join me in really just going to God and opening your heart. Forget 'praying,' sit down and talk with God like you have a relationship with Him. That's what Christianity is, and we often tell people that, but act like we don't believe it. 'It's not a religion; it's a relationship!' we'll glibly spew along with every other Christian cliche, but we still pray like God is a stained-glass window image in the cathedral of our mind. I think he deserves and wants more than that. I think I want more that that.

So, try it today. Talk to God. Tell Him about your day. About what makes you happy. About what makes you sad. About how much you love your friends. About how much you liked that movie you saw. About that nasty food you ate at the mall the other day. Be reverent, but fod God's sake, be personal. God is a person. A person who loves you.

Pray for me, too, reader, as I learn this with you.

-Matt

I am an After-Thought

Let me begin with this question.

Have you ever felt like an after-thought?

Jason finds out there's an outing planned by his closest friends and they invite him at the last minute... or not at all. Laura feels left out when her parents are discussing the success of her older brother. David wonders if his friends talk to him out of anything other than pity. 'If I just didn't show up one day, would anyone miss me?' he thinks. Megan's closest friends often will leave her behind or not even say hello when they see her.

Have you ever felt like that? Sure you have. Everyone has. I have. Plenty of times.

I have a philosophy. If the Enemy is not attacking a Christian, he has no reason to. If Luke Skywalker and the rebels didn't fight to destroy the Death Star, do you think that Darth Vader would have flown his own personal TIE fighter out into battle? If Sauron didn't believe Frodo had any chance at making it up to Mt. Doom, would he have sent hoards of orcs after them? If Lord Voldemort didn't think Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, was any threat to him, would he have devoted his strength and ability to killing a mere teenager?

As a Christian, we have an Enemy, too, don't we? The bible calls him a 'deceiver.' In fact, his first assault on attempting to rip humanity from the arms of God was to get them... us, essentially... to believe his lie.

What lie is he trying to feed you? I think I've figured out mine.

'You are an after-thought.'

I think the one thing that can destroy my confidence... that can isolate me from the people I love... that can singe my heart to ash is thinking and feeling 'I am an after-thought.' And I feel that quite often, coming from the people I love the most, no less.

It's a very lonely thing - the feeling that you're not important enough to matter, or that your closest friends or your own family acknowledge you only out of pity or so they don't look completely rude. It's led to many tears, many days where I just don't want to get out of bed... it's even led to me going to the doctor and having him put me on antidepressant medication... but they haven't helped at all. What is wrong with me?

Am I really so unlikable that even the people I thought I was closest to or the people I love the most scoff in disgust at the thought of me? That they hear me speak and look away? They run off and leave me behind, they plan family dinners without me, or they just plain act like they don't care at all? What have I done to offend them - Am I really so wretched?

This is an attack on my own heart if I've ever seen one... and I've seen plenty.

The thought of being an after-thought was plaguing my mind the other night and, I don't know how, but I began a text message conversation with someone I've probably only shook hands with once, but have Facebooked and had phone conversations with for a while now. He's a new friend that came about from both of us having a mutual friend - anyway, we were texting, and he ended up being a major encouragement to me.

I forgot how it came up, but I think I asked him just what I'm writing about right now. 'Have you ever felt like an after-thought? Like, even to the people you love the most?' His answer was absolutely a God-send; just what I needed to hear, even if it was something I already knew (which these things often are).

"...If we can wrap our minds around this, we'll never be the same. To your Savior, you are never an after-thought. You are His only thought!" (Zach R.)

Wow, huh? It's true, though. Even though I knew this already, it feels very important to have someone tell you this, personally. The very idea that there is actually someone - the God of the universe - doesn't even look at me as just a part of the human race, but as an individual; as someone who He has plans for, as someone He's proud of... someone He died for JUST so that He could be with... me? That is an incredible truth.

That's not just feel-good Christian talk, either. We find it all throughout the Bible, but I think it's summed up best in the most popular Bible verse of all. John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

A more heart-felt translation might put it this way.

"God loved you, as an individual, so much, He stepped down out of His own Kingdom to die for you - to pay your debt - because he loved you so much. Because He has done so, He's given you the opportunity to live forever, and perish not."

John Eldredge says this in his breath-taking book, 'Waking the Dead.'

"We rebelled, and the penalty for our rebellion was death. To lose [you] was too great a pain for God to bear, and so he took it upon himself to rescue [you]." -John Eldredge

I think when we think of Jesus coming to save the world, we think about Jesus coming to save everyone rather than Jesus coming to save EVERY ONE. Notice the space. Every individual, not just humanity as a collective. He came to ransom and rescue you, dear reader. He came to rescue you, specifically. Think about that for a moment. He came to rescue you, as an individual.

Which reminds me that... He came to rescue me. He came to rescue Matt Walker.

I am no after-thought to the person who matters most. I am adored by Jesus Christ. So much so, that being nailed to a beam of wood, hanging for hours with broken bones as a crown of thorns lodged into his skull causes him to die a slow and painful death... was less painful than the very thought of being apart... from me. Matt Walker. For God so loved Matt Walker...

Even though I know my friends love me, even though I know my family loves me, even if they didn't... the fact of the matter is that nothing I could ever do can separate me from God's love. The remarkable thing about that love - the thing that proves I am no after-thought - is that God chose me, like he chose you. It wasn't a collective salvation effort. He looked at me, he looked at you, and there was not a doubt in His mind: '[Insert Name Here] is worth it, to me.' That is an incredibly encouraging thought.

Next time you struggle with the idea of being an after-thought, or even less than that... remember that, quite simply, you are not. You're more than just a sinner saved by grace. You're more than a Christian, and you're more than a number on some divine Christian tally list. You are an heir to a Kingdom because the almighty Creator and Ruler of existence said 'You know, I love that guy/girl so much, that I'm going to have them do big things.' You are loved.

I am loved.

Thanks for reading.

New Jars of Clay Album - 'The Shelter' - Review

"Ar Scáth a Chéile a Mhaireas na Daoine."
"In the shelter of each other, the people live."

Jars of Clay is one of the older Christian rock/pop bands, and are extremely gifted songwriters and performers, loving and active humanitarians, and humble, talented Christians who have been entertaining, moving, and loving on people for over a decade. Yesterday, they released their eleventh studio album, called 'The Shelter.'

After pre-ordering the album, I got it in the mail today, and I was absolutely blown away by this album that I had ridiculously high expectations for. The pure artistry and work that went into this album must be beyond measure.

"'The Shelter,' Dan Haseltine of the band explains, "is a record about community, and how we get to be Jesus for each other. A shelter is refuge from a storm. It is peace in the midst of chaos. Something that cools our fear when we are afraid. I think what I like about the image of a shelter is that it is not something that is apart from the storm, but is something that is placed IN the storm, and yet it is something that keeps us from harm's way, but it's not so far away that we lose sight of it."

The theme of 'The Shelter' is, without a doubt, community. Friendship. Fellowship. Christians coming together, loving one another, and being/living like Jesus for one another and the entire world. This album came at an extremely important time in my life where I've got that very theme on my heart constantly. About isolating myself. About not feeling loved. About giving up. About not having a group friends, a family, or a community I feel I can belong to. All of this is completely ridiculous, though. I know, in my heart, I have all those things, but we have an Enemy that has made it his job to destroy every relationship we, as Christians, have. 'The Shelter' is a battlecry against that. A hymn against isolation. Sadness. Lonliness. A message of hope, love, friendship, and God's grace played out through 11 expertly crafted tracks.

Jars of Clay is not alone on this album, either. To go with the theme of community, Several artists have added their song-writing and musical abilities to the band's own this time. What had the potential to be a cheesy collab of standard Christian fare is everything but that. With Jars of Clay, you have Brandon Heath, Thad Cockrell, Audrey Assad, Gungor, Mac Powell from Third Day, Derek Webb from Caedmon's Call, Burlap to Cahmere, Sixpence None the Richer, TobyMac, Mike Donehey from Tenth Avenue North, David Crowder, Amy Grant, and more that I can't even remember. Wow. That's a lot of folks. Still, this is Jars of Clay's album, and these artists just add to that instead of making it a mishmash of songs and styles.

The album begins with the extremely poignant track 'Small Rebellions.' The opening lyrics set up the entire album beautifully. "God of the break and shattered... hearts, in every form still matter. In our weakness, let us see, that alone we'll never be lifting any burdens off our shoulders...." It sets up the whole idea of a community, and that it's not going to come easy. The chorus makes that clear with it's words. "If our days could be filled with small rebellions... senseless, brutal acts of kindness from us all... If we stand between the fear and firm foundation... push against the current and the fall... We will never walk alone again..."

The next track picks up with 'Call My Name.' It's all about one of the simplest Christian principals, in yet, it's the one all of us struggle with on a daily basis. Being called by God to do something extraordinary. Have purpose in our lives. Jars of Clay has already hit two very important topics in Christianity, and we're only two songs in.

'We Will Follow,' track #3, is like a direct response to track #2. If 'Call My Name' says 'God has a plan for you,' 'We Will Follow' says '...and we're going to follow it!" It's an incredibly happy and hopeful song that has a very simple chorus, but I've already found myself singing it over and over again. "Where you lead us, we will follow..." A little bit of their Nashville roots come out with some epic violin, too.

The next track, 'Eyes Wide Open,' features the voice of Dan Haseltine, but then the instantly recognizable voice of Mac Powell from Third Day. It's a song simply out asking God to keep our eyes open to where he's working. Keep our eyes open to where we can show love. Keep our eyes open to how He can shine his light through us, which should be our prayers daily.

I'm going to skip the title track for now.

'Out of My Hands' is a song about surrendering to God, first, foremost, and obviously. This is a topic Jars of Clay has touched on several times in past albums, but this song perhaps personifies it the best. It speaks of all God has done for us, which is more than we can imagine.

'No Greater Love' is a song about the power of sacrifice. It has, perhaps, a double-meaning. Like John 15:13 says, "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." There is no greater love than bearing a burden, taking some of the pain, sacrificing for a friend. The other meaning being the same thing, only in the context of what Christ did on the cross. The question features the prayer 'Show me the beauty of a life laid down...' Powerful stuff.

'Run in the Night' is based on my favorite Psalm in the Bible - Psalm 27. It follows closely to the teachings of that chapter, and begins slow and contemplative, but near the end becomes a redemptive piece of love and perfection.

Track #9, 'Lay it Down,' is perhaps my favorite track on the entire album. It speaks of exactly what I've been dealing with for some time now. The senseless, counter-productive attitude of 'isolation will help me.' The song touches on the idea that if you are a Christian, you are a part of the most loving, understanding, welcoming, warm family conceivable. You have a father in heaven you adores you. You have brothers and sisters all over the world that belong to the same father you do, and there's deep connection in that. "We'll never be short on people," they sing, "but we'll never be short on trouble." The hard times always come along. The Enemy always attacks again. The chorus begs the question, "Why carry on our own?" they ask "Why drag this bag of bones to Hell and back again? Look around -" they say. "Lay it down." God puts people in our lives to love us, to build us up, to support and encourage us. We should absolutely allow them in and let them do so, as we are to do the same for them.

'Love Will Find Us' has a message that can be summed up in the chorus. "Run to these arms, be not alone;

Light is leading, love will find us all..." Beautiful.

Now, we'll go back to the title track, then touch on 'Benediction,' the closing track. The title track, 'The Shelter,' sums up the message of the Church in a beautiful way. Now, I did not say it sums up Christianity - it talks about us as Christians, and our roles in that. "To all who are looking down," to song speaks, "holding on to hearts still wounding... for those who've yet to find it: the places near where love is moving... cast off the robes you're wearing, set aside the names you've been given... may this place of rest in the fold of you journey bind you to hope." The idea that we, as Christians, are to be there for each other as the Church. Fellowship. To build each other up. To pray with and for one another. To help out in crisis. To comfort in despair. "God has given us each other..." the song says. In our hearts, hopefully, we have a group of friends or a family we know those words ring true about. I certainly know who God has given me for the purposes of this song. I feel their love and warmth whenever I hear this song. The chorus features the words of the old Irish proverb quoted at the top 'In the shelter of each other, we will live."

And then, in the end, there's 'Benediction.' It's a simple, quite song that basically says 'Now that you have the love of God, the strength of others, and the hope of life, go and spread the word.' Tell the world he loves you.

This album is an amazing collection of talent, meaning, and music that shines even above Jars of Clay's last album, 'The Long Fall Back to Earth.' I have already been blessed with the message and love of this album. It's an absolute must have for anyone.

Small Rebellions - 8/10

Call My Name - 9/10

We Will Follow - 10/10

Eyes Wide Open - 7/10

Shelter - 10/10

Out of My Hands - 8/10

No Greater Love - 8/10

Run in the Night - 7/10

Lay it Down - 10/10

Love Will Find Us - 7/10

Benediction - 9/10

Album as a Whole - 9/10

Highly Recommended.

Lord of the Rings and Jesus - The Battle for Helm's Heart

"The dark tide flowed up to the walls from cliff to cliff. Thunder rolled in the valley. Rain came lashing down.

Arrows thick as the rain came whistling over the battlements, and fell clinking and glancing on the stones. Some found a mark. The assault on Helm's Deep had begun but no sound of challenge was heard within; no answering arrows came.

Then the Orcs screamed, waving spear and sword and shooting a cloud if arrows at any that stood revealed upon the battlements; and the men of the Mark amazed looked out, as it seemed to them, upon a great field of dark corn, tosses by a tempest of war, and every ear glinted with barbed light.
Brazen trumpets sounded.. The enemy surged forward... The lightning flashed, and blazoned upon every helm and shield the ghastly hand of Isengard was seen. They reached the summit of the rock; they drove towards the gates..." JRR Tolkien, 'The Two Towers'

Thus begins one of the pivotal battles in the story of 'Lord of the Rings.' The enemy of the free peoples of Middle Earth has forged an army of the foulest and most sinister soldiers imaginable, and they're going for where the people from the city of Edoras had hidden themselves - in the heart of a mountain; a fortress known as Helm's Deep.

What follows is an epic, devastating battle in which the Men of the Mark fight the Orcs of Isengard in arrow-firing, sword clashing, blood-shedding combat. If you've read the novels or seen the movies, you know how big of a deal the Battle for Helm's Deep was. Why did the evil wizard Saruman decide to send his soldiers and minions to attack the free people of Rohan? Why them, and why attack their settlement in the heart of the mountain?

I believe it's because Saruman could not stand, evil and powerful as he was, to be engaged in a war he would ultimately loose. He looked at those people, those free people led by a King, and felt such hatred that he wanted them dead, knowing he had already lost them.

Sounds a lot like our Enemy, doesn't it?

The thief, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy, looks upon the free children of God with such hatred, he does the same thing to us; he attacks us at our Helm's Deep - the heart. The heart, which is the very core to our life. The very thing Christ has set free - the very essence of our being. The good thing God put in us - the core of who we are, and who God is in our lives.

"Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life." - Proverbs 4:23, HCSB

We see in Lord of the Rings that the Rohirrim do just that - mustering up their courage, their strength, and, being led by the King, they attempt to guard their heart - they begin to fight off the Orcs attempting to seize Helm's Deep. Do you ever think of the battle for the heart in the same way? I'm going to capitalize that - it's so truly epic, it deserves it. Do you ever think about the Battle for the Heart in the same way? As the Enemy is ramming into the gates of the hold, they scream and shout as they rain arrows down upon the people and bang their spears and clash their swords. They obviously want to get in there. They want to kill. They want to steal. They want to destroy.

At that point, the people inside open their doors and say 'Come on in!!'

No, I'm kidding. Could you imagine? And yet... that's what so many of us do, don't we? Instead of guarding our hearts, we leave the door unlocked. Heck, sometimes, we let the Enemy in freely, don't we? We will sometimes invite him in. Scary thought, when put in perspective, isn't it? We invite him him by opening the doors and gates to the heart by the things we do, the things we say, the things we watch, read, listen to - the lives we live... like what's inside doesn't matter to us. Well, wait, what exactly is in the Heart?

"Do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God?" 1 Corinthians 6:19 HCSB

So.. what?

"Okay - each of us is now the Temple of God, so where, then, is the Holy of Holies? Your heart." -John Eldrege, 'Waking the Dead.'

Think about that. Your heart is the very place where the Holy Spirit dwells - where the Holy Spirit is, if you've put your faith and life in Christ. That's what they mean when they say 'You've got to let Jesus into your heart.' They mean that quite literally. God Himself comes to dwell in you the moment you put your faith in Him. The wonderful counselor makes His home within you, to always be with you. Cool stuff, huh?

Why are we so... lazy... in guarding our hearts, then? Why do we let the Enemy in so freely? What would have happened is the Rohirrim had just flung the gates to Helm's Deep open and said 'We welcome you, Enemy?' I think we don't realize how much of an attack we're under, and even if we did, I think we'd be scared. Makes sense - it's a scary thing fighting the one who wants to steal your happiness, destroy your life, and kill your spirit. The men of Edoras probably felt the same way. Scared. Unable and unwilling to defend the hold.

"So much... death..... what can men do against... such reckless hate?"
Aragorn, the True King speaks to him.
"Ride out with me. Ride out with me and meet them."

Fighting alongside the King, Theoden leads his men into battle with the Orcs of Isengard, and the epic Battle for Helm's Deep begins. "The sun is rising..." Gimli says.

We act like Theoden sometimes, don't we? Scared. Wondering what good fighting will really do in the end. What guarding the fortress, the Heart, will really be for. The King reminds us that the Heart is worth fighting for. He, himself, gave his very life to set it free - why wouldn't we try our hardest to guard the Heart from the enemy?

I believe that the Enemy doesn't have to do much to get into our hearts. He plants a tiny seed, and we water it. He gives us the tiniest bit of pain, or the smallest essence of doubt, and we latch onto it, and we let it grow. By believing his lies, we have let our guard down; we've swung the doors to Helms Deep and wide open and said 'Hey Satan! What are you trying to sell me?' and he comes in, and, literally, all hell breaks loose in our lives.

It is crucial to guard the heart. We are to do it 'above all else.' Why? Because it is the essence of our life, and the very dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

In Lord of the Rings, eventually, the Men of the Mark were able to drive away their attackers. Yes, the Enemy got in for a split second because Rohan let their guard down, but alongside the King, they had their victory. The enemies ran screaming to hide in the forest, Tolkien writes. The same, too, shall happen to our enemies, if we defend, if we guard our Hearts with the help of the King.

"Let this be the hour... we draw swords together!" - Theoden, Lord of the Rings

" Don't assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:34 HCSB

"For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow..." - Hebrews 4:12 HCSB

Jesus has come to fight for and defend the Hearts of His people. He also says, to us, that the Bible is a sword. What better to defend the temple, the sanctuary, the hold, the castle of the Heart from a reckless, ever-attacking Enemy... than with the Sword of the King?

The enemy is coming. No, scratch that. He's already here. Let this be the hour you draw your sword. The hour is late, and the Enemy is breaking down your door. Trust and follow the King. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the source of life. To arms! CHARGE!

"This is a call to arms; gather soldiers! Time to go to war! This is a battle song; brothers and sisters, it's time to go to war!" - 30 Seconds to Mars, 'A Call to Arms,' - THIS IS WAR Album

Are you ready?

Here they come...

-Matt