GUARD YOUR HEART!

Proverbs 4:23. “Above all else, Guard your heart for everything you do flows from it." NLT translation says “Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life”.

The course of your life is determined by the course of your day, the course of your day is determined by the course of each moment, course of each moment is determined by the seconds of your day.

I was experiencing some exciting time in my life; I was on a high and bursting with excitement. For a while I kept my joy to myself, it was my little secret and my hearts joy. The joy was evident in everything, my work was joyful, I was more patient with my family, I was more patient with my staff; in addition to all of that I could hear God clearly, I could literally feel the Holy Spirit penetrating all over me as I listened to worship music.

Then one day, against my better judgement, I shared my excitement and the reasons for the excitement with someone and they were very discouraging, virtually made my exciting news seem like the most insignificant idea. The conversation was emotionally and mentally crushing, it affected my night which affected my ability to get a good nights rest, which affected my ability to wake up at my usual time, which affected my ability to fully complete my usual morning workout routine, which affected my mood, which affected my patience as I drove to work, which affected my reaction to the staff at work, which affected my ability to control my reactions, which affected my ability to overlook and ignore things throughout the day. This one conversation completely changed the course of every second of a 24-hour span of time.

Everything we do flows from our heart, the need to guard our hearts should be a priority for us each and everyday. We must put up boundaries everyday, to ensure that we are not easily affected by people and circumstances.

---Don't let anything get to you where your heart is not guarded

---Don't talk to people who you know will steal your joy

---Maintain strong relationships where you know who to go to when you need encouragement, you know who to go to when you need advice, you know who to go to when you need a hug, you know who to go to to check you.