Who Is In Your Inner Circle? 

Why does God warn us to guard our hearts above all things? Because the condition of our heart shapes our whole life. The condition of our heart will determine if we hit the mark or miss the mark on our destiny assignments. Prov. 4:23 tells us that we are not only to guard our hearts, but also to pay attention to them. We need to check in from time to time to see how we ourselves are doing? 

What many of us do though is we just go about our daily lives checking in on everyone else around us but not noticing where dust bunnies and cobwebs have started to build up in our own hearts. 

When we check in regularly, we can quickly clean up. However when we leave it for too long it starts to become a project we do not want to tackle. It becomes one of those things we have to do instead of one of those things we get to do.  

Listen dear one, YOUR heart is important. So lets not leave them unattended, unmanned or unguarded. Here are some keys on how to de-clutter one's heart. 

1. Have someone to confide in and share your burdens with every now and then.

2. Have a place where you can go to receive and become refreshed. Most people could benefit from inspiration and encouragement on a regular basis.   

3. Schedule some down-time and do something FUN. It's important. 

Another thing to keep in mind to help keep our hearts from getting cluttered up in the first place is that the whole idea of guarding our hearts is about recognizing that not everyone and anyone should have access to this precious real-estate.  Everyone has a right to their own opinions but not everyone has the right to speak into our lives.

There are people who don't know the vision God has put in our hearts and who don't know all the work, effort, planning and sacrifices we have invested in the dreams God has given us but yet they feel the "need" to share their two cents with us uninvited. 

I think for the most part these individuals probably mean well and don't know they are being used as tools in the enemy's hands to weigh us down. At least we hope this is so. Nevertheless just because they said it, does not mean we have to store it up in our hearts.

It is our responsibility to guard our hearts so it is important to recognize whose words and opinions matter.  

Here's how to know if someone's comments should be heeded or not...

1. Does this person love me and support me? It doesn't matter if they used to, the question is, do they now?

2. Does this person have a life I aspire to have, or is their life falling apart?

3. Is this person someone I respect and look up to?

4. What is the motive behind the comment? Is it love? Is it jealousy? Is it a critical spirit or a desire to inspire excellence?

Before we accept the words (good or bad) that someone has to say to us, it is important to consider the source and weigh those words on a scale of significance. No one's words to you should ever contradict the word of God. Even the wisest, most loving people will not be right 100% of the time. 

I must add however that there are voices that are assigned to our lives and those voices ought to carry weight. We better not discard the voice of sound and loving counsel in our lives. 

Ultimately though, we are the gatekeepers of our hearts. That is why sitting at God's feet and hearing from His heart is the most significant key for each of our lives. Destiny begins and ends in Him. So to find ours we must connect directly to the source. No one else can mediate that relationship for us. 

I have two questions for you this week:

1. How do you fill your cup?  

2. When do you feel most connected to God?