I’ve been thinking a lot recently about guarding my heart and asking Holy Spirit what it means to do that and HOW to do it well.

1. Guarding my heart is protecting it from collecting offenses, grudges, and resentment.
2. Guarding my heart keeps it soft toward God and truth, but it becomes hard when I don’t guard it.
3. Guarding my heart is living from God’s strength rather than striving on my own.
4. Guarding my heart keeps my view of God in the right place.

Ways to Guard Our Hearts

1. Reading and meditating on God’s word
2. Being in authentic relationship with people who love and speak truth to us
3. Spending time with God in worship and prayer
4. Being humble before God and others and repenting from sin

Proverbs 4:20-27

Guarding our heart keeps God at the center of our life and truth at the center of our mind. But a hardened heart will cause us to compromise our life one small choice at a time until we’re living in a way that we never wanted to.

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Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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It's been a summer of puppies over here, and God has been reminding me of how important boundaries are for all of us.

Boundaries aren't mean; they create safe and healthy places for us to grow.

"Patience is better than power and controlling one's emotions than capturing a city." Proverbs 16:32

I give a practical and important example of a boundary God gives us.

Deuteronomy 30:15,16

Psalm 16:5,6

Boundaries are important for puppies, but they are equally important for people.

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Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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What if courage isn't about feeling less afraid? Courage happens when faith becomes action.

Faith is believing in something you can't see; courage is the action behind the faith.

Jump! You will learn to fly only when you jump!

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

God is always putting his finger on something in us that he wants us to grow in. What is that for you in this season?

"Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don't belong." Mandy Hale

Sometimes the next level of our life is waiting just on the other side of one courageous step.

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Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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“The one who guards his mouth protects his life, and the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.” Proverbs 13:3

What if some of the things you're asking God to change are things you're constantly speaking into?

Our words are often the overflow of our beliefs.

• Am I speaking from what I see—or from what God says is true?
• Statements that feel like observations are often belief statements disguised as facts.

Our words can build or destroy.

• “A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything - or destroy it!” James 3:5

Fear loves to get the microphone.

• There is a difference between acknowledging reality and agreeing with fear.

We may not be able to control everything that happens to us. But we can take responsibility for what comes out of our mouth. And often guarding our life starts with guarding our words.

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Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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Our words are doing more than we think. They're either building courage or quietly tearing it down.

Encouragement isn't just about being kind-it's about being intentional.

“Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love." Hebrews 10:24

Encourage = infuse courage into someone else; to fill with courage or strength of purpose

"The Life-changing Power of Encouragement" - James Prescott

Encouragement has a measurable effect on our bodies and our minds. It actually changes what's happening inside someone.

"Words can wound or heal -“Reckless words are like the thrusts of a sword, cutting remarks meant to stab and to hurt. But the words of the wise soothe and heal.” Proverbs 12:18

"Right word at the right time = meaningful + valuable - “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewelry.” Proverbs 25:11

How to live this out -

1. Notice what someone is doing right
2. Praise others' effort.
3. Be intentional.

Get into the habit of encouraging at least 3 people every day. Your words might be what helps someone take their next step.

Go speak life-and watch what God does through it!

True fearlessness comes from a deep trust in God, and when our trust is strengthened by experiencing God’s faithfulness, our life becomes marked by courage and peace. Fearlessness has much more to do with our trust and belief in God than it does with our circumstances.

Jesus is the best model of fearless identity that we could possibly look to.

People who have authority but no identity either become loud, reckless, and obnoxious or are weak and apologetic and get nothing done.

People who know who they are in God carry a quiet and steady confidence in any situation whether they have earthly authority or not. Their presence carries a steady calm that others sense and are drawn to.

Two stories from history that show the difference between a strong identity and a weak one.

When we know who we are in God, we carry a quiet, steady confidence that stands firm — whatever our circumstances are.

We are chosen by God, we are adopted sons and daughters, we are made complete in Jesus, and we have everything we need for life and godliness.

When we live from these truths, we can live from fearless identity.

Fearlessness has much more to do with our trust and belief in God than it does with our circumstances.

What place in your life are you partnering with fear?

Where are you making decisions out of what you’re afraid of rather than what you’re confident in?

Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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Last weekend was Father's Day; we're taking some time to look at what kind of father God is.

Some key points:

• Most of us are going through life very unaware of how loved we are.
• God created the world so that everything in it's pure form is meant to show us what he is like.
• The Trinity models family to us.
• Earthly fathers are never perfect, but they are a picture that God intends to use to show us what he is like.
• Our biggest hangup around God being a good father is usually the question, "If God is good and in control, why do bad things happen?”
• Is a manager in charge or in control?
• Are we puppets?
• Jesus came so we could have abundant life; Satan is the one who is stealing, killing, and destroying.
• The most commonly held, widespread lie on the face of the earth - bad things happen because God is not always good rather than because there’s an enemy seeking to steal, kill, and destroy us in any way that he can

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." -Jesus in John 10:10

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Paul in Ephesians 3:16-21

I hope you have a fresh vision of how extravagantly you are loved, how much God is for you, and how he delights in seeing you thrive in your life!

He really is so much better than we can even imagine, I'm convinced of it!

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Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

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I’ve been thinking about prayer recently, specifically the verse in I Thes. 5:17 that says, “Pray without ceasing.” I’m likely thinking and asking about this because there are a few areas of my life that I find myself constantly talking with God about.

What is prayer?

• It is conversation with God.
• It is an exchange zone.
• It is direct access to God.

God is teaching me things about the exchange zone. I've been handing him the baton but then chase him down and take it back.

Prayer is like having a student athletic pass; it gives us full access unles we don't take advantage of it.

How do we make our life a prayer?

• “Instead of worrying, pray.” Phil. 4:6 Worry is simply thinking thoughts without God at the center. Let’s shift our worrying thoughts into thoughts/conversations with God.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Phil. 4:6, 7

Most of us are looking for a breakthrough somewhere in our life. Remember this - you probably don’t need a big change; you just need a small revelation that can shift everything. So don’t overlook the small stuff!

Click the link below to get the pdf Truths to Remember When I'm Feeling Afraid or Overwhelmed, a Scripture-centered guide to refocus your mind and bring you from chaos and fear back to truth and peace. subscribepage.io/MbmSZU

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook.