Guard Your Heart

 “Above all else, guard your heart; for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).  

This particular verse has been heavy on me for the last couple of weeks and I realize that it is because there is an urgency for us to protect that very thing, our heart. We should be guarding our hearts like our life depended on it simply because it does! 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “…The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (NIV). Guarding your heart varies from the things that you watch and listen to that plant seeds in your heart, to the people that you deal with. It is soooooo important to guard your heart with people. Simply put, everybody should not be able to freely have access to you and everyone should not be able to speak into your life. Now I know that may sound a little harsh but the truth of the matter is that it is important to protect your heart and what God has placed on the inside of you and you cannot afford to have messy people speaking negatively into your life. Remember “death and life are in the power of the tongue;” what are you allowing to be spoken over you? (Proverbs 18:21, KJV).  

Everyone is not qualified to speak into your life point blank and the period. Everyone is going to have an opinion and advice that they want to give and that is fine but that does not mean you have to receive it. Don’t get it twisted, I believe in accepting wise counsel, however, you need to discern who is giving you wise counsel and if it is really wise or foolish. I can count on one hand the people that I trust to speak into my life. It’s nothing personal, but my relationship with God is personal and I cannot afford to have people influencing me especially when it does not line up with the word of God. I had a heart to heart with my best friend today and I was telling her something that was really personal and a heavy subject and her words of encouragement pointed me in the direction of Christ. If people really knew what I go through they would question why I continue to serve God. I am at a place where I know that my situation does not define who my God is. God is still God in spite of my ups, downs, and in betweens and you need people who will remind you of that, not people who will ask you well “why would your God let you go through that?” Puh-uh-lease my God gave me a Savior, He gave me His only Son so that I, little miss mess in a dress, could have a relationship with Him and have an opportunity of eternity in heaven with Him. So if my God never does anything else for me, He has already done enough! The point is the people who you should be allowing to speak into your life are those who can point you towards God. If they aren’t pushing you towards Him then where/what are they pushing you towards? Serious face….I don’t know about anybody else but I need people in my circle that can get a prayer through! I’d rather have a handful of people close to me that really have a relationship with God than a ton of people who “think” they know God but can’t get a prayer through to Him because they have failed to repent and turn from their ways. The word says “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (NIV). Don’t be concerned about the numbers but be more concerned with having people close to you who have hearts for God who can actually cover you. 

                 Have you ever told someone you were going to do something or try something new and they’re like “uhm…yeah I don’t think that’s going to work out” or “I don’t think you can do that.” It’s time to tell those people don’t speak that into my life! Stop letting messy negative people tell you what you can and cannot do. The Creator of your story is God, period. There’s nothing left to discuss on that end. It’s also important to seek God for the direction of your life. I have had people tell me oh you should do this or you should do that in reference to things in ministry. Let’s be clear, a good idea is all fun and dandy but it ain’t got nothing on a God idea and HIS timing. Too often people take action outside of their season and outside of the will of God because man told them “it’s your season to prosper and be blessed.” But what did God say??? We as a people have gotten to a point where we jump to our pastors, prophets, sisters, and friends to get a “word” for our life but we don’t even seek God about it. We depend on man to tell us what our tomorrow holds, and there are too many people in leadership roles that only want to satisfy a person’s itching ears so they continue to give these messages of prosperity and love instead of really dealing with the hearts of people. You want to know your purpose; you want to know what you were created for? Seek God! The word tells us that “if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deuteronomy 2:29, NIV). Seek God!! You want to know who and what you need to guard your heart from, seek God! 

                  Ask God to show you the hearts of the people around you, He will make it clear. But here’s the thing, people reveal who they are to us every day. All we have to do is pay attention. People will show you who they belong to. Well what does that mean? People will show you who their Father/father is. You’re either a child of God or a child of the enemy, there’s no in between. Who we belong to is simply identified by our fruit; 1 John tells us that “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother or sister” (NIV). Who you belong to is identified by how you live. We cannot afford to be children of the devil, let’s be clear on that. Whatever is pulling you away from Christ, repent, turn back towards Christ, and guard your heart from those things. The first step is always going to be repentance, the next step is going to be obedience, and He will give you the rest of the steps from there. God desires to have a relationship with us, don’t allow anything or anyone to separate you from Him. “Above all else, guard your heart; for everything you do flows from it.”

Pinky Promise Conference/Sisterhood

I attended the first annual Pinky Promise Heart to Heart Conference in Atlanta this weekend and it was phenomenal in the least to say! Before I even begin to talk about all the greatness that took place, I figured I should share a little bit about what exactly the pinky promise movement is. It’s an organization for women that was founded by Heather Lindsey (heatherllindsey.com) and the promise is to honor God with your body and your life. More info about it can be found at www.pinkypromisemovement.com. What I really appreciated about this conference is that all the speakers preached the unadulterated gospel and it was not sugar coated or watered down. They preach true repentance, holiness, hell, and not just happy, happy, joy, joy messages. It was clear that the conference wasn’t a show for us to come see those who were hosting it but to really experience God and to have our hearts changed.

Registering for the conference

Two days prior to leaving for Atlanta I unexpectedly had to drop a ton of money to buy four new tires and a new battery for my car that we were driving there. I knew it was just a test to get me distracted, upset, and frustrated before going to the conference simply to get my mind off of meeting God there. All things work out for my good, so enemy we still going to ATL, get out of my way ha! I can truly say this conference was life changing in the least to say. The heart to heart name was quite fitting as my heart was wrecked, emptied, broken, and made new in the four days I was there. It was just a beautiful and humbling experience to be amongst hundreds of women who just loved Christ and wanted to pour out their hearts and be changed and really live for Him. We all know as women, we have a tendency to be known to hate on another woman, cause drama, be catty, anything negative you can think of is often associated with women. I am so proud to say that absolutely none of that was there. The sisterhood that was present really blew me away as women were praying for each other, crying with each other, crying for the hearts of those that were broken and needed healing. The fact that we were turning to each other to pray for women that we didn’t even know, may not have even known their name, but simply had a love for them because they are our sisters in Christ and we want to see the chains broken and to see them live out God’s will for their life simply showed me the beauty of God’s love.

Truth moment: Something that I have always struggled with has been my friendships with women. Every friendship that I have had has failed with the exception of my best friend Mariah and to be honest I am usually really skeptical about females so I tend to keep to myself. I’m not shy at all I just don’t trust any and everybody in my space. Going into the conference I wasn't guarded like I usually am which was a blessing because I was able to meet so many beautiful women after God’s own heart. Even one of the girls that I came with, her and I had only met once prior to hopping in the car and taking an eight hour drive together and we got a chance to pray for each other, be girly and do our make-up together, stand out in the cold for an hour for some chicken and waffles (lol), and now I have a new sister friend in Christ! 

                                                    My BFF Mariah and I

When I think of what type of woman I want to call friend, I think of someone who can really push me towards Christ and help me to grow as a person. The last night of the conference Heather had finished preaching, people had finished praying and were starting to leave but there were still some women at the front who wanted prayer. I didn’t know if the girls who I came with wanted to stay or were ready to leave so I asked them were they ready to go or if they wanted to stay and I could tell by the look in my bff’s eyes that she wasn’t trying to leave and not even a minute later Cornelius Lindsey (Heather Lindsey’s husband) says “These are your sisters up here (referring to those in the prayer line), pray for your sisters.” From that moment on everything changed; the presence of God just seemed to be so heavy and all you could do was get on your face before Him. The beauty in all of this was the desire to cry out to God with a heart of true repentance and to have chains broken and yell out that I am free! Nothing else mattered other than wanting to simply be in the presence of God. My friends could’ve easily been like “yeah everybody else is leaving let’s go” but they didn’t and because of that my heart was changed, my life was changed. What I had been seeking from God became evident and within reach. I’m grateful for having a best friend who is hungry for God and wants to pursue Him.
                        Rocking our pinky promise bracelets! Sisters United :)

This doesn’t even begin to sum up how God moved at the conference but I’m trying to keep this as short as possible! There is nothing like being amongst like minded women especially young women that really want to live for Christ; those that desire to have a personal relationship with Him beyond simply going to church on a Sunday. There is power in unity and serving God; be encouraged! 



I got some great new songs from listening to the praise and worship team that are posted below. Enjoy!

Year of Development

As 2012 brings to close another year, I wanted to take some time to reflect on this past year. I must be honest this has been a very difficult year for me in probably every aspect from physically, spiritually, emotionally, health wise, you name it! I believe that this was a year of development for me and let’s just say it was not a very fun process but a very necessary one. I can truly say with every difficulty came a lesson learned and I just wanted to share a few things that I learned in 2012. 

1.       I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

This took on a WHOLE new meaning for me in 2012. It is so easy to say “I can do anything as long as I’ve got King Jesus” when you are not going through anything! Anyone can talk a good game when the game is going good but let that bad boy take a left and it is a whole different tune. I can truly say that I learned that I am a lot stronger than I ever thought I could be in this year alone and it was not because of my own strength but because of the strength of Christ. One the hardest things I dealt with this year was losing my Bishop. I just knew that man would live to be the same age as Moses and Abraham :) and no one could have ever told me that I would lose him this year.  It was like I lost the closest thing I had to a father figure...That was a big change that took place that I honestly wasn’t prepared for and I didn’t really know how to go forward after it.

This year I also had to deal with a lot of personal battles within myself and within my family. I lost a lot, I cried a lot, I was confused a lot but when I look back what I see is that I got through. A lot of the things and people that I thought I needed so much were stripped away from me. I was kind of forced to deal with me and everything that was really dealing with me. Being saved does not exempt me from tests, trials, tribulations, etc. But the perk in it is that I have Jesus constantly walking with me and helping me along the way every single step. When I read Philippians 4:13 now, it takes on a completely new meaning as I truly realize that my help comes from the Lord. How can I give up when I have the One who is willing to be strong for me! I was reminded that I don’t have to carry the cares of this world on my own.  First Peter 5:7 reminds me of this when it says “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (NLT). When I learned that my strength lies in the hands of the Lord, things didn’t seem so heavy anymore and I could rest in His peace regardless of what was going on.

2.       I need God daily.

I can honestly say this has probably been one of my hardest years spiritually. I have never cried so much, prayed so much, studied so much, and gotten frustrated so much lol all at the same time sometimes! Bottom line is I cannot do this thing called life being weak in my spirit. I need to spend time with God daily, no if, ands, or buts about it. Do I spend time with God every single day? NO I have not and that’s exactly how I learned that I needed Him daily! I learned that spending time with God daily is not a “requirement” or a habit but it has to be a desire from within. When you’re hungry you want food and to satisfy your hunger fix you eat. If you go long enough without eating after awhile you’re not really that hungry anymore. It is the exact same thing from a spiritual view; if you don’t spend time with God daily, after awhile you no longer desire Him anymore. I had to learn that I will want what I give my attention to.  I have to feed my spirit daily. God showed me that I have to be intentional about my walk and that I have to desire spending  time with Him from my heart and not simply from a place of obligation.

3.       I am not my skin OR my hair.

Earlier this year I had to have surgery that left me with scars that let’s be honest didn’t leave me feeling the most secure or confident about myself. This was probably the most insecure I've felt in myself. That was a huge reality for me to accept that I’ll be honest I’m still somewhat learning to deal with. Although I hate to admit it, it showed me how vain I was and how focused I was simply on my outward appearance. In 1 Peter 3:3-5 it says:

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.  For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves…” (NIV). 

My outward appearance is not what is of importance point, blank, period.  God doesn’t even care about it; He cares about my inner appearance regarding how my heart reflects His.  Beauty, scars, and everything else will fade away one day, but what will I have to offer God when that is gone? I must say this ties in with learning to spend time with God daily because once I put my focus on Him I had less time to be focused on miniscule things that are not relevant to helping me grow in Him.

Lastly, a change that I made this year was the decision to go natural. I had actually stopped getting perms back in 2011 but I was just flat ironing my hair so I never really wore my hair curly at all until this year. So many people have made comments about my hair, some positive some negative, but at the end of the day it does not define who I am. I am not my hair; my hair is simply a reflection of me.  It taught me to be bold in decisions that I make regardless of those who don’t agree with my choices. It reminds me that I cannot waiver or change my opinion about what I think or believe in simply because someone doesn’t like it or agree with it. My hair is not a fashion statement or a part of a trend, it is simply my choice to be free.

Of course this is not everything that I learned in 2012 but I just wanted to highlight a few things. I’m constantly learning and growing and I hope to continue to do so daily until I’m out of here. Here’s to a blessed 2013!

When the music fades...

There’s something about hearing a song that the words really captures your heart and speaks to you in a way that words can’t really describe. I was listening to Israel Houghton’s song Jesus be the center of it all (great song, highly recommend it!) and there’s a moment where the music is playing and he is just talking and he mentions a song by Matt Redman and he recites the following lyrics from the song, “When the music fades and all is stripped away and I simply come. I’ll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself is not what You have required. You’re looking into my heart. I’m coming back to the heart or worship and it’s all about You. It’s all about You, Jesus.”  So of course I have to go on YouTube to listen to this Matt Redman song and I’ll be honest it’s not really my type of music however when I simply focused on the lyrics alone I could feel a shift in my heart. The irony of this song is that it is talking about what are you going to do when the music stops…it’s like when you don’t have the praise and worship team to push you into worship can you still get into the heart of worship.  When there is no show, no one around, just silence, and all the “stuff” is stripped away are you able to get to the true heart of worship. Can we really praise and worship God with our lives when there is no music, no one around, and we’re left alone with just Him.  

      John 4:23-24 says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (NIV). We can’t just put on a show for people on Sunday mornings during service. God wants our full hearts and our full service. The chorus of this song says “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about You Jesus. I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it, when it’s all about You.” Awhile ago, I asked God to show me my heart, show me where I fall short, where I am weak and what He revealed to me is that the way I was serving Him had become routine. It was more about doing what was “right” then serving Him from my heart from a place of devoted desire.  I’m going to be honest this got me really discouraged and really frustrated because I’m thinking okay…so what am I suppose to do??? Obviously what I was doing wasn’t working and I thought I was doing something…yeah, no lol. The purpose of God revealing this to me was for me to get back to the true heart of worship where it’s all about Him. Truly all about Him, not about service, works, doing good deeds, but simply all about Him. God so fully desires all the areas of our hearts. He is jealous for us, for those times that we ignore Him and replace Him with idols and neglect Him. He wants our attention and He wants it from a sincere and genuine place, not out of a feeling of obligation or duty. Serving God isn’t a chore; it’s a lifestyle that I will be honest is really hard sometimes but it is even more rewarding than the struggles that we face.   

Israel Houghton says in his song that “it’s not about my pursuit of being the perfect Christian, speaking perfect christianese, logging my time on Sunday mornings. It’s about the privilege, the honor, of standing in Your presence, feeling Your touch, hearing Your voice, leaving changed.” What have we made it? What have we made our walk with Christ to be? God doesn’t want us doing this in vain or because we feel as though this is what we “should” be doing. I found myself thinking of how I would feel when all this is over and I leave this earthly dwelling and I stand before Jesus eagerly waiting to get into heaven to meet my Maker only to hear Jesus say to me “I never knew you, depart from Me.” The thought of that completely breaks my heart. God doesn’t want us doing things in His name, saying that we know Him and that we have a relationship with Him and it is all simply lip service. What about our life service? What good is it to attend church and say we love God and we know Him yet we live like hell the other 5-6 days that we are not in church. We have to get back to the true heart of worship. The world’s motto is fake it until you make it; the Word’s motto is faith it until you make it to the other side. We can’t afford to fake it for anyone and act as though we know God if our relationship is simply for show or to build a good name for ourselves. He wants more than our songs, more than our service, more than our attendance at church. He wants our hearts, our sincere hearts, and our lives that desire to serve Him and follow Him according to His will and not our own.  Live intentionally, continue to work out your salvation.

“I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it’s all about You, it’s all about You Jesus.”