Tag Archives: guard your heart

January 8, 2026 · 5:30 AM

Guarding The Seed

One of the most exciting things in life is when God puts a vision in your heart of where He wants to lead you and how He wants to use you. For most of us, we’re so excited that we want to share that with someone. What often happens is that the people whom you think would encourage you and be excited with you about it are often the ones who will discourage you from doing it. They’ll either blow it off, tell you why it can’t happen or outright oppose it. The enemy kills more seeds this way than in any other. Your disappointment turns into lack of moving forward and the vision goes dormant. Remember the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy that which God plants in you. Protect it until it has taken root.

In Genesis 37 we read the story of Joseph. One night God gave him a dream where he and his brothers were tying up grain when his stood up and their bowed to his. The next day he was so excited about this vision he told his brothers. They mocked him for the dream. When he dreamed that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him, he told them again. This time his father scolded him for the dream God gave him. His brothers grew jealous of the dream God had given him, began to hate him and started planning to kill him over it. Even thought they sold him into slavery and he went to prison for years, God accomplished the dream He gave him. When things were darkest in his life, God was still growing the seed the enemy tried to steal and was positioning Joseph for it to come to pass.

In 1 Timothy 6:20 Paul warned Timothy of this very thing. He wrote, “Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge” (NLT). To guard it well you will first need to purpose in your heart to follow God’s vision and plan before you tell others what God has planted. You need to begin moving in the direction of the vision and acting on it. When the people you respect and love say opposing words, guard the seed and remember your promise to God to fulfill it. The larger the dream, the greater the opposition. Even if you feel like the seed has been stolen in this way, trust God’s plan like Joseph. It may be dark now, but that’s the condition a seed needs in order to grow. God does not take back His gifts nor His callings (Romans 11:29). Begin watering that seed and guard it well. God is still working.

Photo by Jennifer Delmarre on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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November 3, 2025 · 5:51 AM

Guarding Your Heart

There’s a show on TV called “To Catch A Smuggler.” It follows different border patrol security agents around the world who work at airports. When they see something on the scanner, they pull the person aside and question them. They open the suitcases and dig around looking for contraband. Many times they are catching drug mules. Their job is to protect their nation and they’re not passive about it. They often find hidden compartments full of illegal items. The show is interesting to me as I watch for the behaviors of those trying to do harm and for those who are trying to protect their nation. It reminds me how important it is to be vigilant as we watch over our lives.

Joseph was a young man when his brothers took his famous coat of many colors and sold him into slavery. When his master’s wife tried to seduce him, he could have told himself that he deserved it because of his hardship, but instead he ran. When he spent years in prison, he could have grown bitter against God and his brothers, but he didn’t. The Bible doesn’t give us much insight into his thought processes during all those years. However, we can see his actions throughout his story to see that he guarded his heart closely. He made sure not to let bitterness, selfishness or anger in. He guarded what came into his heart and he was able to see the realization of the dream God gave him.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (NLT). Think about that verse. It urges us to guard our heart more than anything else because what you let into your heart will spill out in behavior and affect your life. How strict are you on guarding your heart? Do you entertain whatever thoughts come your way, or are you like those border patrol agents who inspect everything? Just like what comes through a border can destroy a nation, what comes into your heart can destroy your life. We must be vigilant about protecting it. Like Joseph, each of us will be tested by the enemy to disrupt God’s dream for our life. If we are diligent to guarding our heart, the course of our life will follow God’s path.

Photo by Rebecca Johnsen on Unsplash

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June 27, 2023 · 5:43 AM

Heart Soil

Micro-farming has become a thing in recent years. People are buying a lot in a neighborhood and turning it into a small farm. Whether you’re building a huge farm or a micro farm, you success depends on prepping the soil. Depending on the crop you want to grow, you’re going to have to start with fertilizing it. Your soil needs the proper nutrients if you’re going to have abundant crops. Next, you’ll need to till up the ground. This will soften the dirt so seeds can grow and help you get out any rocks or items that would prevent seeds from taking root. Finally, you’ll need a fence to keep out people and animals that would try to rob you of your fruit.

In Mark 4, Jesus told a parable about a farmer. This person scattered seed all over his lot. Some fell on the footpath, some fell on soil with rocks underneath, some fell where there were weeds and some fell on good soil. Birds came and ate the seeds on the footpath which prevented a harvest there. The ones that fell on the soil with rocks underneath couldn’t take root and dried up in the heat. The ones that fell among the weeds fought for nutrients with them, but were soon chocked out. Only the ones that fell on fertile soil produced good crops. As Jesus told this, He was illustrating how our hearts receive the Word of God. We can go to church all we want, but the condition of the soil of our heart will determine our growth, not how good the preacher is.

Hosea 10:12 says, “Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you” (NLT). Notice how the responsibility of plowing the soil of our own heart belongs to us. It’s not someone else’s responsibility. We must fertilize the soil of our heart to make sure it has the right nutrients. Think about what you’re putting in your heart and mind daily. Then we must break up the hardness we’ve allowed to accumulate under our soil by letting God heal our past. Then we need to build a fence to guard our heart and mind from the enemy who wants to prevent the seeds from taking root. We do this by building relationships with godly people whom we’re able to confess our sins to. Don’t let another day go by without taking responsibility for the soil of your heart. If you’re not producing the Fruits of the Spirit like you want, work on your soil.

Photo by Toni Reed on Unsplash

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November 11, 2022 · 5:39 AM

Be On Guard

A few days after Hurricane Harvey came through, looters decided to try to come through and do more damage. Our neighborhood put up signs saying looters would be shot. Teams of people in the neighborhood road around armed on patrol, people sat armed in their yards and others in their homes. They were guarding their belongings and against invasion. It’s that kind of vigilance we need in order to protect what God has given us and against an enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy. We need to be alert and sober minded to be on guard. The word used for “guard” in the Bible has a militaristic idea behind it about being vigilant. God is serious when he tells us to be on guard.

Here are some Bible verses about being on guard.

1. Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith].

2 Peter 3:17 AMP

2. The one who guards his mouth [thinking before he speaks] protects his life; The one who opens his lips wide [and chatters without thinking] comes to ruin.

Proverbs 13:3 AMP

3. Then he (Jesus) said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Luke 12:15 NLT

4. So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23 TPT

5. Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

2 Timothy 1:14 NLT

Photo by Lukas:

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August 24, 2020 · 5:59 AM

Pursuing The Right Things

Chris Hodges, pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, likes to say that the systems in your life are designed perfectly to take you where you are today. If you want to change your direction or outcomes, you will need to change the systems you have in place. If you want to climb Mount Everest, you would need systems in your life that would prepare you physically and mentally to make such a climb. Climbing Everest is a pipe dream for most people because all it is is a dream to them. When it becomes a goal, that’s when you put a system in place to begin accomplishing it. The things that you are accomplishing right now are a result of the goals you have in your life whether they’re conscious goals or not. What you are accomplishing right now is a result of what you pursue. If you don’t like the results you’re getting, change what you pursue or the systems you have in place.

In Matthew 6:21 Jesus put it this way, “For your heart will always pursue what you value as your treasure” (TPT). Too many times, you and I are valuing the wrong things or we’re not valuing the things we should enough. When we’re easily distracted or constantly changing our mind, we find ourselves going in circles in life. We’re constantly moving, but find we’re going nowhere or we’re way off target. The things we have and where we are in life are based on what we pursue, value and think about most. Brian Tracy says that we are like a magnet in that we attract things into our life based on our most dominant thoughts. If we want to change the things in our life, we must change our thoughts.

Proverbs 4:23 says, “So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.” The Good News Translation says, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” What are you pursuing right now? Is it money, better cars, better relationships, a closer walk with God? What do you think about most? Paying your bills, a better life, how to make more money or bringing God’s Kingdom to earth? Are your thoughts and pursuits of your heart in line with what God wants? If not, begin to change what you think about and pursue. Ask God to show you what He wants you to value and think about. The systems in your life may be great at getting you the things you want, but they’re ultimately unsuccessful if they’re not valuing what God does.

Photo by N. on Unsplash

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May 18, 2016 · 12:57 AM

Be Someone Awesome


One of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford. He said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” Our thoughts are so powerful that they literally control our ability to accomplish things. It doesn’t matter if everyone tells you that you can’t do it, if your mind says you can, you’ll do it. Conversely, if everyone tells you that you can, but you don’t think you can, you never will. It’s not what others think that makes us believe. It’s what we think.

Solomon understood this principle. In Proverbs 4:23 he wrote, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (GNT). You and I can control what thoughts we entertain, and what thoughts we dismiss. The ones we replay over and over in our heads and become our reality. They determine whether or not we apply for that job, write that proposal, take that class, put on those running shoes, or you fill in the blank. Think about that for a minute and replay the voices in your head when you tried to do whatever you filled in the blank.

If your whole life is shaped by what you think, wouldn’t it be important to you to think the right things? Changing your thought cycle is difficult, but not impossible. In most cases, you’ve told yourself a certain thing so many times that you actually believe it to be true without question. You say, “I can’t do that because that just who I am.” When you say that, you’re proving Henry Ford right. You don’t think you can, so you don’t. You rationaLIES that it’s just who you are. Yes, I spelled that with “lies” because that’s what those thoughts are.

In order to change the lies, you have to challenge them just like you would challenge anyone else telling you lies. You ask, “Where’s the proof?” When there is no proof (“because I said so” isn’t proof), you then insert what the truth is. You begin to think the new thought over and over (remember “The Little Engine That Could”) until it is true. This is hard work, but you can reshape your life and what you do by what you think. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (AMP). It’s time we quit believing the lies. Whatever you think in your heart and mind is who you will become. Be someone awesome since you get to choose.

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