Following Our Hearts

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you all having a great day, you and your families all doing great and a very successful week coming to a close for you.

There are a few quotes/thoughts I want to share on the front end.

• "What is in the well always comes up in the bucket." - Pastor Ken Whitten
• "To find yourself you must face the truth." - James Crenshaw
• "We judge others by their actions and we judge ourselves by our intentions." - Unknown
• "In judging others hearts we reveal our own." - Me! :)
• Time and time again the Bible talks about our hearts and specifically makes reference to how man looks at the outward appearance/actions however God looks at the heart.

In the last few weeks I have had conversations with several people who have said something to the effect of, "I knew in my heart...but I did something different". In all instances they weren't able to follow through on the "something different" and they were now back to the point of doing what their heart told them to do in the first place. You see, no matter how hard we may try, at the end of the day, we are not going to be able to violate our own hearts, our own Spirits. This is why God looks at our hearts, the intentions with which things are done, and not what is actually done. While we can fake actions for awhile - here is another quote for you..."It takes an hour to establish your reputation; it takes a year to reveal your character." - ultimately our actions will be driven by what is TRULY in our hearts...not what we want people to think is in our hearts.

So, a few more thoughts (I have an awful lot of thoughts for so early in the morning!):

1. We need to be very careful about what we allow into our hearts. The seeds of words spoken and read
     into our hearts will shape and mold our hearts and from here will flow our actions. Whether they are
     positive or negative, they are eventually going to come out.

2. We need to focus on who we are going to be and not what we are going to do...this is actually a principle
    from customer care. Instead of thinking of ways I can show people I really care about them I need to
    really care about them and then the actions will follow.

3. We need to be aware that in times of stress, however we want to define that, what is truly in our heart will
    be revealed. If I am only trying to show I care and don't really care, I am fine as long as everything goes
    along as I expect. However when a trial, a tribulation or adversity strikes, if I don't really care about the
    people, my actions will reveal this truth. This often leaves others hurt and broken...sometimes beyond
    repair.

4. Finally, we need to truly listen to our hearts...at all times...even when it is not the most comfortable thing to
    do. If we don't like what our heart is telling us then we need to consider what is being poured into our
    hearts. Do you think if I sit around and gossip about someone I am going to have good thoughts about
    them? It is impossible to do so. If we will all consider what is poured into our hearts and act upon the
    overflow from the them, we will be who we want to be and not who we pretend to be.

Wow, I apologize for this being so long! I guess there was a lot there...explains why God has been waking me up since 3:00 a.m.!!!

My hope for all of us is that we would truly consider carefully, weigh the costs...and there is always a cost, what is poured into our hearts and that we would have the strength and courage to act on what are hearts tell us to do.

Please let me know if there is ever anything I can do for any of you.

Have a great day, treasure & enjoy your friend and families and Happy 4th of July!

Kev