What is the difference between guarding your heart and restricting it? How often do you talk yourself out of things you deserve, you know you are worthy of and can benefit from simply because of an insecurity, or a previous negative experience? In other words, are you letting your past continue to negatively affect your future, and where God wants to take you? Are we making excuses? Have we allowed God to set us free?

Today, from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm, we will be fasting from allowing our past to keep us from becoming the person God ordained for us to be by giving our past to God. We are so focused on the past that we allow it to consume us. Our past hinders us from advancing, causing us to remain captive to our past. The reality is, these are lies that the enemy has told us, worse is, we believe them. We believe that because of our past, we are unworthy of the good that God has in store for us. That somehow the mistakes we make as a child, and in our teens has resulted in our loss of salvation, the separation of God’s love towards us, his grace and mercy. This cannot be further from the truth, and so because we are confused, we allow our past to take our hearts, keep it locked up, and throw away the key. We forget the Bible advises us to guard our hearts from the evil of the world, not allow our past to “guard” our hearts from the Creator of the Universe.

• Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23
• Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2
• Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  Colossians 3:2
• We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.  2 Corinthians 10:5
• Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8
• Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  Philippians 4:8
• Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus  Philippians 3:13-14