You 'over-thinking' or 'under-thinking' stuff?

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)

When we get honest with God, ourselves, and others, we might just find ourselves expressing some feelings and thoughts that we have kept bottled up for a while. We start to share what we are experiencing - at the 'gut level'. True honesty with God begins with true honesty with ourselves. Until we are willing to be truthful about what we have been feeling or experiencing in life, we will just live truly superficial lives - emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

Dishonesty with oneself actually creates a pretty negative outcome. We either create a 'false sense of good' by wearing a mask to hide our discouragement and 'issues', or we wallow in our despair and hide away from others. The issue often begins when we don't take the necessary time to 'process' life's challenges. They affect us - all of them - but we somehow figure we don't have the time, don't want to take the time, or just plain find it too difficult to 'process' them right now. That leads to hiding them in one form or another. It is time to get up close and personal with Jesus. Troubled minds only lead to trouble in our actions. 

We might be thinking one thing but masking it with some other set of 'outward emotions' just because we don't want others to know. The problem with that is that we can never hide those things from God. He already knows and he wants to help us move beyond those things that we are 'over-thinking' and even the ones we are 'under-thinking'. We have to begin to train our minds to be honest - it might not come naturally to us. Honesty with God leads to restored or renewed minds. Without it, we find ourselves always facing 'unbearable' stuff. Just sayin!

Let your will and emotions catch up

God warns us to guard our heart above all else, simply because it determines the entire course of our lives. As we think of the heart, we must remember it encompasses our mind, will and emotions. One must guard the mind, have a determined will that is unwilling to compromise even one iota, and to have an evenness of emotions that don't carry us away.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Above all else. We get so distracted by what we think may not be 'all that bad', but in truth, whenever we look toward anything or anyone other than God himself, our hearts are already putting something else 'above' God. Needless to say, we have raised a whole generation of individuals whose mind is easily amused by whatever catches its attention. Perhaps the greatest challenge to individuals today is to have their mind focused with so many distractions working hard to distract one from their focus.

The will of a man is kind of fickle, isn't it? We can say we have 'willpower', but when push comes to shove, does it get us through? Not usually. The 'willpower' of a man with a mind that isn't focused is as fickle as can be. Whatever our mind entertains will eventually play upon the 'will' of a man. God reminds us to take control of our thought life, allowing him to help determine our steps - but we must be willing to take those steps!

Emotions are probably the most problematic of the three. They go up and down like a fast rollercoaster. They can plummet to new lows quicker than our thoughts can catch up. They can soar high for a while, as long as circumstances allow, but then when those circumstances change, watch out. This is why God tells us not to rely upon emotions to make decisions. I always cringe when I hear a believer say they don't 'feel' like they will ever change. If we relied upon our feelings in order to evaluate change within our lives, we would be all over the map!

The three - mind, will and emotions - operate simultaneously. We must remember that when the mind is fixed upon the right 'model' for our behavior, the will and emotions will eventually follow where the mind leads. The 'will' of a man may resist for a while, but when your mind is made up in a certain direction, with focused attention on God's best for your life, you cannot fail. Eventually your will and emotions will catch up. Just sayin!

Emotions in battle mode?

I have had those moments when I just wanted to say or doing something, but if I did, I knew the backlash would be more than I wanted to receive. It is a battle of the mind and will over emotions at times, isn't it? We 'think better' than our emotions tend to lead us on occasion - perhaps making 'emotions' one of the hardest and most fickle things we have to deal with once we get our mind under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit. Doing wrong is easy - doing right is a bit harder at times. Behavior matters, no matter what anyone says - behavior stems from all three - mind, will and emotions.

Doing wrong leads to disgrace, and scandalous behavior brings contempt. (Proverbs 18:3)

Back in the day, teachers used to give out little 'awards' to students with great academic achievements, including those who consistently exhibited good 'classroom behavior'. As you might have guessed, I might have received a few notes home to mom saying I was a bit of the class clown. She may not have put it that way, but it was my mode of operation in elementary school, somewhat in middle school, then full-blown in high school! I really didn't consider my behavior wrong, it was just silly, sometimes a bit inappropriate, but it got people to laugh. I thought if they laughed at my weirdness, I wouldn't be so 'weird' to them.

My emotions were all over the place in those days. I didn't think anyone really liked me, maybe because I didn't like myself. I was using sarcasm, 'funny actions', and the like to cover over being very insecure. It wasn't until I invited Jesus into my life that I began to realize those 'emotions' I was telling myself were true and honest appraisals of how others saw me were actually quite wrong. All my 'class clown' actions were just driving them away - even though they laughed. Sometimes we 'do' things thinking they will have a different effect than they actually do. We count on them to accomplish something, but it kind of backfires on us.

It might be hard to hear this, but God is very concerned with our behavior. He wants it to reflect his grace and love, even when it is hard to let those 'actions' outweigh what our emotions are telling us to do at that moment. His hope is that we will let emotions lead us less and less, trusting his Holy Spirit to lead us into right actions even when the mind, will, and emotions are in 'battle mode' against each other. Just sayin!

This is valuable space

Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it. But I am the Lord, and I can look into a person’s heart. I can test a person’s mind... (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

The human mind is a mystery to me. It can reason, helping me to figure out solutions to some things quite quickly. It can remember, bringing to memory things that brought me either pleasure or pain. It can imagine, giving me hope when I need it and dreams when I least expect them. If it is possible for my mind to 'hide its evil' from me, I definitely need God's help to uncover where that may actually occur!

Our human mind is in need of some real 'overhaul' at times, isn't it? We have this uncanny ability to call things that aren't all that good for us 'okay' and resist the absolute need to expose those things in order to be rid of them once and for all. This is why we have such a significant problem with being 'tempted' at times. We have allowed our minds to 'create' a place for the base thoughts that lead us into that sin. What we need is a good 'light' to see where evil has been finding a home.

If our mind is able to 'hide away' bits and pieces of sinful thoughts, is it any wonder why we struggle to let go of some of the things that trigger us to sin? We might not even know we are hiding away such thoughts, but when we ask God to begin the work of breaking down the bonds we have with our sin, we shouldn't be surprised when he begins to work on our thought life!

Sin is easier conceived than we might like to admit. It is like we 'see' something, then in a flash it is fully formed. Remember that our enemy, Satan, doesn't do much to help us think clearly. In fact, he likes to confuse truth with bits and pieces of 'believable lies'. Sin might just be easily conceived because lies have been intermingled with truth in our minds, making it easy to engage those thoughts and form the wrong actions associated with them.

We need God's help to expose any place in our minds where we have harbored any manner of evil. It could have been done quite innocently, such as when we hide away a 'mostly truth' that has been tainted with a 'little lie here and there'. It could be we have secreted away some of those 'triggering thoughts' because we fear their exposure, simply because there is so much shame surrounding them. Either way, God stands at the ready to shine his light and get to work cleaning out the evil we may not even realize we have given valuable 'space' to in our minds. Just sayin!

Another look at 'do unto others'

No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not knock those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself. (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

“But I say to you people who are listening to me, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Ask God to bless the people who ask for bad things to happen to you. Pray for the people who are mean to you. If someone hits you on the side of your face, let them hit the other side too. If someone takes your coat, don’t stop them from taking your shirt too. Give to everyone who asks you for something. When someone takes something that is yours, don’t ask for it back. Do for others what you want them to do for you. (Luke 6:27-31)

Are we really listening to Jesus? Most of us would admit we listen on occasion, more when things aren't going as we expected, but not as closely at other times. Why is that? We get distracted by life's occurrences and listening when we are distracted is kind of hard. God might say obedience begins with listening, so if we aren't listening all that closely to his instructions for us, are we likely to be obedient when the chips are down? We fail to respond with obedience and then we get upset with ourselves for our 'lack of listening'. Isn't that just like us - knowing what to do, not doing it, then knocking ourselves down a peg because we didn't? 

The heart wants what the heart wants. The only way 'toward' obedience is by having our heart changed. In case you didn't know it, "Nothing can hide its evil as well as the human mind. It can be very sick, and no one really understands it." (Jeremiah 17:9) All heart change begins by asking God to renew (regenerate) our minds. Instead of 'knocking' ourselves for our failures, we should be asking God to change the thing that gets us into all those sticky places of compromise in the first place - the mind. We might just begin to see others and their actions just a bit differently when God begins to change the framework of our thinking. We might just begin to see the framework of OUR actions a bit differently, as well.

We don't begin to 'do' for others or ourselves until we begin to 'think' the way God thinks. The only way to think that way is to submit our minds to his teaching - getting the Word of God into us so it can begin to divide the good from the bad, the unclear from the very obvious, the things not to be trusted from those we can build upon for a strong foundation. Just sayin!

Ordered thoughts and steady emotions

 And because you belong to Christ Jesus, God’s peace will stand guard over all your thoughts and feelings. His peace can do this far better than our human minds.(Philippians 4:7)

Those who belong - do you 'belong'? Some perceive 'belonging' as having the 'proper credentials', such as when you 'belong' to the country club in your local town and can get the benefits of that 'membership'. Others might think of 'belonging' as 'being properly placed' - having a specific purpose in what you do somewhere for someone. The oldest meaning of this world indicated a certain 'dependence' upon one another or someone with a 'greater position' than you had. If we think of 'belonging' to Christ as 'having a relationship' with one who holds a 'superior position', we might just be a little closer to how this word is used in scripture. To 'belong' to Christ suggests a relationship of willing service to and with the Lord Almighty.

Because you 'belong' to Christ Jesus - based upon the relationship we now enjoy, we will also enjoy certain 'privileges' as a 'member' of his family. Those privileges include the peace that stands guard over our thoughts and emotions. Heaven knows we need a little 'guarding' of our thoughts from time to time, don't we? They get all carried away because our emotions (feelings) get the best of us. Perhaps that is why God wants his peace to stand guard over both - neither one being able to really hold up well under the pressures of life, no matter how much we think they might. 

Our human minds might attempt to convince us that we have 'everything under control', but our emotions tell us otherwise. There are times when our emotions get all carried away, while our minds are telling us we might want to pull back and think those actions through just a bit more. No wonder we need God's Spirit to indwell our spirit, standing guard, bringing wisdom, and creating peace in an otherwise fickle environment of conflicted mind and emotions! The good news is that God's peace can stand guard when our own reasoning betrays us - helping us to sort out our thoughts and bringing wisdom where unreasonable or unwise thoughts prevail. 

Reliance upon the grace and peace of God in our lives is never the wrong 'tactic' - it may just be the one 'tactic' that keeps us out of life's muddled places. It could mean steady emotions and ordered thought in ways we have yet to experience. Just saying!

He made both

You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! (Psalm 139:13-14)

If you ever want to discount your feelings, don't! God made those emotions, and he knows how you will respond with them when life gets tough, sends a surprise your way, or gets you excited for something new you are about to experience. He formed the way we think AND the way we feel. In other words, he knows how we will 'interpret' the things we are experiencing. To think God doesn't know the way our brains work is a really silly belief. To imagine God doesn't want us to acknowledge our emotional responses to life's moments is also very foolish. He made both and he isn't 'put off' by how we think or what we feel. He may want to help us think a little clearer and have less fluctuation in our emotions on occasion, but he isn't surprised by either!

The way we think can be influenced by many things, including our upbringing, mentors, media, and even our very own emotions. The way we respond (our emotions) isn't easily changed sometimes until we have a change in our way of thinking. If God formed the way we think, why does our thought life need some adjustment on occasion? It is because of the 'influences' other than God that we have allowed within our lives. Although we may not want to admit it, there are times when our thoughts are just not all that accurate, let alone all that honorable. Those are the times when we need Jesus' mind to help us get things back to the way God intends for them to be within our thought life. 

Since our thoughts influence our emotions and vice-versa, it is important to evaluate anytime we have a thought that seems a bit too 'harsh' or 'unreasonable' that evokes strong emotions that are also as harsh and unreasonable. The other night my phone alerted me to an 'Emergency Call' coming in from the Alexa at my daughter's home. Those voice activated devices are quite handy that way - allowing you to alert family if you are in need, or to call emergency services for immediate help. Since I was awakened from a sound sleep, I immediately texted back and awaited a response. None came. Do you know what my mind started doing? You got it - overdrive kicked in and emotions responded right along with the thoughts of doom and gloom!

Fortunately, the emergency alert was a glitch of some kind, and nothing was wrong. There was no emergency, all was well, and I should have been able to get right back to sleep after hearing my daughter's reassurances that all was well. Did that happen? Nope! My emotions were in high gear, my thoughts were all over the board, and it took a while for me to finally put those things to rest and allow my body to get back to rest. Mind and emotions are connected - allowing God access to one will certainly affect the other. Who better to bring clarity and peace than the one who made both? Just askin...

Brainwashed or Brain-Cleansed?

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. (Romans 8:5-7)

There are philosophies out there that propose 'positive thinking' is all we need to overcome even the worst of things going on around or within us. The truth of the matter is that humans can 'think positively' all they want, but as long as the mind hasn't been surrendered to Christ, negative thoughts will continue to emerge, as will negative actions. It is more than a 'mind game' that we play - it is a difference in who is in control of our minds!

Let the Spirit of God control your mind and you will soon begin to understand the power of God's presence in your life. The mind is a battleground of sorts and the one who 'commands' the battle matters. In and of ourselves, we cannot win the warfare by positive thoughts. We need an exchange of thoughts - an exchange of control and leadership. The Spirit of God isn't about to let any enemy of our soul win the battle - he will overcome ALL that opposes the holiness of God within us.

There will come a time when each of us is at our breaking point. We won't want to move forward for fear we will do or say something that will create even more negative chaos in our lives. We won't break free of those negative thoughts until we allow the one who can bring absolute peace and assurance into our lives take control. That means we surrender to Christ, allowing his Spirit to indwell our minds and hearts, then allow him to change the way we 'think'. 

Does this mean that we all get 'brainwashed' by some 'religious activity'? No, but it is a bit like having our brain washed! We find out how quickly the way we have been perceiving life has been affected by the way we have allowed our minds to think. In essence, we are all in need of a good 'washing' of our thought life and a replacement of all that is negative, unholy, and dishonoring to God to be accomplished. 

Sin will dominate our thoughts until we invite God's presence into our lives. We aren't being 'brainwashed' by some 'religious activity' as much as we are being 'brain cleansed'. Once the Spirit of God is in control, we begin to see things differently. We don't need to muster up positive thoughts to overcome negative things we are perceiving - we just need to tap into his presence and allow him to help us see those things through his eyes. Just sayin!

My storehouse is full

“Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.” Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

We can all be so 'into ourselves' that we totally miss being there to help another when they are standing right there in front of us. It is truly a sad thing to be so caught up in this thing we call the 'making of a man' that we miss each other's needs. Jesus' clear warning is to guard our hearts and minds against such greed. Greed doesn't just happen - it is an attitude of the heart that comes from continual rehearsal in our minds of the desire to get or be 'more'. Our attitude of heart determines the actions we take, but we can use our actions to act as an indicator of our 'heart's attention and desire'. We might focus on our assets, but God focuses on our attitude. 

Some individuals think they are 'worth more' or can 'do more' because they have huge assets available to them. I think Jesus was challenging us to consider something that has absolutely nothing to do with our assets. He wanted us to see what a right heart can do in terms of meeting the needs of our community, not just a huge amount of wealth. Sometimes we think we have nothing to offer, or very little, because we are comparing ourselves to someone we think has 'more'. As Jesus said, we can amass much in the way of earthly wealth but be so emotionally and spiritually 'bankrupt' in the end. The more we allow Jesus to truly touch the chords of our heart, changing the way we think or look at the world's 'assets', the more we will find ways to share ourselves with others.

The main thing Jesus focused on so many times as he taught was the need for a rich relationship with God. We might not believe there is much 'value' in this deep, ongoing and vital relationship, but God's presence within us makes our hearts full to overflowing. A silo or barn can store up 'things' but a heart in tune with God can store up and GIVE OUT the blessings of God's grace and love. It would be foolish to count upon the filled silo or barn and neglect the one 'storehouse' that God focuses on so intently - the heart. Just sayin!

Afraid to ask?

 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Have you ever prayer a similar prayer? It is a kind of scary thing to ask God to test your heart and mind to see if there is any offensive stuff there, isn't it? You almost don't want to ask because you know there is! When God points out what 'offends' him, he doesn't do it to humiliate us, or even to chastise us. He does it to show us how deeply he loves us - because he wants us to be free of all that garbage that takes up emotional, mental, or physical space in our lives.

To be led, one must submit to the one leading. To be whole, one must submit to the one capable of ridding us of all the stuff that keeps us 'broken' and 'hurt'. When we don't know the way, we seek guidance via a mapping service, GPS, or the good old way of asking someone for directions. Why do we not ask God to show us where our lives are actually being held 'captive' by our thoughts, emotions, or past hurts? Perhaps it is because we have held onto those things for so long that we just don't see any way past them. There is always a way when we ask God to show us the way.

Do you think God really doesn't know our hearts without that 'testing' process our psalmist is seeking? He does, but have you ever considered that the 'testing' process is really a way of getting us to know our own hearts as well as God knows them? Maybe we are turned off by the term 'test', because we think testing has a negative connotation. Yes, testing includes investigation and analysis, but it also involves a certain amount of 'corroboration' - affirmation, validation, and verification. We likely know a bit of what is there, but when we ask God to test our hearts, we are asking him to 'validate' or 'verify' what we believe to be there. 

There is nothing that delights his heart more than to hear us ask for his view into our minds and heart. He won't shame us, but he will help us see the healing that is possible when he is given access to those areas that have held us captive for so long. So, don't hesitate to ask - you might just be dazzled by what you discover with his help! Just sayin!

God's Gallery

Eve Arnold was a photo-journalist. She asked one question that really prompted me to 'look around' a bit in my own life. The question? "What do you hang on the walls of your mind?" A pretty 'probing' question if you ask me. The mind is a bit like a photo gallery - with all kinds of 'scenes' on display - we call them memories. We 'hang' them up so we can revisit them from time to time. I have some hanging in my mind that I somehow revisit, but I don't like what I see. I have others hanging that really bring me peace, hope, and great joy. Could it be possible that we might have a few things 'hanging' in our mind's gallery that we might not even know we have 'put up' for display within those 'walls'? Proverbs 14:30 tells us, "A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones." How many of us have 'runaway emotions'? It could be possible that the things we 'put on display' within our minds don't lead to a sound mind. In fact, they stimulate the condition of 'runaway' emotions'. It may be time to do a little 'gallery remodeling', my friends.

I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8-9)

God gives us this instruction so we can have our mind's gallery filled with the right things - so that our emotions won't have those ugly memories to ponder repeatedly. Fill your minds and meditate - two very pointed instructions. To put something in means we have to take something out. I have a tendency to leave a cup of water by my chair throughout the day. Over time, it warms a bit, and it doesn't taste the same as the fresh water that comes from the refrigerator. In order to get that 'freshness' I desire, I don't just add water from the fridge to it. I empty it out, then refill it with the fresh water. Why? The old would 'taint' the taste of the new.

There are things on display within the gallery of our minds that have been there for way too long. We have held onto those 'images' of past hurts and sins, not really sure why, but we did. When we take a picture down that has been hanging for a long time in the same place, what might we see? An outline of where it hung! Even the image left an impression that remains! This is why God tells us to do more than just 'replace' the image - we are to meditate upon his goodness, righteousness, and grace. In other words, we 'repaint' the walls of our minds, so the 'impression' of the ugly image is totally removed, as well. We empty, God 'repaints', and then we hang up 'fresh images'. 

Why do we hang photos? We want to remember - the image brings us some sense of enjoyment. If we have images hanging on the walls of our mind's gallery that 'recreate' a sense of anger, hurt, disappointment, shame, or any negative thought, it is time to 'take them down' and remove them completely from our 'gallery' while God helps us 'refresh' the walls to remove every impression left by those images. This is God's Gallery, and it is time that we display the things that reflect his grace and goodness. Just sayin!

A sacred place

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission. (Arnold Bennett)

Bennett also reminds us "it is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is from the top" - something we'd do well to consider when we are just 'coasting through life'. We oftentimes take for granted the things we allow to 'penetrate' our minds, almost without any real thought to it at all. It is as though the process of things 'getting into our minds' can be a little 'passive' when we are not 'on guard' to keep out unwanted influences and misguided half-truths. Maybe the one thing we can do to 'guard' our minds seems a bit too easy, but in allowing the Word of God to begin to penetrate our minds more and more, we are actually 'setting up the guard'.

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life. (Proverbs 4:23)

Indeed, our thoughts dictate so many of our actions - both good and bad. Perhaps this is why we struggle with some of the things that seem to trip us up on more than on occasion - we have not given thought to what we allow to become 'resident' within our minds. As Bennett so aptly put it, we 'give permission' to some thoughts that have absolutely no right to be allowed into the inner sanctum of our minds. If our minds are a 'sacred enclosure', why can the 'wrong stuff' so easily find its way in? Simply put, we don't have any good defenses to keep them out!

I sometimes don't pay much attention to what I am watching on TV and almost without even noticing, I hear a bad word and it goes right past me. The next time the character has something go awry, he spouts the same bad word. After a handful of the expletives, I can almost anticipate the expletive every time something goes wrong for this TV character. Do I use those same expletives in my life when things go awry? They are not my first thought, but plant that seed long enough and it could very well become the first thought!

We need to 'think' about what we allow to enter our minds. I like to do crossword puzzles - it challenges me. I don't always have any clue what they are asking, but sometimes when I see the solution the next day in the paper, it is as though I should have known that. There are times when we might want to consider a thought, but we don't have a clue why we are considering it. Then the next time we look into the Word of God, we realize why we were considering that thought - good or bad, we find clarity as to the intention of those seed thoughts.

We will always find our actions beginning with some form of thought. Plant the right seeds and see them nourished to maturity if you want to consistently perform the right actions. Plant the wrong seeds, allowing them an inroad into the good soil of your mind, and you may just be needing to do a bit more 'weeding' than you desire. Just sayin!

GIGO

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8)

I often go to this verse whenever I observe my thinking being a little too negative, my speech a little too critical, or my attitude just a bit off. Why? It is a reminder to me of the importance of taking particular note of what goes into my mind and what it is I allow my mind to contemplate over and over again. The old computer geek term of 'garbage in - garbage out' really holds true with this thing we call our brain. We do our best when our minds are filled with the right stuff - we don't do as well when there is input that 'muddies the water', so to speak.

The best, not the worst - we have a natural tendency to see the cup as half-full at times, don't we? Media plays a large part in pointing out all the varied ways our cup may not be all that full, doesn't it? It is possible to not even know our cup isn't full until we see or hear something telling us otherwise! Why do you think advertising companies put so much work into finding the right 'hook' for the product or service they are putting forward? Isn't it because they want us to know just how empty our lives are without that product or service? If your life is based in Christ, there is very little you need to make you 'fuller'!

True, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, and gracious - those are some pretty well-defined 'boundaries' for our thought life, aren't they? If we are to be ready for tests, trials, and temptations, we need to know our boundaries, don't we? If we are to live consistent lives, we need boundaries to operate within. God knows the right 'input' will positively impact the 'output' of our lives. Consistency doesn't just come because the input is correct, though. It requires us putting into practice all we have learned, hear from God, and see in the positive living examples he provides for us.

I used to think consistency meant I never got off-course - in other words, I never screwed up. The truth of the matter is that we all screw up from time to time - it is what we do when with our screw ups that makes the difference. When we take our negative thoughts, raunchy attitude, and bitter speech to him, he isn't going to hold it against us. In fact, he will embrace us for being forthcoming with our missteps. Then he restores us - bringing back truth, nobility in our thoughts, righteous reputation, total authenticity, motivating compulsion, and forgiving graciousness into our lives. Consistency is knowing when we are not on course, making the necessary correction in that course, and then starting out again. Just sayin!

A sacred enclosure

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your own permission (Arnold Bennett)

Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored. (Romans 8:5-8)

Our minds can be like steal traps - holding onto stuff best let go of and resisting the entry of the stuff that really needs to be given place in our memory and forethought. If our minds are a 'sacred enclosure', then why do we let stuff into them that is less than 'sacred'? I think it could be we are so 'bent' on doing things in our own strength or power that we see little need to let in the pure and undefiled things God has prepared for us. We rely upon our own strength - denying God access to us through quiet times of prayer and contemplative thought. We rely upon our own wisdom - denying God access repeatedly to malformed thought processes and patterns. We rely upon our own ability - denying god access to use those talents and abilities for his glory and not our own. Indeed, if our minds are 'enclosures', then how limiting it is to only consider what 'self' can focus upon - for self focuses on many things opposed to the wisdom and truth of God.

Self measures by a faulty measurement - usually comparing ourselves to another we feel superior to in the first place and then stating confidently that we aren't all that bad. As we have already discussed this past week, there is no degree to sin or failure. A fail is a fail - a fall is a fall - a compromise is a compromise. The sooner we recognize that truth, the sooner we can begin to see how 'self' gets us all jumbled up. 'Self' attempts to exclude God from the equation - probably not consciously, but it does. It limits his access to the thought patterns proven to be capable of misleading us time and time again. Instead, self works hard to exercise some 'moral muscle' - that thing we often refer to as willpower - to overcome that misleading thought pattern. Alas, it seldom works, does it? The mind was made to function best when God is placed first - in the foremost of our thoughts and focus. 

We might actually need to recognize the 'self-directed' thoughts we have been allowing into this sacred enclosure we refer to as our minds are exactly what has been causing the misdirected steps we have been taking all along. The 'sacred enclosure' has been compromised! If a walled city doesn't have strong gates, all the strength of their walls is useless. If the city has strong gates and crumbling walls, you might as well just open the gates wide. The enclosure that has been compromised by any enemy is harder to take back than it is to defend in the first place. Why is that? I think it may be that the enemy begins to build the walls stronger and firm up those gates so they are sturdier than ever  -  you have given him access to a privileged property! He isn't going to just turn it back over - he will fight you for it.

This 'sacred enclosure' doesn't always have 'external' enemies that do as much damage as the one we call 'self' - our internal enemy. The old man called self has set up shop and has no intentions of leaving. The only way to reclaim what has been given over to the enemy is to expel the enemy! To have a mind open to the things of God, one has to 'dethrone' self from that sacred enclosure. As hard as that may seem, God doesn't ask us to just put a 'buffer zone' between self and his grace. He asks us to allow grace to enter in, helping us to dethrone 'self' each and every time we think the way to victory is to just exercise more of our own moral muscle. Here is the truth we need to embrace - there is no room for self where the sacred is meant to dwell. Just sayin!

A little spring cleaning may be in order

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...  (Proverbs 23:7) Whatcha thinking? It is a common question, but maybe the better one is, "Where you even thinking?" There are all kinds of things that "vie" for attention in our mind. The "loudest" voice is often the one heard the best. Just as much as there are things that demand our attention in our thought life, our emotions are constantly being "played" by the events of our days. Depending on what it is that is running through our thoughts at the moment, our sometimes up-and-down emotions can be manageable, or completely out of control. Therefore, learning to "manage" our minds, or our thinking, goes a significantly long way in learning to live with an emotional "balance" in our lives.

Our mind really has two "sides" to it: the totally present and evident conscious side, and the less recognizable, but ever present unconscious. The conscious side of our mind is pretty evident to us - when we are actively thinking on something, it is easy to see that our actions follow that thought pattern - we are aware of something and take some form of action based upon that awareness. The unconscious side of our mind is not as easy to see, so we often don't equate our present action with what we are unconsciously thinking (or have entertained in the past within our unconscious mind). It is often the "unconscious thought" that gets us into the greatest emotional upheaval and trouble in our lives.

What am I saying here? It is simply that there is unrecognized power in our memories - all memories beginning in some type of thought. Whatever we "store away" in the recesses of our minds has the potential to ignite our actions in either a positive or negative way, but equally as important, those 'stored away' memories can also quench the ignition of any type of action. Periodically, I need to clean out my file cabinet, the top of my desk, and the other "clutter" areas of my home, like the den closet, top of the workbench, etc. Whenever I do this, I find that I was keeping all kinds of stuff that I really did not need to keep. After all, how many of certain things like grocery bags does a person really need to keep? When the next shopping trip comes, why is the old pile of those bags still lingering? We didn't use what we had, so why are we saving even more? You get the point! Some things are better not saved!

Just as we must "un-clutter" our physical space, we must focus on the "de-cluttering" of our minds, as well. There are things that we hold onto in our thoughts that should have been discarded long ago. The first thing we should rid from our memories would be what I will call "falsehoods" - those things that we embraced as reality that really aren't. These could be things we have been taught that really have no basis of proof like the idea that sunscreen "keeps" you from getting a sunburn. This is not entirely true - it just "lessens" the burn. You still need to limit your time in the sun to avoid the burn. There are a lot of "false" beliefs that we have formed about ourselves and others that really have no foundation in reality. Yet, we hold onto them like they were true and these wrong thought-patterns influence how we see ourselves and others. Let them go!

The next thing we probably need to focus on discarding is "memory of wrongs". In simple terms, we call this forgiveness. There are past hurts that we hold onto for one reason or another - these come back to haunt us as the weirdest times. The emotional baggage of unforgiveness is tremendously weighty, so it is one of the most significant things we need to focus on when we seek to "de-clutter" our minds. The list could go on, but you are probably getting the idea that not everything we have put into our minds is worth hanging onto. Sometimes we just need a little time and space to begin that decluttering process. The investment of time in evaluating what we have "tucked away" into the recesses of our unconscious mind is really worth the investment. It is not until we discover what it is that we unconsciously accept as truth that we can counteract it with the reality of truth! Just sayin!

A few gaps?

Mind in gear? What does that mean to you? When I consider a 'mind in gear', I think of the one who is deep in thought, creating, coming up with plans and ideas, or working to put those ideas into application. I think of the carver who looks at a plain piece of log and begins to fashion what he sees in his mind. I also think of the one who might calculate the risks and benefits of a particular set of actions and then formulate a plan they will act upon - such as a surgeon considering the best course to take with a patient to optimize their health. Having one's mind in gear is really a sign of being engaged in the process - you are more than a casual observer. God isn't after those who have all the answers as much as those who will engage with him and be more than casual observers in his kingdom.

So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.” (1 Peter 1:13 MSG)

As long as we are doing nothing more than 'casually observing' the promises and commands of God, we are never going to really grow into our full potential in Christ. We each have been given so much potential - but how we engage in the use of that potential determines if we will reach the fullest extent of it! God doesn't just ask us to follow him, all getting in a line and following after him like a game of "Simon says". He is looking for those who will learn of him, engaging in the things that exemplify his love and grace in our everyday lives. It doesn't take a 'message from on high' to take some actions - they are common sense! They are in alignment with his will because they exemplify his love and grace, so act upon them. 

We are shaped by God - that 'shape' takes form with each step which reveals our total engagement with the things he is teaching and doing in our lives. He looks for a mind in gear, a heart in total dedication, and a body willing to be used in the labor he sees fit for us to engage in. This is how he operates - ready hearts receive, open minds understand, and eager hands are set into service. It is easy to see that God is pleased when a life is willing to be pulled into a way of life shaped by his hands, energized by his Spirit, and filled by his grace!

Lest you or I think it is impossible to be holy (right, true, and honest), think again. God's existence in our lives actually fills us to overflowing with this 'rightness'. We are free to move about, not as 'unclean' and 'unholy', but as examples of his holiness. As such, we are also examples of his 'wholeness' - for where his presence dwells you will always find his grace filling every gap in a man's character that has been left by sin's outcome. If you feel a little 'drafty' today because of all of the 'gaps' in your character, take heart....those gaps are filled, sealing out all manner of unholiness because Christ isn't going to leave us deficient in any manner. Just sayin!

Two by Two by Two

Direction, condition, and focus - what do these three have to do with each other? Direction is often thought of as the path one will travel - the way we are headed. When the condition of mind, body, and spirit are well, it is much easier to follow along that course. If the condition of the mind, body, or spirit is out of alignment (not clearly focused), there will be a little drift that occurs in the direction we maintain!

Grow a wise heart—you'll do yourself a favor; keep a clear head—you'll find a good life.
(Proverbs 19:8)

Within these two sentences, two words give us direction, two describe a condition that should be met, and two reveal the focus we must maintain. The two words that give us direction are "grow" and "keep". The two that describe the condition we are to maintain are "wise" and "clear". The two indicating the focus we are to keep are "heart" and "head".

• Grow - the first thing that comes to mind when we consider growing is the natural outcome of development in which something or someone increases in size or capacity. As we consider this in light of our Christian walk, we see growth as more than "natural" development - it also encompasses "supernatural" development. That is the increase in our capacity that comes simply from spending quality time with Jesus. One of the least common definitions of "grow" is that of attachment. It is a process of attachment that occurs by close association with that which you attach yourself onto. A gardener will tell you this process begins with "grafting" one branch or stem into the "parent" tree, vine, or bush. Jesus reminds us that he is that vine - we are the branches - grafted into him. By close association to him, we begin to grow through that attachment.
• Keep - we usually gravitate to the idea of holding onto something when we consider the meaning of "keep". Yet, it also carries the idea of continuing a given course, action, or state. When we are "keeping" something in this sense, we are involved in actively ensuring the course is consistent and focused. It means that we refrain from departing from a specific path - there is an element of restraint that is utilized in order to remain consistent in our focus.
• Wise - the first condition addressed deals with discernment, judgment, and discretion. The "condition" is directly connected with growth. Discernment is the ability to evaluate two options and choose the best - often the result of what we have been exposed to and who we associate with in life. Since our growth is directly correlated with our choice of "attachment", it is important to choose the best attachment. Judgment affects our actions because it is associated with the matter of acting upon what we believe to be correct. It is associated with growth because it deals with discretion - choosing those things that produce right actions. 
• Clear - the second condition is frequently described as the absence of that which clouds - in other words, it is that which gives transparency. As it applies to the idea of being kept, there is a great deal of "path-finding" that is clouded with all kinds of uncertainty, potholes of pride, and pitfalls of emotional upheaval. The condition of transparency is associated with us being kept - refraining from certain courses of action that will produce certain "road hazards" along the path of our walk. 
• Heart - we often gravitate to the "nebulous" meaning of heart - that which describes our capacity for sympathy, the ability to connect with others, etc. We need to look a little deeper at "heart" in order to understand the importance of this word. It is the seat of all that gives us personality - our emotional make-up. The heart is to be growing and it is to do so in a wise manner. In other words, all that gives us our "internal make-up" is to be intimately connected (associated) with Jesus so that we learn to discern well. Our emotions are unreliable - our "spirit" is not enough to keep us on track at times. We form wrong attachments at a whim - stunting growth completely. Our passage reminds us that we are to "grow a wise heart" - in so doing, we are avoiding those things that do us "dis-favor" in life.
• Head - we associate "head" with the mind or thought life. The "head", or rather, what is contained in the head (our brain), gives us the capacity to reason, rationalize, and rehearse. We are reminded to keep our minds clear. That includes learning to reason things out as Christ would - utilizing the "tools" he gives (the Word, the Holy Spirit, and our conscience). It also includes the idea of being able to be rational in thought - able to proceed in a course because reason has proven a path to be best. The often overlooked "capacity" of the mind is that of rehearsal. We use this capacity to both reminisce about the good and continuously remember the bad. The head is associated with being kept clear - in turn producing a good life. Thoughts lead to action - that is why the focus is on clarity. Clear thoughts lead to more transparent actions.

Two words, two conditions, describing two aspects of focus in our lives. Consider them well - they will keep your path clear! Just sayin!

Listen up!

Sometime we need to remind our soul - that is, our mind, will and emotions - to bless God with all that we have within us. If you are like me (and I suspect you are), the mind wanders, will is weak, and emotions pull us a thousand different directions. David was not above this very similar struggle we face daily - to keep our attention squarely on God. How do we do that? We engage in "soul-talk". Look at what David does - he focuses his mind on the things God has done in his life - then he begins a little "soul-talk". He recounts the many and overwhelming blessings of God in his life, his family's life, and those he knows at the leader of a great nation. He determines to bless God - he makes it a matter of his will. In so doing, he is bringing his emotions into alignment - his "soul" gets talked into alignment.

O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I'll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don't forget a single blessing! He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you're always young in his presence. (Psalm 103:1-5)

There are clearly a couple of things David seems to focus on as he engages in this soul-talk. A few of those things might just help us begin our very own 'soul-talk' with God today:

• God forgives our sins - not just in part, but completely; not just one or two, but all of them. There are times when I just want to cringe in shame when I remember some of the sins over the course of my life - and the enemy of my soul would love nothing more than to have me dwell upon those memories. When that happens, I have called to memory the fact that God is not "selective" in his forgiveness. It is complete and it keeps no records - even when my mind has a hard time letting go of them. What I seem to dredge up from my past in haunting memory of my sinfulness has already been forgiven - no longer remembered by God.
• God not only heals our spiritual condition through forgiveness of sins, but he heals our physical condition by healing our diseases. I've had a couple of worrisome physician's reports over the years, biding time until surgery could be done and the final pathology reports could be obtained. In those times, I felt his presence. He is my healer and I know that the reports were excellent because he is an excellent God! The healing of God goes beyond our physical diseases - it encompasses the mind, emotions, and spirit damaged by all of life's woes.
• God has redeemed us from hell - more than just forgiving us of our sins - he has ensured that we would never have to experience the horrific terror of hell. If nothing else challenges us to sit up and give God our attention, that should! If you haven't read what scripture tells us about hell, you may not fully understand the sheer awe at his goodness - being overcome with a desire to praise God for his deliverance from hell's torture. 
• God has crowned us with love and mercy. I've never been much of a "tiara" woman, but I am awed by the beauty of character that God produces in a life surrender to him - an adorned life. That beauty of character is like a "crowning glory" over all of their life. Love and mercy - the crown of eternal love - encompasses their life and it radiantly displays God to all who look upon it. Love evokes the best in others. Mercy overlooks the worst in others. There is nothing more beautiful that can adorn a child of God than the crown of his love and mercy.
• God has wrapped us in goodness - not greatness, but goodness. We have a warped view of how we value individuals in our society today. We often think that if they accomplish something "great", then that adds to or gives them value. God sees our value in the goodness of heart that he creates by the presence of his abiding Spirit within us. Goodness is really moral excellence - the best part of God created within us by the indwelling of his Spirit.

If all this doesn't elicit some praise from your soul, then the final point should - he renews our youth! We pay thousands for creams, tucks, lifts, and gym memberships - all to hold onto our youth. What is amazing is that in the presence of God I am made young! If you don't believe me - try it. There is a restorative power that occurs in the presence of the Almighty God. I want you to see one last thing - David recounts that God HAS done these things. It is not a "hope in the by-and-by" that God "might" do these things in his life. They are an accomplished fact. David celebrates the continual work of God in his life - continually forgiving him of his sins (past, present and future); continually healing his diseases; continually keeping him safe from Satan's evil; consistently displaying his love and mercy in his people so that it might shine through them; continually indwelling them with his presence; and continually renewing them. Feel like you have nothing to praise God for today - think again! Then do some serious "soul-talk"! Just talkin!

Just you wait and see

The development of habits, thoughts and behaviors comes through both ongoing discipline and repeated instruction. We become proficient at something through the repetitive "doing" or "experiencing" of that task or behavior. God's training of our lives encompasses many aspects, but none so soul-liberating as the ordering of our thought life. The training of God that is directed toward our thought life, bringing into alignment our thoughts with his mind, allows us to develop behaviors that actually build our character on a solid foundation.

Train me, God, to walk straight; then I'll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. (Psalm 86:11-12)

The ability to walk the path God has laid out for us comes as we are submissive to the training God brings into our life - especially as it applies to our thought life. When I say "submissive" I am not referring to some mamby-pamby kind of response to God. I am referring to us taking the lead to center our thoughts on him, leading to the ability to refocus the desires of our heart toward the things that delight him. There is some effort exerted on our part, but it has huge rewards, so it is 'worth' that expenditure.

The ability to walk God's true path comes not only in our being trained, but in our "being put together" by God. We need to see the unity of heart and mind as important to being successful in our walk - we cannot have a divided thought-life as it will lead to a divided heart focus. Nothing could be truer than the fact that what the mind is inclined to dwell upon leads the heart in that same direction. If we think it, we often find ourselves saying and doing it! We need our minds aligned with his in order for our hearts to be affected by his heart - in order for our actions to actually reflect our relationship connection with him.

Undivided mind and heart - the basis of true worship. We are presented with the idea that we really enter into a different "level" of relationship with God when we have an undivided mind and heart - both functioning in unity with God's plan for our lives. Elsewhere in scripture, we are reminded that a double-minded man is unstable in all he does (James 1:8). There is no stability because there are no "constants" in his life. While there is always a place for variability in life, the mind is not one of those places!

What I mean is that we need to have focus - the right focus helps to determine the right outcome. As a young student in science class, the teachers introduced me to the idea of forming a hypothesis. A hypothesis was a basic idea or thought of what the outcome of the experiment would be - take this action, get that response (or so we thought). We would set out with one thought in mind, but often get a totally different result in the end. Why? Simply because our hypothesis was not based in fact - it didn't include all the factors that influenced the outcome. When what we desire and then set out to accomplish is based in fact, the outcome is much different.

Both mind and heart must be based in reality - centered on what God teaches, what he holds dear to his heart. This gives us a basis of "fact" from which to live life. The unity of heart and mind, centered upon God, loyal to him and him alone - this is the desired direction of our life. The outcome of that alignment will be phenomenal - just you wait and see!

Time to clean house

I pray that God will open your minds to see his truth. Then you will know the hope that he has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious.  (Ephesians 1:18 ERV)

Most of us don't realize an open mind is a gift from God. It is by his doing that we actually have "space" for truth in our minds. It is by his grace that we desire more than our own intellect by which to navigate through life. To truly "know" truth requires more than we just expose ourselves to it - we must be open to the person who is all truth - Jesus Christ. Hope stems not so much from knowing all things from start to finish, but in believing the finish will be something that creates a deeper desire for the one who loves us beyond measure. 

While we are busy "going about life", God is all around us and working hard to reveal truth in all things to us as we are in constant movement. I have two grandsons, both have ADHD - something that keeps them in movement in one way or another. For one, it is the "fidget factor" we manage - for this was always what distracted him more than anything else. For the other, it is the wandering of mind into that creative and social place he so much likes to go to. Both are highly intelligent, creative, and well-mannered kids, but both struggle due to the "constant movement" they experience.

While movement is not a bad thing, it can be distracting to us. It can take us off task so easily, and sometimes without us even knowing it. This is often why God has to be the one to actually open our minds to receive truth - we are too "busy" or otherwise "occupied" to realize he is trying to reveal something to us. It is quite possible we miss out on a great deal by our "mindless fidgeting" as we go through life. God's desire is to focus our minds on truth - so we aren't missing these moments.

What are the advantages to knowing truth? Probably the first that comes to our minds is that we won't be duped by untruth. We will so quickly spot the counterfeit that we know when we are about to fall into a trap. This might just be the primary reason God reveals truth - to keep us safe. Another advantage is that of making right choices when the time comes to make the "best one" or a "good one". They both aren't far apart, but one is much better than the other and will result in much better outcomes for us. Truth helps us see both courses and then to choose wisely.

Regardless of how it is we learn, God is at the ready to reveal truth. He knows the only way we will have the "capacity" for truth is to actually "make space" for it. That means he has to help us let go of things we might have embraced that weren't exactly true. They were good ideas, perhaps, but not the best ones for us to base our present and future choices upon. So, don't be surprised when God comes to do a little "house-cleaning" in your mind. It is just to make room for more truth! Just sayin!