Guard that thought space

Like it or not, we will not always see eye-to-eye. There will be disagreements, some quite peaceful, others not so much. We will spend precious time debating the merits of someone else's decisions, lack of 'good judgment', or unwise actions, all while they are debating ours. What good does that do anyway? We could spend endless hours criticizing the ones who get into political office, head up our churches, or even lead us in the work arena, but what good comes of all that criticism and debate? It would benefit us much more to heed the advice to think upon the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; and things to be praised, not the things we could curse!

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)

God isn't too excited about our 'tearing down' of each other, much less the comparison that goes on when we go about criticizing one another. In fact, he wants to work US into his most excellent harmonies, not see us 'worked up' over things that don't benefit us. God asks us to change our focus through changing the way we think. Whatever we choose to think upon will begin to manifest itself in some form within our lives. Think about the cost of living long enough and you will likely begin to develop some financial worries, contemplating what you will do if this price or that one begins to skyrocket. The choice we make with what we allow to dwell within our minds is one we must make with forethought. The forethought comes as we take in his Word and begin to contemplate upon it, how it should affect our lives, and what it will produce through us when we embrace it fully.

We do our best by filling our minds with wholesome thought - God does his best by creating within us those 'excellent harmonies' between his grace and our need; his peace and our worries; his joy and our anxieties. What are you filling your mind with today? Are you giving over that precious 'conscious' thought space to the worries, fears, doubts, and 'the worst' that you can imagine? If so, it is time to replace those thoughts within that thought space! Just sayin!

Change the outcomes

People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6)

Thinking or not thinking - both can present problems we might not want to deal with. If we think upon things that are not honorable or will bring dishonorable actions into our lives, we get the resulting problems associated with those sinful thoughts. If we fail to think before we act, relying only upon what feels good to us at the moment, we will reap the results that will not always be very rewarding or wonderful. Thinking must be controlled - it cannot just be willy-nilly. If we are to live upright lives, we need a 'thinking partner' in this walk. That is why Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. We need his presence to help us filter out the 'not so good' thoughts and rehearse the ones that lead us into right actions.

One thing I have learned about my own thoughts is to question if what I am about to say or do is based upon what I want, excluding how it may affect others. That is what our passage says - people who live following their sinful selves think ONLY about what THEY want. When I stop long enough to consider how my way of thinking will affect others if I act upon what I am thinking, I often will not take that particular action. Why? It would not honor them, or it would present difficulties within the relationship. There are times when I think one thing but find God prompting me to see things a bit differently than the way I have been looking at those things. Why? God knows if I continue along that way of thinking I will produce actions that will bring less than desirable consequences.

It didn't come naturally to me to begin my day by asking God's Spirit to take control of my thoughts, but once I did, I also found myself asking him to take control of my words and all the actions in my day. Why? Thoughts lead to words and actions - I need his help to make the most of both of those! It isn't hard to ask the Spirit to take the lead in your thought life, but it is a little harder to listen to his leading! It is that age-old issue of knowing what is right, but not always choosing to act upon what you know to be right. As long as I seek his help with the day, I am placing myself in the best possible position to see the outcomes within my day be the best they can be. The same will be true for you. 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!

Is this worth it?

People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace. Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God’s laws. If we follow our desires, we cannot please God. You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you. People who don’t have the Spirit of Christ in them don’t belong to him. But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins. Yet God raised Jesus to life! God’s Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit. (Romans 8:5-11)

Some desires are easily fulfilled, while others are the things we chase after repeatedly and find no satisfaction in ever obtaining. Never forget the "hold" desires place on us as we pursue whatever it is which becomes the object of our attention (focus). It is almost impossible to have a desire and not want to "go after it" with some form of passionate pursuit. We often find ourselves "pondering" the thing we desire. It becomes the consuming focus of our mind - thought being the thing which gets us to move toward the desire. I think this is why there is so much emphasis put on being aware of what we are thinking "upon" - because we don't want to dwell on the stuff which will take us down paths better left unexplored!

Probably one of the most reported issues in this walk with Jesus is the constant struggle between what we desire and what we know God wants for us. God wants us to consider the type of desire it is we are responding to at any given moment. We have this "mixture" of desires - some very good or honorable; others kind of self-centered and just plain out of the "list" of desires he'd want us to actually pursue. To pursue only what we desire is thinking of only ourselves - a dangerous focus indeed. Yet, I have run across people who seem to have their head in the clouds - too spiritual for their own good and certainly for the good of others! We need balance between the spiritual and the practical. We actually drive people away when all we can ponder and discuss is the spiritual. I have a tendency to look for people who can maintain this balance - knowing "living out" faith is more important than merely engaging in conversation about it all the time!

If we are ruled by our minds, we will pursue desires which are self-centered and likely to be a little far from what God has planned for our pursuit. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, we are more likely to pursue those things God has prepared in advance for us! Our own desires don't always align with God's. Apparently Satan understands this fact and monopolizes on it! When we have this "war" of sorts going on in our minds, pondering this desire against that one, we can be assured that as long as that battle is taking place, Satan is intrigued! He wants to see which one will win out and he isn't pulling for God's!

Christ lives in us - this is the hope of our "winning" over those wrong desires. In living an "exchanged life" we find our own desires beginning to take backseat to the desires of the one we serve (Christ Jesus). It is God's Spirit living within us that makes all the difference in determining which of these desires will become the preeminent one which gets and holds our attention. If you haven't figured that out already, the thing which gets our attention will play upon our emotions until we begin to toy with the idea of actually surrendering to that object. If this is a God-thing we are "toying with" in our thoughts, the surrender will be godly and good!  

With God's Spirit within, the desires we once were consumed by will begin to drop away. This is a gradual process for most of us - for others, it may come in a matter-of-fact way once and for all. The truth of the matter is that no matter "how" we see this exchange of desires occurring within us, we all have exactly the same "resources" at our disposal to overcome those desires which are too self-absorbed and which are going to take us down the wrong path. The Spirit of God brings all we need to not only change our focus, but to help us differentiate between what is worthy of our continued attention and what is not. 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!

Not going down that rabbit hole again

Isn’t it obvious that conspirators lose out, while the thoughtful win love and trust? (Proverbs 14:22)

Some of the most 'obvious' things in life can be the most 'elusive' to us. Stop for a moment to consider what 'obvious' really means - available, accessible, discernable. Now, why is it that the stuff that is so easily available, quickly accessible, and totally discernable is hard for us to actually get our minds around? I think it might be that the enemy of our souls just doesn't want us to get hold of this stuff that God provides because he knows just how powerful it will be in our hands!

The thoughtful win love and trust. The mind is the starting point for all action - we have established that already in our studies together. If we want to know where we are headed, we need only look as far as our most dominant thoughts. Whatever it is we think the most upon is the direction our actions will be taken. Every now and again I think some thoughts that take me down a rabbit hole of doubt, worry, or just plain depression. If I don't want to go down that rabbit hole I need to change that thought pattern quickly. Seems obvious, doesn't it? Yet, some of the most 'obvious' stuff to us can be the most 'elusive'.

What is a conspirator and why did God warn us about the losses they would experience? It is someone who spends a great deal of time and energy plotting, looking for ways to betray others, and in truth, it is someone who ends up being a backstabber. No wonder they 'lose out' in life - their pathway is down a pretty ugly rabbit hole! The thoughtful are considerate of others - through deliberate choices. Don't miss that one - if we want to avoid the ugly rabbit hole, we make deliberate choices to stay out of the field where the rabbit dwells!

The most 'obvious' stuff in life should be the most transparent to us, but we sometimes miss what is right there in front of our faces. We trip over the obvious sometimes! Why? We refuse to see it. We refuse to acknowledge it. It is indisputable, but we refuse to acknowledge it. This is why we find ourselves struggling with our choices sometimes - we think truth has to be hard or elusive - surely truth could not be staring us right in the face. God doesn't make it hard to learn of his love or grace - it is right out there for us to see. He doesn't make it hard for us to know right from wrong - in fact, he gives us a conscience and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us so it can become 'obvious' to us.

We might think God's truths are 'elusive', but in truth they are quite 'obvious'. They are accessible, discernable, indisputable, palpable, and unmistakable. We don't need more than an open mind, yielded heart, and intent spirit to discover them. We do need a willing heart to embrace them. Will begins in the mind, so we need to set our minds in a different way of thinking sometimes - so the most dominant thoughts we are thinking are those that point us in the right direction. Maybe this is why God spends so much time training us to take control of our thoughts! 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 mind wasted?

Rene Descartes said, "It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well." How many times do we use our minds as they are intended to be used? I daresay that we probably 'daydream' a little too much at times, veg out on some meaningless TV program, or lull ourselves into blissful repose by counting sheep - all use our minds, but when pursued for way too long, we might not be using our minds as well as we should. The mind is meant to be active - at least a good part of our day - but in activity that is honoring to God. It is meant to consider, concentrate, calculate, and create. It is made to prompt action and stimulate appreciation. A mind focused on self all of the time is indeed wasted - it is indeed not what God intended.

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 MSG)

The mind is used in a good many ways, but there isn't always room for thinking on the things of God. Sometimes our minds get so filled with other thought - shutting out thought of God's grace, his actions on our behalf, and his intense carefulness over our lives. We miss the moments to consider what he has done and continues to do in our lives - all because we get so focused on self. Self is indeed a formidable barrier to considering God - to worship. Worship is a form of 'purposeful thought' - to worship, one focuses their thoughts on the object of their worship. We can worship a good many things. I propose the things we think upon the most - focusing the attention of our minds upon most frequently - these are the things we worship the most. If that object of our attention is self, then our worship is really of all the things that build self up, keep self satisfied, and create a sense of well-being in self.

Self is really demanding - it wants to be satisfied the majority of the time. This is where we get the idea of being 'selfish' - wanting self to get what it wants regardless of the needs of those around us. The thought life focused on self is not easily persuaded toward different thought. It finds no need in thinking of others, or of the circumstances outside of one's own life. Why? Self demands the focus remain inward, refusing to allow the concentration to drift outward. When we are this absorbed in self, we ignore what is right there in front of us. We ignore the things that should trigger actions outside of ourselves. Actions that are directed toward the needs of others are not the object of our thoughts - at least not most of the time. Yes, the selfish thought life can be directed external to self on occasion, but it is not the most common use of one's thoughts!

If we find ourselves a little too 'inward' in our focus, it might just be time to ask God to help us explore the space in our thought life he created for the consideration of the needs of others and the enjoyment of those things he has provided in our lives. If we find we cannot easily do this, we only need ask for his help. He delights in being asked to reorder our focus - to help us be less selfish and more open to those around us. There is no true joy in only catering to self - only focusing on selfish demands. There is genuine joy and tremendous peace in realizing grace delivers us from a selfish mind intent on nothing more than the building up of self. Just sayin!  

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!

Think, Then Speak

There is great frustration in communication that does not accomplish the intended purpose. It is like talking to the air, receiving no acknowledgement of what is said, no indication that anyone listened at all. There are times when I share very important information with others, only to have them say they don't remember it, or worse yet, they never even looked at what I sent. I know others of you have the same issue from time to time. We are reminded today that well-spoken words bring satisfaction - these are words spoken in the right season, with the right intention, in the right spirit - the words that accomplish their purpose. Yet, there is not always a clear indication that these words, though spoken well, have accomplished anything - because the revelation of what has been accomplished in the speaking of those words may be delayed until a different season - the hearing or acknowledgement of the words comes much later.

Well-spoken words bring satisfaction; well-done work has its own reward.  (Proverbs 12:14)

I have been frequently found guilty of speaking all that I think without thinking through all that I speak! It is a tendency for us to do this in the heat or height of emotion - whenever we are sort of carried away by the moment. Sometimes, it is a word of sarcasm - not really intended to hurt the one hearing it - but cutting or discouraging nonetheless. At other times, it is my "full mind" on the matter which I speak - not always "rationed" in objective portions, or in quantities my hearer can possibly absorb all in one sitting. Either way, my words can accomplish more "dissatisfaction" at times than they bring "satisfaction". I imagine you may have struggled with this at times, too, because none of us is immune to this problem.

What are truly well-spoken words? I think they are those words that are spoken "in season". There is a time to speak what we know will bring light into a situation, and there is a time to remain silent on a matter - being able to 'read' the season is very important. The writer of Proverbs tells us that words spoken "out of season" fall on deaf ears - actually not penetrating through to the heart or soul of the receiver - they aren't going to be acted upon because they aren't even heard. Just as with planting seeds that will yield crops, the seeds of our words must be planted in the appropriate season. If you plant crops that need long, warm days to germinate and take root, planting them in winter will stunt their growth, or keep them from growing at all.

Second, well-spoken words are spoken from a prepared heart to a prepared heart. Consider the farmer planting seeds in his field. If he hurls those seeds haphazardly on soil, just somehow "believing" they will grow wherever they fall, he is a fool. Those seeds will be picked off by birds, small rodents, and even wither in the sun. We all know that the successful farmer spends hours and hours preparing that soil long before the seed falls to the earth to begin its work of taking root. If we want our words to fall on prepared soil, we first begin with preparing the soil of our own hearts. Words spoken from a heart that has been touched by God's Spirit will be kind, appropriate, and in season. The receiver's heart must also be prepared to receive - asking for help with this by asking God to open the heart of the one we are speaking to. Just remember - this may take time - we must remain sensitive to the timing of the Lord.

Last, but not least, well-spoken words are delivered in love. Seeds haphazardly sown take very little effort on the part of the farmer. We can be too quick to share our minds, too limited in what we share, or too timid in our sharing that the words we speak are sown haphazardly. Love is always to be a governing force in our lives - we need to think before we speak, and learn to not always speak all we think. Tougher than we think! It is quite easy to speak - it is quite another thing to take what we think to God first, asking him to "temper" what we speak with his love and then to speak ONLY what he has covered with his love and grace. "Right Season" words are those that are both loving and grace-filled. They are truthful, but they remain kind and respectful. Just sayin!

Think, don't just act

Remember how fretting and worrying wears us down and brings us into a place of paralysis in our faith? There is a lot of power behind our thoughts - our way of thinking has a great deal to with how it is we perceive a situation and how it is we will approach it. There are very specific things we are supposed to be thinking on - allowing these types of thoughts to become fertile ground in our minds can go a long way to keeping us from fret and worry. Remembering that there is  first the need to "put off", then to "put on", we can conclude that some thoughts are meant to be left behind and others pursued. For some of us, the thoughts we have been mulling over for some time have become almost habitual with us - maybe not even the best of habits for us to have!  You have to put off a bad or less desirable habit, and in turn, you put on a better one.  When God tells us to have no other gods before him, he also says to honor him with our entire hearts, minds and souls.  When we are told to stop stealing, there is the follow-up command to get a job. The idea is that we MUST replace one behavior (which begins with thought) with another, or there will be a "gap" that is open to being filled - if not purposefully, then by whatever comes along that we embrace with any actual thinking - including the thinking that leads us to worry and fret!

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 4:8-9 MSG)

We are told to do two things here - fill our minds and then meditate on what we put in there. There is only as much room to "fill" any object as there is "room" made for what will fill in that space. Our minds are amazing "tools" - they can be used to do such tremendous things. With the mind, we can begin the visionary work of creating or inventing - picturing what is to become even long before we have all the tools and resources at our disposal to create whatever it is we envision.  With the mind, we can think through a scenario, step-by-step, until we see what we envisioned take form - like creating a blueprint.  As I am fully aware, the mind can be like a "steal trap" or a "leaky sieve".  When someone has an uncanny ability to remember all kinds of facts or details, we say they have a mind like a steal trap.  If the opposite occurs, and the individual cannot seem to recall facts longer than say a nanosecond, we say they have a mind like a leaky sieve. It always amazes me to see the sports enthusiast that can recount the entire career of some ball player, complete with every stat of their season right on the tip of their tongue, yet they cannot remember the birthdays of their children!  What's up with that?

The mind controls every function in our body, every action of day, and every inaction, as well.  With it, we make choice, interpret input, and "feel" things with what we call emotion. It is our mind that gives us the ability to resist temptation, or plunge full force ahead into disaster.  That is why God takes time to point out to us what to put into our mind.  He asks us to center our thought life on things that will build up, give a foundation, and provide a safe course for our Christian walk.  Let's briefly see what he poses as the type of thought we are to fill our minds with:

• Things that are true - that which conforms to reality or fact.  He reminds us that our minds can indeed come up with any conclusion they want - we need to remember to center on what is fact. It is oftentimes easiest to see what we want to see, but that isn't always what is true!
• Things that are noble - that which is of the highest quality.  The idea is that we should not accept mediocrity in our thought life - we are to strive for the best. I can buy lower quality paper towels at the grocery store, but it takes more to finish the job that the ones of a little higher quality!
• Things that are reputable - thinking on that which is worthy of honor or is respectable is sometimes one of the most difficult parts of our thought life.  We do a lot of damage in our thought life with both the reputation of others and of ourselves - simply because we think upon things that would be best left alone.  Paul reminds us that reputation, even God's, can be broken or built up in our minds.
• Things that are authentic - genuine and supported by indisputable evidence. Isn't it surprising just how much of our thought life could be discounted and discarded when put to the test of authenticity?  We need to be cautious here - we can find almost any evidence to support our belief - therefore, we need to go to the evidence that has "born up" throughout the ages (The Word of God) - test what you believe.
• Things that are compelling - this is the type of thought that drives an individual into action.  It has a powerful and irresistible effect on us to think in such a manner.  It is important to see what is compelling us to move - does it line up with what God outlines in his Word - with what he desires for us?
• Things that are gracious - the thought that immediately moves us into actions of compassion and mercy - not judgment and guilt - these are the thoughts we need to entertain the most.
• The best, not the worst - how many times am I guilty of "jumping to conclusions" - immediately drifting into negative thought about a person, situation, or perceived threat?  I sometimes go to the "worst" first, but find myself having to "reign in" my thoughts, taking control of them through active choice, and "shifting" to the best way to see that person, situation, or threat. The "best" may not be our first thought, but it should be our final one!
• The beautiful, not the ugly - okay, don't get me wrong here, but there is some pretty ugly stuff out there just waiting to get into our brains!  Whatever we allow in will have an affect. Guard your mind - don't let that ugly stuff in!
• Things to praise, not to curse - if we keep all the rest in perspective, it is easy to allow things in that we want to speak about - things that build up - rather than those things that we can only formulate more and more negative talk about.

We are not just to fill our minds with the right thoughts, but we are to meditate upon them. Think of this as "chewing on them". Sometimes we'd do well to take a little more time in thought before we actually speak or act upon the thought we are entertaining! There is a place of safety in learning to meditate on the right stuff. What are you "chewing on" today? If it something that is really "chewing on you", then maybe it is time for some fresh thought about the situation.  Just sayin!

Entertained, but not acted upon

Aristotle reminds us, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." I might add it is equally important to be connected to the one mind that knows what is right to accept and what needs to be rejected! That mind? The mind of Christ. The connection? Found when we say "yes" to Jesus and his Spirit enters that space in our lives reserved just for him. Truthfully, that is when the "real" education begins!

Bless me with life so that I can continue to obey you. Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word. I am but a pilgrim here on earth: how I need a map—and your commands are my chart and guide. I long for your instructions more than I can tell. (Psalm 119:17-20 TLB)

The wonderful things contained in God's Word aren't there by accident - they are purposed to be there because we need to hear and incorporate them into our lives. There are lots and lots of thoughts that come our way each day, but knowing which ones not to move beyond the point of "entertaining" them is important. Why? Not everything that comes our way will take us down right paths in our thinking - and we all know thinking is the starting point for our actions.

Life given today is meant to be lived in obedience. Obedience begins at the point of doing more than "entertaining" a thought - it begins at the point of acting upon it. We need a "mind map" to recognize when our thoughts are going down the wrong path! Boy, if you were inside my head on any given day, you'd know just how complicated this whole "thought" thing gets to be! It is like a conglomeration of super-highways, all intersecting, traffic streaming from all directions, and sometimes "collisions" are just narrowly avoided!

I credit those "avoided collisions" or "avoided wrong turns" totally to the work of the Holy Spirit bringing to light scripture that helps me avoid those moments where thoughts entertained could bring harm into my life. God doesn't just give us a road map of obedience, but he gives us the constant "godly re-positioning system" of the Word made alive by the power of his Spirit within us to help us avoid those collision moments! Just sayin!

You giving anger fuel?

Marcus Aurelius was an emperor of Rome during the second century, but is noted for being one of the "last good ones" of that era. His main "call to fame" are his writings or "meditations" on dedicated service and uncompromising duty - being a great warrior and temperate leader himself. He was what has been coined a philosopher of stoicism - living with a strong commitment to self-restraint, the heartfelt respect of others, and a compelling duty to one's country. He was known as the ruler who lives a temperate life and was pretty much uncompromising in his principles. One of his statements pretty much sums up his philosophy of living: "How much more are the consequences of anger than the causes of it." His understanding of this truth may have made him one of the last "good emperors" of his time - because those who came after him actually didn't adhere to some of the valued principles he upheld. One of my favorite quotes from his writings is: "Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts."

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8 NLT)

I think Paul might have had this "habit" of thinking in mind when he penned these words under the direction of the Holy Spirit during his lifetime. Whatever we fix our thoughts upon will influence the very things we "do" with our bodies, "act out" toward others, and allow to be "done" to us in the course of our lifetime. I have a tendency to get "quiet" at times - almost like a turtle pulling into a shell - activity ceases on the outside, but on the inside I am fully focused on something. Others may see this as being "distant" or "moody", but in actuality I am deeply thinking upon something that is either niggling at me for a solution, or I just need time to ruminate on stuff so I get the right perspective on the subject at hand. Those who know me well actually give me the space to "get quiet" and "pull in" a little - because they know I need this time to form a plan for the next steps I am about to take.

What we think upon does indeed "color" our actions - our thoughts form a connection between the idea and the solution. The action directs us toward the solution - but it all begins with the thought. No wonder we find ourselves given to some pretty lame actions at times - it isn't that we didn't know what to do - we just didn't let that knowledge ruminate long enough to affect our actions! As Aurelius said, anger is easy - it is the consequences of anger that stick around for a long, long while! These consequences aren't all that easily "cleaned up", are they? Anger is one of those emotions in which we might "react" with either outburst or withdrawal, violence or malicious intent. Anger is also one of those emotions that has a way of "coloring" all the other emotions with at least a "hint" of the same hue!

Jesus didn't spend a lot of time dwelling upon things that angered him - he spent the main part of his life thinking upon what it is he loves in this world - US! Herein is probably one of the simplest truths we can take from Christ's example for us - when our thoughts are directed toward loving others, we find our actions "flow" in that same direction. It is easy to find fault and to dwell upon that fault we find - but it is much more profitable to both others and ourselves when we choose rather to dwell upon the things we can find of value in each other. We might just realize that choosing to dwell upon what is good in others helps us to draw together and have less distance build between each of us. Anger has no opportunity for flare up where there is no fuel to kindle it! Just sayin!

Mooooovin' on....

Eleanor Roosevelt once remarked, "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." It is not always the case, for some thoughts can linger for a good while, giving us many a worry or concern just because they are ever there in the recesses of our minds. We have a way of ruminating on those things sometimes without even knowing we are doing it - it just "happens". Cows actually "ruminate" on their food - chewing and chewing it until it is mashed into oblivion. It is where we get the term "chew the cud". Some thoughts are worth mulling over repeatedly, like those that focus us on God's goodness and his grace. Others are not worth our repeated effort to "dissolve" or "change". They just need to be spit out!

Let your heart overflow with praise to the Eternal, for He is good, for His faithful love lasts forever. Let your heart overflow with praise to the True God of heaven, for His faithful love lasts forever. (Psalm 136:1, 26 VOICE)

There are times I do a better job of keeping focused on the stuff that matters, rejecting or "spitting out" the stuff that really just bogs me down and wastes my efforts trying to "resolve" or "dissolve". Sometimes, try as we might, we cannot change the matter - no matter how much rumination we engage in!  The problem with ruminating on these matters is the wear and tear it gives our body, minds, and spirit! We just invest way too much energy in something which cannot really change much from what it is. A cow can chew on rather woody weeds for a long, long time, but the "woodiness" of those weeds will remain - they are just not going to change!

Paul told the believers at Philippi: "Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy." (Philippians 4:8 VOICE) Our minds are not meant to be occupied by things which distract, cause us anxiety, or create chaotic effort on our parts. They are to be filled with the kind of stuff that helps us maintain focus, frees us of the cares we might otherwise want to hang onto, and bring settled peace to an otherwise pretty chaotic world in which we live. The more we "spit out" or reject what isn't worth the effort of chewing on, the more we will find the stuff we choose to "take in" will bring us much more satisfaction and comfort.

What we think upon will eventually change our hearts - maybe this is why we are told to only ruminate on the best of thoughts! The cow can invest a whole lot of time trying to repeatedly change the consistency of that woody weed, but all that time will not change the root from which it came! The weed will always be a weed. The cow must look for a different source of food - it must change its intake! I think some of us need to hear this, as well - it is time for us to change our intake because our heart is being affected by what it is we are constantly dwelling upon. There are just some things we cannot change - it is best to move on - look for better pastures from which to graze.  Just thinkin!

More than just available

Who can see into a man’s heart and know his thoughts? Only the spirit that dwells within the man. In the same way, the thoughts of God are known only by His Spirit.  You must know that we have not received the spirit of this rebellious and broken world but the Spirit that comes from God, so that we may experience and comprehend the gifts that come from God.  We do not speak of these gifts of God in words shaped by human wisdom; we speak in words crafted by the Spirit because our collective judgment on spiritual matters is accessible to those who have the Spirit.  But a person who denies spiritual realities will not accept the things that come through the Spirit of God; they all sound like foolishness to him. He is incapable of grasping them because they are disseminated, discerned, and valued by the Spirit.  A person who walks by the Spirit examines everything, sizing it up and seeking out truth. But no one is able to examine or size up that kind of spiritual person,  for the Scripture asks, “Does anyone know the mind of the Lord well enough to become His advisor?” But we do possess the mind of the Anointed One.  (I Corinthians 2:11-16 VOICE)

I have spoken with individuals who are certain Satan can read their minds. The intent of a man's heart and what he has in his thoughts are known by two individuals - God and that man! Since we have God's Spirit indwelling us, we can know the thoughts of God - good news for those of us who have intentions and thoughts not perfectly aligned with the way we should be thinking and living. If it is possible for us to know the thoughts of God because the Spirit of God lives within us and reveals those to us, then it is possible for his thoughts to begin to "override" our own. Too many of us want to believe like the old comedian Flip Wilson that "the devil made me do it", when all the while it is likely the thoughts we acted upon were merely influenced by the spirit of the rebellious world all around us. We don't have to succumb to that influence, though, for the influence living right inside of us is greater than any external influence could ever be!

The truths of God are disseminated, discerned, and valued by each of us because of the Spirit of God which indwells us.  Disseminated means they are sent out in some reasonable order and with a specific purpose.  When we set the table at night for the evening meal, the things placed on the table are disseminated on the various place mats. We each get a fork, napkin, and plate. We each might get a knife if the meal requires us to cut up some food. We might even get a spoon if the meal will include some items which are not easily eaten with a fork. What is disseminated is meant to be used - it is important we receive it, put it to use, and let it bring nourishment into our lives. In a similar way, what comes from the mind of God is given to us in specific measure, for a designated purpose, and with the intent of bringing growth to our lives in infinite measure. The ability to discern is very much like the ability to discriminate one thing from the other. If we were to use the fork to try to eat our soup, we might miss out on a lot of the good part of the soup! We have been given the spoon because it is the right utensil by which we may ingest the soup. In the same way, God wants us to use the things he gives us - because they have a purpose and will be most useful when we discriminate (through his Spirit) the specific intent of those things.

We all go through life "sizing things up" - from the outfit that fits the bill for the weather expected and tasks we will perform today, to the best route we can take to reach our destination. We also size up other individuals - judging them in small ways by the things they reveal about themselves and even those things they don't reveal!  A word of caution here - God knows the heart of that man or woman we are judging by what we determine to be "revealed" or "concealed". He is able to show us the "real" individual, not just the things we can see with the naked eye. This is only one way God helps us - by seeing as he sees. When we allow the Spirit of God within us to show us what God sees in another individual, we begin to see God has placed a value upon that individual which may just be different than how we'd see them without God's help. This is one way God's thoughts begin to guide our own and allow us to become "discerning" in actions. 

While God makes himself available to us - readily accessible to us so that we can learn and grow as we are each designed to in his grace - he isn't going to do a little "mind control" over us like some magician on the stage. He gives us access to his mind because we need the wisdom which comes from above, not that which emanates from a rebellious and confused world. He gives us freedom to ask him for direction and course guidance because he knows how easily we can get ourselves all twisted up when we rely upon our own way of thinking and actions which come from those confused thought patterns. He helps us with the right tools because he knows we won't grow if we don't have access to them. As with the spoon and fork on the place mat at dinner tonight, we only benefit from what we put into use. Much is given to us, but not all of it is used. We might do well to ask God how to use what we are given, in the right way and for the specific purpose they are provided, in order to see the specific way he intends for those things to impact not only our lives, but the lives of those living around us in this terribly confused world.  Just sayin!

The muddle demystified

If the heart of man is made up of mind, will, and emotions - the place where we make choices, decide which "voice" sounds the most "credible" at the moment, and what it is we will hold onto when times get a little challenging - then we had better figure out pretty quickly what is IN our heart and what CONTROLS it.  If the right stuff is IN there and the right ONE is controlling our heart, then we stand a better chance to have consistency in our lives which is reflected in our correct choices and wise responses.

We may think we are doing the right thing, but the Lord always knows what is in our hearts. (Proverbs 21:2 CEV)

I enjoy pleasing you. Your Law is in my heart. (Psalm 40:8 CEV)

God knows how many times we set out to "do" the right thing, but then somewhere along the way we get distracted by something which influences our thoughts, will, or emotions just enough to get us pursuing something else entirely.  It may not have been our original intention, but it ended up being the one we listened to or followed.  When God's Word (his Law) is allowed to get deeply into our hearts, we stand a much better chance of not being swayed by our emotions, or listening to voices which would be better off not heard!

Getting the right "stuff" into our lives is important.  Whenever we want to overcome something which has been a bit of a challenge to us, we often need a kind of "tutor" to help us figure out the right steps to take to get beyond that "sticking point".  I play these matching games which require a great deal of strategy at times.  If I make the right moves, I pass the level.  If not, I get stuck in the rut of trying and trying time and time again until I finally get it.  I have learned to seek out those who have passed the level already to learn from their strategies because if they have it figured out already, I know their tutelage may actually help me pass the level myself.

The same is true of the "spiritual sticking points" in our lives - those things we get hung up on where obedience is the ultimate desire, but compromise tends to become the response. We likely need a little tutelage in that area - either because emotions are out of control, will is just plain not enough to get us past the "sticking point", or we don't possess the knowledge to really understand what is at the "core" of the issue.  Either of these areas of struggle can be undermining to our walk with Jesus.  Getting the tutelage of the Word of God may be the one thing we overlook when struggling.

Joyce Meyers said, "Once I realized that right thinking is vital to victorious living, I got more serious about thinking about what I was thinking about, and choosing my thoughts carefully."  Don't miss what she said - she focused on what she was thinking in order to change the actions she was producing.  It has often been said the main place of battle over things which become "sticking points" to us living above compromise in our lives is mostly in the mind - the way we are thinking and what it is we choose to think upon the most.

It is not just that we know "what" to think, but it is actually choosing to think about those things most when there is a muddle of thought which is getting us confused about what is our real priority in life at the moment.  For example, anger causes a muddle of emotions and thought - leaving us responding out of a place where we make wrong choices and often deliver wrong actions in response.  I can find myself getting a little frustrated with mom when she wants something done her way or in her timing.  It isn't always convenient for me, nor is it the "necessary" thing to do at that moment, but it is in her mind and that is all she can think about.  Whenever I fail to see this, I kind of get a little short with her because she just keeps stating the same thing over and over again - something we call perseverating.

What I fail to see is that she cannot get beyond her perseveration over the same thing until I take the action she desires.  To reason with her is just not going to change her impression of what she needs done - in her mind, it is what it is and I just need to see it from her standpoint.  To respond in the emotion of anger or frustration only makes things worse, because she doesn't get what she perceives she needs done and now her feelings are hurt because I was short with her in my response.  I compound the issue whenever I respond out of a "muddle" of thought rather than clarifying the thought enough to respond in a more reasonable and loving manner.  You might have been there on occasion - responding out of the muddle instead of getting control of your thoughts - thinking about what it is you are thinking about - and then choosing your thoughts just a little more carefully.

The Word of God helps us settle the muddle - it helps us clarify the intent of our thought, see the futility of others, and to get the emotion out of the middle of thought so that we can see the reality of what we are considering.  We need this kind of clarity - without it, we just respond to life out of the midst of the muddle - something which leaves us standing in the midst of compromise, wrong response, and just plain bad choices.  Getting it into the midst of our thoughts will help us make sense of the muddle and deal more consistently with the choices we make.  Just sayin!

Rational lives inside irrational every time

We all go through life with hundreds upon hundreds of things being input into our brain activity each and every day.  Those things can be the purest of thoughts to the most awful of sights, sounds,  and opinions.  How we manage to "filter" out the stuff we should be letting go of and not spending much time actually considering too deeply or allowing to affect our inner peace is something which takes each of us a little time and effort to actually develop.  Sometimes we don't allow our "filters" to work all that well, with things getting past those filters, and then beginning to affect our inner peace.  When this happens, we begin to latch onto things which may not have much rational basis, but we come to hold onto them nonetheless.  It is important to recognize when things are irrational - but equally as important to recognize the rational "inside" the irrational.  For anything to be even remotely "accepted" by our brains as factual or worthy of our time and attention, there has to be some element of rational basis to it.  Wrapped deeply in what seems a little out of the norm there is something which draws us into it because of the tiniest bit of "normal" we see in it.  This may be why we can cry in a movie which is totally fiction, but pulls at our heartstrings; or jump in fright when the "bad guy" jumps out of the shadows in another full-screen depiction of some murderous plot.  Media makes millions and millions each year pulling at our heartstrings and scaring us half to death - all because we can "relate" to what seems rational and even get caught up in what is totally irrational!  If we went through all of life just believing and getting caught up in all we receive as "input" into our lives, we'd be a totally messed up group of people!

Keep my steps steady by your word; don’t let any sin rule me. Redeem me from the people who oppress me so I can keep your precepts. Shine your face on your servant, and teach me your statutes. Rivers of tears stream from my eyes because your Instruction isn’t being kept. (Psalm 119:133-136 CEB)

We keep our steps steady because we have an accurate basis by which to compare each step we take with the next one we are about to take.  That comparison of steps is against the Word of God - the instruction God gives which helps us to sort out the rational from the irrational.  Sin begins to rule over us whenever we "forget" to run the input we receive through the wisdom of his instruction.  I used quotes around that word "forget" because I think we sometimes are selective about when it is we will use the Word to be that filter in our lives.  I don't mean to point fingers here, but am quite willing to admit this in my own life experiences.  Sometimes I do a much better job with this than others. 

A statute is simply an "internal rule" by which the affairs of a man, business, or even a government are "governed" or "regulated".  It is something which acts as a guide.  I cannot draw a straight line without a "guide" by which to do it.  Oh, I can make a valiant attempt at it and get it most of the way straight, but if you really want me to draw a straight line, then give me a straight edge by which to do it. In making that straight line, it still may not be "level" - it is just straight.  To get both level and straightness, I need something we call a "level" to gauge the perfection of that line.  God's Word is both a straight edge - helping us walk straight - and a "leveler" in our lives which helps us have even balance and perfect "pitch".  

Irrational thought has a way of beginning to "rule over" us whenever we lack either balance or that "straight edge" guide within our lives.  At first, we simply buy into something which comes as input into our lives (thought, opinion, an action, etc.).  Then we begin to entertain that input a little more closely or frequently, eventually causing us to investigate it a little more until it has a hold on us. We call this the downward cycle of sin - starting with a small compromise or inattentiveness to truth or balance in our lives.  In the end, we find ourselves reeled in by the "rational" inside the "irrational". Rational describes something which at least gives the appearance of being "sound", "reasonable", or "intelligent".  Inside of every irrational thought or action is some semblance of rational thought or action.  We would never be duped if this were not the case.

The mind is a powerful tool and the input into the mind is through many sources.  We receive input which gets "filed away" in our minds through what we see, hear, feel, and even smell.  Our senses give us repeated and frequent input, in rapid-fire succession, all of which our minds have to sort through and make a determination of "rational" vs. "irrational".  I have walked by a candy shop making fresh fudge, seeing huge sheets of the rich and decadent sweet treat on display on those cool marble slabs, but if I just took the input of smell and sight as the judge of how much of this richness to indulge in, I'd be in a diabetic coma before you knew it!  I need the rational side of my thought processing to kick in to remind me a little of this richness is good - a lot is bad!  

God's Word isn't meant for us to just "consider" - it is meant for us to use as that guide by which all rational thought is determined.  If we use it as our guide to determine what is rational vs. irrational (good vs. bad), we might just come to some different conclusions as to which input we respond to in a given situation.  Just thinkin!

Man! That lid is on there tight!

Repent (metanoeo):  To change one's mind and subsequently one's actions. The idea of repentance in scripture is not always fully understood, but when Peter preached to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem after Jesus was taken up into heaven following his death, burial, and resurrection, he told them to change their hearts and lives.  The idea of repentance is that of change.  Change is something we all kind of struggle with, ranging from all out determination to not let go of the past to an eager desire to be rid of what weighs us down, but without the wherewithal to actually let go.  The biggest thing we need to recognize about the biblical definition of repentance is this idea of a changed mind.  All change in life begins at the point of our thinking - without a change of mind, we will eventually return to the same conclusions and patterns of action we once pursued.

People who live following their sinful selves think only about what they want. But those who live following the Spirit are thinking about what the Spirit wants them to do. If your thinking is controlled by your sinful self, there is spiritual death. But if your thinking is controlled by the Spirit, there is life and peace. Why is this true? Because anyone whose thinking is controlled by their sinful self is against God. They refuse to obey God’s law. And really they are not able to obey it. Those who are ruled by their sinful selves cannot please God.  (Romans 8:5-8 ERV)

If we haven't figured this one out yet, then maybe we better really spend some time understanding why it is so important for us to have this "change of mind" as it applies to finally being "free" of whatever it is which has been holding us captive.  If we begin to understand what Paul was telling us in the passage above, we will see some important points:

1. When we are determined to do things our way, within the confines of what we can manage to accomplish, self-determined in our course, we are living apart from Christ.  At the point we invite the Spirit of God into our lives, we begin to see a change in our thinking.  If all action begins with thought, and try as we might to argue differently this is exactly where all action begins, then it is not unreasonable to recognize a change in thinking will likely result in a change in action.  Most of us don't change our thinking overnight - this is why we sometimes vacillate a while on decisions - it takes a while for our "emotions" to match our thoughts and then to get our actions following that thought pattern. 

2. Old habits die hard because we don't want to allow a change in our thinking. If repentance is really a change in our thinking, it is possible that repentance is not just a "one time" thing.  In other words, if we don't change our way of thinking as quickly as we can switch on the light with a light switch on the wall, then it is quite possible we might not fully accomplish the change in action which accompanies that change in thought.  It may be entirely possible that repentance begins with the willingness to admit we are desperately "thinking" and therefore "acting" in a wrong manner.  The "act" of repentance may be a one time thing - the results of repentance may take a little longer because they involve a change in our way of thinking about those actions.

3. Thought requires effort.  I believe many of us imagine repentance as some kind of mystical moment in time when we "admit" to our failure and then expect some instant "re-creative" work done by Christ in our lives.  While this is partly true, there is some action on our part which is required beyond our "confession".  We often confuse confession and repentance.  One is the admission of guilt - the other is the walking out of our new way of thinking. We are not "saved" (made right with God) by any of our good deeds.  Scripture is clear on that one, but there is some "effort" on our part as it comes to changing our way of thinking about what we "used to do" and how we "used to think". We can only fully recognize the total transformation of repentance once we understand the mindset change which will drive the new actions which result from the desire to turn away from what has been problematic in our lives.

While salvation doesn't count on our effort, our effort is paramount to repentance.  Repentance is a change in thinking which results in a change in both the type and consistency of our actions.  First the type of actions we take change, then there is this whole idea of consistency.  We have all heard the adage, "If at first you don't succeed, try again."  The reason we may not have succeeded is the type of effort we are applying to the issue at hand.  When I cannot get the jar lid undone I don't throw away the jar!  I get out that rubber mat thing which gives me a little more traction and try again.  If that doesn't work, I bang that jar lid with the handle of a knife to kind of break the seal a little.  If that still doesn't work, I go to someone with more strength than me!  

While life isn't like the jar of pickles which stubbornly remains "untapped" because I cannot remove the lid, there is something in the process we need to understand.  First, I desire the pickles (much like I might desire to be free of past issues).  Second, I am willing to take some effort to get at what I desire (even when that effort may not realize the result I desired at first).  Third, I don't give up on the desire just because their is resistance to my effort.  We cannot give up on living free of our past just because there is resistance in our mind or emotions to the effort.  We may just have to change the "tact" we are using to be free of it!  Lastly, sometimes the jar of pickles is within our ability to "tap into", while other times we need a "helping hand" from someone stronger than us.  Have you ever noticed how easily the lid comes off when the other person actually gets their hands on it?  All our efforts may not have accomplished the full result of getting at the pickles, but they certainly prepared the way for the one with just a little more strength than us to make easy work of the project!  God may just let us struggle a little with the "lids" in our lives to see how determined we are to get at what we desire.  If he does this, it isn't that our confession has been unsuccessful, it is that our minds needed to catch up with our determination and action!  Just sayin!