Day 3
Loving
God with all your mind
“Finally,
brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is
right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if
there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell
on these things.” Philippians 4:8
“And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
“…and
we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” 2 Corinthians 10:5b
Have
you ever gotten a song or jingle stuck in your head that you can’t seem to
forget? I certainly have. Our minds naturally soak up everything around
us and our spirits similarly soak up what we hear and see. It is where sin starts in us. David saw Bathsheba on the rooftop and he
inquired about her. Then his actions
followed. The seed of sin was first sown
in David’s mind just as it is sown in ours.
That is why God told us over and over through his word to take our
thoughts captive to Christ and to fill our minds with what is good and
excellent and true and pure. God will
not bring our thoughts into the captivity of Christ, we must do it!
We
have available what the world does not until they come to Him – freedom from
sin! “If the Son makes you free, you
shall be free indeed” John 8:36. We have
a choice to “set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on
earth.” Colossians 3:2.
Let’s
stop being a slave to our old selves.
How do we bring our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ? First, confess your sin and thoughts to
God. Be specific. Pour out your heart to God. Ask Him to not let you love the world or the
things of the world but to help you set your mind on the things above. Ask Him to show you where you need to cut
things out of your life that are not excellent and pure. Second, intentionally fill your mind with
what is good. When you are watching,
reading or listening to something, ask yourself: Is this true, honorable, right, pure, lovely,
excellent and worthy of praise? Also,
practice listening for the conviction or prompting of the Holy Spirit. If we do these things long enough, they will
become habits and we will easily and quickly discern what is excellent and be
sensitive to the Spirit. Finally, what
is more pure and excellent than the Bible?
Memorize scripture. Try a whole
chapter. You will find your mind
reflecting on what you’re memorizing even when you are sleeping. Read His word
daily.
I
once told someone that sometimes when I read the Bible, I find myself shutting
it and not remembering what I just read.
He said to me, “How much water does a sieve hold when you run water in
it?” I said, “Nothing.” He replied, “But
the sieve is clean.”
What
does God promise if we do this? “The
things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these
things; and the God of peace shall be with you.” Philippians 4:9.
God
does not require us to obey. He tells us
what we ought to do and we choose to obey.
As Oswald Chambers also says in his book My Utmost for His Highest, “My personal life may be crowded with
small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly
random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face
of God.” Keep filling your mind with
what is good. Keep obeying. Keep choosing freedom and you will be free to
the very core of your soul.
What
are some of the unhealthy thoughts that you need to confess to the Lord?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What are some ways you can fill your mind with what is
good?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a
prayer to God.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment