Tag: MindOfChrist

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Empty the Trash

I spent a portion of my morning quiet time emptying the trash on my computer. It felt good to see unwanted, unneeded emails and contacts disappear. The clutter was gone, mostly.

It made me think…one of the best ways to have a grateful heart is to empty the trash. The garbage of bitterness, resentment, criticism and insults can stink up our lives and ruin our peace of mind.

“ We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 4 The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, 5 and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” II Corinthians 10:3-5 ERV

Cruel words, defamation, betrayal, condemnation, deceit all need to be placed in the trash bin and deleted permanently. We can do that through the weapons that God gives us.

We have been given the shield of faith and the sword of God’s Spirit, which is the word of God.

Get up each morning and thank God for a mind that is focused on Him and His way of thinking.

“You will keep the man in perfect peace whose mind is kept on You, because he trusts in You.” Isaiah 26:3 NLV

Thank Him for how He sees you.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. He chose us in love to be his holy people—people who could stand before him without any fault. 5 And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. 6 And this brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely. He gave us that grace in Christ, the one he loves.” Ephesians 1:3-6 ERV

I remember hearing one cowboy preacher say over and over again, “Get rid of stinkin’ thinkin'”. Anything that goes contrary to God’s word stinks. The Apostle Paul put it like this.

“ Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. 9 And do what you learned and received from me—what I told you and what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you.” Philippians 2:8-9 ERV

It’s hard to sit down and enjoy a meal of God’s goodness and love when there’s trash cluttering up our minds.

“Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, Lord, because you are my mighty rock and my protector.” Psalm 19:14 CEV

Empty the trash – hit the delete button and let gratitude for all God has done fill your thoughts!

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Keep Us From Falling

This morning, I woke up thinking about mountain goats. Strange right?

I’ve seen them on our trips through Glacier National Park and other places in Montana. They are majestic animals and their ability to scale the mountainside is unparalleled.

How do they keep from falling?

It’s a question we should ask ourselves from a spiritual point of view. Falling for deception, falling into complacency. Falling into routine. Falling away from our First Love.

“ God is strong and can keep you from falling. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and give you great joy. 25 He is the only God, the one who saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.” Jude 1:24-25 ERV

God created each of us with a free will. We are free to choose whether we follow Christ or not. No one will be in heaven who was forced to be there against their will. But we must all yield our will to the Father so that we honor Him and live the best life that He has planned for us.

“ Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.” Romans 12:2 ERV

If we let Him, God will change our desires and our way of thinking to conform to what He knows is right and true.

“ Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected. 9 And do what you learned and received from me—what I told you and what you saw me do. And the God who gives peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9 ERV

When Jesus encountered people – those who needed physical healing, deliverance, forgiveness, those who needed the Father’s love, He would often say to them “Go your way and sin no more”. In other words, go on your way, changed by the power of God and change your lifestyle to honor Him.

“The love of Christ controls us, because we know that one person died for everyone. So all have died. 15 He died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from death so that they would live for him. 16 From this time on we don’t think of anyone as the world thinks of people. It is true that in the past we thought of Christ as the world thinks. But we don’t think that way now. 17 When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!” II Corinthians 5:14-17 ERV

Many times, I pray. “Father, forgive me for doing that again. I am truly sorry, I give you my will. I desire to do those things that please you. You have made me new”.

Repentance is the conviction of the Holy Spirit, reminding us that we were created for better things in Christ.

Let me leave you with these thoughts:

“God is the one who gives me strength. He clears the path I need to take. 33 He makes my feet as steady as those of a deer. Even on steep mountains he keeps me from falling.” Psalm 18:32-33 ERV

“Lord, you be the judge and prove that I have lived a pure life. I have depended on you, Lord, to keep me from falling.” Psalm 26:1 ERV

God created the mountain goat to be able to scale rocky mountain sides. He is more than able to keep us from falling when we submit our will to Him!

Be thankful for steady feet.

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Thoughts of Peace

Yesterday morning we talked about decluttering our thoughts. It really is freeing to let go of the worries, the what-ifs, the constant bombardment of unsolicited thought and focus on what the Spirit of God is teaching us.

“We who have the Spirit are able to make judgments about all these things. But anyone without the Spirit is not able to make proper judgments about us. 16 As the Scriptures say,

‘Who can know what is on the Lord’s mind? Who is able to give him advice?’

But we have been given Christ’s way of thinking.” I Corinthians 2:15-16 ERV

The Apostle Paul was continually instructing the new Christians on how to have a renewed mind. He wanted them to have their thinking conforming to God’s word and in turn he knew it would transform their lives.

“ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:3-11 NLT

To be like Christ we need humility. We let God’s word and will be done in our lives. Learning to serve and care for others, knowing that God, Himself, is committed to caring for us.

“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45 NLT

Our hearts are the treasury of God’s love, and we can make daily deposits into our account by what we think and by following through with corresponding actions.

“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. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9 NLT

We choose to think on the good things, the things that are godly and pure. We capture thoughts that go contrary to God’s word. When we do, we have peace, God’s abiding peace!

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Stinkin’ Thinkin’

In my Bible reading yesterday morning I was reminded of a message I heard a cowboy preacher give years ago.

No More Stickin’ Thinkin’

“Look at those people! They say good is bad and bad is good. They think light is dark and dark is light. They think sour is sweet and sweet is sour. 21 They think they are so smart. They think they are very intelligent.” Isaiah 5:20-21 ERV

So many conflicts could be resolved if we took the time to consider what God considers right and wrong. His standard has never changed. All-to-often we become convinced that we are right and others are wrong putting them on the defensive and us on the attack.

It’s important to realize when we have made a mistake and apologize. First, repent to the Lord for not seeking His advice and/or not listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Then just as important it’s necessary to apologize to those around us, admitting fault and not offering excuses.

Then trust the Lord to heal and repair the situation.

I am so glad that the Lord doesn’t abandon me to my ignorance or disassociate with me because of my mistakes.

The world, our world, tries on a daily basis to skew our thoughts to a natural way of thinking. It tries to persuade us that right is wrong and wrong is right; that good is evil and evil is good. We are bombarded to “think for ourselves, don’t be brainwashed or old fashioned, the world is changing and we must be progressive”.

However, God’s word tells us that heaven and earth will pass away but God’s word will never pass away. We are told not to change God’s word and that when push comes to shove we “let God be true and every man a liar”.

Trusting God’s word is invaluable! Don’t be swayed to adopt other thinking.

“Don’t ever let love and loyalty leave you. Tie them around your neck, and write them on your heart. 4 Then God will be pleased and think well of you and so will everyone else.

5 Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. 6 With every step you take, think about what he wants, and he will help you go the right way. 7 Don’t trust in your own wisdom, but fear and respect the Lord and stay away from evil. ” Proverbs 3:3-7 ERV

When I think of “stinkin thinkin” I think of the thief on the cross. Three men were crucified the day Jesus was. One of them tried to cast dispersions on Jesus – “what kind of Savior are you? You can’t even save yourself”. There was a jeering in his voice; he was defensive and condemning, his thinking was all wrong.

The second thief rebuked him for his words. He pointed out that they were guilty of their crimes but Jesus was guiltless. In all humility, he recognized his sin and failings and he repented. To that man Jesus granted forgiveness and compassion. “Today you will be with me in paradise”.

Each decision we make should be guided by love. When we hear that little inner voice saying “you really shouldn’t be doing that or saying that” we need to listen. Replace stinkin thinkin with compassionate contemplation.

What decisions do you need to make today? Trust the Lord not yourself; if you’re uncertain as what to do or say, seek the answer in God’s word. It will never steer you wrong.

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New Thinking

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I shared the story of Mary and Martha with you? Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the “one thing” that was most important, listening to His teaching.

Each word that Jesus spoke, each word that was recorded, each word that is written in the Bible is for our instruction and benefit.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” II Timothy 3:16 NLT

Jesus was teaching a large group of disciples and He told them that He was the bread of life. They thought Jesus was teaching cannibalism and instead of asking Him to explain further they got offended and walked away. Jesus asked His apostles if they were going to leave as well.

“ The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life…66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:63-69 NLT

It would be easy to criticize those that walked away if it weren’t for one thing. I too have been offended at times by things I read in God’s word. Things like “judge not” or “how many times do I forgive, 70 x 7”. In my selfishness and hurt I have gone to the Scriptures to find justification for my actions and instead find correction – don’t gossip, forgive…again, be patient, love your enemies, be generous, don’t harbor grudges.

Sometimes we have to let God’s word simmer for a while. You know what I mean?

When I read a verse or a group of verses I don’t quite understand or that are pointing out an area of correction that I’m not quite willing to deal with, I let them sit in my heart and mind. I ask the Lord to give me understanding and insight and a desire to change. I want to be willing to let His word work the change in my heart that He desires.

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had…13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:3-5,13 NLT

Focus on one thing today – thinking like Jesus! I can guarantee life will be fuller and more rewarding than ever before; it won’t be easy but it will be worth it!

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