Monday Morning Devotion-January 21, 2019
It's All in Your Mind
O Lord you have searched me, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139:1-2
Ever said something to another person, maybe it was a bright idea you were proud of and got this response "Aw that's all in your mind." In other words, they are saying you are dreaming because that will never work. How deflating is that?
You don't know whether to argue with them, break off your friendship or agree and drop the whole idea. Well, it's true that the things we do and say start in our mind before we ever take action or decide not to act. And of course, a multitude of thoughts are passing through our mind all the time.
Sarah Young writes: "People often consider thoughts fleeting and worthless but to Jesus they are precious, and He reads each one." Whoa! That's cool or maybe it's scary. While no one else knows all the things you are thinking Jesus does.
In Young's devotion she points out that you can interact with people while keeping your thoughts secret, but not with the Lord. Now the important thing about what Young says is:" Our mind is a battleground in which evil spirits work tirelessly to influence our thinking, so we need to stay alert and fight against these evil thoughts."
A fellow by the name of Anonymous once said: "Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind."
The important thing about changing our mind is that it results in changing our attitude. Joyce Meyer, Pastor and author of tons of best sellers, says that "attitude is the little thing that makes a big difference."
In her book: "12 Strategies to win the Battle of the Mind" she points out the key to being able to make that change of attitude is do as airplane pilots do. "They must maintain contact with air traffic control towers and we must stay in touch with God---the one who sees the big picture of our lives and orchestrates everything that involves us."
Meyer points out that worry and anxiety do change us and make us sick and grouchy. She said, "a medical researcher told me that 87% of all illness is connected to wrong thought patterns."
Meyer says that we need to "stop worrying and give your concerns to God and live in grace. Grace isn't just divine favor; it's power!" Then she added: "Begin to weave and God will provide the thread."
In the book "Christian Believer: Knowing God with Heart and Mind" Georgia Harkness points out that we serve a personal God. She writes: "Only a personal God can know or care what happens to a person. A deity believed to be an impersonal force cannot be personally concerned with individuals…. such a God cannot be prayed to or trusted to give providential guidance."
But Harkness points out that "the roots of the Christian Believer lie in the conviction that the God who guides the stars and atoms in their course also guides and cares for you and me." This is the God we turn to for help when our mind is cluttered with worrisome thoughts and we don't know which way to turn. "We don't deny the existence of difficulty. It means we believe God is greater than our difficulties. Believing in God can cause us to win any battle we face. (Meyer)
Sarah Young in "Jesus Today" offers this helpful advice for dealing with those "all in your mind" things: "Jesus says, 'Make me your Default Focus. Try to become conscious of what you think about when your mind is at rest. Many people's minds gravitate toward worries, work plans, food, pleasure seeking. Some of these thoughts are useful, while others are not. Most people are not very aware of their thoughts during their "down times," but I am aware of them. I want you to train your mind to turn toward me more and more."
"Training your mind to make Me your default Focus is not easy. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you in this challenging endeavor and He will. Be prepared to cooperate with Him. You need to spend some time in quietness---away from the television, the radio and other distracting noise. Communicate with me throughout the day."
"Using a short prayer such as 'Jesus, draw me close to You,' can help you return your focus to Me time after time. Also, it is vital to saturate your mind with Scripture, which is all about me."
Young concludes the message from Jesus: "As you practice these disciplines, you will gradually be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
With Jesus as the Default Focus those things that are "all in your mind" will become, instead of simply dreams, the powerful actions of a transformed mind.
Prayer: Help us Jesus to make you the Default Focus of our daily living. Amen!