Good Thoughts
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3
When you are pouring a gallon jug of water into a larger container, you get that “glug glug glug” effect as the water leaves the narrow neck of the gallon jug. That happens because water and air are colliding in the neck of the jug. Water is leaving and air is rushing in to fill the empty space.
Our minds are like that gallon jug; they have to be filled with something. The more we fill our mind with godly thoughts, the less room there will be for ungodly thoughts. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, when our minds are focused on God we will be at peace (Isaiah 26:3). There will be no room for its opposite—worry and anxiety. The apostle Paul went further with a list of things to meditate on: things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8-9). That’s an expansive list—lots of things to choose from; lots of ways to remain free of worry.
Empty your mind of negative, ungodly thinking and let the good and godly thoughts rush in. There is no better source for good thoughts than the Word of God.
When anger enters the mind, wisdom departs. Thomas à Kempis
The Devotion of Hearing
Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says. I show God my lack of love and respect for Him by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, “You are My friends…” (John 15:14). Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it. But most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have spoken to us.
The goal of my spiritual life is such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me (see John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is my attention to other things. It is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted in the right areas of my life. I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions. God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. The attitude of a child of God should always be, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I become deaf to Him because my attention is to other things— things which I think I must do. This is not living the life of a child of God. Have you heard God’s voice today?
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus. We have to learn to abide in Him wherever we are placed. Our Brilliant Heritage, 946 R
Max Lucado – Anxious For Nothing