But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock. Isaiah 26:3-4 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8
Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Philippians 3:19-21
Lately the Lord has really impressed upon my heart the subject of the mind. I never realized before how crucial this part of our human body is. Aside from our heart the mind is the second largest part of us that generates emotions, desires, passions, and every single other feeling that we live through on a daily basis. This past week as I have been enjoying real free time for the first time in years, and as my churches annual woman's retreat approaches, the state of my mind has been very different. This erected a desire to study and look into the mind more, as I have experienced what a large role the mind plays in the way I feel physically and emotionally.
As I began looking up verses, listening to sermons, and really asking God to reveal to me what it really means to have a mind set and stayed on Him I was amazed. As I began to seek the Lord in this area and really exercise my mind and thought patterns to be focused on things above and His Word I have noticed a drastic change in the way I feel and react to everyday situations. The cry of my heart has been, "Lord keep my mind focused on you today, show me those ways today that you want to use me to bless others and bring glory back to Your Son, make me more aware of opportunities that you place me in the midst of today". I am not going to lie and I know I can speak for most of us that when we try to work on something new in our lives we get all gun ho about it and then get all down on ourselves we we fail and stumble again. This has to be a daily process that is approached every morning day after day. Taking one day at a time, or even smaller then that, one hour at a time to say God focus my mind, fix it back on You. I can say with confidence and guarantee that you will see a difference in your conversations, in your feelings, in your level of stress, and in the decisions you will make.
The blessings, and benefits are endless for a follower of Christ who's mind is fixed on Christ and the heavenly places. We are so easily distracted, caught off guard, and straight consumed with all that life throws at us. Take the time focus your mind, read through the verses above again. You will see a whole new world open up and the things of this world that we so easily tend to blow up in magnitude will shrink back down to the reality of their size when placed next to the things of Christ.
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