Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever thingsare just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9
The mind is a powerful thing. When it is being led by God it can produce such good things. And when it being led by anything other than God it can lead us down paths that we never dreamed we would go down. I know I'm not the first person in history to look back a path I've gone down at one point in my life and think "how did I get here?". I got there because I let my mind go there first, then my life followed. What we allow our minds to meditate on is what our lives will reflect. We can sometimes put up a pretty good show for everyone around us, but when our thoughts are not in alignment with God it will eventually show. He is the one being we can not hide our thoughts from. And in love He will send the Holy Spirit to correct and direct us, but He will not force anything on us. If we don't allow room for correction and direction then He will lovingly take His hands off and let you take control of your own life. And one of the most dangerous places we can ever be is when we think that we can do better by controlling our life instead of surrendering control to Him.
To meditate on something is simply to think deeply about it. And if you are truly honest with yourself, then you already know when you are meditating on the wrong things, and when you are meditating on the right things. We hear a lot about how we have to have the things in our life in the right priority, but I would challenge you to start that in your thoughts first. When you are not even meditating on things in the right priority, then you certainly will not have them in the right priority in your natural life. The fruit our lives produce starts by the thoughts our minds produce. And according to Matthew 12:33, our lives are going to produce the kind of fruit that represents where we really are with Jesus. I promise you that when you are spending time with Him in your secret place, filling your minds with the things from God's Word, chasing after His will for you life...then the thoughts that come from that will produce a life full of Godly fruit.
Even Jesus had to step away from the scene and spend alone time with God to keep His mind focused on the task before Him. If Jesus, the Son of God, had to do this, then we must realize how much more important it is for us. And when the enemy came to attack Jesus during His 40 day fast what did He try to do...he tried to tempt Jesus by challenging Him in His thoughts. And Jesus battled this by having a mind full of scripture that He was able to throw right back at satan. Jesus had a mind that was prepared for the moment. And He obtained this by meditating on it ahead of time...making Him ready on the day of battle. (Matthew 4:1-11)
It is never to late for change. As long as you still have a breath in your lungs it's never to late to come to God for the first time, or come back to God again. It starts with a prayer of surrender and a transformation of the mind. (Romans 12:12) He desires us to surrender our heart and our mind to Him. He knows it will take both to really live a life for Him. Romans 8:6 says "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace". Today, choose peace and defeat the enemy that battles for your thoughts. Through Christ is can be done!
God, thank You that You help us with anything and everything we bring to You. Today, please help those battle their thoughts. Holy Spirit give them the strength needed to overcome and seek the things that will produce good fruit in their lives. And let all of those who have overcome share their stories to increase the faith of those who need to hear it. In Jesus name, Amen
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