Where is your Mind?

Where is your Mind?

by David Brenneman 

Where does your mind wander to?  To what in your world gets your undivided attention when you are at work or at rest?

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.  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 comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.   The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:4-9.

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." Colossians 3:2-4.

There's things in a song performed by Alan Jackson that have had me thinking.  The song is "The Older I Get".

"The older I get

The more I think

You only get a minute, better live while you're in it

'Cause it's gone in a blink

And the older I get

The truer it is

It's the people you love, not the money and stuff

That makes you rich

And if they found a fountain of youth

I wouldn't drink a drop and that's the truth

Funny how it feels I'm just getting to my best years yet

The older I get

The fewer friends I have

But you don't need a lot when the ones that you got

Have always got your back

And the older I get

The better I am

At knowing when to give

And when to just not give a damn

And if they found a fountain of youth

I wouldn't drink a drop and that's the truth

Funny how it feels I'm just getting to my best years yet

The older I get

And I don't mind all the lines

From all the times I've laughed and cried

Souvenirs and little signs of the life I've lived

The older I get

The longer I pray

I don't know why, I guess that I've

Got more to say

And the older I get

The more thankful I feel

For the life I've had and all the life I'm living still"

Satan's schemes, his tactics, are imminently laced with succulent temptations crafted over the centuries to sway the hearts of mankind away from the Living God and towards himself.  

There's no person who's ever lived who isn't facing temptation. 

Everything from being tempted to rage to being tempted to love that which they should not.  Tempted to empathize in situations where it's not called for according to the Word of God.  To want what isn't ours to have.  To do what must not be done or to not do what is right in the sight of God to be doing.  To find things, places and or people to keep us from the righteous life that God desires for us.  To do, say or cause us to think in inappropriate Spiritual ways. 

In these things he and his minions are relentless.  Satan accuses the Believer's in this world daily before Jesus.  

He constantly seeks permission to go after you and all you hold dear.  

He constantly seeks permission to claim people because people are whom Jesus died for. 

Oh the distractions of the mind. 

The futility of the mind when it is not set on the things of God.   

The older I get the more common sense that I see in the lessons of the Disciples in the Gospels that I missed many decades ago when I first came to Christ for salvation. 

The more I now see that the things that I craved and participated in corrupted me instead of grew me in Christ.  

There's the chains that Satan seeks to use with us and those we create ourselves.  

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:34.

Objectively enter your home as if it wasn't yours.  What is your impression of what the occupants hold dear?  

Objectively enter your bedroom and do the same.  What insights do you gain?

Objectively look at the place as a whole...what's on the walls, in each room, the closet and the clothes in there and the dresser?

Idolatry isn't dead.  It is way way more prevalent than it ever has been.  It's disguised and hidden among everything in our lives.  

Taking what was once holy and giving it to others or to other things. 

Where does your mind go?  Where do you find yourself true happiness?  

Are you spending even half as much time with Jesus as He did with His Father?  

My Dear Reader...how much of your heart really gets Jesus's attention?

Where does your feelings go when you think of spending alone time with Jesus?

"but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:28-30.

A right relationship with Jesus is at the core of a real relationship with Jesus.   

Jesus said that there will be many people whom He tells to depart from Me for I never knew you. 

The older I get the less I want of this world and the more I now look forward to in learning from the Holy Spirit about my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.   

Jesus said there would be many people who will claim to have done all kinds of things in His Name whom never were saved.  The Scriptures teach us to be sure of your salvation.  Be sure it's real...then to live it out. 

Where does your mind wander to when it's not on the tasks at hand? 

Do you start your day in prayer?

Do you go through your day without praying at all?  Do you only pray when you are in trouble?  If so, you're already in trouble. 

How deep, how far, how rich is your walk with Jesus?  How much of your world has stolen away from it that belongs to God?

Where does your mind go?  

Who's the center of your life?

In growing up and throughout my life I have often been asked in many ways "What were you thinking?!?". 

My Dear Reader...ask yourself that very question while there's still time to start getting your real priorities in order before Jesus with whom we have to do. 

All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.