Control your Mind

You have control of your attitude.  You choose what kind of day you are going to have.  You choose your life’s course.  Joyce Meyer, you are awesome.   I ordered Joyce Meyer’s Battlefield of the Mind message DVD from Netflix.  We are now ordering it from Amazon because no one, NO ONE, in our house wants to send it back!   That ‘no one’ includes our 14 year old daughter, our 13 year old son, our 12 year old daughter (Happy Birthday Karrie), our 10 year old son (almost 11), my husband, myself, (and our cat Tiger, but he watches anything that is on the TV)!  It is fantastic and every one of you should read it or see it if you haven’t already.

Basically she discusses the fact that our mind is in constant battle.  Our decision to accept Jesus, and live in him, is under continual attack by the devil.  

 Now, I want to give credit to Mrs. Meyer.  I also do not want you to think I am quoting her, because I don’t want to misquote her.  Some are her ideas, some are my thoughts created by her thoughts that were conveyed in her message.  So basically, I am trying to pass on a few things I have learned and relearned from her, focus on a few points, and share that peace with you.

She said that we tend to set ourselves up for a bad day before we even get out of bed.  Think of what goes through your mind before you get out of bed… Some things I catch myself thinking include: I hurt, oh I hurt, I don’t want to exercise but that is the only way to get rid of this pain.  Or, I am so tired.  I wish I didn’t have to go to school today.  Or I start cataloging all the things I need to get done, and think that there is no way I will ever catch up….  Wow, that just sounds great! (sarcastic tone – sarcastic tone).  What kind of things are you poisoning your attitude with?  Take those thoughts captive AND THROW THEM OUT, give them over to God and be rid of them!  2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV) says We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.   (biblegateway.com)

I recalled a turning point in my life from several years ago, a starting point.  I had made plans for 4^th of July, I was excited, I had my kids excited, then the plans were ruined.  I made the choice (a very good choice actually) but I (we all) were still disappointed.  I thought “now my day will be awful, I’m just going to be sad and end up pouting all day.”  Then it occurred to me, “No I will not!  There is no reason for that!  I can control what kind of day we all have, we will do something else and we will have fun doing it, now plaster on a smile, get the kids, and have fun!”  It was a conscious choice to have fun, my choice – I had taken my thoughts captive without even knowing what that meant.  And you know what – God blessed it!  We had a fantastic day!  We made so many cherished memories that day!

Last night, we sat down to supper (yes I am sorry, we were in front of the TV, everyone wanted to finish the Joyce Meyer DVD) and my youngest began to pout because one of his grilled cheese slices had ended up on his sister’s plate.  You’d have thought the world would end, he began to pout and whine – I said “hey” and pointed to the TV… at that very moment Mrs. Meyer said “Jesus did not die for you so you could sit around and cry and whine!”  WOW!!!!!!!!! He instantly started to laugh, we all started to laugh!  We backed up the DVD and watched that bit again.  God is Good, God is here with us, listening, all the time!

Every negative thought that pulls you down is Satan working on you!  Don’t let him in!  And don’t beat yourself up about times you have let him in, because that is him getting BACK in!  Let go, and let God!  Pray and accept peace!  I have not even begun to scrape the surface of what that DVD brought to my attention!  Please go find it, Netflix if you have it, or Amazon if you don’t…

Phillipeans 4:13

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Don't Hide Under the Covers

Ellie’s eyes popped open.  What was that?  Her heart started thumping rapidly in her chest.  She pulled her covers over her head slowly, gently, with great care, so that whatever had made the noise would not see her.  Once safe under the light summer quilt, she reached around until her hand sunk into a soft squishy object.  There he was.  She pulled her special Teddy close to her chest under the covers and strained her ears for another sound.  Bump, thump, screech.  It found her!  There covers flew as Ellie lost all secrecy and tore from her little bed, Teddy trailing right along, dangling by his right back paw as Ellie’s feet flew down the hallway to her parents room.

“Daddy, Daddy” she called as she skidded to a stop on the braided rug that lay next to her parent’s bed.  “Daddy, help me, something’s trying to come in my window!”  The Daddy in question pried his eyes open a crack.

“It’s just the tree Ellie.”  As sleep left him, and Ellie’s fear did not, he pulled her close and explained further.  “Remember, the big oak tree behind the house, when the wind blows hard enough the branches hit your window.”

“The tree Daddy?”

“Yes, just the tree, nothing to be afraid of.”

Ellie nestled into her father’s embrace, her heart returning to its normal rhythm.

“I’m glad you came to find me sweetie; you can always come to me when you are afraid, and for any other reason.”

“Thank you Daddy.” Ellie murmured as she drifted back into peace in her father’s trustworthy arms…

Who do you relate to in that little story?  Little Ellie, or the parent?  I have many memories like that.  I had a lot of nightmares as a child, enough that I was often afraid to go to sleep at night and would keep myself awake as long as I possibly could.  I remember running to my parents room many times.  Sometimes I wouldn’t even wake them up, I would just sit on the floor by their bed, feeling safe in their presence.

I also relate to the parents.  With four kids I have experienced the nighttime and tuck in time fears frequently, and have had to be the fear chaser.  I do my best to empower my kids.  I tell them to pray, take their fear to God, and repeat scripture verses.

Look over Ellie’s story again.  Change Ellie to you, and her father to God, and her fears to your fears.  That’s how it works!  We have a fear, we run to God in prayer, share it with him, crawl him into his arms, and accept his peace.

At least, that’s the way God intends it to work.  And you know what, he WILL NEVER say, “oh just go back to bed!”.  He is always there for us!  Sometimes we tend to get in the way of the process.  Sometimes we stay huddled under the covers trying to deal with the fear ourselves.  We may think God doesn’t care about the little things and would just tell us to “Just go back to bed!” (as we are prone to do).  We may thing that God isn’t listening, or ‘my problems are not important enough’…  Well, pick up you ‘Shield of Faith’ (Ephesians 6:16) and turn away those fiery arrows of Satan!  Pray!  Give the fear to God!  And have peace!

1 Timothy 1:7   For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self – discipline.

Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up in my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 41:13

For I hold you by your right hand

– I, the Lord your God.

  And I say to you,

 “Don’t be afraid.

I am here to help you.”

The Secret

Isaiah 40:31 Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Those who trust in the Lord do have a special secret.  It really isn’t a secret at all.  It is brought up repeatedly in the bible.  It is peace.  Do you know anyone who glides through life, always happy, always at peace… I am assuming they have a great trust in the Lord.

We watched Left Behind as a family the other day.  My youngest, who is 10, was rather scared by it, until we talked it out.  I think it was a real turning point for him.  He has always loved the Lord, but when he saw people disappearing in the rapture and others being left behind – it shook him up.  We discussed the importance of being ready, that there will be no warning, it could be minutes or hundreds of years…  He is determined to be ready – no one but the Lord knows if there will be second chances or if it will happen before or after the years of tribulation.  During this discussion of the years of tribulation he was concerned about how terrible things will be.   I pointed out to him that the most important thing is to keep Jesus in your heart at all times, constantly repent if you slip, and that God knows your true heart – so you must keep your focus on him and be ready.  I also pointed out that there would be a time where anyone who did not put aside God would be killed.  I reminded him that he must NOT turn away from God, or even pretend to, even if it meant death – because if you die in that situation you will then be freed from the horror of earth and welcomed into heaven!  Death holds no power to those who trust in the Lord!  1 Corinthians 15:56  For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.  But thank God!  He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Matthew 11:28 - 30  Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Philippians 4:6-7  Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

This peace, God’s peace, the peace that ‘surpasses all human understanding’ is available to those who have faith, those who give their burdens to God and trust in God’s plan.  All those things that take up our time and thoughts, the things that cause us stress and worry – most of those things will just be memories a year from now, sometimes even a day or week from now…  Don’t waste the time God has given you here on earth in stress and worry, it isn’t worth it.  Just give it over to God, and accept his peace.   Serve the Lord with gladness!  I have found this week that if I do not whine about being overwhelmed or too busy, that the negativity has no place in my life.  I also have broken out the coffee and am determined to do the work that God has given me.  I am putting my writing first.  I do have stuff to do for school, but it is not as important as my bible devotion and writing time.  I need God, I need this time with him, I need his peace!  I will entrust the worries to God and take up his peace.  The work will not just disappear, but it won’t overwhelm me anymore!  God is good!  

Jeremiah 17:7 “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. 

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

or worried by the long months of drought. 

Their leaves stay green,

and they never stop producing fruit.”

Thank you Lord for giving us peace and life, thank you for the opportunities you give us to teach our children about you and ready their heart for heaven.  It is the most important job you have entrusted us with!

Thank you Father!!!