Monday Morning Devotion-April 25, 2022
What’s on Your Mind?
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6
I’ve recently returned to reading “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. It is an amazing little
book of daily devotions in which the author speaks to the reader through the words and thoughts of Jesus.
Jesus says this: “Let me control your mind. The mind is the most restless, unruly part of mankind. Long after you have learned the discipline of holding your tongue, your thoughts defy your will and set themselves up against Me. Man is the pinnacle of My creation, and the human mind is wondrously complex. I risked all by granting you freedom to think for yourself. This is godlike privilege, forever setting you apart from animals and robots. I made you in My image precariously close to deity.”
Reading from Genesis 1:26-27: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, overall, the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So, God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them.
Stop and think. What is in your mind at this moment? What are you thinking about?
What were you thinking about the moments before you began reading this devotion?
Although you are created in the image of the Almighty Creator, he chose to let you do your own thinking. Obviously, that was a risk. One that He didn’t have to take.
So how do we reward our Heavenly Father in our thinking. He sent His son Jesus to model how we are to live. Through His Word, the Holy Bible, he has given us the ultimate instruction book about life. But that’s as far as it gets; from there on it’s our choice. What we think about can honor the gift of life that He has given us or not.
So how often do we really think about what we are thinking about? An article on the internet entitled; What Are you Thinking About? (faithgateway.com by Zondervan) says: “Too often our thoughts take on a life of their own, wandering freely and sometimes landing in dark places. Our Creator God calls us to be intentional and selective about our thoughts and use them to enrich our relationship with Him. “
Philippians 4:8( NIV) says: 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.
Obviously, we can all improve our thought life. If we make an honest examination of our thinking how many of those could we consider to be “admirable” or “excellent” or “praiseworthy?”
OK so we are not perfect. Nobody is. When we pause to “think about what we are thinking about” is it something that is worthy of our time? Really? When we consider that God knows what we are thinking about even before we think it, (that’s a scary thought) is this something we want to share with Him. If it is something He is calling us to do, then He will enable us to do it.
“When worries, stresses, confusing thoughts, and troubles take over our minds and keep us stressed and sleepless, we can focus on what is ‘admirable,’ ‘excellent,’ or ‘praiseworthy.’”
Did you know that thinking about what you are thinking about is also known as a metacognition? No? Well, you learn something new every day. :) In fact, I learned it just this moment. Looked it up. Wasn’t in two different dictionaries so I did what I usually do, typed it on the internet and learned that metacognition is “an awareness of what you are thinking about” ---in other words just what we have been talking about in this devotion.
One reason it is important to examine what it is going on in your mind i.e., to think about what you are thinking about is that your thoughts can create reality. Learned this on the internet also (www.omaritani.com blog: What you Think)
“(A thought) Triggers an emotion, which then triggers a body reaction and drives us to act in a certain way. This thought pattern creates a mental circuit in our brain, and as we repeat it, it becomes a subconscious behavioral pattern that runs on automation. This is how your thoughts shape your reality.” Sounds just complicated enough to be true, doesn’t it?
“There is a secret that all great historical and present thinkers, philosophers, and high achievers have agreed to be a universal truth: You are what you think.”
Here’s what some famous people think about that:
*English Philosopher James Allen: “As a man thinks, so he is; as he continues to think
so, he remains.”
*Stoic and Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius: “A man’s life is what his thoughts make
of it.”
*Poet/Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson: “A man is what he thinks about all day long.”
*Author Earl Nightingale: “We become what we think about.”
*Mark Twain: “Life consists mainly of the storm of thoughts that is forever flowing
through one’s head.”
Putting all this together the answer is according to Jesus as told by Sarah Young:
“Open yourself to my radiant Presence, letting My Light permeate your thinking. When my Spirit is controlling your mind, you are filled with Life and Peace.”
Then, when you think about what you are thinking about you will be in a good place”
Prayer: Help us to think more about what we are thinking about and make the adjustment needed to be in touch with you. Amen!