SETTING THE THERMOSTAT

“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)

John Milton wrote in his epic poem “Paradise Lost” that “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

Setting your mind is like setting a thermostat.  It is creating a target for the climate.  Once you set a thermostat, the heating and air-conditioning will have to adjust in relation to the weather.  It is a constant process, but the goal is for the system to create a life-giving climate.  So too it is with our minds.  Many people try to tell themselves to stop thinking negative thoughts -- which immediately brings to mind the very thoughts they are supposed to stop thinking.

“Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Romans 8:5)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.”  (Philippians 4:8)

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be” 

#6301

TRANSFORMING THE WAY WE THINK

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  (Romans 12:2 NLT)

To be seasoned as a Christian is to have the values of Jesus Christ seep all the way through us. No longer an external authority or set of rules, they have been internalized and personalized. They have become us. To describe this transformation of our ways of feeling and sensing is to say that we have been “Christianized.” Here the word does not refer to the event of formal entrance into the Church; it refers to the inner shaping of our emotions and judgments.

This process of being seasoned must be ongoing in our lives, since we are never fully and finally matured. But the result of this process is that our instincts become trustworthy. Never infallible, our feelings nonetheless become, in time, reliable. The mature Christian is one whose sense -- about when to express anger, about how to show affection, about who is my “neighbor” -- can be trusted. Shaped and seasoned by Christian values, our intuition becomes dependable. Our feelings are transformed so that we experience them neither as alien nor as simply unpredictable. They become positive resources in our life, part of an inner authority whose movement we can trust. We mature in our faith life, then, as we learn to consult and trust the authority of our seasoned senses.   

-- Evelyn E. Whitehead and James D. Whitehead in “Seasons of Strength: New Visions of Adult Christian Maturing”

#5592

THE WOLVES WITHIN

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.”  (Philippians 4:8 NIV)

An old grandfather said to his grandson who came in to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story:"

"I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do; but hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like drinking a poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm.  He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended.  He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.  But… the other wolf… Ah! The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper.  He fights everyone, all of the time, for no reason.  He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great.  It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which one wins, Grandfather?"

The grandfather smiled and quietly said, "The one I feed." 

-- The story of two wolves is a classic fable that is credited to the Cherokee or Lenape people. It is also known as “Which Wolf Do You Feed?”

#5464

A DEADLY MYTH DEFUSED - Part 1

I want to destroy a deadly myth. One so subtle that it hardly seems dangerous. But one so lethal it would delude our faith and damage our walk with Christ. What is that deadly myth? “He’s so heavenly minded, he’s no earthly good.” Don’t you believe it.

Just the opposite is true. We must be heavenly minded if we are to be any earthly good. Heaven must impact our lives today. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2 NIV)

We must reorient our thinking and refocus our hearts toward Heaven. Ever decision we make must be in the light of eternity. Every investment of our lives must be made from the perspective of Heaven. In the midst of hectic schedules and fast-paced lifestyles, we must choose to preoccupy ourselves with the unseen world above where Christ is enthroned as Lord over all.

Let us live for the world to come, not for this present age. Let us live for what is timeless, not temporal. Let us live for the spiritual, not the earthly. Let us live for the invisible, not the visible.

There is a restless longing in every person’s heart. God has placed eternity within us (Ecclesiastes 3:11) -- a strong desire for the world to come. Whether we realize it or not, our souls long for a place called Heaven. This yearning for our home above calls us to live radically different from the ways of the world. 

-- Adapted from Steven J. Lawson in “Heaven Help Us!: Truths About Eternity That Will Help You Live Today”

#5358

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’… For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:31-33 NKJV)

G. Campbell Morgan expressed how this kind of guided thinking brings freedom from anxiety. “The supreme passion of all our days, in all our ways, is to be a person for the kingdom of God. That is not some far off reality or event, but something already existing, in which and with which we are to seek right relationships. The passion of life is to be a passion for the kingdom of God, and the measure to which we obey this injunction (to seek first the kingdom), is the measure in which we pass into the realm of unruffled peace and rest and calm.” 

-- Lloyd J. Ogilvie in “If God Cares, Why Do I Still Have Problems?”

#4958

WATCH WHERE YOUR FEET TAKE YOU

“…I will show you my faith by my deeds.”  (James 2:18b NIV)

Actions speak louder than words in the spiritual world... Jesus tells a parable about a man with two sons. He asks the first to do something for him. He asks the second to do the same. The first son says he won't do it, but then later does. The second son say he will do it, and then later on does not.

There are many reasons why doing is more important than saying. One is because of the very nature of words themselves. Words can be tricky. It's possible to misunderstand them...

Another reason that doing is more important than saying is because it's possible to say all sorts of stuff and really not mean it...

Frederick Buechner once said that if you want to know who you are, as opposed to who you like to think you are, watch where your feet take you. I think he said this because he knows this same truth: the feet don't lie about who we are, because the feet are involved in what we do, not just what we say.

Watch where your feet take you. Take some time to assess not just who you say that you are, but also who you are through what you do. Maybe it's time to recommit your life to not just saying for Christ, but also doing for Christ as well?

-- Copyright Eric Folkerth 1999. All Rights Reserved. (Used with Permission)

#4255

THINKING LIKE A SERVANT

“The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world -- just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.”  (Colossians 1:6b-8 NIV)

One of the prerequisites for being a servant of God is to think like a servant.  This would be fine if it wasn't so hard.  We are all naturally wired to think only of ourselves.

Learning to give preference to others is one of the true marks of a Christian because it is so contrary to human nature.  That's why desiring it comes from God, and doing it comes through the Holy Spirit…

Thinking like a servant doesn't automatically make you one, but it goes a long way toward getting you there.  If you are thinking like a servant, you are noticing others; and the more you are aware of others, the more the Holy Spirit can use you in reaching out to them.  All this increases the opportunity for the gospel; people are simply not used to being served...

Ask God to help you think like a servant today, and who knows?  Maybe you'll get a chance to be one.

-- John Fischer in THE PURPOSE-DRIVEN® LIFE Daily Devotional, September 2, 2004


#4232

FEEDING YOUR MIND

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me -- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”  (Philippians 4:8-10 NIV)

You are the books you read, the movies you watch, the music you listen to, the people you spend time with, the conversations you engage in. Choose wisely what you feed your mind.

-- Author Unknown

#4227

THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT

“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 10:5b NIV)

One of the greatest revelations of my life is: I can choose my thoughts and think things on purpose. In other words, I don’t have to just think about whatever falls into my mind. This was a life-changing revelation for me because as Proverbs 23:7 (AMP) says, “As [a person] thinks in his heart, so is he.” I like to say it like this: Where the mind goes, the [person] follows.

Now God is concerned about the hidden [person] of the heart, which is our inner life. Our inner life is what we think about. And like the scripture above says, the way we think determines how we live and who we are. That’s why we need to think about what we’re thinking about.

It’s so important for us to understand this because if we don’t learn how to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:4-5), we won’t live the life Jesus died to give us – a life of peace with God, peace with ourselves, great relationships, real joy and the ability to become all God has created us to be. It comes down to choosing to believe what God says (the truth) more than we believe our feelings, what other people say or our circumstances.

-- Joyce Meyer, from her Everyday Answers blog


#4223

THE SPIRIT-CONTROLLED MIND

As I monitor my mind, I will encounter many thoughts that are unwelcome visitors:  I get anxious.  I catastrophize.  I envy.  But I will also begin to recognize what kind of thoughts the Spirit flows in.  The apostle Paul gives us a great framework for understanding which are the thoughts and attitudes that come from the Spirit.  He writes, “The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

Take any thought, especially thoughts that feel weighty or that you find yourself turning over and over in your mind, and ask, What direction do those thoughts lead me in?  Are they leading me toward life -- toward God’s best version of me?  Or in the other direction?

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be”

#4218

SEIZING THE MOMENT

It is hard to explain what God’s Spirit does for me and to me as I experience what otherwise might be mundane experiences and encounters. Somehow He creates within me a sensitivity to the wonders lurking within the ordinary people and things around me that some phenomenologists would call “mindfulness.” He makes me hyperaware of the radiant blessings (I can’t think of another word) that are everywhere around us, literally waiting to be acknowledged and enjoyed. Because of His indwelling presence I am truly able to “seize the day.”

-- Tony Campolo in “Why I Left, Why I Stayed”


#4184

LEARN TO MONITOR YOUR MIND

Our thought patterns become as habitual as brushing our teeth.  After a while we don’t even think about them.  We get so used to bitter thoughts or anxious thoughts or selfish thoughts that we don’t even notice what we are thinking about.

One of the great barriers to a flourishing mind is sometimes called mindlessness.  My body is at the breakfast table with my family, but my mind isn’t.  It is ruminating over my problems -- a repetitive, anxious, dull, low-grade obsession with tasks and problems.  I am absentminded; my mind has gone AWOL.  Other people can tell I am not fully present because my face is less alive and responsive.  I talk less, and when I do say something, it is superficial and terse.  I don’t do this on purpose.  It simply becomes a habit of my mind.

The spiritual life begins with paying attention to our thoughts, which is why the psalmist prayed, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” (Psalm 139:23)  God knows our thoughts better than we do, and He will help us learn what is going on in our mind from one moment to the next.

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be”

#4133

SHAPING OUR MIND

We once lived across the street from a couple who did not get along.  The husband worked in security, but his passion was to be a body-builder.  He was strong, sarcastic, and self-centered.  His wife was small and timid -- and angry.

He had to go to work every morning at 6:00, and she got up at 5:00 to fix his lunch.  We wondered why she would do this for someone she was so mad at until she explained that she was secretly packing his lunches with enough calories to put weight on Shamu the Killer Whale.  She loaded what he thought were dietary turkey sandwiches with butter and mayonnaise.  She put extra sugar in his yogurt and made his protein shakes with half-and-half.  He worked out a lot, but he could never understand why his body didn’t look like the guys in the magazine.

He never knew she was larding him up when he wasn’t looking.

Our bodies are constantly being formed by what goes into them.  We may not like this truth, we may not heed it, but we can’t evade it.  Bodies get shaped by what goes into them…

In this world we are being bombarded by a steady stream of messages from the media, bosses, co-workers, people we date, books, iPods -- and from our own thoughts.  Our mind will be shaped by whatever we feed it while the Evil One tries to lard up our mind when we’re not looking.  He will put depression in our thoughts at breakfast, sprinkle temptation in our mind at noon, and slip us a worry sandwich when it’s time for bed.

He will try to keep us from noticing what we are putting into our mind.

-- John Ortberg in "The Me I Want To Be"

#4119

THE MIND OF CHRIST

“If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all generously.”  (James 1:5 NASB)

Periodically, we find ourselves at a loss to know what to do or how to respond. It’s then we ask for help, and God delivers more than intelligence and ideas and good old common sense. He dips into His well of wisdom and allows us to drink from His bucket, whose refreshment provides abilities and insights that are of another world. Perhaps it might best be stated as having a small portion of the “mind of Christ.”

-- Charles Swindoll in Bedside Blessings

#4043

INTO YOUR HEART

"And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”  (Deuteronomy 6:6 ESV)

Notice that it doesn’t say ‘on your minds’ because there is a difference. I think there is a difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge, and that distance between the head and the heart, about 12 inches, is a long distance to travel. It is information up here [in the head] but it is transformation down here [in the heart]. So, what the writer of Deuteronomy is saying is, this can’t just be in your head, it has to get into your heart.

-- Mark Batterson, from a talk entitled “Parenting 101”

#4041

SETTING YOUR MIND

John Milton wrote in his epic poem Paradise Lost, “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

Setting your mind is like setting a thermostat.  It is creating a target for the climate.  Once you set a thermostat, the heating and air-conditioning will have to adjust in relation to the weather.  It is a constant process, but the goal is for the system to create a life-giving climate.  So too it is with our minds.  Many people try to tell themselves to stop thinking negative thoughts -- which immediately brings to mind the very thoughts they are supposed to stop thinking.

“Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2)

“Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” (Romans 8:5)

-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want To Be

#3926

FREE TO THINK ABOUT “WHATEVER…”

In giving instruction about how to feed our minds, the apostle Paul writes, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.”…


God’s desire is for you to have a mind that habitually thinks noble, true, pure, admirable thoughts.  You have great freedom -- whatever -- to allow the Spirit to rewire your mind.  As that happens, the Holy Spirit’s goal is not to get you really good at suppressing angry behavior.  It is for you to have a mind characterized by an ever-increasing flow of Spirit-guided, truth-based, life-producing thoughts and feelings.


-- John Ortberg in The Me I Want To Be




#3892

INCREASING FAITH

How then [are we] to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is and all He is for us… He Himself as revealed in the Word to be subject of our thoughts. Not a striving to have faith, but a looking off to the Faithful One seems all we need; resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity.


-- John McCarthy, as quoted in Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor




#3703

THE DUST OF DAILY BATTLE

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."  (Philippians 4:8)

Most of us, unfortunately,... say things like: "He made me so mad." "You really get to me." "Her remark embarrassed me terribly." "The weather really depresses me."... We are content to blame others, circumstances, and bad luck... [But] we can rise above the dust of daily battle that chokes and blinds so many of us; and this is precisely what is asked of us in the process of growth as a person.

-- John Powell, quoted by Gary Smalley in Making Love Last Forever

#3702

THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS

NOTE: Yesterday was the 16^th anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.  It was begun on March 29, 1999, in memory of our son, Dustin, who had died on March 29, 1998. While today's quote is a repeat from over a year ago, it speaks to what I believe SOUND BITES is all about.

On this 16^th anniversary, as I have done each year, I invite you to share how SOUND BITES has ministered to you and how you have used SOUND BITES to minister to others. Since SOUND BITES is now available via e-mail, blog, Facebook, and Twitter, you are welcome to respond through any of those means.

Blessings…

Rev. Dave Wilkinson
SOUND BITES Ministry™

 

THINK ABOUT SUCH THINGS

 

To make my mind a home for Jesus, I deliberately fill my mind with the kinds of things God says are important.  Paul puts it like this: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

 

We often want to be able to hear guidance from God about important decisions such as whom to marry or what job to take.  But we also want to reserve the right to feed our minds on whatever junk comes along.  Whatever repeatedly enters the mind occupies the mind, eventually shapes the mind, and will ultimately express itself in what you do and who you become.  The events we attend, the material we read (or don't), the music we listen to, the images we watch, the conversations we hold, the daydreams we entertain -- these are shaping our minds.  And ultimately they make our minds receptive or deaf toward the still small voice of God.

 

-- John Ortberg in God Is Closer Than You Think

 

 

#3625