Oh be Careful Little Mind - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 10

Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions... These actions are savored in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality. The thought life, then, is our first line of defense in the battle of self-control.

~Jerry Bridges

Are you a puddle jumper???????

or do you just plunge in and get drenched in the water of God's word?

There is a verse in Psalms 1 that talks about being a tree along the river, flourishing, always green, bearing fruit...ALWAYS the envy of other wilty, withering trees...

They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season.

Their leaves never wither,

and they prosper in all they do.

...but if the wilting trees would just read the verse above they would find the key:

But they delight in the law of the Lord,

meditating on it day and night.

I can read a little perpetual verse-a-day calendar on my desk each day...or a lengthy passage.  But if I don't ask God to reveal the depths of this treasure and meditate on it throughout my day...it makes no difference.  And I will be all wilty and withery...and surely fall prey and be defeated in this battlefield of the mind.

This is a song I sang as a little child which still remains so true...especially the last two verses:


I am grateful for a defense strategy given to me by God for this daily battle.

When Trust Seems Absurd - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 9

By the time it was 5:00 p.m. on September 11, 2001...when people were arriving back home from the workday...a nation was numbed, in shock, speechless, traumatized over the deplorable acts witnessed LIVE, either in person or on television, that occurred in New York City, Washington, DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I know for my generation, and those younger, it was a face of evil never seen before.

As the days trickled on, more and more details came known about the personal stories and circumstances...faces of people who never came home...children, some unborn, whose fathers, mothers are gone forever. I even learned a colleague of mine was on her way to San Francisco from Newark, New Jersey on Flight 93.

I don't know why I see children suffer and die from cancer, accidental trauma, and various forms of abuse regularly. I don't know why children are born with horrible conditions, sometimes incompatible with life itself. I don't know why my precious, only son, was born with severe autism and has never said my name and lives a life totally dependent on others for everything. I don't know why a woman who served Christ all her life, and was my best friend, is now enduring her 13th year with Alzheimer's. And I may never know.

But that is when everything and everything around you, as well as the thoughts within you, scream of such absurdity to trust in God...and that's when you must trust Him the most!

I used to sing this song by Twila Paris years ago...and the words still resonate:

Sometimes my little heart can't understand

What's in Your will what's in Your plan

So many times I'm tempted to ask You why

But I can never forget it for long

Lord what You do could not be wrong

So I believe You even when I must cry

Chorus:

Do I trust You Lord does the robin sing

Do I trust You Lord does it rain in Spring

You can see my heart You can read my mind

And You've got to know I would rather die

Than to lose my faith in the One I love

Do I trust You Lord

I know the answers I've given them all

But suddenly now I feel so small

Shaken down to the cavity in my soul

I know the doctrine and theology

But right now they don't mean much to me

This time there's only one thing I've got to know

Chorus 2:

Do I trust You Lord does the river flow

Do I trust You Lord does the North wind blow

You can see my heart You can read my mind

And You've got to know I would rather die

Than to lose my faith in the One I love

Do I trust You Lord

Chorus 3:

I will trust You Lord when I don't know why

I will trust You Lord 'til the day I die

I will trust You Lord when I'm blind with pain

You were God before and You'll never change

Do I trust You, do I trust You, do I trust You

I will trust You, I will trust You Lord

I will trust You Lord

I am grateful for a God I can trust even to others it seems absurd.

Trust and Grace - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 8

This is one of my favorite passages...and such a good reminder:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV)

Have any of you been watching the mini-series on the History Channel, The Bible?  Wow...I don't know about you, but those times seem SO brutal!  Trust ... it was a life or death proposition.  Daniel.  David.  Moses.  And God's chosen people, those they led, were so reliant on God for everything.

And what about the trust required of 5 young men who obeyed God who, in the mid-1950s, went to Ecuador to go to reach an indingenous isolated and hostile tribe known as the "Aucas," which when translated means "savage."  They not only went, but took their young wives, and their children would be born there.  Believing the promise that God had sent them.  Yet...after much prayer, efforts of successful engagement with these people...these men, Jim Eliot, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Pete Flemming, and Ed McCully were speared to death on January 8, 1956.  Five women were now widows and 8 children were fatherless.  But their faith never wavered.  You can find the actual Life magazine feature article here, starting on page 10, with lots of photographs. But I'll tell you the rest of the story at the end of my post.

So...most days we are not facing such tests or trials...and yet why is trusting God so hard at times?

1.  First, God gives us the grace we need for each day.  As Charles Spurgeon said, "[God] isn't going to give you Monday's grace on a Sunday, nor Tuesday's grace on a Monday."  Deuteronomy 33:25 says, "as your days, so shall your strength be." (ESV)  We will not receive the grace to face anything until we need it...but it will be sufficient for us to trust.

2.  Along those same lines, I believe the greater the grace, the greater the battle in our minds.  I'm sure these great examples of faith struggled...how else could they have developed such faith...only through stress and resistance...remember?

3. In that light, I also believe that in these days, the enemy uses complacency, rationalization, and busyness to keep us out of God's word and away from His people, tools to counter the landmines we come across subtly...and daily.

So, those missionaries in Ecuador, believed God had a plan and trusted, threw all they had on His voice.  Only to end in tragedy?  Oh no, some of the wives returned, as did Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint, who was only 4 when his father was killed.

If you don't think God has ALWAYS has a plan...watch the murderer of Steve's father, Mincaye, and Steve himself, during an interview in 2007...about 5 minues.


Today I am grateful despite the battle in my mind, I NEVER have to rely on my own understanding of God's plan...just believe there always is one.

Taking a Break for Simple Beauty

I thought on this freezing rain Monday I would take a break from my devotional series (one more week) and put up a couple of examples of my "homework" from my year-long class with Kim Klassen.  This is my second year with her...and life just wouldn't be the same if she and my groupies weren't together!

This layout/mosaic was "theoretically" to be done in Photoshop Elements 11...but the easy peasy method Kim showed us just doesn't quite add up in Windows (vs. a Mac program).  But we're going to continue to dig to work our away around it.

Instead, I used a technique in the Print module of Lightroom 4...still good, still fun!

The other technique for this week was how to accomplish a matte, misty finish in Lightroom 4.  What photo to use...

Today the weather is a little discouraging in northeast Ohio this close to the first day of Spring...so I thought we all could use a little HOPE...

That's it for today...thank you for letting me share my photos...and my joy!

Discernment - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 7

Today...I have a freebie for you.  A college friend of mine posted this list on Facebook.

When I saw the list, I thought...wow, what a great tool...a way to discern who I'm listening to.

I also thought this would be a good use of the chalkboard method I practiced here.

Feel free to download this from my Flickr account here for your personal use.





As I looked over the list...it was obvious to me that the whole point of this battlefield of the mind is so that we become pre-occupied with ourselves...on us...instead of the God who has made us and onto others.  And as the enemy's abuse chips away our sense of self in Christ...we lose our joy, our focus, and our ability to enjoy the multiple gifts each day for which we should be exuberantly grateful.

This Just In...The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 6

I hate to break it to you...but...the term, "no pain, no gain" is true...

I'm no expert on physical training, but I do know that the only way to build muscle is by pushing through resistance...

Ever start to work out and the next day you are S-O-R-E? Through persevering through the resistance, the muscle fibers are torn, and through the healing process the muscle is stronger than before.

In the early 1990s, the most expensive experimental failure known as Biosphere 2. Eight individuals were to live 24 months (September 26, 1991 - September 26, 1993) in an enclosed controlled mini-earth including a rain forest, an ocean, a coral reef, a fog desert, a savannah grassland, a mangrove wetland, human habitat, and an area for agriculture.

They found that the plants and trees grew faster, but they bent over; the wood was softer than they would if they were in their regular environment. WHY? No wind...no resistance...resulting in weak and immature trees. 

I Peter 5:10 (NLT) reads:

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

In our minds, when things become tiring, chaotic, even catastrophic...we are so vulnerable to the enemy and can be tested severely. We can become negative, complaining and ungrateful.

What I need to remember is that God uses all things for MY good and for HIS purpose. He is more interested in my refinement than my comfort.

If ever anyone had the mother of all battles of the mind in the Old Testament, it was Job, who God allowed him lose everything and gave Satan full reign to tempt him to curse God. But what did Job say?

But He knows the way that I take; when I have been tested, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10 (NIV)

While I may be writing this to you, I am saying this to myself...as I so need to hear it.

Nothing comes into my life that does not sift through His hands first.

I am grateful for that assurance...

Choose Life - The Battlefield of the Mind - Day 5

If you've been reading my blog for awhile...you have read about our new addition to our family...Arthur! This 5-month old (today actually) started obedience school. What a trip! Arthur's not a small dog...he just has short legs. (SMILE)  That's true about all Pembroke Welsh Corgis!

What I learned that first night is that it takes 42 days for a new habit to be developed...and it also depends on the breed. For humans it is 21 days. But for man or his best friend, it takes consistency, constant repetition, and practice-practice-practice.

When it comes to the thoughts that naturally come into our heads...it takes the developing of a habit to do otherwise. And, of course, it is the negative and blaming thoughts that slip right in. But we have a choice (I don't think if I were God that I would have been brave enough to give humans the capability to choose...I'm too insecure). However, we have been lavishly afforded the ability to choose. And with that power to choose, comes responsibility.

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him for he is your life.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

So we can choose to develop the habit of thoughts that are in line with God's character and what His word assures us...but part of that daily habit is reading His love letter to us on a regular basis...(and if you're REALLY serious, in addition to the above, you can add a rubberband to your wrist and smack it every time you are aware that you've just fell prey to your thoughts...laugh but this has been a technique used by therapists...)

And you know...in part of loving my Arthur is training and socializing him. Part of loving him is ensuring that he follows me, so I can keep him safe...although as a herding dog, he is wired to drive and lead cattle and sheep. And so, what if, he leaves me a little gift on the carpet or occasionally doesn't respond when I say come (only looks at me with those big round black eyes)...he's learning, he's in training, he's maturing, he's growing...and none of that affects my deep love and commitment to him.

How much more does God love and embrace (there's my OLW) us?