Debbie's Perspective

Just my thoughts of the day.

Nov 27

30 Days in the Christmas Story: Day 3

by Debbie

“For a child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen! Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT)

“For a child is born to us…” Jesus had to be born if He was going to identify fully as a human. He became a man. Only a man could be qualified to be the Messiah our Savior and High Priest. He was fully man.

“…a Son is given to us.” Jesus is also the eternal Son of God. David Guzik says in his commentary of this verse – Jesus had to be perfect and infinite to offer an infinite atonement for our sins. The humanity of Jesus had a starting point. He is fully God and fully man. The Son was given, and at that moment, human nature was added to His divine nature.

This is a very familiar prophecy about Jesus. The hymn is running through my head. I can hear the Christmas choir singing it right now. Of course, on this side of the timeline looking back, we understand it. We know it’s Jesus he’s talking about. We know He’ll come as a baby in a manger, start His ministry at 30, do many amazing miracles, be shunned by the Jewish leaders, and eventually be condemned to death. He will be crucified and will rise again from the dead. Through all of that, He will try to get His disciples to see and understand that He is ushering in a Kingdom that is not of this world. 

I can see how the disciples and all who had been looking forward to their Messiah coming were thinking that He would come and set up His government here on earth, wipe out those pesky Romans and everyone else who were oppressing them. But Jesus was coming for so much more. He was coming, not only to set the Jewish people free but to set all men free, Jew and Gentile. They thought their oppressor was a foreign government. Jesus knew that governments come and go. Nations and kingdoms rise and fall. It was sin, the original sin that had unleashed sin and death into the world to bring darkness and oppression that had to be vanquished. Then and only then could those who believe in Jesus and what He was going to do, and what He has already done for us now, be set free and enter a Kingdom that will never end. A Kingdom and a government that rests on His shoulders.

The last line in verse seven above says, “The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” And He did. Jesus fulfilled this prophecy that was given about Him seven hundred years before He walked the earth, and He also fulfilled over three hundred prophecies about the Messiah. When we see this fulfillment, we can rest assured that everything else written in His Word will come to pass. It may not look like what we were imagining, but it will be even better.

Today’s truth is, God, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, can and will fulfill every promise He’s made. His Kingdom will never end.  He will rule from the throne of David for eternity.

Thank you Jesus that we can put our full trust in You.

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Nov 26

30 Days in the Christmas Story: Day 2

by Debbie

On Day 1 we explored the fact that Jesus existed before time before He was born into the world. While we can see Jesus throughout the Old Testament, we are exploring the touch points of Him as Jesus the man. The next stop we should take is one of the prophecies about His coming.

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” Isaiah 9:2 (NLT)

Didn’t we just read in Day 1, John 1:4, that His light brought light to everyone? – “…will see a great light. …a light will shine.” Jesus, Himself says in Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne. I am the bright morning star.” Jesus is the light that will shine on all men.

Why is Jesus being the light of the world so important? In chapter eight of Isaiah the prophet is warning the people of Israel and Judah of the coming Assyrian invasion that would eventually take them away to Babylon. In verses 20-22, he tells them that if they don’t follow God’s instructions and teachings but contradict them, they are completely in the dark. They are told they will be weary and hungry. They will look up to heaven and down at the earth, but wherever they look there will be trouble and anguish and dark despair. They will be thrown out into the darkness. Whoa! Is there no hope?

 “Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever…” Isaiah 9:1 (NLT)

Deep breath. Sigh of relief. So, when will this end? Well, the prophecy that comes next won’t come to pass for about seven hundred years. But it will come. Those who are plunged into deep darkness will see a great light when Jesus comes; God incarnate, God with us. Only He can bring light back into the world. Only He can save the people from the deep darkness they’ve been plunged into.

It wasn’t just the people in Isaiah’s time. They remained in darkness for seven hundred years looking for a Messiah who would come and save them. On this side of Jesus’ coming, there are still those who are walking in deep darkness without His light even though His light is right there to shine on them. 

Today’s truth is that we are all plunged into deep darkness without the light of Jesus. If He did not come, there would be no hope of walking out of deep darkness.

Thank you, Jesus, that You did not leave us helplessly wondering in darkness.

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Nov 25

30 Days in the Christmas Story: Day 1

by Debbie

This Christmas season I thought I would take a journey through the Christmas story and make note of the new insights God gives me. I’d like to invite you to join me over the coming days as I look at a story that is so well-known that it’s easy to skip over important truths. I hope you’ll join the journey. Let’s dig in.

“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.” John 1:1 (AMP)

You may be saying, “Wait a minute, where’s the angel talking to Mary or the manger with the wise men and shepherds?” Well, that’s not where this story begins. It starts in the beginning, before time, before creation, before the world was made and there was nothing. Jesus was there, not the man Jesus, but the second person in the Godhead Trinity. Wow! That’s a hard one to wrap my head around, but a spiritual truth I need to know to fully understand the incredible story that unfolds as He enters our world as a man.

Before Mary, before the manger, before the wise men and shepherds, there was the Word, and He was with God in eternity, and as God, equal to the Father. He wasn’t a created being. He wasn’t a lesser god.

“He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.” John 1:2-4 (NLT)

Today’s incredible truth is that before Jesus became God incarnate – the most high God embodied in flesh, in human form – He was. He didn’t just show up on the scene the day He was born or even the day He was conceived. He was there before there was a beginning.

I look forward to tomorrow to see where the Holy Spirit leads us next. 

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Nov 12

SHE BELIEVED

by Debbie

As I thought about the coming Advent season this morning, I decided to read the story of Jesus’ birth to begin to prepare my heart.  It always amazes me how the Lord can show me new things in a story I’ve read or heard multiple times.  Today He amazed me once again.

Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! ~ Luke 1:28

Mary was favored.  Why?  What was it about her that caught God’s attention? Why did He choose her to be the mother of His son? Did she do something special or did He just pick her out of a group of girls her age who were descendants of David?

I read on. I found some clues to why I think God chose Mary.

The angel of the Lord visited her and told her that she would conceive a son, name him Jesus, he would be great, would be called the Son of the Most High, be given the throne of David, and would reign over Israel forever.  Wow, pretty incredible stuff! She didn’t ask about all of that, she just wanted to know how it would happen; not all the great stuff, but how was it physically going to happen to her?  She was a virgin. She was saying, “What will I have to do to conceive this baby? How will it happen?”

Once she was told, she agreed, even though the ramifications to her could have been devastating. She would be pregnant and not married. Her fiancé, Joseph, would know it wasn’t his. Would anyone believe her story? She could have been stoned for adultery, but she still said yes.  Why?

I think the answer comes in the next few verses.

One thing Elizabeth says to her jumped out at me.

You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what he said.” ~ Luke 1:45 NLT

This is happening to her because she believes that the Lord does what He says, but this verse doesn’t say “will” do, it says “would” do. It doesn’t mean that she believes that the Lord will do what the angel said He would do.  The next verses in the beautiful Magnificat reveal the deeper belief Mary had.

Luke 1:46 – 55 ~ Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
For the Mighty One is holy,
and he has done great things for me.
He shows mercy from generation to generation
to all who fear him.
His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
He has brought down princes from their thrones
and exalted the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
and sent the rich away with empty hands.
He has helped his servant Israel
and remembered to be merciful.
For he made this promise to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his children forever.”

There it is right there!  Mary knew the covenant promises of God and she already believed they would come to pass. She didn’t just know them, she believed them.  Her praises are filled with references to the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets.

Mary wasn’t just another Israelite girl who was the right age and of the right lineage.  She was a girl who had her heart filled with the Word of God! So when God called on her to be the vessel to bring His son into the world, she was ready and willing.

Another key to how Mary continued in her calling, even through the challenges it would bring, came in another part of the story.

After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.  The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. ~ Luke 2:17 – 20

Mary kept her heart and mind on the right things; the things God was doing, the promises He had made. She could see them being fulfilled right before her eyes because she was watching. She was highly favored and chosen because she believed that the Lord would do what He said, and she was willing to put action to her belief.

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Nov 1

An Eye and a Giant

by Debbie

1 Samuel 17:48 ~ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

The armies faced off, each on their own hill. The battlefield yawned between them in the valley below. A giant of a man stepped into the valley and began his taunt, striking fear and dismay into the hearts of the men he was calling to battle.

As I face a “giant” of my own I cry out, how do I slay this thing?  What do I do?  How do I take it down?  The giant is so big and no others seem to know how to slay it either, so I go to the one place I know I can get my answers.  I search the story of a young teenage boy who ran quickly toward the battle line to meet and slay his giant.

In the midst of this ancient story I find some precious smooth stones I can use to slay my giant.  Keys to having different eyes for the battle that lies before me.  David saw things differently than his Israelite kin, and this view made the difference between standing scared on the hill and racing head on to engage the enemy; a foe that to the physical eye looked unbeatable, but to the spiritual eye was nothing more than bird food.

He saw the enemy for who he really was.

The Israelite army saw the giant, Goliath, as a man; bigger, stronger, and having mighty armor and weapons – unbeatable.

David saw him as an uncircumcised Philistine who dared to defy the armies of the Living God.

An uncircumcised Philistine meant that Goliath wasn’t under the protection and sovereignty of the Living God, and by coming against God’s people, he had made himself an enemy of their God.

Smooth Stone:  I see ~ I am a child of the Living God, and when the enemy engages me he engages Him.

He understood who was fighting the battle.

Goliath stood and shouted day after day asking them why they would come out and line up for battle because he was a Philistine and they were servants of Saul.  They were to choose a man from among them to be their champion to fight and kill him. The Israelites saw themselves as mere men in the face of this great and mighty enemy.  How could any of them be a champion against this giant?

David understood that God himself was their champion. This uncircumcised Philistine had no chance against their great and mighty deliverer.

Smooth Stone:  I understand ~ Jesus is my champion.  According to Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  There is nothing that can defeat Him.

He kept his eye for the battle.

David’s older brother tried to remind him that he was just a boy, an insignificant shepherd with a few sheep in the desert.  He accused him of having wrong motives and only wanting to watch others do battle.

Saul, the king of Israel, tried to remind him again that he was just a boy and the enemy was well versed and experienced in battle.

Although David’s brother and King Saul were older, had more experience, and were in a greater position than he was they didn’t know what he knew.  They didn’t see what he saw.

Smooth Stone:  I keep my eye ~ My position, age, knowledge, and experience don’t matter in the equation and neither does my naysayers’.

He remembered his victories.

David had fought and killed lions and bears.  He may not have been experienced with this particular foe, but he was not inexperienced.  He had faced battles before and won.

Smooth Stone:  I remember ~ I have been here before.  I have fought other battles with great odds and won, not by my might or power, but by the power of the Lord.  Even if I hadn’t, He has won the ultimate victory, so I’m covered.

He engaged because this fight was not just a battle, it was a cause.

In 1 Samuel 45 – 47, David’s statement to the Philistine shows exactly how he sees the battle:

“You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear.  For the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.”

David ran to the battle line because he saw through spiritual eyes the heart of God to fight for His people and proclaim His name in all the earth as well as to remind His people that the Lord saves, but not with the weapons of mere men.

Smooth Stone:  I engage ~ I can run to the battle line because this battle isn’t just my own. I fight for a greater cause than just taking down my giant. I come to the battle in the name of Jesus, my salvation and my deliverer, to proclaim His name in all the earth, and remind my fellow Saints that the Lord saves, but not with earthly weapons.

The battlefield stretches before me.  I pick up my five smooth stones; I see, I understand, I keep my eye, I remember, and I engage.  My pace quickens, my foot steps sure, and my eye is on Jesus.

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Sep 5

#FreshVision

by Debbie

Blog picture heart-made-with-hands

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

“Mom, I made the team!” my daughter excitedly exclaimed.

Wow, what a difference a few days makes.  If you read what I wrote last week in A Life Interrupted, you know that my daughter’s heart was broken when she was told she had been cut in the first round of tryouts for her middle school volleyball team.

She came home sick after the third day of hard tryouts and missed the first round cut announcement.  Since we couldn’t get in touch with the coach, she started calling her friends.  After three girls said she had been cut, the tears began to flow.  The dream she had been working toward was dashed.

Sometimes the dream we hold in our heart isn’t really on the path God has for our lives.  We want it to be, but God has something better for us; a different plan – we just can’t see it while we are holding onto a dream we don’t want to let go of.

This is a time for fresh vision.  This is a time to submit ourselves to God, lay it at His feet and open our heart to the new place He wants to take us. We also must resist the devil’s attempt to beat us up and cause us to question God’s love.

On Tuesday morning the next round of tryouts was scheduled, and we decided that since she hadn’t heard about the cut from the coach, we needed to verify it from the source.  She showed up at tryouts and found out that she hadn’t been cut after all.

Some dreams can be lost because of what others are telling us.  We can trust them and believe they are helping us, but we run the risk they are wrong.

Our answers must come from the source.

God is the only one who holds our future in His hands. He is the only one who knows what tomorrow brings. We must submit to Him and allow Him to lead us where He wants us to go.

A fresh vision from God breathes life and passion back into our lives; back into our dreams. Fresh vision stirs our hearts and sets things into motion driving us forward into the plans God has for us.

Lay your hopes and dreams at the feet of Jesus, and ask Him to give you a fresh vision for them.  Ask Him to show you if the ones you’ve been holding on to aren’t His.

Resist the devil because he will be quick to tell you that your dreams don’t matter to God.

The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ~John 10:10

The great news is the devil will flee from us when we resist him.

Last week we were weeping at the loss of a dream.  This week we understand even better that Jesus is our only source for the answers to our heart’s deepest desires because He is the one who puts them there, and He is the only one who can give us the fresh vision to see them through.

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Aug 31

A Life Interrupted

by Debbie

Blog curvy road

Romans 5:2b – 4 ~ And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope.

My heart is aching this morning.  In one moment my daughter’s dream of playing on her middle school volleyball team was dashed when she was cut after three hard days of tryouts.

My mother’s heart weeps for her, and as I groped through my mind for something comforting to say to her to make it all better, the scripture I had been studying all week continued to play through my mind. We are to rejoice in our sufferings, but today we are weeping. Is that wrong? How do we get to a place of rejoicing?

Does God weep for us when life’s sufferings tear at our hearts; when life doesn’t go the way we planned or thought it would?

John 11:33-35 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.  Come and see, Lord,” they replied.  Jesus wept.

Jesus knew that he was going to go to the tomb where Lazarus lay dead and raise him. He knew that the outcome was going to be good, and in a short time all those who were weeping would be rejoicing, but at that moment those he loved were broken hearted, and it broke his heart.

We know as believers that the story for us ends well.  We know that there will come a day with no tears and no sorrow, and we will be in the presence of our Lord and Savior for eternity.

But, in the moment when life interrupts us, our hearts are heavy and we still have to walk it out.  We still have to persevere through the pain.  As we persevere through that pain, life lessons are learned and we are never the same.

If we allow Jesus to lead and guide us through those places, and allow Him to do His work in us as He molds the twists and turns of our life into the direction He has for us, then character will be built, and hope will spring forth to a new season; a new calling.

How can we move through those places and continue to persevere when our heart is breaking?  How do we #stickwithit when we just want to give up?

Lysa TerKeurst says in her book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God, “A real sign of spiritual maturity is looking to God not for comfort and convenience, but for purpose and perspective.  Comfort and convenience lead to complacency. On the other hand, purpose and perspective lead to the perseverance that is evident in those living a truly devoted life.”

God has a purpose for our life. He has a purpose for the interruption that has just moved us in a new direction.  He loves us more than we could possibly love our own children, and I can’t imagine more love than that; more desire for their welfare and good, but He does.

We can trust that He isn’t withholding or causing something in our life because He wants to see us suffer – no, He is hurting with us.  We trust that He has a perfect plan that He is working out in His timing, weaving it all together into a beautiful tapestry to bring Him glory, and to equip us to do what He is calling us to do.

That’s what it really is all about isn’t it? Bringing God glory by fulfilling the calling He has on our life.

We may think that the twists and turns of life are interruptions, but I think they are just the turns in the road God is leading us down as He is equipping us for every good work (2Timothy 3:17).

I don’t know why my daughter didn’t make the team, she’s a good player and has the skills, but I have to believe that God’s purpose and plan for her don’t include that dream.  This could be that turn in the road that leads her down a new path where He wants her focus to be.

So, I will hug my daughter and weep with her today, but we will also rejoice knowing that it will be okay because God’s plans for her are perfect, and we will watch expectantly to see what new adventures He is leading her to tomorrow.

 

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Aug 8

#PALMS UP

by Debbie

OBS palms up

I walk up with hands clenched, held tightly across my heart. These things are important to me. Some of them are my life itself, I think. How can I f

reely release them? It’ll cost me way too much.

Then I look at the hands held out to receive it all. There is something there already. I look closer. Scars. Nail scars. The ultimate price paid for my life. My eyes meet His. There is only love there. He’s not asking for these things to steal them

away from me; He’s taking them into His care.

This is freedom I’m gazing at. Why am I holding tight to this? Although I feel like I just stepped over a cliff and I’m free falling, my hands open and release everything into His. Things tumble out I didn’t even know were there.

Why am I so desperately holding on to pride, control, doubt, fear, anger? I guess with closed hands holding onto the things I love so much, it’s hard to see the other things that get caught up in that grip.

I turn my palms up and show Him their emp

tiness. He smiles and says, “Now you are ready.”

“Ready for what?” I ask. He won’t say, but just smiles at me with a twinkle in His eye.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. — Deuteronomy 6:5

When you read these words, it’s easy to pass over them and say, “Okay, I’m supposed to love God with all of me.” The problem is, that isn’t so easy.

Our theme this week in the Proverbs 31 On-line Bible Study is #Palms Up. Palms up ready to receive all that God has for us. But after reading and studying this verse over the week, I realize that palms up also means letting go of anything that I keep trying to hang on to.

All of me includes my desperate love for my family. The thought of something bad happening to my husband or my children sends a shiver o

f fear right through me. I’m supposed to hold on to them, right? No, #Palms Up, Lord.

As I examine my heart more closely, things rise to the surface that I know I’m holding on to as well; control is a biggy. Why do I hold on to these? #Palms Up, Lord.

All of these things and more ramble around in my heart vying for my attention and attachment.

Idols?

My head says, “No, I don’t have any idols.” My

heart says, “Anything you are choosing to hang on to that keeps you from freely giving your whole heart to Jesus is an idol.”

Over the last few days as I’ve come trembling before the Lord confessing that I’m scared – scared of what may come; scared that His call may cost me too much, Jesus has met me there with loving nail scarred hands assuring me that His hands are the only true place of safety.

#Palms up, Lord!

www.proverbs31.org

http://www.proverbs31.org

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Jun 5

The Water and The Fire

by Debbie

DSC_2276

It was midnight, and once again I was awake; crushing fear causing me to gasp for breath.  Was he breathing?  I slowly turned and gently placed my hand on my husband’s back.  The slow rhythmic breathing calmed me just a little.  Now my thoughts raced toward my son in the next room.  I knew logically that he was just fine, but the terror inside me drove me out of my bed and to his room to check once more.

Just days before I had experienced my third miscarriage, and now a gripping fear of losing the two people I loved most in life was closing in on me.   While the other two miscarriages were devastating, this one seemed to knock the wind out of me.  How could this have happened again?

Could I trust God anymore?  That was really the question on my heart.  I had lost my first husband at 20 in a horrible accident, endured years of heart wrenching infertility, and now the loss of three babies.  What would stop life from ripping away everything else I held dear?

I grappled with this question over the next two days until, crumpled on the floor weeping, I realized that the only safe place to be was in the hand of God.  The loss of anyone or anything in this temporal world would forever be out of my control.  I could choose to walk away from God and try to control my life and everything in it to no avail or I could place my life in God’s hands and know that even if I lost everything I hold dear, He would still have me safely in His care.

A peace washed over me like I had never before experienced.  The fear that had held my heart so tightly the past few days lost its grip, and a new-found calm and confidence replaced its choking squeeze.  I wasn’t any safer physically from life’s tragedies than I had been before, but I was spiritually and emotionally safe for eternity.

Isaiah 43:1a-3b

But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you, Jacob,
he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

God has been faithful to this promise towards me.  Since those many years ago when I placed my life into the loving hands of Jesus, I’ve walked through waters that did not wash over me and fires that did not burn me.  I’ve lost five more babies to miscarriage since that time; eight in all, said goodbye in this physical realm to my sweet daughter who lost her battle with a muscle disease, and faced some other big life challenges along the way.  Throughout them all I have felt His loving hand comforting me, guiding me, and upholding me.

God doesn’t promise us that He will keep us from the waters and the fire, but He does promise He will walk us through them and keep them from overtaking us and destroying us.  We have to trust that the One who created and formed us is the One who redeems us and calls us His own.  He’s invested in us.

I’ll be honest; it hasn’t been easy staying in His hands. For some reason I keep trying to jump out and keep things safe myself, only to realize that this is futile, and I quickly march myself back into the palm of His hand instead of dangling precariously on the fingertip. It has to be a conscious effort for me. I have to decide to do it daily and sometimes moment by moment, but it is the only safe place to stay when the waters rage and the flames lick at my life threatening to set me ablaze.

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May 28

What Are You Thinking?

by Debbie

Brain neuron

Raising kids in a multi-media smorgasbord society is hard.  Especially when they are 11 and 12 and much more tech savvy than I am.

Trying to police what they watch, listen to, and interact with can be daunting.  Gone are the days of Gilligan’s Island and The Beverly Hillbillies as the only thing to watch after school.

Why am I so careful about this? Because I know that what they constantly think about and fill their minds with will affect their actions.  It will affect the way they see the world around them, and will ultimately play the biggest role in the kind of people they turn out to be.

So, as I studied Philippians 4:8 “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.” It began to sink in that the same things I so carefully pay attention to with my children need to be at the forefront of my attention for me as well.

I’ve read this verse many times, and on the surface always thought it was saying to keep my thoughts positive and clean.  Of course, anytime we dig deeper into a verse we find that it means so much more than what we see on the surface, and sets a standard that is impossible to keep without God’s help.  That’s why I’m so relieved the prior verse promises us that God will guard our hearts and minds through Christ with His peace that surpasses all understanding.

But verse 8 is telling us what we should be setting our minds on.  It’s a choice of our will to do it. This is important because there are a million things, that don’t fit the bill, vying for our attention every day.

Whatever is true. This is a very important one.  This one statement sets up every other thought we have. As Christians we should know that the only standard for what is true is the Word of God.  What we think, our opinions, values, and philosophies on life must line up with the Word of God.

It’s so easy to hear something and say, “Yeah that seems right.” It sounds good to us. Maybe something seems unfair or unjust, so we jump on the band wagon of cultural opinion and take it in as our view of the matter.  The problem is if it opposes the Word of God, then it isn’t true.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” –Proverbs 14:12

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. – Isaiah 54:9

God is clear; we don’t think like He does. The great thing is, He lets us in on how He thinks in His word.

I believe that Paul was exhorting us to make these things a part of who we are and not just a thought that flies through our minds here and there or a positive thinking mantra we have.  This way of thinking should impact us in such a way as to become a part of who we are.

When that happens then our thoughts will become our actions, and respect, integrity, kindness, excellence, and anything else that is worthy of honor and praise will seep into our character. That is when we can begin to make the impact on our world that Jesus is sending us out to do.

So…..

What are you thinking?

Life Prayer Thoughts on Faith Uncategorized

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