MINDFUL!

Are you mindful of what your mind is full of?

Yesterday's Jesus Calling, 4/22, spoke of the need for freedom from compulsive planning---OOPS!! "When your mind spins with a multitude of thoughts, you cannot hear My voice." (Oh my, I think Sarah Young's been reading my mind!)

The previous (4/21) entry identified "...your mind is the last bastion of rebellion." 

I certainly need to relinquish "control of my mind" to the Lord because I'm certainly doing a lousy job of it. Sarah's scripture citation supported the positive result--peace.
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6
Who wouldn't want to reap a mind full of peace by being mindful of Him first!

**Should have posted this yesterday....but finding it in my drafts, today, I just changed a few adverbs that needed changing. I thought I was through with this "mindful" message!
But God .....showed me this morning, a "new to me" scripture* which I have embraced for today and hopefully days ahead! He defined for me a faint spirit.
A faint spirit would include all of the "if only" regrets, "what if" fears and whys of life of a compulsive planner, who works so hard to plan life so that he/she can "help God"---by serving others. People, with a faint spirit, (think, in one's own strength) lose courage, become despondent and can burn out.

Today, may I wear "a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit." (*Isaiah 61:5)
How's that for a "mind full" of being mindful of Him through praise!

Got junk?

4/24/12 More specifically, got a junk drawer? According to organizing guru, Maryanne MacDonald, no drawer should be a junk drawer, ie a catchall. Each drawer should have a specific purpose. I assume she meant that junk wasn’t a worthy purpose. Our junk drawer evolved into a purpose on its own---a place for hubby and me to put things when we didn’t know where else to put them. “Tidy”ing said “junk” drawer wasn’t on my day’s “to do” list but it came about anyway when I was looking for a sturdy rubberband. I was too lazy to go upstairs and get one out of the “Rubberband” labeled drawer in my old card catalog. Excess “junk” had the drawer jammed----thus the tidying up began.

As I culled and organized, I mused how akin to my brain this drawer was. Crammed. Filled to overflowing. Some information was useless clutter (trivia comes to mind) making retrieval for important info virtually impossible at times.

Sadly, one’s mind can be too spiritually similar to a junk drawer. Truth is, some thoughts don’t need to take up permanent residence there. Those thoughts can build resentment and bitterness and can “jam” pure thoughts or spew over and affect other unrelated aspects of your life. Bitterness is known in the Bible as spiritual poison and a means by which many are defiled (Hebrews 12:15)

 

Some thoughts never need to be allowed access in the first place. Take every thought captive… (2 Corinthians 10:5)

If mind ”junk” continues to be a problem, “….be transformed by the renewing of your mind” through scripture. (Romans 12:2)

Of course, I tidied up my drawer and wrote it on my “to do” list, (after the fact) so I could ✔ it off and feel a sense of accomplishment. Just yesterday, Debbie P. told me she often does the same thing. Since she’s a pastor’s wife, that info made me feel much better.

✔Drawer accomplished. Beginning to work on my brain now because in one’s thought life..…..organized junk is still junk.