Romans 8:5-6 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desire; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
Colossians 1-2 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.
3 John v. 11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
Several thoughts came to my mind this morning to follow up on yesterday’s thoughts. We focused yesterday on the things in our hearts and whether that produced good (i.e., positive) results or evil (i.e., negative) results. But what is in our hearts seems to originate with our thoughts. And that is the focus for this morning.
The human brain is a wonderfully complex organ, far more complex than I would ever have the scientific knowledge to express. The amount of data the human brain is capable of processing is staggering. Yet the output is very much dependent upon the input. In other words, the data (layman’s terms, the stuff) we fill our minds with every day, ultimately affects our hearts desires. It stands to reason then, a steady diet of social media, questionable movies or tv shows, or even unhealthy relationships cannot help but alter our minds in a negative way.
Perhaps it is time to do some serious house-cleaning of the way in which we spend our time and in what settings we choose to spend that time. It can be an eye-opening experience to realize just how much worldly filth we tend to ignore or worse, tolerate, instead of removing ourselves from that setting. And all such filth is data input to our minds even when we do not realize it.
Our scripture texts today remind us to set our minds on things above, on things governed by the Spirit, for that is where we find life and peace. The question I must ask myself, and pose for you to ponder is this: Does the daily amount of time I spend getting input from prayer, my Bible, and Christian friends outweigh the time I am getting input from negative sources?
Gracious Heavenly Father,
Too many times we become oblivious to the worldly filth around us. Forgive us when we become complacent and tolerant. Teach us to retrain our minds to focus on You, your Word, and things leading to righteousness. Guide us to set our minds on things governed by the Spirit so that we might find life and peace.
In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, Amen.
The devotional Life and Peace appeared first on Write From My Heart at
https://writefrommyheartblog.blogspot.com
email: Dotty Willmon, writefrommyheartblog@gmail.com
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