“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)

One of the hardest things to control is your thought life. It’s just that no one ever wants to admit it.

Do you ever wake up and your mind is flooded with one thought after another? Is your mind racing about before you take one step out of the bed? Maybe you catch yourself rehearsing what happened yesterday or last week. You might find yourself replaying a response or wondering what you would have done if you had a chance again.

In either case, you are not screening what is entering your mind and ultimately your heart. These thoughts seem so innocent, but watch out. Your thoughts can lead to you reaping a harvest of anxiety, depression, anger, fear, worry, stress. Philippians tells us what we should be meditating on throughout the day.  This is the key to producing a harvest of peace, joy, and love.

Don’t condemn yourself if you failed in this area. Simply confess and repent of your sins, and God will forgive. Take a moment now and say this simple prayer.

Lord, I apologize for the thoughts that I entertained within the corners of my mind. I apologize for making other things the apple of my eye. I realize that You are my prize and it’s to You that all my thoughts rest and abide. Take away the sin that lurks and subsides. Refill me with thoughts that are refined.  Amen.

Questions: Can you recall a specific virtue that you appreciate about God this week? Are you thankful for His mercy, grace, guidance, power, attentiveness, presence, generosity, love, friendship, etc? If so why? What personal significance does it play in this season of your life?  Now meditate on these things.

What does worship mean to you? Here is an online Bible study to guide you.

The second aspect of Paul’s definition of who we are in Christ is: we are the ones who worship by the Spirit of God.  To worship means to show reverence, honor and intense love, as well as to perform acts of service, toward an object or being.  Although others may worship celebrities, sports heroes or less tangible idols like money, success or power, as believers we worship the living God.

Not only is who we worship critical, but also how we worship. We worship by the Spirit of God.  Therefore our worship flows not from our humanity, but from God who dwells within us.

Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “[A] time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23, 24, NIV).

No longer are we trapped in the mold of the Old Testament days where the High Priest approached God on our behalf with the blood of animals. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, His Spirit lives within us, allowing us to enter into the very presence of God.  Our acts of worship are not external rituals that draw attention to us, but rather they are acts of surrender and service with our whole heart, body, mind and spirit, made possibly through the Holy Spirit.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1).

Thank you, Holy God, for making a way for me to worship you in spirit and in truth. Amen.

Questions: What does worshipping in spirit and in truth look like in your life? How have you been challenged to make sure your worship is not merely an external ritual?

Tired of trying to live the Christian life in your own power?

The newspaper referred to it as “home field disadvantage” recently when a pop fly hit a catwalk high above the infield under the roof of the domed baseball stadium. In baseball they call that kind of hit a towering pop-up.

Instead of being an easy out, the hit became a ninth inning two out single that scored the go-ahead run, took the steam out of a home team six-run rally and ultimately cost them the game. A game was lost because the catwalk got in the way.

In the game of life, what is your catwalk? What are the things that get in the way between you and God? We all have them and often stumble over them. Looking to scripture, we find many obstacles, but the point is not to identify the obstacles as much as it is to identify the way through, over and around them ……….and that way is Jesus.

Jesus said He was the “truth and the light.” He is the mediator between God and us. As He recruited His disciples, He said simply, “follow me,” and He continues to say that to us today. To do so, we have to take up His cross and follow Him. If we do, there is no object anywhere that can block us from the love and presence of God in our lives.

Jesus’ first commandment was to love our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. If your heart is loyal to God, you do not have to look for Him. He is already looking for you!

Life’s challenges sometimes seem impossible. Do you feel you are too weak to fight the battle? Don’t give up! Keep your heart loyal to God, for He constantly watches over you, and He desires to demonstrate His strength in your life.

God is willing and just as capable of giving you victory in your current challenge as He was with those in times past. The question is not whether God is looking for His people, but whether His people are seeking Him. Take comfort in God’s promise that He watches over you and He wants to give you victory. Though roadblocks may alter your journey, remain steadfast in your Jesus journey and you will reach your destination.

In this homogenized, fast lane world we live in, it is easy for “catwalks” to get in our way and block us from the love of God, but Jesus said to seek Him first and all else will take care of itself. We can have faith, but faith without direction is of little value. What is the direction of your faith? What or who do you trust to take you through life’s uncertainties? If it is anyone or anything other than Jesus, you have a “catwalk” in your way.

Questions: What or who do you trust to take you through life’s uncertainties?  What is the direction of your faith?

TAKE THE NEXT STEP: God can move mountains

About the Author John Grant

Are you searching for purpose in life?

Don’t you love clean?

Not cleaning, but being clean. A cool shower to wash away the sweat of a hot day feels so refreshing. Climbing into clean sheets at bedtime, the smell of a baby after his bath, or pulling on a sweater that has just been washed, each bring us simple pleasure.

How much more joy is waiting for us to experience when we allow God to cleanse us?

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:25 – 27).

A Clean body

All the ways that our bodies have been violated and all the ways we have used our bodies to sin can be washed away by the power of God through Jesus’ death on the cross. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

A Clean mind

When we pursue anything other than God, it can become an idol to us. As well, our minds are often polluted with sinful images, evil thoughts or wrong attitudes. Though we cannot change our thoughts, God can and does. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

A Clean heart

Our hearts become hard when we allow sin to build a wall around it, but confession is our invitation to God to purify us. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Over and over the Bible reminds us that we can be clean through the power of Jesus. “[L]et us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

O God, we pray with David, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).

Questions: How have you experienced God’s cleansing in the past? What do we need to do in order to prevent having a hard heart?

About the Author Suzanne Benner

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Philippians 4:8

“Speed Kills.” Or so says the billboard to encourage drivers to slow down. Thousand are killed every year on the nation’s highways due to excessive speed. But as I drove along and thought about the billboard message, I thought how speed can kill the body, but slowness can kill the soul.

Perhaps there is no more dangerous time for our spiritual life than when our brain is coasting, idling or in neutral. It is like going to sleep at night with the door unlocked. There is no telling what will sneak in and harm us.

Our most vulnerable moments are the unguarded ones, not the ones where we are focused on a mission and going ninety miles an hour with gusts to a hundred and twenty. What I think about in my unguarded moments reflects what my mind dwells upon and ultimately decides what kind of person I become.

I need to discipline and exercise my mind just as I do my body. If I fill my body with garbage then it turns to garbage. My mind is no different. What I dwell on in those neutral moments is a good gauge of what is in my heart. I need to be cautious and what I allow in my mind. The best way to exercise and guard my mind is to contemplate those things that are pure, lovely and of good repute.

I should not allow the world to fill my mind with ungodly thinking and focusing on the “things” of this world. The best way to keep the evil one and his devices from entering my mind is to guard its door with scripture and prayer and by focusing on that which is true, noble, just, pure, lovely and good.

The things I allow my mind to focus on will determine the way I live and if I focus on the evils and temptations of this world, I take down my guard and can be led into sin like a sheep to slaughter. If I fill my mind with the things of Christ, then I will become Christ like and if I fill my mind with the evils of this world then I become like the rest of the world.

Beware of neutral…. It’s a killer!

Lord, I know that whatever I fill my mind with is a matter of choice, my choice.  Please help me to be aware of those times when I am vulnerable and help me to guard my mind. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Question: How is a person’s physical life (how they take care of their body) analogous to their spiritual life?

About this Author: John Grant

Track with the live debates and get more info at ultimatequestions.org

Summary:

1. Genes contain a large amount of functional information
2. It is extremely improbable that natural processes can produce a large amount of functional information.
3. The probability that a mind can produce a large amount of functional information is certain (our minds do it continually)
4. Therefore, it is more probable that the information encoded in genes came from a mind, than from natural processes.

Functional Information:

Intelligent design can be defined as an effect produced by a mind (as opposed to mindless natural forces). A fundamental attribute of intelligence and what distinguishes intelligence from mindlessness, is the ability to produce significant amounts of meaningful, useful, or functional information.

We can measure the amount of information in terms of bits and bytes or, in the case of an iPod, gigabytes. The ability of intelligence to produce significant amounts of meaningful or functional information enables us to test for intelligent design.

For example, if SETI Institute scientists received a radio signal from a source outside our solar system consisting of 2 blips, a space, then 3 blips, counting out the first two prime numbers 2 and 3, that would amount to 6 bits of information, not likely enough to get scientists excited.

However, if the signal contained the first 10 prime numbers, amounting to 138 bits, scientists all over the world would likely be very excited. The 138 bits would be a strong sign of an intelligent origin. The formula for measuring functional information in terms of bits and bytes computes information as a measure of probability.

Assuming there are natural sources in space that can generate intermittent blips, the probability that they might generate the 6 bits of information required to count off the first 2 prime numbers is about 1 chance in 63, good odds indeed. However, the probability of generating the 138 bits required for the first 10 prime numbers is about 1 chance in 10⁴² (1 chance in 1 with 42 zeros after it). It would be the rough equivalent of the chance of marking two grains of sand, hiding them both in two different places on planet earth, and then having a blind person find both grains of sand on his firist two picks.

Kindergarten Stuff

It is easy for a mind to generate 138 bits of useful information; we do it daily. But it is extremely improbable for mindless natural processes to do it. For biological life, the average gene contains more than 500 bits of functional information.

Minimal genome researchers have concluded that the simplest life form would need at least 150 genes. This amounts to about 75,000 bits of functional information, more than enough to get SETI scientists very excited if they received that kind of functional information from deep space. The probability that mindless processes could produce 75,000 bits of functional information is about 1 chance in 10^23,000, if the information is gained in a single step.(You would have a better chance of winning the Lotto 649 every week for 44 years straight.)

If the information is gained in a series of steps, the probability becomes even smaller due to the possibility of repeating the same steps. Appealing to a selected series of steps does not help, for then the required information  would have to be encoded within the selective processes themselves.

It would be implausible to believe that mindless natural processes could pull off a series of events coding for each one of the necessary 150 genes for the simplest life form.  Yet 75,000 bits amounts to just over 9 Kbytes of functional information, a feat that is easy for even a child to perform. The average bacterium carries much more information than this in its genome, not to mention the higher life forms. This does not prove that intelligent design was required for life, but it does make it very probable.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”  (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV).

Years ago I woke up to the life changing truth that “as a man thinketh, so he becometh” (Proverbs 23:7).  Do you know that the moment we have a thought is the moment we choose whether to come into agreement with that thought?

Our words indeed hold power as well!   Proverbs 18:21 says that “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love to talk will have to eat their own words.” The power of our thoughts is even greater because all belief begins there.

We have often heard it said that the battlefield is in the mind.  Do you know how many thousands of thoughts we have run through your mind today?  And it is those thoughts that we choose to come into agreement with that end up changing our perception on life.  These thoughts manifest as we live on a day-to-day basis.

I was reminded of the power of agreement in reading about the life of Joseph.  He had been imprisoned for about 12 years.  Known for his gift of interpreting dreams, Pharaoh called upon him to interpret a dream he had.  In hearing the interpretation that God gave to Joseph, Pharaoh immediately recognized that the Spirit of God was within him, and put him in charge of his entire house and made him ruler over the people as Pharaohs right hand man.

He set him over all the land of Egypt.  Because of this, Egypt was spared from a famine that could have been detrimental.  Because Pharaoh came into agreement with Joseph, his land and his people and many others were made secure and protected.   That is what the power of agreement can do:  It can save an entire nation!

I believe Pharaoh had a choice at that moment to either accept Joseph’s interpretation of his dream or to disregard it.  I believe he took his thoughts hostage and weighed very carefully what he was going to come into agreement with.

No doubt, we have a choice with the thoughts what we come into agreement with as well, and that’s why it is so vital, to take our thoughts captive.  One choice, one moment can change our lives forever.  In Pharoah’s case, it saved an entire nation!

Questions: Why is the response we have to our thoughts so important?

About the Author Brigitte Straub

Don’t you love clean?

Not cleaning, but being clean. A cool shower to wash away the sweat of a hot day feels so refreshing. Climbing into clean sheets at bedtime, the smell of a baby after his bath, or pulling on a sweater that has just been washed, each bring us simple pleasure.

How much more joy is waiting for us to experience when we allow God to cleanse us?

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36:25 – 27).

A Clean body

All the ways that our bodies have been violated and all the ways we have used our bodies to sin can be washed away by the power of God through Jesus’ death on the cross. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

A Clean mind

When we pursue anything other than God, it can become an idol to us. As well, our minds are often polluted with sinful images, evil thoughts or wrong attitudes. Though we cannot change our thoughts, God can and does. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

A Clean heart

Our hearts become hard when we allow sin to build a wall around it, but confession is our invitation to God to purify us. “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Over and over the Bible reminds us that we can be clean through the power of Jesus. “[L]et us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

O God, we pray with David, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:2).

Questions: How have you experienced God’s cleansing in the past? What do you need to bring to God for cleansing today?

About the Author Suzanne Benner

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, The Ways of God, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

“Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” Proverbs 4:23 (TEV)

To change your life, you must change the way you think. Behind everything you do is a thought. Every behavior is motivated by a belief, and every action is prompted by an attitude.

God revealed this thousands of years before psychologists understood it: “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts” (Proverbs 4:23 TEV).

Imagine riding in a speedboat on a lake with an automatic pilot set to go east. If you decide to reverse course and head west, you have two possible ways to change the boat’s direction.

One way is to grab the steering wheel and physically force it to head in the opposite direction from where the autopilot is programmed to go. By sheer willpower, you could overcome the autopilot, but you’d feel constant resistance. Your arms would eventually tire of the stress, you’d let go of the steering wheel, and the boat would instantly head back east, the way it was internally programmed.

This is what happens when you try to change you life with willpower; you say, “I’ll force myself to eat less … stop smoking … quit being disorganized and late.”

And, yes, willpower can produce short-term change, but it creates constant internal stress because you haven’t dealt with the root cause. The change doesn’t feel natural. Eventually you give up and go off the diet.

There is a better and easier way: Change your autopilot; in other words, the way you think. “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

Change always starts first in the mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act, which means “there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes” (Ephesians 4:23 NLT).

To be like Christ you must develop the mind of Christ. The New Testament calls this mental shift “repentance,” which in Greek literally means “to change your mind.”

To repent means to change the way you think – about God, yourself, sin, other people, life, your future, and everything else, and you adopt Christ’s outlook and perspective on life.

Question: How have you engaged in renewing your mind lately?

About this Author: Rick Warren

“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor.11:13).

Last week, the “trail boss” of our church motorcycle group organized a ride to a place called “Spook Hill,” where it appears that vehicles defy the law of gravity and roll uphill. In reality, it is an optical illusion that makes it look like an uphill roll, but the law of gravity has not yet been repealed and objects still roll downhill, no matter what ancient spirits may allegedly be lurking around.

We had a good time, but on the ride back, I couldn’t help but draw a spiritual comparison to our visit. Satan often disguises that which is bad to appear as good. The enemy often tries to portray himself as good, a friend who cares for you or as truth.

That is not the case though, Peter said “your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour”.  He lays traps and waits for you to fall.  He is after the result and may work on traps that take years to develop in your life when he can rise up and pounce on you.

No need to fear though as God says “Greater is He who is in your than he that is in the world”.  God will take care of it if you let Him. But, we must know the source and not trust what we see or feel in a worldly sense.

We always need to be on alert and use caution.  Things are not always as they appear.  At times we can allow what we find desirable to overshadow and hide the truth we do not want to see that is in details.  If we are not careful, we will only see what we want to see.

Other times, we may find something or someone that appears to be good only to find out later that we were deceived.  We often are not aware of all the facts or know the end result.

The real question is whether we see things with worldly eyes……. eyes conditioned by the educational system, the media, the entertainment industry and others that would mould our minds to be unlike the mind of Christ or with spiritual eyes, the way God sees things.

How do I acquire spiritual eyes? I do it by constantly worshiping God throughout my daily routine, by being in the Word daily, by regularly participating in public worship and Bible fellowship with other Christians.

Lord, please mold my eyes, my mind and my perspective to be like that of You. Give me the spiritual eyes to see as You see, no matter how deceptive things may be from a non-Biblical world view. Thank you, Lord. I ask this in Your name, amen.

(a thought on life from John Grant)

Questions: How can one acquire spiritual eyes?  Can you tell us about an experience when things were not what they appeared to be?

About the Author John Grant

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Mercy and Grace, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog