Have you ever tried to meditate?  Maybe you are an avid meditator who has the ability to shut down your mind completely and sit in stillness.  Or maybe you are a novice, who has just begun the practice.  Or maybe you have tried in the past and are overwhelmed with the thoughts that consume your mind and are unable to quiet them.  This is where I would like to take you today – our mind – the factory of our thoughts, whose design is first manifested in our hearts.  Like a bud sprouting from a tree branch in the early days of spring, so our thoughts spring forward from our hearts.

There are two extremes of the heart – one is a hard heart focused on self and; at the opposing end there is a soft heart, focused on being a servant of God.    Consider what kind of thoughts manifest in both extremes of the heart?

What thoughts come to mind when you meet someone new? Do your thoughts go to judgement or a welcoming curiosity, with mutual respect?

What thoughts do you ponder when you have been hurt?  Are they vengeful or forgiving?

What thoughts present themselves when a friend shares a blossoming part of their life?  Do you share in the joy of their growth?  Or do you have thoughts of jealousy, presented through critique?

Where do your thoughts instinctively go? In a negative, critical mind-set, or a positive, loving mind-set?

You can see from these questions that where your heart is, is indicative of how your mind will generate thoughts.  If you possess a servant’s heart, open to God, your thoughts are more likely to flow from a place of love.  If your heart is hardened, your thoughts will be negative, critical and selfish.

While our mind is an endless factory producing thought after thought, it is also the birthplace where Satan plants evil seeds to poison our thoughts.  Satan is constantly on the move seeking to destroy us, beginning with our thoughts.  2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”  Therefore, we must have an awareness about us.  We must be vigilant, wise, and discerning.    We must use the shield of faith to protect us from Satan’s fiery darts.  1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

How do we fight the evil thoughts that Satan strategically places in our minds? I wonder if you would consider the following:

WISDOM – Replacing every lie planted in our thoughts with the truth of God’s word. Wisdom is achieved through holding scripture in our heart and in our mind.  Through claiming God’s covenant every time we reach for our bible, we are asking God to bestow His wisdom upon us.  Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “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.” We know the evil thoughts when they present themselves, if we are to be honest with ourselves.  When I can catch myself in these moments, I am learning to lay them at Jesus’ feet, and I ask God to replace the lies with His truth.  Our minds wander and we perceive and begin to follow the breadcrumb trail of lies that Satan has laid down, hoping to lead us down the path of our eventual demise.  What lies might you be believing about yourself, about others, about your situation?

FOCUS – we do have free will to stay focused or to be whimsical with what we allow to enter into our minds.  Maybe we even find excuses for our behavior, or habits to enable us to continue feeding the desires of our heart.  What is it that we may be doing that we know does not follow the will of God?  What are we exposing our eyes and ears to that lead us away from God?

Hebrews 3:1 “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.”

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.”

LOVE – Love God with a passion that stirs your heart at a deep level, where you hunger and thirst for His presence.  Love Him with everything you have.

Mark 12:30 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

One of the most beautiful scripture verses to me right now is Psalm 51:10, it brings me such great joy that it is by the hand of our Mighty Creator and Lord, that a loving heart is developed in us.  It is not by anything we can do – it just plainly isn’t.  I don’t know about you, but this creates in me such a spirit of thanksgiving, that God will do this work in me, all I need to do is surrender.  Where else do we find the love and peace and joy of God, but at the place of surrender at His feet.

Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

HUMILITY – means having a sincere awareness of who we are – humans. At the very minimum, it means having a heart of humility that understands that God’s timing and God’s way is always perfect.  It does not mean being prideful, making your own plans independent of seeking God’s wisdom.

Psalm 10:4 “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.”

These days you hear the word “mindfulness” being used a lot.  Mindfulness is defined as “maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment, through a gentle, nurturing lens”.  Hmmm feels familiar to me, how about you?  It seems to me that the concept of “mindfulness” is encapsulated in God’s word and has just been coined a new term in today’s day and age.  It is a calling for greater “awareness of our thoughts…through a gentle, nurturing lens”.  Could we say that the Holy Spirit is the lens through which we are encouraged to look to ensure our thoughts follow the will of God?

Holy Father in Heaven, You are Almighty, You are omnipresent and we are thankful to be called children of God.  Father might you plant in us a passion to love you so deeply and intimately, that it drives not only the condition of our heart, but the thoughts of our mind.  Would you walk closely alongside us each day, to remind us to make our thoughts captive to You.  Place in us the desire to serve You above all else.  Through Christ Jesus name we pray, Amen.