Now is the time…… To Change Your Mind

How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Psalm 13:1-2

When I read this psalm I am encouraged to know that David, the psalmist, also struggled with his thoughts and that there was a battle going on for control of his mind. In the same way today there is a battle for your mind and your thoughts. Bible teacher Joyce Meyer calls it ‘the battlefield of the mind’.

This battle is a very real thing and it is important for us to win the battle for our thoughts because as Joyce says, “Where the mind goes the man follows.” The Bible says “As a man thinks, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7 (KJV). Our thoughts determine our attitudes and actions so our thought life is very important. If I harbour negative, gloomy, critical thoughts then that is the kind of person I will become; depressed, angry and bitter – not nice to be around. On the other hand, if I determine to obey God’s instructions in Philippians 4, to think on the things that are good, pure, lovely and of good report, I will be a happy, confident, thankful and loving person.

David made a decision in this psalm. He began by crying out to God, “How long do I have to deal with these thoughts Lord? They are making me miserable.” He did the right thing; he took his complaint and misery to God. He went to the one who could help him. Suddenly his tone changed and he decided to change his thinking. In verse 5 he says, “BUT I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I WILL sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.”
David changed his mindset by changing his thoughts from negative to positive. It happened when he went into God’s presence and poured out his complaint. As he put voice to his thoughts the Holy Spirit began to remind him of God’s faithfulness. A song began to rise within him and he determined to sing praise to God instead of whining and complaining.

How is your thought life? Do you need to change your mind? Try putting the Philippians 4:4-9 verses into practice and see what a difference they make to your life. I call these verses ‘The Recipe for Mental Health.’ God’s word really works!

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for holding onto negative thoughts. Help me to think on the things that are good, pure and lovely and to always remember to be thankful for your goodness to me. Amen

Now is the time…… To Check Your Measurements

I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a plumb line. He was checking it with a plumb line to see if it was straight. Amos 7:7 (NLT)

Years ago while I was working for a furniture wholesaler in Papua New Guinea I watched the building of a huge new warehouse next to our office. The site was prepared, foundations laid and the structure made ready to receive the steel roof trusses. The crane arrived and lifted the trusses over the framework below. Problem! The roof was too big for the structure. There was only one thing to do and that was to rebuild the roof trusses to fit the frame. It was later found that the workers who laid out the foundations had used a tape measure which had been trimmed of some inches because it was damaged. Hard to believe, I know, but nevertheless true.

Site preparations have been going on for our new house as I write. It is in a development which has many trees that cannot be moved. Any building must go on around the trees. Normally this would be fine but when the builder came to measure for the concrete slab for the garage, it was found that one tree had not been marked correctly on the site plan. It seems that the person who had originally done the development plans had measured the tree from the outside of the trunk instead of the inside. This made quite a difference to access to the garage and caused our builder a few headaches in getting some adjustments made to work around the position of the tree.

Measurements are vital in construction of homes, carpentry and even in dressmaking which I used to enjoy. Just a few fractions of an inch (or millimeters) can make a huge difference. Accuracy is essential. But how does this apply to our Christian lives? In the verse in Amos God speaks to the prophet about a plumb line. This is a long line that builders used to use to get a straight line for a wall or fence. (Today they use lasers!) God told Amos that he was testing his people with a plumb line to see how they measured up to his standards. Were they in line or were they ‘out of whack’.

God’s word is our plumb line. It is so important that this becomes the standard for our lives. For us to be able to correctly build our lives in a way that is pleasing to and honouring of God, we must know his word. After many years of reading, hearing and studying God’s word it is relatively easy for me to know whether or not I am living up to God’s standard. I know what his word says and can measure my actions accordingly. If you are young in the Christian life I cannot over stress the importance of studying God’s word so that you can line up your life and conduct with his instruction. It is vital.

Solomon wrote “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.” Proverbs 3:1-2 NIV. Read the book of Proverbs for some good life principles.

Prayer: Lord God help me to hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Amen

Now is the time ...... To Celebrate

Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread….. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. Exodus 34:18

Birthdays, anniversaries, promotions and other milestones are times for celebration. Are you good at celebrating? I am not sure that I can answer a resounding ‘yes’ to that question for myself. I enjoy celebrating for others but I do find it a little difficult to celebrate for myself. I think I am a bit lacking in that area.

God, on the other hand, seems to be the God of celebration. There were a number of feasts of celebration laid down for the Israelites to observe. In this verse God was asking them to celebrate their time of release from the bondage of Egypt. It was to be a 7 day celebration! This was among many feasts they were commanded to observe; the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year, the Feast of Passover, Pentecost, Trumpets and Tabernacles and others. Each denoted a milestone that was to be remembered and celebrated.

When Jesus celebrated the Feast of Passover with his disciples he instituted a new feast that we, his followers, should observe. We call it by various names the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, or the Eucharist. It was to be in remembrance of his death but also a reminder to celebrate that he is risen and will come again (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Remembering these things gives us cause for great thankfulness but is also a reminder of the hope that we have that he will come again to receive us to himself. That is certainly great cause for celebration in the darkening days in which we live.

We do have so much to celebrate. We can celebrate our very life and each new day that God gives us. We can celebrate new life in Christ which is his gift to us. We can celebrate the gifts he has give to us, the family and friends we have, not to mention the freedom of worship that is ours. So many things to celebrate if we will take the time to think about them.

Right now you may be struggling with a difficult life situation that overwhelms you, if that is the case then now is a very good time to reflect on your life and God’s goodness and faithfulness in times past. Finding a cause to celebrate will lift your spirits and gladden your heart. God knows that it is good for us to celebrate because thankfulness has the power to overcome a spirit of heaviness, so come on and celebrate or help someone else to do so.

Prayer: Glorious and faithful God I celebrate your great love for me and thank you for the gift of life that you have given to me. Amen

Now is the time…… To Choose the Best

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:8

Sometimes as I do my weekly grocery shopping I wish there were not so many choices of products available. We are bombarded with great, yummy or just plain decadent; heart-smart, natural and organic, to mention just a few. Of course the healthiest choices are usually the most expensive which often puts them out of the reach of those who need them the most.

Just as in the supermarket the ‘best for you’ is often the costliest, so it is in the spiritual life. Every day I am faced with making choices for my health that my flesh doesn’t like. My body would much rather sit at the computer than go for a walk, or eat a cookie rather than fruit, not to mention reading a book rather than doing the ironing, or watching TV rather than reading the Bible! It costs me something to choose to do what is best for me. My choices also affect others.

The apostle Paul speaks about a choice that Christians need to make; we can either serve our flesh, or we can walk by the Spirit. Whichever we give in to becomes our master (Romans 6:16). As a Christian we need to be in a process of enabling our spirit to rule our flesh by denying the demands of the flesh which continually assail us. We need to reprogram by moving from flesh-driven actions and reactions to Holy Spirit-led decisions. This can only be done as we make a choice to move out of old habits and living patterns and into a brand new way of living and doing things. To do this we need to invite the Holy Spirit to help us daily to make the changes that are needed for us to live a life that is worthy of God (Colossians 3:10), one that is pleasing to him. It is a daily challenge.

There is something that is available to each one who believes in the living Christ, it is the grace of God. The apostle Paul wrote, “By the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10), in other words it wasn’t just him working for God and living a life that was pleasing to him, but it was the grace or enabling that he received from God by which he could do what he did.

Yes, God’s grace is available to us also, but we need to work with it. Paul also went on to say that he did not receive that grace in vain but he worked hard too. It is up to us to receive the grace from God to make good choices, but in the end we need to decide to make the right choice. I close with the choice that Joshua put to the children of Israel which still challenges us today……. ”Choose this day whom you will serve…” (Joshua 24:15). Who will be your master?

Prayer: Gracious God, help me to have a revelation of the plans you have for me so that I can make good choices for my life which will strengthen the life of your Spirit within me. Thank you for your grace which is always available to me. Help me not to receive it in vain, but to work with it for my growth in this new life. Amen

Now is the time…… To Be Known By Him

I have loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

Have you ever felt that you really wanted to get to know someone; to know them as a friend, but you couldn’t get close? I have, and it is very frustrating.

Perhaps most of us have had times in our lives when we don’t want people close to us in case they see what we are really like. We think that if they do, they won’t like us any more, so we hide or we build walls of protection around ourselves to keep people at a distance. We seem to conveniently forget that it’s okay to be human, and that every single person is flawed in some way. Not one of us are perfect, it’s just not possible. Only Jesus was without sin. We also forget that no matter how good our mask, someone will eventually see through it.

Recently a friend I have known for quite a long time came to stay with us. We have never been able to spend much time together in the past so it was a great joy to have this time to really get to know her. When she left I felt like I had a new sister. It needed our spending that time together for us to really get to know each other. It was truly a lovely gift.

Sometimes we hide from God, or at least we don’t try to get close to him, which is what he desires more than anything else. He speaks of his church, the body of Christ, as being “his bride”; that makes him the bridegroom, and in such a picture there is the expectation of intimate relationship. God wants us to know him and grow in our understanding of him. To do that requires spending time with him, learning from him through his word, the Bible, and talking to him. A marriage does not develop properly if there is no intimacy and no sharing of hopes, dreams and desires. It never will become what it should be without communication about many things.

God knows us very intimately because he created us (Psalm 139:14), but he wants us to share our hurts, our hopes, dreams and our struggles with him. He wants us to be real with him. He also wants us to follow his instructions for life because they are what will satisfy us and bring us safely and victoriously through our lives. To do this will at times be a struggle because we feel unworthy or unclean, and we feel like he won’t want to be bothered with us. That is a ploy of the enemy to keep us away from God when we need him most. At times like these we need to press through and come boldly before his throne of grace to obtain mercy, comfort, counsel, strength, direction – whatever we need at the time. He wants to have input into our lives. We can’t, and don’t have to, do life alone. Our work for him needs to include him. Apart from anything else I don’t want to stand before him at the judgment seat only to have him say to me, “Depart from me…… I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23).

Come before your Saviour today and allow yourself to be known by him (warts and all). When you receive his unconditional love, it will help you to allow yourself to be known by others too.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your constant and unconditional love and acceptance of me. Help me to walk with you and share my life with you in a way that is real. Amen

Now is the time ...... To Remember

My soul is downcast within me therefore I will remember you …
Psalm 42:6

Most of us know what it is like to be ‘down in the dumps’. There are many people who spend much of their life in such a state and don’t know how to rise out of it. Depression has become almost endemic in our society, and, to be honest, many people have good reason to be depressed; abusive childhoods, abusive relationships, alcohol and drug-related issues, financial stress, workplace stress….. the list is endless.

Left untreated, depression can become a full-blown illness and it is important to understand, to love and to encourage those with depression, and to know that words like “pull yourself together”, “just have faith” or “think of how much better off you are than people in Sudan, Burma, Africa…” are not helpful at all. A depressed person often cannot even begin to see outside of their own dark world. We need to pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help. Also we can pray for the person to be touched by the Holy Spirit so they can be helped to feel God’s love for them. Love and reassurance works wonders.

In this verse, the psalmist was feeling very “downcast”. He recounts his woes and how the people around him taunted him with “where’s your God now when you need him?” His faith, however, was so deep-rooted in God that he had the strength to speak to his soul, to stir up his faith and hope for the future. He says, “therefore I will remember you (God)….” What good advice it is for us believers to remember God’s previous work in our lives; to remember how we have experienced his working, his blessing, his love and the times he has literally “come through for us” in our time of need.

Many years ago the hymn writer, Johnson Oatman Jnr wrote a wonderful hymn that many will know. The chorus goes like this –

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

I believe this is what the psalmist was doing, reminding himself that he was blessed. This gave him strength through his difficult time. We will be surprised and encouraged as we remember God’s goodness to us and our faith will stir hope in us again. We don’t have to allow depression to take us down. Let’s recognise it when it comes to us, then set our eyes on God, remember his goodness and we will be able to say with the psalmist “I will yet praise him” (vs 11). He truly loves you and will never let you go.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to always remember you in the trials of life, to remember that you are there and you are faithful. Help me to remember my blessings and be thankful. Amen

Now is the time ...... To Understand His Will

…… we have not stopped praying … and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will. Colossians 1:9

Does it seem to you that the Christian life is a constant challenge to make it work? Anyway, what does ‘making it work’ look like to you? To me it is a joy-filled life (even in the midst of difficulties), a thankful and obedient (willing) heart with a good dose of endurance thrown in. Add to that meaningful activity empowered by the Holy Spirit. Wow, how do I get there? I’m glad you asked!

To have this kind of life, the apostle Paul gives us a key; it is to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. This comes in at least two different ways. There is first a general knowledge of his will - how God wants us to live as a Christian by walking in faith and obedience to him; in purity and peace; and to love others. There is also a knowledge of his will for me personally; to know God’s purposes for my life; the gifts he’s given me to do the work he’s prepared for me to do, either in the secular world or in ministry.

It is important that we understand God’s will for our personal conduct in living, but it is equally important to understand that we can find his purpose for our life work. In finding and pursuing that purpose we will find the place of fulfilment…. the place that will bring us joy and satisfaction because it is the place we fit. When we find that place we also find the passion, patience and endurance to complete it (verse 11).

Christian young people have a great advantage over their unsaved peers because they can have the confidence to know that they can ask God for direction regarding their career path and that God will indeed lead them in the way he has planned for them. There are so many scriptures that promise us God’s guidance if we will commit and trust our way to him; look at Psalm 37:5, Proverbs 3:5-6 for a start. It doesn’t have to be a trial and error thing, but it should be a step by step plan. I once heard a preacher say that his earlier career path had covered training in counseling and youth work as well as a few other things. He didn’t know that God was preparing him to lead a large church one day, and that the skills he’d learned along the way God was now putting to good use.

If we will seek to understand God’s will for our life, not only for our career path but also for things like who we marry, what we do with our money, and then walk in faith and obedience to what God shows us, we can be assured of a fruitful and satisfying life that will make an impact in our sphere of influence.

Prayer: Lord God who planned my life from before I was born, please help me to daily seek to understand your will and walk in it. Amen