“Penny for your thoughts.”
“What’s going on in your head right now?”
“What were you thinking?!?”
We have probably all had those questions asked of us. Maybe
when we are staring off into space, obviously not connecting with our current
surroundings. Perhaps our body language is telling a story when our lips are
not saying a word. Or, we have just been caught doing something ridiculously
unwise. It makes people curious when our actions or expressions indicate our
head is somewhere else, so they ask about it.
It isn’t just our head, or thoughts that drift off to a far
away place. Sometimes it is because of an issue in our heart.
Where is your heart when it fixed
on the things that trouble you? The things you cannot control? The loved ones
who are in need? The starving children of the world? The lost souls around you?
The desires that overwhelm you? Is it fixed on that person that has taken your
heart and wrapped it up so tightly that they have taken control of your world?
Is your heart focused on pleasure? Is it focused on climbing to the top of your
game? Is your heart controlled by the things of this world or the One who
created you for the next world?
Physiologically speaking, the heart is necessary for life.
When it stops beating, blood stops circulating. When there is no blood carrying
the nutrients and the oxygen to the brain and other organs, life ends.
Interestingly, the brain is the organ that experiences injury faster than
any other organ once the heart stops.
The brain keeps all of our systems functioning, so it is essential for
life to continue. It is possible for the heart to begin to beat again through
the administering of CPR or the use of a defibrillator, but it must be done
quickly, because the brain function, once it has stopped, will not return
without a miracle.
I am not a science person, but, knowing that
little bit from sixth grade science class, helps me to grasp the connection of
our thoughts and our hearts on a spiritual level. When our spiritual heart (the place God’s
Spirit desires to inhabit) and our mind (the center of our thoughts) has a
“blockage,” spiritual death is a certainty. Not only does this cause spiritual
death for the person whose “heart” has stopped communicating with the “mind,”
but it causes a huge bit of confusion for the world who is watching. Those who
claim to follow Jesus are living with the same moral standards as those who do
not.
It stands to reason, then, that there is some
force at work to derail the signals from God’s Spirit in the heart of those who
believe. Thoughts that are contrary to the Truth of His Word begin to take on a
life of their own, separate from the guidance of the Spirit. There is something
confusing the signals from the Spirit of God to alter the thoughts that grow in
our minds. It’s not the guy in the red suit with horns and a pitchfork. We are
far too smart to fall for the lies that he might use to steer us in the wrong
direction. Oh, to be sure, it is the Evil one, but when we begin to believe
that Satan is easy to identify and his lies are simple to see, we have fallen
for the oldest trick in the book. The slick deception that began in Eden and
caused the fall of humanity is still at work today. He appears to be our
friend… to want to assist us and make our life richer, more exciting, more like
the people around us. He doesn’t wear a DANGER sign or begin his conversations
with a warning. That’s why we see people who claim to be followers of Jesus;
who claim to have the Spirit of God living in them; who claim to be
“Christians” living according to the standards of the world rather than
according to the standard set for us in scripture. The standard that God gives
us in order that we might discover the true abundance He has for us.
If you have not invited Jesus Christ to be LORD
of your life, then this isn’t for you. But, if you have decided to be a
follower of Jesus, then you have invited the Spirit of the Living God to guide
and direct you; to live within you; to draw you into a relationship with Him
that is eternal. If you have decided to follow Jesus then you are on your way
to discovering the DESTINY that God has for you…the PURPOSE for which you were
created…the ABUNDANCE that overwhelms…the HOPE that restores…the LIGHT that
directs and the LOVE that transforms.
SO….
Shove the intruder out! He doesn’t care about
your heart. He just uses it to short-circuit your thoughts. Give the place of
honor back to the Spirit of God so that your mind can be focused on what is
true and right and noble and good. Let your thoughts wrap securely around the
love that will hold you tightly in the darkest of times and give you peace and
hope and confidence. Allow the Spirit to direct you to the people and the
places where you can grow to be what you were created to be.
IF…
You have lost hope or lost your focus… if you
continually struggle in your finances, in your marriage, in your job, with your
children, among your friends, in your relationships… take a good look and you just
may discover that you are not making decisions according to the Spirit of God,
but according to the Deceiver. You can’t follow both. Totally and completely
give God your heart so that He alone can direct your thoughts… then the actions
will follow that will reflect a healthy heart and mind.
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