Whenever we walk through
life and forget to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), we change our focus from God’s glory and majesty to
what is happening around us. This is
discouraging to say the least. Our soul – our mind, our will and our emotions -
gets disheartened and sometimes actually becomes sick inside of us (Proverbs
13:12). To change this, we can take
Paul’s advice and focus our mind on eternal things, not on the temporal,
day-to-day grind that we face here on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).
Our daily worries and
concerns take our eyes off Jesus and put them on our self. When this happens, our
troubles and trials multiply until we are overwhelmed. We unwisely pay
attention to foolish people and allow them to affect our life. We submit to
people who take advantage of us and treat us abominably or who lord their life
and success over us. Instead, God advises us to flee from people who are carnal
and evil. He also tells us to take captive every one of our thoughts and to submit
them to Christ (Psalm 35:12; 1 Timothy 6:11; 2 Corinthians 10:5-6, 11:20).
Paul gives us a checklist to
do this. Rather than to focus on our little microcosm of the world, God wants
us to place our thoughts only on things that are true, honorable, righteous, pure, lovely and
admirable. We cast out negative thoughts from our imagination and take our
thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. We think only about things that
are excellent and worthy of praise (2 Corinthians 10:5; Philippians
4:8). Once we do this, our spiritual
equilibrium returns and we find a smile bubbling up from deep within our soul.
A fulfilled longing is sweet to the soul (Proverbs 13:19).
All authentic Believers have
died; and it is no longer us, but Christ that lives His life in us and through
us (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3).
If we let Him, He will deal with our stress at work, the mean spirited people,
our wayward children, our mounting bills, our messy house, etc. He lives within
us and He motivates us and gives us wisdom and strength to face every issue
with victory and grace. Our real life is hidden with Christ in God. Once we
realize this, we are no longer negatively affected by the world going on around
us.
If we focus on our failings
and our sins, we try in the flesh to remove these issues from our life. We lose
our joy and peace because we are no longer focused on God. Instead, we can
repent of our sins and shortcomings, give them to Christ and allow the Holy
Spirit of God to do His work within us. God rids us of all guilt and
condemnation (Romans 8:1). As we
focus on Christ, we live good lives among the unsaved people in our world. Although they may
accuse us of doing something wrong, if we keep our eyes focused on Jesus, they
will ultimately see our good works and glorify God with their life as well (1 Peter 2:12).
Every morning, we put on our new self that is being renewed and
changed into the image of Christ (Colossians 3:10). Each day, we clothe our self with Christ, and He
provides a shield that repels all the fiery darts from our enemies (Romans
13:4; Psalm 33:20; Ephesians 6:16). God
knows what is happening in the planet around us and He has everything under HIS
control. There is no need for us to bother or worry about anything at all. God
has an opinion about everything in our life and an answer for all of our
questions. We just need to spend time with Him in prayer about all our concerns
and then leave them in His capable hands.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, when we look
around us we get discouraged. When we look within us we get depressed. However,
when we look to You, we find joy that defies description and we bask in Your
glory (1 Peter 1:8). As we
keep our mind centered on You all day long, we live in peace and we are led by
Your Spirit through every moment of every day (Galatians 5:16, 25; Romans
8:29). Your truth sets us free, and we
live with high praises to You in our heart and on our lips (John
8:32; Psalm 149:6).
Thought for the Day:
"Let
us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” - Hebrews
12:2
