DAY IV

What's on Your Mind

There are many things which vie for our attention every day. Working or going to school consumes much of your energy; you may have others need you must attend to, hobbies you'd like to pursue, shopping trips to the mall or outlet stores, conversations on the phone with close friends, e-mail to deal with, and favorite TV shows to watch. How many times have you nwished for more than twenty four hours in a day? Its so easy in the midst of all this busyness to put GOD on the back burner.
It's impossible for GOD to purify our minds if we're not hanging out witjh HIM on a regular basis. Our minds dwellon the things that occupy our time. It's so easy to just go through the motions and become lukewarm. (Revelation 3:16). A part of being hot, of being radical for HIM, is seeking HIM and requesting, "GOD, speak to my heart." If we humbly come to HIM with this heartfelt prayer, HE will purify our minds and our hearts. Time with HIM everyday is essential to HIS transforming work in our minds.
If we are not spending time with HIM, we can't expect HIM to change us from the inside out. We must choose to make time with GOD a priority. There are always things we can say no to. But when we say yes to GOD powerful things happen!
Just as GOD was concerned with the purification of the temple in the Old Testament, HE desires that we also purify the temple where HE dwells today-our hearts and minds. Here are some verses to meditate on as you seek GOD's purity for your life: 2 Cor 7:1, Titus 2:14, Heb 9:13-15.
In a notebook, record how you spend your hours in a typical day. What things are essential? What things are non essential? Are you happy with the amount of time you spend with GOD on a daily basis? If not, what can you cut out of your routine in order to spend more timne with HIM? Now it's just a matter of following through with your plan. Do it and watch GOD transform your mind.

~Rebecca St. James

DAY III

Faithful Followers

Sheep are known to be some of the simplest thinking animals in all of GOD's creation. They are followers, and they do just fine when they are following the direction of the shepherd who cares for them, feeds them, protects them, and tends to their need. But they can get themselves in trouble when, out of fear, they react to a startling sound and run away from the safety of the flock, or follow another sheep that has gotten lost.
Developing pure minds begins with making a decision concerning which voice we will follow. The battle of the mind is fought and won by putting a stake in the ground that says, "I choose to think and act on thoughts that are motivated by my heavenly Father, not the thinking that comes through the ne4gative influences of this world." (Colossians 3:1-2)
(Isaiah 53:6)Is there a specific area in your life right now in which you have not been faithfully following the LORD's voice? Confess that area to HIM, and thank HIM that HE laid HIS Son on the cross so that you could be forgiven. Ask for HIM to protect and guide you today; then trust HIM to do it.

~Rebecca St. James