The mind is a set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, perception, thinking, judgment, language and memory. It is usually defined as the faculty of a person’s thoughts and consciousness. It holds the power of imagination, recognition and appreciation and is responsible for processing feelings and emotions, resulting in attitudes and actions (Wikipedia).
The mind is extremely powerful, therefore what we “think” about is pretty important! It says the mind is responsible for our attitudes and actions as well. Here’s where the problems can begin … and end!
I used to think of myself as a busybody. Always busy thinking of things I needed to do, making lists, thinking about what to wear, when to start Christmas shopping, when to have friends over, what to cook for dinner … Wow! What a busy girl I was, or so I thought. If I’m thinking about all these different things all day long, every day, then when do I think about God? Where does He fit into my extremely busy, very unfocused mind? Not to mention, how in the world could I ever hear that still, small voice amongst all the clamor? Well, I couldn’t.
Then I wondered, “Why don’t I ever hear from God?” The thing about God is, He’s never pushy. He waits for us to be still, to seek Him in our quiet times so we can hear from Him. He would need a gong to get my attention while my mind flies through my daily to-do lists! I used to let thoughts flow through my mind one after another. No one ever told me that was a bad thing. So, since I didn’t know it was a bad thing, I never would have changed my way of thinking. Sounds like a great place for the enemy to throw in some evil thoughts or maybe pull out some of those past memories that were so hurtful and certainly not healed. So, why not get upset about them all over again?
The definition of a passive mind is a condition in where you put your mind in neutral and you are not in control of what comes in. Passivity describes the opposite state of activity; a lack of desire, laziness, and lukewarmness. A normal mind should be able to focus, resist, choose, and sort thoughts. These are fairly tough ones to conquer for most of us, but there is hope. God has created us to control our minds and thoughts. This is something that takes a lot of prayer, patience, practice, and time. I am a work in progress in this matter as I write this. I have noticed that when I give my thoughts to the Lord, I feel more peace. I can focus on God and hear from Him more.
I read a book by Joyce Meyer called The Battlefield of the Mind. That book opened my eyes to all kinds of things, and this was one of them: Friend, we are to be led by the Spirit, and not by the enemy or bad, negative thoughts. An empty, passive mind can be easily filled with all kinds of wrong thoughts. Let’s determine to be active and aggressive in our thinking; not lazy and procrastinating, but actively pursuing the will of God. Actively keep your mind full of right thoughts. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” We are responsible and accountable for what we allow into our minds. We need to press into God’s word and know that when the thoughts in our minds do not line up with God’s word, it’s the enemy. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.” We need to be active and not passive. Right actions begin with right thinking.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to keep my eyes and mind fixed on you! Renew and align my thoughts and actions with your word and your will. Give me strength to control my thoughts and not give any room to the enemy. Help me to focus on you. In Jesus name, amen.
Beth Nahkala
Lean Into Jesus Ministries
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