SANCTIFIED SUNDAY

When we let our minds shape the state of our souls, we can become lost. I don’t know about you, but almost every day I face temptations that seek to destroy, confuse, and entangle my mind. I look at what is happening all around me in this dark and fallen world and fear comes creeping in. I fear for the safety of my children, my grandchildren, all children! Statistics from the National Center for Victims of Crime report that, “an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year, more that 2,000 children every day. An estimated 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be sexually victimized before age 18. Yet, only 1 in 3 will tell anyone.” I look at the homeless and my heart aches. The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty estimates between 2.3 and 3.5 million people in America experience homelessness. And you don’t want me to get started on how the elderly in this country get lost in the system. And Politics! What a joke! Scripture says we perish from lack of knowledge! (Hosea 4:6). We must know what’s going on while at the same time looking to God for answers, not man! I could name many more injustices in this world, but these are the ones that tear into my heart. These are the ones that make me angry and leave me depressed! But I am so thankful to God that I no longer allow them to jeopardize my faith. I no longer let them shape the state of my mind and soul. (Romans 12:2)

 It is not through my own efforts that I don’t lock myself up in the house from fear of what is happening all around me. It is not through my own efforts that I don’t call my grandchildren every night to see if they made it home safety! It is not through my own efforts that I remain grounded in the Lord. Faith and fear cannot exist together! It is because I keep my focus on God and my faith in Him knowing that despite what it looks like, He is in control! Someone once said, “our faith is what connects our weakness to God’s power. You can see God’s signature everywhere around you once you learn to recognize His handwriting”. That’s what keeps me grounded, I can recognize His signature. Even though it may look and feel bad in the natural eye, by faith I know God is working it out for our good! And that gives me peace I need to make it day by day. (John 14:27)

 So, I meditate on the kind of things Paul list in Philippians 4:8. It is a powerful antidote to the gloom that sometimes can settle on us as we see the conditions of our world. We can fill our minds with a steady diet of God’s Words and not the what is going on in this world. However, faith that does not translate into action is no faith at all! (James 2:17). I do what I can to help those issues that tear at my soul. I am committed to letting God use me however and wherever He chooses. We must do what we can, where we are, to rectify the injustices of this world! The rest we leave to our Father who is in control and has the power to change things in one prayer! I am very careful about what I watch and how much I watch the news on TV (idiot box I sometimes call it). Someone said they don’t call the shows programs for nothing, that they program your mind and your way of thinking. I agree. There was a time, not to long ago, I would have withdrawal symptoms if I didn’t see a certain show for that week. I may still be having them. Don’t judge me. I’m working on it! And when the news keeps reporting the same thing repeatedly, it is very easy to get hypnotized. And I am very careful about what I listen to or read on Social Media. It may seem like an innocent joke but to someone else it could be cruel or bullying. Words hurt! My rule is if it is not positive, or if I don’t have something nice to say, or if I don’t have a  solution to the problem, I keep it moving. My main purpose on Social Media is to glorify God. Because He told me too! We must understand that satan has access to Social Media and TV. He gets mad when we use Social Media to praise and worship God. Well devil, you just keep on getting mad because with every breath I will praise God everywhere!

Instead of allowing the things of this world to enter our minds and get into our souls, we will keep mediating on God and all that is good. (Colossians 3:2) Sisters and brothers, we can refuse to fill our minds with a steady diet of the darker side of life. We can train our ourselves to flip the script from negative to positive. We can make careful decisions about what fills our minds and choose the things which will honor God and guard our souls! (Romans 8:5-7) Please comment and share. Thank you for helping me share God’s Word. Love and Blessings….