Stay Your Mind

Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
You will keep him in perfect peace, 
      
Whose mind is stayed on You,
      
Because he trusts in You.

I watched a great skit once by two talented comics titled, “Distract and Confuse”.  The story line was that these men were presenting a new product for capturing souls to a convention of devils.  Their new product was touted as a sure-fire method.  They taught that all one needs to do is to simply distract their intended victims attention away from God and then confuse them while they are distracted.  The salesmen promoted this procedure as the best thing to hit their business since the “Apple Incident” back in the Garden of Eden.

Setting the humor aside, there is a scary and powerful point to this skit.  The devil is out to get us and we are prone to distraction and confusion.

1Peter 5:6-11 (NIV)
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The way to defend against the attacks of the devil is to focus our attention on God constantly.  When we focus on God there is no distraction.  And, when we concentrate on God we are far less susceptible to confusion.

2Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The result of our constant concentration on God is, in a word, peace.

Isaiah 26:3 (Amplified)
You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

God has designed us with an early warning system regarding our distractions.  We can quickly gage our attention on God by the state of our emotions.  When confusion, anger, frustration, sadness, etc. present themselves we know that we have allowed ourselves to be distracted.  These non-peaceful emotions serve to guide us back to God (the only real source of peace in this world).

Bottom line is this; if you want peace in your life, then turn your full attention on God.

Stay your mind!
Lon Alderman
@leaderlifter

A Few Things, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 25:21
His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

My mom tried for years to teach me a truth found in this passage. The subject always surfaced when I was dissatisfied with my job. She would say, "Do the best you can with the job you have and things will work out."

I tend to grow frustrated when things don't go my way. If my frustration gets too overwhelming, then you will find me "looking", again! I think that there must be something better for me out there...I just have to find it.

What I forget is that God has placed me where I am, even if I don't think it's the perfect job for me. And, God has a plan for me to grow in the place He's placed me. He's given me a little bit to handle now, in hopes that I'll handle it and be prepared to handle more later.

Let's be faithful with our few things!
Lon

Frustration

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

My frustration grows when my expectations aren't meant. That is, I set in my mind what I hope will happen and when reality fails to measure up, then my frustration begins.

If God is at work in all things for my good, then why am I frustrated? My frustration speaks a clear message to the Lord: "God, You don't know what You're doing!"

When life fails to measure up and we respond with frustration we are saying to God that we don't trust Him. We think we know better how life ought to work out. And we forget that God is at work in these very same circumstances with which we are frustrated.

Trust the Lord!
Lon