Please pray

I received a prayer request today to pray for a GEMS Club in Minnesota. Last week, on the way to GEMS, one of their middle school girls was killed in a car accident. Her older sister was driving. Please pray for this family, the school community, and the girls and counselors in this GEMS club.

Voices in my head?

Sorry it's been a while since I've updated the blog! I've been subbing quite frequently and just haven't had the chance. I'll try to post a little more frequently for a while since I don't anticipate working again for another 4 days or so. Enjoy this devotional about the Voices in our Heads.

THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

I have a confession to make. I talk to myself. Aloud. You may have strong opinions about the sanity of people who talk to themselves, but the reality is that we all do it. Some of us are just a little less discrete about it than others!

Think about the voices in your head. The ones that ask recurring, everyday questions like, “Where’s my cell phone or car keys?” and the dark and ugly chatter that can fill our minds in the silence of the night like, “I don’t trust God with _____________.” Or, “I’m not good enough.” Or, “If people really knew what I was thinking they’d judge me or think I’m crazy.”

Within her blog post, “Doing Battle with the Crazy Lady” Eyvonne Sharp gives the voices in her head that speak stinkin’ thinkin’ thoughts a name. She calls that voice the Crazy Lady.  (http://www.eyvonnesharp.com/doing-battle-with-the-crazy-lady/)

She writes, “After 35 years, I give her a face and an identity. Not to give credence to her words, but to call her out so I can see her more clearly. It’s much easier to fight a seen enemy than an un-seen one.” Whether you name the enemies of our sinful nature, the world, and the devil, the “Crazy Lady” or not, the spiritual, invisible battle is indeed real, and ongoing (Ephesians 6:10-18).

At first, Eyvonne tried to do battle with the enemy through positive thinking. She’d fake confidence on the outside, but the battle was still raging within because victory is not a matter of willpower, but of God’s power! Then God revealed the missing piece of her arsenal. She realized, “God’s Word is true, no matter how I feel.” That was her “silver bullet against the crazy lady.”

I love that visual: God’s Word is our silver bullet against the enemy! Does the voice in your head say, “You can’t trust God with this?” Blast it with truth: I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD (Psalm 27:13-14). Does the voice in your head say, “You’re not good enough?” Take aim and discharge truth: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Trade in stinkin’ thinkin’ for Truth!

There is One Voice that we must heed and hear, listen and obey, and that’s God’s. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).

Think on it: What Voice or voices are you listening to today?

Who we listen to predicts how we’ll act. My voice sounds like I want control; God’s voice sounds like He’s in charge.

Bob Goff

grace and peace,

Lenae         

A Gospel Mindset Devotional

A GOSPEL MINDSET

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

Romans 1:28

In the last 24 hours, what have you thought about most? Be honest. What person, project, or possibility has taken up the most space in your thought closet? With middle daughter Stephanie’s wedding on Saturday, you don’t have to use much imagination to know what’s filling my mind!

The Apostle Paul had a gospel mindset. He was set apart for the gospel, he preached it with his whole heart, and he did all things for its sake. The gospel filled his mental space and we should strive to have it fill our minds, too.

In Romans chapter 1, Paul unpacks the thought processes of the wicked and the devastating consequences of squeezing the gospel out of your thought life.

The wicked:

·      Suppress God’s truth (v. 18)

·      Trade in God’s truth for lies (v. 25)

·      Ignore God’s truth (v. 19)

·      Refuse to think about God (v. 28)

The consequence? God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done (v. 28). Even though they knew God’s righteous decrees, and understood that their disobedience deserves death, they continued in their wickedness and encouraged others to do the same (Romans 1:32)!

Before we get too wild in pointing fingers or shaking our heads in disbelief, let’s take an honest assessment of our own thought closets. How often do we suppress God’s truth, thinking gossip doesn’t matter much if we only tell a close friend? How often do we trade in God’s truth for lies thinking that obeying God is bondage instead of true freedom? How often do we ignore God’s truth, thinking how we live is up to us, as long as we’re Christians?

These thoughts are stinkin’ thinkin’! We must power up and fill our minds with Gospel truth! Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes (v. 16).

Read His Word. Memorize Scripture. Meditate on it and apply it. Let it so fill your mental space that there’s no room for any thought that is contrary to what the Spirit desires.

Think on it: How will you more fully set your mind on the gospel today?

If we will fill our souls with the written gospel, we will refuse to devote our mental space and energy to the fruitless, even stupefying and degrading stuff that clamors for our attention.

Dallas Willard

grace and peace,

Lenae