Psalm 46:10a ~ Be still, and know that I am God. (ESV)

The Hebrew word translated here as “be still” is “raphah” and oh how I love the meaning…it means “sink, relax.”

So today, sink into Him. Relax into His embrace.

Know that He is God.

And be renewed.

Mark 12:29-31 ~ Jesus answered, The most important is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. (ESV)

Have you ever heard this said about anyone? “He’s so heavenly minded he’s no earthly good.”

Yeah. Me neither.

For most of us, that saying would be better reversed . . . She’s so earthly minded she’s no heavenly good.

Ouch.

Renewing our minds is not just an exercise in logic or reasoning or discipline. A mind that is truly renewed will start giving you some radical assignments.

  • Maybe you should go on that short-term mission trip.
  • Maybe you should help out at the homeless shelter.
  • Maybe you should give more of that money (that you now realize isn’t actually yours) to further God’s Kingdom.
  • Maybe you should ask your – friend, parent, sibling, spouse, coworker – for forgiveness.
  • Maybe you should invite your neighbors over for dinner and get to know them.

As we discussed several weeks ago, this isn’t about adding to your to-do list. This is about re-purposing your to-do list.

On the heels of telling us to love God with everything we have, Jesus follows with “and love your neighbor as yourself” and tells us there are no commandments greater.

If I can look across the cul-de-sac and not be moved by the faces I see – faces of people who need Jesus – then I’m not fulfilling this most important command.

Only a mind, continually renewed, will be able to look past the yapping dogs, crowing roosters, too high grass, and annoyingly parked cars, and see a soul beloved of God. A soul Jesus died for. A soul the Holy Spirit may, right now, be softening to the Truth that you have. And you have it ready because you’ve been dwelling on it. And when the Holy Spirit opens the door, you can walk right through it.

As we move forward, we have lots of head knowledge. Maybe you’ve learned something new this month. Maybe you’ve been reminded of things you used to know but had forgotten.

My prayer is that as I (and you!) focus on daily renewing my mind, that it will spill out. That I will splash grace everywhere I go. That I’ll see what God is up to and that I’ll be a willing participant in His plan.

Please, Abba, may it do some good.

Mark 12:30 ~ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. (ESV)

We’ve come to our final weekend of focusing on renewing. It’s been a fun journey for me. I hope it has been for you as well.

As we wrap up our time on this topic, let’s take a look at what Jesus had to say about our minds.

The religious rulers of that time had taken the laws provided in the Old Testament and expanded upon them. Their “Do and Don’t” list was around 600 items long!

In a few brief words, Jesus took their list and annihilated it. He reminded them of ancient commands found in Deuteronomy and said, “Listen, it’s easy. Love the Lord your God with all you’ve got.” (Lynn’s paraphrase!)

I checked…the word for mind here includes your intellect, imagination, and intent. So we know what we’re talking about.

Or do we?

How on earth do you love God with your mind? Love Him with your heart and soul? Check. We get that. Most of us can play that song on the piano. Love Him with your strength? Well, it’s a little less obvious, but at an intuitive level, we grasp the idea of loving fiercely and with everything that is in us.

But love God with your mind? Minds – brains – intellect – not usually something you think of as loving.

The love commanded here is agape. The kind of love only fully exhibited by God. The kind of love we are called to as believers. The kind of love we are incapable of expressing without the power of the Holy Spirit.

And I found this definition in Strong’s . . . true agapáō (“loving”) is always defined by God – a “discriminating affection which involves choice and selection“. Another definition I found says that it denotes the love of reason.

Loving God is a choice you make with your mind.

I can’t love God with all of my mind if my framework is skewed.

I can’t love God with all of my mind if I’m deceived about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

I can’t love God with all of my mind if I’ve forgotten who I am, how much it cost to redeem me, and why I’m still here.

When they asked Jesus for the most important commandment, He said love the Lord your God . . . with all your mind.

Renewing matters.

*****
You can read past entries in the 31 Days of Renewing series here.

Isaiah 26:3 ~ You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)

Yesterday we unpacked some tough stuff.

It won’t be much easier today.

Sorry.

Please understand that there is nothing I’ve written about in the past month that I feel I have a handle on. And that includes – maybe I should say that is especially true – of today’s subject.

As I pulled this verse apart, looking at the Hebrew meanings of each word, I found another word that I thought I knew the meaning of.

Mind.

Seems straightforward enough, right? After all, that’s what we’ve been studying all month. But the Hebrew word that is translated here as mind has a very interesting definition. Strong’s concordance gives the short definition as “intent” but then further defines the word as . . .

frame, thing framed, imagination, mind, work

I spent a while confused about this, trying to get from frame to imagination. But then an idea started to form. Hebrew scholars might scoff, but this is what I came up with.

All of us have a framework we think from. A world view. Our thoughts and imagination are built on this frame.

And in most cases, our frame is skewed.

Here’s an example…those of us who lived in the United States tend to assume that we have been blessed by God. We are thankful we live where we live, with freedoms, opportunities, clean air, clean water, warm houses, and an ample food supply. We might not say it out loud, but we think these things reveal that God has blessed us. That we are, somehow, favored.

But Christians who have ministered to believers in some of the poorest parts of the world have reported that those believers feel sorry for us. They have nothing. They live in poverty. They live in filth. They suffer daily pain that we wouldn’t tolerate for more than five minutes before we’d popped some Tylenol.

Yet their lives are characterized by joy and they pity us. Why? Because we have so much stuff our minds and hearts are too cluttered to revel in the miracle of Christ in us.

They have nothing. But they have Jesus. And He is everything.

Can you say that? Honestly? Maybe you’re like me. I believe it.

But I don’t live it.

And it made me wonder…

What if the truth is that in the spiritual realm, they are the favored ones?

With less distraction, less stuff, do their frames square more with God? Maybe.

I know that within my twisted framework, my imagination runs wild and I think others have more, are happier, are healthier, are blessed more than I am. And then I sulk because God isn’t giving me what I want.

And I wonder why I have no peace.

There is no hope for skewed frames and unruly imaginations, other than to surrender them to God. In our materialistic and me-centered society, daily renewing of our minds is crucial to bringing our view of the world and our place in it in line with God’s.

How’s your frame today?

Got an imagination that needs a reality check?

Yeah. Me, too.

Isaiah 26:3 ~ You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)

Isaiah 26:3 ~ You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (ESV)

Today, we are diving into the Old Testament for a look at one of my favorite verses. And one that makes a tantalizing promise . . . one I sometimes feel is virtually unattainable.

Perfect peace.

Shalom, a name of God (Hebrew characters). &qu...The Hebrew for “Shalom” (thanks Wikipedia!)Can you even imagine what a life characterized by perfect peace would look like? Does every part of your being long for such an ideal? Mine does.

And it should. Because we were made for perfect peace. Adam and Eve experienced it in the garden and there is a longing, deep within our souls, for what was lost.

The Hebrew word we  translate as “peace” is “shalom.” It looks like this – שָׁלֹ֑ום – and it turns out that in the literal Hebrew, the word “perfect” does not appear in this verse. It actually says “שָׁלֹ֑ום שָׁלֹ֑ום” or “shalom, shalom.” I’m no more a Hebrew scholar than I am a Greek scholar, but according to the commentaries I read, when a word is doubled it is done so for emphasis and to denote the certainty of the word.

Peace upon peace. Double peace. Absolute peace. Oh, yeah. That’s what I want.

I think…

The ESV Study Bible says that shalom…

“had a much richer connotation than the English word does since in conveyed not merely the absence of conflict but also the notion of positive blessing, especially in terms of a right relationship with God, and also, as a result, the idea that “all is well” in one’s life. This may be manifested most clearly amid persecution and tribulation.”

Insert screeching tire sounds here!

Wait just a minute. Shalom is manifested most clearly amid persecution and tribulation? That’s not what I think of when I think of peace.

Which brings us back to our minds. As we’ve been studying, we need to constantly be in the process of renewing our minds. One way to do that is to think about truth. To focus on the Truth even what is true in our lives stinks.

We believe the Bible is true and this verse promises “perfect peace” to the one who can keep his mind “stayed” on God.

Sounds like a lot of hard work, doesn’t it?

I thought so, until I looked up the word for “stayed”. Guess what it means in Hebrew?

To lean, lay, rest

Resting, leaning – those things don’t require more work.

They require surrender.

The mind resting in full surrender on God – His truth, His will, His love, His plan – will know that all is well in their world, despite tribulation and suffering.

I don’t know about you, but this is a lot for me to get my mind around. Let’s talk about it more tomorrow.

***************

Today’s post made me think of the hymn Like a River Glorious by Frances Ridley Havergal. I’ve included Verse 3 and the chorus for you to ponder.

Verse 3

Ev’ry joy or trial
Falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial
By the Sun of Love;
We may trust Him fully
All for us to do
They who trust Him wholly
Find Him wholly true.

Chorus:

Stayed upon Jehovah,
Hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised,
Perfect peace and rest.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ~ Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

We’ve spent the past several weeks taking this verse apart, almost word for word. Have you noticed how the ideas build on each other? If you don’t know what’s true, then how will you know what’s honorable? If you aren’t thinking of things that are pure, will you notice the things that are excellent?

While we’ve taken the time to focus on each word, I don’t think Paul ever intended for this to be an exhaustive list. He pointed out the biggies, and then threw in a catch all . . . if there’s anything worthy of praise, think about that stuff, too. (Lynn’s paraphrase!)

I don’t think he wanted to constrain our thinking. I think he wanted to encourage us to open our minds to all that is wonderful and good in this world.

We don’t need help seeing the bad stuff.

But somehow, especially in our comfortable American culture, we struggle to see the good.
Our minds are so busy, so hectic, so anxious – so oblivious.

There is a whole world of wonder out there. Children see it. They ooh and aah over spider webs, flowers, rocks, dirt, and chipmunks.

But grownups are too busy for that nonsense.

The Greek for “anything worthy of praise” is “Epainos” and it means “approbation, commendation, praise” and carries the idea of “applause.” It can be used to describe praise of men to God, praise of men to men, praise of God to men (think about that for a minute and try not to get goosebumps) and is used to describe things that deserve to be praised.

Could he have left it any more wide-open?

Cheer for your favorite team. Clap after your favorite little person’s recital. Go crazy when your tiny martial artist earns a new belt.

Marvel at the intricate network of purple-blue veins running beneath the clear skin of a newborn. Relish the softness of your favorite blanket. Inhale the French roast or the Earl Grey.

Open your mind.

Pay attention.

And as you start to think about all the things that are worthy of praise, don’t be surprised when your thoughts turn to praising the One who is Worthy.

If there is any excellence . . . think about these things. Phil. 4:8 (ESV)

The Greek word for excellence is “arete” and it is most often defined as “virtuous thoughts feelings, actions; moral excellence and purity.“

My first reaction, when I hear “excellence” is to think of the best of something. The people and things that have achieved the highest levels of success.

And while that is true, there is another definition. One I found far more interesting.

It turns out the the word “arete” could also be used to describe anything in nature that was fulfilling its purpose. A field ripe with grain was excellent. A tree heavy with fruit was excellent. A tool doing its job was excellent.

As I pondered this definition, I realized I need to tweak my idea of excellence.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us that “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (ESV)

If you are fulfilling God’s purposes for your life, then you are living in excellence.

You’ll note I didn’t say if you are “successful” or “famous” or “rich” or “popular.”

It seems to me that the vast majority of people who are fulfilling the call God has on their lives are doing so in virtual obscurity.

Do you remember the photos from yesterday’s post? That red leaf was probably blooming on the trees in my backyard when we moved here several months ago. It spent it’s lifetime shading my home. Maybe it was one of the chorus that waved and sang to me as I found my way to my ugly chair again and again. Then, the chlorophyll faded, the leaf turned loose from the branch, and it floated to rest, nestled against the ferns under my kitchen window, where it once again drew my heart to praise the Creator for His marvelous works.

That leaf is excellent.

The fragile flower didn’t question it’s location when it was time to grow and bloom. It didn’t point out that growing up in the crack of my driveway was a surefire way to a shortened existence. It didn’t argue that if it had only landed a few feet away it probably would have been allowed to live a much longer life. No. It grew. It fulfilled its purpose. And, as the leaf, called out to me, “Lynn, I’m doing my part? Are you doing yours?”

The flower is excellent.

How about you? Have you fallen into the trap of thinking that you aren’t living a life of excellence because you aren’t meeting the world’s definition of ‘success’?

Spend some time today thinking about true excellence . . . and be renewed.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

On this beautiful Sunday, take a moment to look at these photos as you reflect on the words of Philippians 4:8.
What do you think they represent? I think they could be considered lovely, maybe pure, or even honorable.
But for me, they represent excellence.

I’ll explain tomorrow.

Grace and peace to each of you.

Yesterday, I gave you a challenge to make an effort this weekend to focus on the things that are commendable in the people who populate your world.

So I thought we’d take a little break today. I’ve collected a handful of some of my favorite “thinking” quotes that I’ve run across as I’ve researched this topic.

They are both thought provoking and disturbing. The last one in particular.

*****

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. ~ Henry Ford

Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours. ~ John Locke

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. ~ Jerry Seinfeld

The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Really, it’s a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free. ~ Charles R. Swindoll

Clear thinking requires courage rather than intelligence. ~ Thomas Szasz

She that fails to command her thoughts will soon lose command of her actions. ~ Unknown

Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting. ~ Edmund Burke

Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. ~ Unknown

Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. ~ John F. Kennedy

What luck for rulers, that men do not think. ~ Adolph Hitler

**************************

We’re spending the month of October focused on renewing our minds. You can find a list of previous posts here.

Whatever is commendable . . . think on these things.

We’ve been talking for the past several weeks about renewing our minds by choosing to think the way God wants us to think. Philippians 4:8 gives us a list of things we are to think about – things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Ever wonder why God inspired Paul to include things that are commendable?

Ever noticed how much easier it is to focus on peoples faults than on their good points?

That’s why.

Let’s do an experiment. Think about someone who annoys the snot out of you.

That didn’t take long, did it? Because all of us have “those” people in our lives. The people who you’d rather clean bathrooms than hang out with. The people who manage to bring out the worst in you, every time you interact with them.

Still thinking about that annoying person?

Good. Now let’s practice thinking about things that are commendable about that person.

Oh, come on. You can think of something.

It may take a little effort, but if you try, you’ll be able to come up with several things about that person that are commendable. Things you could – if, say, you had an interest in renewing your mind – choose to focus on.

Our natural tendency is to focus on all the things that frustrate us about these people. Their habitual tardiness. Their hyena laugh. Their ability to point out that while your entire house is clean, you failed to wipe out your microwave or dust your computer.

The complaints may be valid.

But Paul exhorts us to think about things that are commendable.

All that stuff that’s driving me crazy? According to the preceding verses, I need to take it to God in prayer and leave it there. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to stay angry at someone when you start to pray for them? It’s also hard to stay angry at someone when you focus on the things that they do right.

Try this with your family this weekend. Whenever they start to drive you insane, CHOOSE to think about something that is commendable. If you have a spouse, I suggest you start there. You can focus on the socks in the floor or choose to be thankful for a husband who works his tail off to provide for his family.

No one ever said renewing was easy.

In the next verse, Paul tells the Philippians to “practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.”

Something tells me that our homes and relationships would be so much more peaceful if we chose to think about the commendable things.

Will you join me this weekend and practice renewing your mind?

Stay up to date

Get Lynn’s Newsletter

Special treat! Sign up and get a free novella

Subscribe