Words of Encouragement

When you receive understanding of something that has been eluding you, it is like a light going on overhead. God wants the light to go on for us. He wants to help us understand the mysteries of his word.

Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, - Luke 24:44-46

What are You Thinking? Opened Minds. I believe this is one of the greatest things God does for us next to the gift of salvation, he opens up to us his scriptures. What if you had to go to a city or a destination but you didn't have any directions? What would you do? You might try to ask someone that has gone before, but then how do you know they have given you correct information, you have no way of checking it?

Do you simple go out and just hope you get where you want to go? Do you know that is what so many people do with their souls? They don't have the direction but they just travel out and think they have it right. The wonderful thing is we don't have to go on our own thoughts, which we realized earlier this week can sometimes be warped and not accurate. Instead, God is waiting to open to us the road map for life.

God is waiting to open to you and I the right way to go. He wants us first to realize it is opened to us through Jesus, his son. Jesus becomes the door that you and I must enter to receive the blessings of God.

So today, I pray for us that we seek God to understand the things of God. We don't have to go simply on what somebody said (even though that is good to have people help you understand the word of God). We must come and seek him for ourselves. He will open to us the storehouse of his blessings. So this weekend when you go to worship, go seeking God to give you his thoughts and that he make your way, his way.

Words of Encouragement

Is your love wider than the expansive sky? God's is! Let us ask God to help us love people his way. He can grow our capacity to love his way. (Picture by James S. Williams)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. - Mark 12:30

What are You Thinking? Whole Thinking. As I continue to walk this way I am sometimes confounded by individuals belief about God. How do we think we are loving God simply because of the stuff we do. Oh, you know, sometimes we can believe that we love God because we go to church, or we tithe or we serve on a position or post, so we believe that is enough. We in a sense, say look at me God, I'm doing your work.

Instead, as I read these words I think differently. I read a whole thinking. In other words, I must love God with all my heart and soul...that means all my desire turns toward him. I must love God with all my mind...that means my desire is to think godly thoughts at all times. I must love God with all my strength...that means my efforts are all to do God's will.

This requirement is far greater than me simply "doing" something for God. It means I am willing to let go of myself completely into God's capable hands so that he can live through me. He lives through me when I am willing to turn my heart towards him. He is able to live through me when my desire is to please him. He is able to live through me when my thoughts are to do and think his way. That means I pray right, I worship right I love right. And then he is able to live through me because all my efforts are for his purpose.

Today Lord, help us to live for you and to love you. If we say we love you then we will obey you. That is how we show our love. It is good for us to do, but let us not become comfortable simply doing busy work and not taking the time to give you access to us in our entirety. Help us to yield.

Words of Encouragement

When you look at the sky above, do you ever wonder, "there is more above than my eyes can even see". It makes me think that God you are far grander than I can even image. God's greatness searches our hearts, and he determines if our life is being lived according to his will. (Picture by James S. Williams)

"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." - Jeremiah 17:10

What are You Thinking? Examined Thoughts. The scripture says God examines our heart and mind. Do you wonder why he examines both? I had one of my professors write a comment on my paper last week and It is fitting to give you the meaning of that quote here. He said that the decline of the preacher starts first in the head before it gets to the heart. In other words, it is what a man thinks, that is who he is or will become.

If my thoughts are evil, do you not know that eventually my life will follow? Yet, if my thoughts are pure, then my life will begin to follow. I will no longer feel good in sin, because the thoughts I am having are being changed.

It is important to God what is in our hearts and our minds. He says he will examine them and according to what is there, he will give to us. If it is blessings, blessings we will receive, if it is punishment or chastisement, then punishment or chastisement.

Today, let us ask God, examine my thoughts. If there is anything there that should not be, please Lord we ask that you remove. If we are not walking as you would want us to, help us to align our hearts and mind to your way. So that we can become a man (or woman) that is thinking your thoughts and becoming the vessels of honor you have built us to be.

Words of Encouragement

In order for landscaping to be beautiful, someone has to dedicate time to cutting the grass when it grows too long, removing the weeds and feeding the lawn. When it is done, the right kind of landscaping is had. It is the same with our minds. We must allow someone (Holy Spirit) to remove those weeds, cut away those things with are not needed and feed so that one can grow.







You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. - Isaiah 26:3-4

What are You Thinking? A Mind of Peace. Have you ever tried to focus on something for a long period of time? What normally happens? You begin to get distracted and that which you were focusing on is lost. That is what happens in our minds. We become discouraged by our situations and circumstances because our minds lose focus and begin to drift to the wrong things.


What we need is to be able to keep our minds steadfast, but how do we do that? It is by the disciplines that we have in our lives. Someone said in order for something to become a habit it takes at least 30 days of continually doing it, for it to take root. So, if we want to have a mind that stays focused on God, we must cultivate activities in our lives that will help us to do that. We must read our word. We must pray and listen to the Holy Spirit's direction. We must mediate and encourage ourselves as we remind ourselves whom we belong to.


So today, if you want a mind of peace you have to seek it from God. He offers it to you, but you must do something to receive it. You have to change your focus. God will do his part, by giving it to you, but then you must live in the way that you can continue to receive. I pray that we would trust in the Lord for he is our rock, eternally. He never stops being God! He promises us that he will keep us in peace if we but focus on those things that are lovely, pure, and trustworthy. We can find these things in him.

Words of Encouragement

Have you ever looked down a road and because of the visual, it seems to be getting smaller? The truth is the road is not narrowing, it is an illusion of our vision. That is the same with our spiritual vision. We may look at things and they are warped or an illusion. We need God to help us see correctly. (Picture by James S. Williams)

Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm. A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. - Proverbs 12:7-9



What are you thinking? Warped thinking. Have you ever wondered to yourself, "what was I thinking?". There have been times in our lives when we have had thoughts that were not on the mark. We sometimes can have those thoughts that lead us to be despised. Oh, in our thinking we believe that we are something more than we are, but in fact, we are foolish in what we are thinking.

The writer of the proverb says it is better to be a nobody with a servant that to pretend we are somebody but do not even have food. That is what foolish thinking will do. We begin to listen to those subtle lies of the devil that makes us believe too highly of ourselves. We begin to think we are better than we are and in fact are poor. We are poor in spirit and poor in understanding of the things of God.

We must acknowledge that we are not capable of understanding wisely without God's input. We have warped thinking. Warped thinking leads us to destruction and to unrighteousness. We need to request from God his wisdom so that we can stand firm.

I pray for us today, Lord we seek your wisdom and your understanding because without it we will think wrong thoughts and we will do wrong things. Help us, change us and make us what you want us to be.