Mind-matters or Minds Matter

 2 Timothy 1:7 -  

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; 

but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind

Col.3:2
Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

When we get out of God's Word 

we soon start listening to the wrong voice...

If I would listen to the vile accuser in my head

I’d never write another word but bow to fear instead

I’d bear the weight of failure like an endless badge of blame

Always a little strangled by an everlasting shame

And I could never lift my head to look you in the eye

Or find the courage to brave the unknown and simply try

I’d wallow in self-pity and the mire of despair

And never find true comfort in the solace of a prayer

And I would never dare to trust beyond what I can see

How cold would be worry’s unsympathetic company

I’d believe all the loveless lies hate's succubus would spout

I’d always be the victim of anxiety and doubt

Oh God, if I would let the mind's mocker tear me apart

I’d miss Your peace that passes understanding in my heart

© Janet Martin

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee,

 because he trusteth in Thee.

Isa.26:3

Mind-setting

 Our mind is the control tower of our life!

Dr. Charles Stanley

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Col.3:2

 

To set our mind on things above

Does not come naturally, it seems

Each sacred, soul-anointed glove

Must learn to bridle idle dreams

How easily the mind can stray

And if we do not rein it in

We might get lost along the way

In pitfalls veiled in flints of skin

The by-and-by that all will brave

Ought to make us more love-inclined

We are either servant or slave

To one master; that of the mind

Therefore we ought to give more heed

(This applies to both old and young)

To what we feed this mighty Stead

That moves our hands and feet and tongue

Thoughts whispers are quick to beguile

With whims Want is quick to applaud

This momentous causeway, Meanwhile

Is all that stands twixt man and God

The mind is kind of like a trove

The treasure that it seeks to hold

Will set its sights on things above

Or be bamboozled by fool’s gold

© Janet Martin

Of Large Estate

Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing

or take part in works of wickedness

with men who do iniquity;

let me not feast on their delicacies.

Let the righteous man strike me;

let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.

It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.

For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked. 

Psalm 141:3-5 

Lord, set a watch before, behind

With measure sound and stout

That large estate of heart and mind

So volatile without

For as a man thinks so he is

The mouth speaks from the heart

These establish the genesis

Of all that we impart

Then help us to hunger and thirst

After Your righteousness

Though spirit wills the flesh is cursed

With inherent weakness

....where pride always precedes the fall 

As we prove with vain jest

That without Your love we are all

Deplorable at best

Make us unwise in our own eyes

Forbid we walk by sight  

Help us to humbly recognize

How much we need your Light

…and how we need a watch designed

By Whom all things are known

The large estate of heart and mind

So cunning on its own

© Janet Martin

 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Prov.3:7

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:...

Prov.23:7

 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil?

 For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matt.12:34

Night Thoughts

PAD Challenge Day 4: For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Night (blank),” replace the blank with a word or phrase, make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem. 

"These are night-thoughts.

The day will wash them away"

Quote from; From Larkrise to Candleford 

Through chasms carved with what is not

They rush; frail flood-gates yield to thought

That daylight’s barricades had barred

But midnight’s maelstroms disregard

And would wreak havoc in the Place

That cups our mustard seed of faith

…for something about darkness wakes

A world immune to masquerades

It strips bravado down to size

As fear rallies its troop of lies

To thunder through thought’s sleepless form

With ‘what ifs’ agonizing storm

And were it not for prayer to keep

A Shepherd’s watch on thought-shaped sheep

And were it not for grace to guard

The fold those night-fiends disregard

We could not ward off wolves that wait

To break in and annihilate

So when I lay me down to sleep

I pray the Lord His watch to keep

And guard me from the beasts that lurk

When I have set aside my work

Where love and longing carve an ache

That sometimes night-thought’s overtake

© Janet Martin

How to Make The Most With What We Have...

 Excerpt from Ann Voskamp's FB devotion today...

 If you let something steal your thanks?
You let something steal your joy,
And if you let something steal your joy?
You let something steal your *strength.* 

"The joy of the Lord is your strength" Ps 5:11.

We give thanks to God -- not because of how we feel
but simply because of Who. He. Is.

Ann Voskamp~

This little post helped set my mind on things above, not on things of the earth this morning!

How about you? How to you manage what/who masters your mind? 

Sharing yesterday's sunrise pics because they were far more colorful than today's wet-gray...
but beyond that let's leave yesterday where it is and concentrate on today before
it is tomorrow's yesterday!

To make the most with what we have is the best we can do

We leave behind the dust of yesterday to start anew

Where seasons rise and fall like waves that surge and disappear

While we are always caught upon the crest of now and here

To make the most with what we have must begin in the mind

A powerhouse of potential, we all are thus designed

To obey thought’s persuasion; where the ruler of its roost

Inspires deed’s direction as its power is unloosed

To make the most with what we have can throw us quite a curve

Because the thoughts we entertain become the gods we serve

Thus it comes down to this; the thoughts we think are paramount

The wells from which we drink to fill its thirst none should discount

To make the most with what we have demands our uttermost

Therefore we ought to pay attention to the thoughts we host

For, what may seem contained behind a wall of skin and bones

Is that which ultimately will arrange our steppingstones

To make the most with what we have is not some trite cliché

It begins in the mind that begets all we do and say

Therefore to make the most or best is quite impossible

If we draw from a cesspool then expect a miracle

© Janet Martin

A great message on how to live victorious lives!