~ Keeping Our Minds Steadfast on Christ ~

I've spent a great deal of time this month focusing on things that I am thankful for. It really has been great! When you put your mind and focus on something it makes you more aware of everything around you. Sometimes the smallest gift that normally would have been overlooked suddenly becomes a moment of gratitude to God. As we shared together yesterday as a family, the things we are thankful for, it was so refreshing to see our children focus on gratitude.

What if our minds were focused on things that were not gratitude-provoking? I think so often we underestimate our thought life. We stress about finances (or elections), we worry about our children, we keep mulling over that argument we had with our spouse, we stay focused on the Christmas presents we need to buy for our kids that will make them so happy, or we can even fantasize about all those relationships we read in novels or see in movies that "if only" we had. Do you see what can happen?

Satan is very cunning! He likes to play with our minds. We can't depend on our own knowledge alone to protect us from his evil schemes. We need protection from the One who is able to win this battle of the mind. It is imperative that we keep our minds steadfast on Christ!

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."

Isaiah 26:3 (NIV84)

When we surrender our thought life to God, we are safeguarding our minds against the depravity that the deceiver can bring. Daily, hourly, we need to surrender our thoughts to God and allow him to bring comfort and peace. I want a mind so focused on Christ that no matter what comes my way, that I see through his his eyes. To stay focused on him I have to be in His Word, I have to converse with him in prayer, and I have to allow him to be the watchman on the wall of my mind.

Today, put your focus on Christ! See through his eyes and allow a new and exciting world of gratitude emerge. What beauty there is in him!