DAY #21: "Count the Cost," Part Two | June 21-Day Firm Foundation Devotional: “Renewing the Mind”

Friday, June 21, 2024 Bryan Hudson 0 Comments

June 21-Day Firm Foundation Devotional: “Renewing the Mind”

DAY #21: Count the Cost, Part Two

Devotional reading from “Winning the Battle for Your Mind,” Chapter Nine ~ Winning the Battle

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NOTE FROM BRYAN HUDSON:

Would like to thank you, and commend you, for taking part in these 21-day devotional readings. I pray you were blessed, inspired, and challenged to go higher and deeper in the Lord! If you would not able to keep up on a daily basis, the lessons will be here on this blog to review anytime. Continue to be renewed in the spirit of your mind!

Today’s Lesson (Continued from Day #20)

Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established. (Proverbs 16:3)

Our Lord Jesus taught us that no one should go to war until he has first counted the cost. Every war carries a high price—including the battle for our minds. We have the promise that when we commit our works to God, our thoughts will be established. We must be willing to take action, or pay the cost, in some important areas including:

4. Test your ideas by using your imagination.

In our culture, we use the word “feasible” to determine if something can be done. A feasibility study is not only an exercise in financial planning, it is also an exercise of one’s imagination to explore the many variables, benefits and risks that accompany any project.

Failure in any effort produces mental stress. Winning the battle for your mind also involves winning battles in life and finding success. Since properly using your imagination will assist you in succeeding in life, the sense of success will enhance your mental well being. People who consistently fail usually do not give enough thought to gain sufficient insight in order to succeed.

5. Practice the spiritual disciplines of solitude and silence.

“For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.’ But you would not, and you said, ‘No, for we will flee on horses’—therefore you shall flee! And, ‘We will ride on swift horses’—therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!” (Isaiah 30:15-16)

It has not occurred to many believers that they do not necessarily gain the most from God through singing, shouting and receiving the laying on of hands. Most of us have received more from God in times of quietness and resting in His presence. This is true because our total being responds better to God in a quiet mode than in a noisy mode. Now, there is a time to celebrate, lift our voices in praise and make a “joyful noise.” Many of our traditions have taught us well on the virtues of making a joyful noise, but we have missed so much more by not slowing down to detect God’s “still, small voice.”

Our minds, when pulled toward the flesh nature, require constant activity and sound. However, when affected by our hearts, the mind becomes a vehicle to carry the will of God from the Holy Spirit to into our conscious thoughts. Some of our Christian cultures judge the manifest presence of God by the decibel level of the people shouting. Sometimes, we should go an entire day without saying anymore than is necessary. Much speaking, as Jesus said, can create a false sense of one’s true standing with God. In his excellent book, The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard makes the following observation on why we talk too much:

Why do we insist on talking as much as we do? We run off at the mouth because we are inwardly uneasy about what others think of us. Eberhard Arnold observes: "People who love one another can be silent together." But when we’re with those we feel less than secure with, we use words to "adjust" our appearance and elicit their approval. Otherwise, we fear our virtues might not receive adequate appreciation and our shortcomings might not be properly "understood."

Also, constant activity and noise will wear down our mental condition and eventually affect our physical bodies. Jesus spent many hours alone and quiet with God. He emerged from those seasons better equipped to minister to the multitudes. Silence and solitude are a necessary spiritual discipline that builds within us an appreciation for a part of life that is rapidly disappearing. We almost feel guilty for taking quiet time, thinking that is a luxury that we cannot afford. However, it is a necessity that we cannot afford to disregard if we value communion with God, clear thinking, a strong sense of purpose and the ability to solve problems.

Study the following scriptures that provide a biblical foundation for the importance of silence and solitude:

Psalms 62:5; My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.

Matthew 14:23; And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on a mountain by Himself to pray. And when evening had come, He was alone there.

Matthew 26:36; Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there."

Mark 1:35; Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.

Luke 5:15; Then the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16] So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. How does using your (sanctified) imagination help you think through situations you are dealing with?”
2. In ways do you need to slow down to break unhelpful patterns of busy-ness?”
3. What is you plan for practicing silence and solitude with the Lord?

ACTION ITEMS (What I will do with what I have learned):

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“Winning the Battle for Your Mind”