Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a You Tube video of Queen Latifah singing … Fix Me, Jesus, poignantly praying for Jesus to do what He needs to purify our minds/hearts to be able to serve Him for glory.
Highlight Passage: Philippians 4:8 [NKJV] …
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
… God’s prescription to protect the purity of our hearts/minds.
===========
Highlight Context … Philippians 4:4-9 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru Paul, warns of taking steps to protect the purity and health of our minds.
===========
Reference Passage #1 … Psalm 119: 9-11 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God, thru the Psalmist, give His prescription for protecting our hearts from sin.
Reference Passage #2 … Proverbs 23:7 [NKJV] …
7 As a man (or woman) thinks in his (her) heart, so is he (she)!
… We become what we allow into our minds.
Reference Passage #3 … 1st Corinthians 6:18-20 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… Paul warns of polluting our lives with sexual sin.
My Journal for Today: … Our Daily Bread author, Poh Fang Chiar, a teacher from Singapore, uses a personal illustration to teach about protecting our minds and hearts from impurity. She wrote: I love egg roti prata, a popular pancake in my country of Singapore. So I was intrigued to read that a 125-pound (57 kg) person must run 5 miles (8 km) per hour for 30 minutes to burn 240 calories. That’s equivalent to only one egg roti part.
Ever since I started working out in the gym, those numbers have taken on a new significance for me. I find myself asking: Is this food worth the calories?
Wow! I so personally identify with my ODB author/teacher today; because long ago I learned of the need to take pro-active steps - EVERY DAY - to protect my mind/heart from my own desires. Just recently, in fact, I had to change my diet and exercise patterns to lose about 12 pounds which I had let pollute God’s Temple due to gluttonous habits (see 1st Cor. 6:19, linked above).
So often we just don’t do what is necessary to protect our minds and hearts from our own sinful nature. And the Apostle Paul, from today’s highlight passage, was warning His disciples to beware of this tendency and protect our minds by pro-active and prescriptive meditation on God’s truth - DAILY, … even momentarily … to keep our minds/hearts pure (see Phil. 4:8). Because, we simply must realize the truth taught by Solomon in Proverbs 23:7(NKJV), … that we become what we allow into our minds. And God’s prescription to avoid our sin nature is to pour His truth into our minds (see also Psalm 119:9-10).
That’s why you find me here - EVERY DAY (!!!) - pouring God’s truth and his teaching into my mind and journaling what God’s Spirit gives my heart, … which quite recently caused me to be convicted of poor eating/exercise habits and led me to take action to purify the Temple of God’s Spirit, which is my mind/heart/body.
And I pray that we’re all taking steps to keep His Temple pure this day.
Today’s Prayer: ... Lord, allow Your word to purify our hearts. Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment