Renewing your Mind...

"Keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise." (Phil 4:8)
This world is moving so quickly and at such a fast pace these days that it's hard to stop and "smell the roses" as the saying goes. There's so much to do, especially for the Christian who is a parent, friend, son, brother etc. Sometimes there seems to not be enough time in the day to get everything accomplished that we want to so we begin to prioritize what we want to do and we have to cut some things from the list that aren't as important to us.
Too many times the things that get cut are some of the things that are best for us like quiet time, reading, exercise, spending time with family or friends or just sleep. When you are moving so quickly and you are ignoring your own personal needs it's easy to get burned out, shut the world out and get into your own zone. When you start shutting the world out you are also shutting God out because you are ignoring anything and everything that's coming at you. Shutting the world out means shutting people, situations, circumstances and even the smallest glimpses of beauty or mystery that God puts in your life daily to show you that He is around and that He's always watching you. When you shut the world out you don't appreciate the beautiful sunrise or the dark blue sky on a clear day. You don't pay any attention to the person in the parking lot that is having trouble with their car or the lady who needs help carrying something out to her car. You don't answer the call of your friend who is having trouble at work and needs some good council and encouragement from you. When you stop spending time with God everyday reading His word, spending quiet time just listening to Him and for Him and time in prayer just talking to Him you can get out of relationship with God and that puts you out on your own where you don't want to be.
Your relationship with God is like any other relationship you have with any other person. It needs time to grow, time to talk to one another and learn about them and who they are. The relationship needs daily attention or it will become stale and will eventually fade like a long lost friend who moved away and you never stayed in touch. God wants to hear from you everyday; He wants to know what's going on in your life even though He already knows everything about you. He wants you to spend time reading His word so He can speak to you and you can learn about His character and what He expects from us as followers of Jesus. God wants and needs your time so He can mold you into the person He has planned for you to be so He can use you to accomplish what He designed you to do in this world. Too many Christians today have neglected this aspect of devotion to God. We call ourselves Christians yet the most important thing about being a Christian is our relationship with God and the access that we have to Him. If we don't read His word, spend time in prayer daily and love our neighbor as we love ourselves because we are too busy then on what basis do we have to call ourselves Christians in the first place? Being a Christian isn't something that you do once and go on about your business with the thought that you got your ticket to heaven and now life can go back to normal. Being a Christian is about "renewing your mind" and changing into the person that God wants you to be so He can use you to accomplish His purpose for your life.
Renewing your mind is something that Paul talks about in the new testament : "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2
The process of renewing your mind comes from reading your bible and seeing through God's word the ways that God wants to transform you from the inside out and make you into a new creation that is filled with Love and Compassion for what is good and just. This is just 1 way that God uses to renew your mind. Being a part of a strong church with good Christian teaching and strong Christian men and women to learn from is another way God uses to help renew your mind. Learning from your pastor and getting to know people in the church and seeing how God is working in their lives is a great way to see what being a Christian is all about. I look forward to church on Saturday nights with my family because it is refreshing to me and I always leave filled with hope, love and I feel refreshed and ready to face a new week. Prayer is the last way that I want to talk about here. Prayer is just talking to God on a daily basis and relying on Him to respond in situations and help you in whatever is going on in your life. Some people are skeptical as to what prayer actually does since God already knows everything but I am a firm believer in prayer and keeping a prayer journal or list. I believe that God wants to hear from us and hear about everything that is going on in our lives. I believe prayer is our direct line to God's ear and that He is always listening and ready to shower us with blessings if we would only believe and have faith in Him. I keep a list on my desk at work that I write down almost every week with what's going on in my life that I want to talk to God about and I continually speak to Him throughout the day about it. I talk to Him about my job, my family, my friends, finances, and whatever else is going on in my life. I ask Him for wisdom and strength and the ability to be the man that He wants me to be for my family. Prayer is just as much for you as it is for God though. Knowing that God is always there and that He is always listening gives you a feeling of hope and strength and that no matter what you have God on your side.
Renewing your mind is a daily thing. Just like Jesus told His disciples to take up their cross and follow after Him renewing your mind is something that you have to decide to do daily and you have to work at it. The world is trying to bring you down everyday. They are exerting a downward pull on your values and morals every chance they get; trying to get you to bend and break and be tolerant of the way they are living even though you know it goes against what you believe. You have to be on your guard and you have to be centered in your faith to be able to fight them off and be victorious. This is a spiritual war that you are in and you can't have one foot in and the other foot out the door; it's either all or nothing and that's what we have to understand. God needs men and women who will be dedicated and who will give their lives to Him so He can use them to be salt and light in this dark and tasteless world. You renew your mind in order to be ready when God tells you to move or to act so you can be aware of what He is calling you to do so you don't miss an opportunity He has set before you. Renewing your mind is as much for you as it is for God; you keep yourself focused on Him and His purpose and also it fills you with the hope, love and joy that you need to get through the day and be a winner in life no matter what this life tries to throw at you.
God calls us to Renew our Mind daily and to stay focused so we can have the best He has to give us. Paul tells us to run the race with endurance and to keep our eyes always on the prize, never looking back and always focused on finishing strong. So many times we settle for good when God has something great for us in store if we would only keep fighting and striving to be our best. We have to do our part in order for God to do His part which He promised He would do if we will just be faithful. Stay strong, stay focused and take heart because Greater is He that is in You than he that is in the world. With God on your side you can't lose. Let's not settle for good when God has His best for us who are faithful and who are willing to follow Him and renew our minds daily.