Sometimes, it seems our minds are the hardest to corral. This daily devotional looks at how disciples of Christ can focus to silence our minds from the chaos of the world.
Nuggets
- Our mind has to trust in God in order to find peace.
- Part of regeneration into a new creation includes renewing the spirit of our minds.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Silence of the Soul series
When we think of silencing ourselves, we need to think of more than just stopping talking. We need to silence our minds.
Stennet told us that it is a disciple’s duty to be still. I know. When we are knee deep in trials, it is hard to think that it is our responsibility and obligation to be motionless and rooted.
What is really hard is when we let our minds control what is going on within those trials. Our mind is not at peace when there are trials. However, we are told that “to be still is to preserve a calm and composed temper of mind under affliction.”
Resource
What we are looking at is a state of mind that feeds the silence of the soul. That means the mind is at peace.
I got a lot of resource materials on this. We may need to revisit this after this series and after we are done with Easter.
For right now, let’s take a quick look.
Let's Put It into Context
Our soul is our spiritual part that is immortal. The mind is a component of the soul that controls our will. It is in our minds that we process and make judgments and decisions.
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Trusting in God Provides Silence
“You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you” (Isa. 26: 3 CSB)
Our mind has to trust in God in order to find peace.
We think that we should have peace from an outward perspective. Farrar reminded us that “it is not the promise of freedom from sorrow; it is not, by any means, a promise of success or prosperity on earth: but it is a promise of that inward peace — of that heart’s ease in the breast — with which sorrow itself is a tolerable burden, and without which prosperity itself is a questionable boon.”
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When we see peace as the absence of conflict, we take our eyes off of God. God wants us to see and know his peace within the conflict.
Our mind has a tendency to call up everything we have ever done. The problem is that it tends to paint a gloom and doom picture.
What the mind tends to showcase is all of our failures. Watkinson wrote, “… this confession is wrung from all when the law comes home and we know ourselves as we are known of God.”
Resource
Ooo, baby. Wait a second. Doesn’t that fit into reality of what God wants?
We tend to think that God sees us as we will be in Heaven — perfect. The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
And that is true — after we have ABCDed. This verse talks about having faith. Faith is the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives.
We have to realize we are sinners before we can ever think about turning our lives over to God. That only happens when we take an honest look at our sins.
After we’ve become a child of God, we still have to look at our sins. This helps us to confess them so that we may receive God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness is still the avenue through which God’s peace flows to us.
So, let’s take the flip side of that. If peace flows through forgiveness, discord flows through sin. Discord comes from the opposite of “for I delight in the law of God, in my inner being” (Rom. 7: 22 ESV).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We can’t have true peace of mind living outside of God’s Will. What Watkinson said in Elaine-speak was that the conflict of the soul begins with the hardships of human life. But he was not meaning social structure as society seems to have latched on these days.
Watkinson argued that it was because life had lost its purity, we have lost our peace. Only God can make us pure again.
Trusting on God is dependent on our attitude. But it is more than that.
It is redoing our character for godliness. We have to imitate Him. Only then can we get the peace that passes understanding (Phil. 4: 6).
When we look at our circumstances, we are seeking the world. Our focus is not on God. We are looking only at what this life provides. What Knight said when he was talking about the soul can be applied to the mind as well. We need to put our trust in God regardless of the situation.
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When we keep our minds focused on God, we put our confidence in Him. That is what God wants. The Weekly Pulpit wrote “that He seeks the trust of His people.” God is actively looking for us.
Resource
Brock went one better. He wrote, “The peace which God bestows arises not merely from a consciousness of pardon and restoration to the Divine favour, it springs further from the calming influence which He exerts on the mind by the transforming of the affections from things earthly to things heavenly.”
Resource
If we think of trusting as leaning on God, it ties in beautifully with the concept of being dependent upon Him. We not only see that as an anchor but also as a shelter.
Maclaren kept talking about being steadfast. What popped in my mind was that we are as peaceful as our trust is steadfast. If we aren’t holding onto God as our anchor, our peace isn’t steadfast. Maclaren said that our reward for our steadfastness is being kept by God.
Resource
Leaning on God and trusting Him to strengthen and sustain us silences our minds.
Renewing Our Minds Provides Silence
“To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4: 22-24 CSB)
Part of regeneration into a new creation includes renewing the spirit of our minds.
Beecher expanded our definition of purity. Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
Beecher talked about some of the morals at play in these verses. He wrote, “Truth, in opposition to lies; honesty, in opposition to craft and stealing; purity, in opposition to all manner of corrupt desires; general integrity and uprightness — these are inculcated as the indispensable prerequisites of Christian life. Taking them in their inverse order, by ‘purity’ I understand the dominance in the soul of the higher affections and sentiments over the lower appetites and passions.”
Resource
How I see what Beecher talked about in application here is the fact that the new creation is going to battle with the old nature. That is going to happen a lot in our minds.
Think about what we are actually doing there. Benson said we were taking off our sinful nature and putting on holiness. We have to because we are corrupt through and through, including the soul — remember, the mind is a part of the soul.
Resource
We absolutely have to take off the old creation and put on the new. If we don’t, we’re just doing lip service to get fire insurance. Benson said that doing that makes us even more guilty.
The new creation was made by God. We obtain the creation by “… hunger[ing] and thrust[ing] after righteousness …” (Mt. 5: 6 ESV).
When we think specifically of renewing our mind, Eadie cautioned us that it wasn’t only the mind that was being renewed. He contended that the spirit was also being regenerated. It is, according to Eadie, “… the spirit which inhabits and governs it is entirely changed.”
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That makes sense. God isn’t renewing the physical body — that will one day go away. He is renewing the soul and the spirit, which is immortal. He is changing us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
In all of this, did you catch that the mind is where we make our decisions. We have the free Will to make those decisions.
We must decide to have a renewal for God. It must be a mental and moral renewal. We’ve got to turn ourselves over to Him.
Making the Connections
Peace in our hearts tells us the condition of our minds. Farrar wrote, “The existence or the absence of peace in our hearts is no slight indication of our true condition, for, as peace must exist with the righteous even in the midst of adversity, it cannot exist in the hearts of the wicked, however smiling, however prosperous their lot.”
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We know that absence of peace is when Jesus is absent from our hearts. Watkinson said that the peace is absent because of a “… profound moral mistake …” — namely the mistake of sin in our lives. Only through the life and peace to be obtained through Jesus can that mistake be rectified.
Resource
Unfortunately, though, I think too many people want perfect peace that means no discomfort of the soul. That is not going to happen, even among disciples. The only time we will have a trouble-free life is when this life is over. Those who have never ABCDed, will continue to experience a troubled life.
How Do We Apply This?
- To obtain peace in our minds and our souls, we must ABCD.
- Our souls need to trust in God in both our present situation and future salvation. To do this, we proclaim His name. Sometimes, that feels like all we can do.
- Faith is in the mind. As we grow our faith, we should strengthen and calm our mind.
- We must strengthen our confidence in Him, remain calm, and exercise a consistent trust.
- We need to bag pride and self-will. We need to focus on God instead.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
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Our minds and souls will know peace to the proportion that we have placed our confidence in God. Birch wrote, “When the mind leans for strength upon itself it cannot be at peace.” We have to lean on God.
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Picture Jesus standing in between you and your circumstances. God isn’t on the other side of your circumstances. He is right beside you.
Notice, this peace only comes from God and only comes through trusting God. There will be no substitutes.
We have to focus our minds on God, as we do that, we will fall silent as we see Him work in our lives.
Father God. It is so easy to get caught up in the rat race of this world. To keep up, our minds go zero to 60 in .0002 seconds. Help us to calm our minds. We can only do that by focusing on You. Silence our mind so we at hear You still, small voice. Amen.
What do you think?
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