We’ve been looking at focusing our thoughts. This daily devotional looks at how focusing thoughts is just one type of focus we need.
Nuggets
- We have to follow God by focusing on His Word when He calls us to salvation.
- Sin is considered a disease, so ABCDing heals our hearts from that disease.
- We have to focus our eyes and ears on God along with our hearts and minds in order to direct where our feet go.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the How Do We Live Godly Lives? series
Our last devotion in the How Do We Live Godly Lives? series, to me, ties everything we’ve been talking about together. We’ve been talking about our thoughts.
But don’t use our minds alone. We use our hearts — in fact, all of us.
Let’s take a look.
“A fourth sort of directions is concerning good motions; whether they spring naturally from a gracious principle, or are peculiarly breathed in by the Spirit. There are ordinary bubblings of grace in a renewed mind, as there are of sins in an unregenerate heart; for grace is as active a principle as any, because it is a participation of the Divine nature. But there are other thoughts darted in beyond the ordinary strain of thinking, which, like the beams of the sun, evidence both themselves and their original. And as concerning these motions joined together, take these directions in short” (Charnock, The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts)
Let's Put It into Context
We’ve been looking at Charnock’s sermon entitled The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts to show us how to cleanse, a.k.a. sanctify, our thought processes. Charnock has taught us
- that we cleanse our thoughts when we return to having a strong relationship with God. We can do that by studying the Scriptures, meditating on God, contemplating on His creation, and praising Him.
- that we focus our thoughts by being humble instead of prideful, following God instead of the worldview, working instead of being idle, and laboring for Him.
- that we overcome our evil thoughts by burying ourselves in Scripture, relying on His omniscience and judgment, guarding our hearts and lips, evaluating ourselves, and recognizing evil thoughts, especially hating sin and resisting Satan. We do this by watching and praying.
- that we focus our thoughts on good morals and keeping God’s laws and commandments; and we rejoice, pray, and be thankful.
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Glossary
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Focusing on God
“My son, pay attention to my words; listen closely to my sayings. Don’t lose sight of them; keep them within your heart” (Prov. 4: 20-21 CSB)
“Refer them, if possible, to assist your morning meditation; that, like little brooks arising from several springs, they may meet in one channel, and compose a more useful stream” (Charnock, The Sinfulness and Cure of Thoughts)
We have to follow God by focusing on His Word when He calls us to salvation.
Scriptures provide us with God’s Word. We can imagine that they are God talking directly to us.
Because He is. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (II Tim. 3: 16 ESV).
Yes, it may have been Paul, Moses, and all the others who hefted the pens. They only wrote what God directed them to write.
That is one reason we need to pay attention to them. Sovereign God has decreed them.
We also need to pay attention to them because, one day, we will be judged by those words. God has told us point blank how we will be judged.
Being judged by the do’s and don’ts is secondary. The only question that has bearing on how we spend eternity will be have we ABCDed or not.
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
Solomon said that we need to pay attention. That means, first, they have to get our attention.
Lawson noted that “the motives that call for our attention are exceedingly powerful.” Why wouldn’t they be powerful? The Heavenly Father is speaking to us.
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What God is calling us to is salvation. He is calling us to change our characters to be like Him.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Focusing Our Hearts on God
“For they are life to those who find them, and health to one’s whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life” (Prov. 4: 22-23 CSB).
Sin is considered a disease, so ABCDing heals our hearts from that disease.
God can and will heal us from our sins. But that is only the start.
Once we are converted, we begin to navigate the Sanctification Road. That is how we change our character to imitate God’s.
One thing we have to do while we are being sanctified is to guard our hearts. That is going to take patience and diligence.
We’ve established the connection between our hearts and our thoughts/minds. The Christian Age expanded on that. They wrote, “The intellect is controlled by the heart more than the heart by the intellect. Men do not follow their thinkings, but their feelings, yet there are teachers proclaiming a religion of pure intellect, excluding the passions or feelings of the soul.”
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God isn’t intending that we lose ourselves. Submitting to His Will does not make us less us.
Our character comes from our hearts. But that creates a dilemma.
“The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable — who can understand it?” (Jer. 17: 9 CSB).
If our nature is God’s nature, then we must diligently watch that we do not slip back into our old nature.
But that also means that we also have to keep watch over our thoughts. Seed wrote, “The soul is ever busy and at work. There is no pause, no suspension of thought, at least while we are awake.”
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Evil thoughts are going to pop up in our minds. Satan is going to try to get us to take an exit off the Sanctification Road.
God doesn’t hold the temptations against us. He does if we cave into the temptation and commit the sin.
Distractions are just are frequent and are as difficult to corral as our thoughts. They are not considered sins while we strive to lessen their hold over us.
Scriptures have several things to say about fixing — or setting — our minds on things above.
- “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest” (Heb. 3: 1 NIV).
- “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3: 2 CSB).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
We can control our minds. Sharp wrote, “We have liberty of thinking, and may choose our own thoughts. It is in our power to determine what suggestions we will fix our minds upon.”
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We can choose what our thoughts focus on, or that on which we refuse to dwell. It is up to us.
God will help us.
Sharp said it comes down to our morality.
Focusing Everything on God
“Don’t let your mouth speak dishonestly, and don’t let your lips talk deviously. Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established. Don’t turn to the right or to the left; keep your feet away from evil” (Prov. 4: 24-27 CSB)
We have to focus our eyes and ears on God along with our hearts and minds in order to direct where our feet go.
Well, we’ve talked about hearts and minds. Now, let’s talk about our mouths, eyes, and feet. Thomas even added ears into the mix.
I liked the adjectives that Thomas put with ears and eyes. What he said we needed was an attentive ear and a steadfast eye/look.
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To me, it combines all of these together. Speech is important but can be impacted by what we see or hear. What we see is important, but maybe we’ve heard or seen something that is contradicted that. It is easy to go down a wrong path.
When we think about it, we must use all these parts together to function. We can use our eyes to see, but we need our minds to interpret what we are seeing and what that means to us. We aren’t going anywhere without our feet taking us.
God calls us to submit our whole lives to Him. Not just our mouths and speech. Not just our minds and thoughts.
God wants all of us to be changed to be like Him.
Thomas also pointed out that we have a straightforward purpose. This “… grand purpose on which the eye of the soul shall be always fixed” is all about God.
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We have to approach that purpose with persistent thoughtfulness. Thomas said we are to cut out impulse, prejudice, and tradition.
Thomas’ point was we need to keep on a straight path to God. That means getting our character right.
I think sometimes we make it harder than it is. Wardlaw wrote, “What is in these terms specially indicated is simplicity of principle and aim; singleness of motive; an upright, unswerving regard to duty. The path of duty is one. It is narrow and straight.”
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Our focus has to be solely on God. Roberts reminded us that we need to have the faith of a child. 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.
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Making the Connections
Sharp reiterated that “no man is drawn to commit sin by any state or condition that God hath put him into, nor by any temptation, either outward or inward, that is presented to him. Our sin begins when we yield to the temptation. The sin becomes great as it grows into action.”
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How Do We Apply This?
- Use our thinking to meditate on God’s word and apply it to our own lives so we can choose Him in all we do.
- Follow all God’s laws and commandments completely.
- Diligently pursue holiness.
- Watch our thoughts after trials and in the passion of anger.
- Avoid situations, books, and music that tempt us.
- Choose God’s way.
- Avoid idleness and watch the company we keep.
- Cut evil thoughts off early.
- Meditate and pray.
- Be discreet.
- Seek God
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Focusing our thoughts is an important component in focusing ourselves on God. Focusing our hearts, eyes, ears, feet – all of us – on God is important in our sanctification process.
Father God. We want to focus on You. We want to learn to imitate You through the sanctification process. Amen.
What do you think?
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