Thank you to each of you for participating this week - your thoughts are so interesting to me - each unique thoughts, but all fitting together! Blessings on your week! I'll post the chapter three study guide tomorrow....
As guidelines for meditating (pp. 22-23), the author encourages us to think about
1.
Think about Scripture: Scripture (The Word) is the heart of what is
correct to think about. Christ (The Word) is the way, the truth, and the life.
Learning how to go back to the Word and preach this to ourselves helps us to
build our walls and gates correctly. It also helps us know what is what when it
comes to our gates. Because, until we know what is supposed to be inside our
walls, we won’t know what we are to keep out.
2.
Think about the greatness of God: To think on the greatness of God, I think helps us to
remember that though this appears to be an impossible task for us, all things
are possible in Christ, who is the manifestation of the greatness of God. It
reminds me of a quote from a sermon by Nathan Johnson, “Don’t tell your God how
big your problems are, tell your problems how big your God is.”
3.
Think about the immensity of Salvation: To dwell on the
immensity of Salvation, helps us to remember that we belong inside the
walls. I think often we don’t see ourselves as able to come through our own
gates, but as instead false, corrupted, ugly people, who are inferior and shameful,
and therefore unworthy to live within the walls God wishes to use to protect
us. So to think on Salvation reminds us that it is not our righteousness but
His, and that He, as our alley, calls us to step inside Him as our tower of
refuge, not by our merit, but by His alone.
Given
* * * * * * * * * * * *
I really appreciated his paraphrase of Prov. 23:7, "For as a man opens the gates of his mind and allows thoughts into his heart, so is he." Did you notice it quoted repeatedly throughout the chapter?
Page 22-24 we have Helen Keller's quote, "To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes and not see." The author goes on to expound on the analogy of blindness using the story of the man born blind that Jesus healed. He sums it up, " It is a beautiful thing to meditate upon. Once I was blind to God's goodness and wisdom and authority and now I see. Once I was blind to my personal, moral corruption and now I see. Once I was blind to God's plan for reconciliation and now I see. Think about it."
The author says, that thinking is hard work. For me, it is more that avoiding wrong thoughts is hard work. It's the gate-keeping that gets me.... I do often think wonderful, good, lovely, true thoughts, I love the Bible and meditate on it daily, I enjoy lofty, kind, beautiful thoughts, but little "stray dogs" sneak in through my gates on a regular basis - thoughts that aren't loving or kind, thoughts that are suspicious or selfish and I think for me it is going to be learning to keep these out, consciously replacing them with good things that is going to be a key. You can't really think about two things at once, if you're running along in one track your "wheel" can jump into the next rut or even back and forth, or one thought can lead to another but you can only think about one thing at a time, so replacing wrong thoughts with good ones, overriding the bad with good will be a habit I need to strengthen. Patti
* * * * * * * * * *
In reading Chapter two I was blessed to see "How I Think" "It is not a matter of whether we think but what we think about. We think." (pg 16) This
sentence is so true. There are so many thoughts that I have that may or may not be under the categories of true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, and/or praise. "So the real question is, "Do we think in ways that are pleasing God and therefore beneficial to us? Do we entertain thoughts that are selfish, mean
spirited or otherwise sinful? Or do we just aimlessly, randomly think?" (pg 16)
I love all the scriptures that he uses in this chapter. Even though I have read them and have heard them I am surprised at how many of them talk about thinking and thoughts. His description of the blind man on page 23 was so good. I really saw a
lot in this passage. The disciples had their thoughts "was it something he did
or his parents." Then Jesus told them why he was blind and then he healed him. Then the Pharisees, the parents and neighbors all had their thoughts as to what happened. Jesus said, "So that the works of God should be made manifest." When I think thoughts of why things happen I often have an interpretation that misses that God might be doing this so that His works
will be made manifested. I have been and am blind in areas and so blessed when the Lord opens to me something Spiritual that helps me to grow closer
to him. Thinking on these things should encourage us to see that sometimes he opens our eyes to see so that others can see the work of God be made Manifest. WOW!! (pg 24)
The last paragraph of the chapter that tells "When Paul wrote his short letter to the church in Philippi he recognized that their thoughts were important because they influenced their actions. He also made a direct
connection between their anxieties and their thought processes." Therefore giving them the eight themes to think about. Looking forward to finding/asking the question that will stop the negative thoughts sooner and begin to think on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, and/or praise. Phil 4:8
Cathy
* * * * * * * *
Here are my thoughts on Chapter Two! :) I love using the study guides while I'm reading, they are so helpful!
* * * * * * * *
from His eyes, like Elisha's servant
whose eyes were opened to see the armies of light protecting them - to
see life like He sees it, and to know what's important. That the dust
from the battle and the fog of confusion
wouldn't prevent me from seeing beyond it to His version of the big
picture. And then I picked up the book and it was a HUGE
encouragement to read confirmation of God's desire to open our eyes
spiritually - He came to give sight to the blind! That we may live in
confidence in Him!
God's so awesome! Cherish
I really appreciated his paraphrase of Prov. 23:7, "For as a man opens the gates of his mind and allows thoughts into his heart, so is he." Did you notice it quoted repeatedly throughout the chapter?
 |
| Helen Keller |
Page 22-24 we have Helen Keller's quote, "To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes and not see." The author goes on to expound on the analogy of blindness using the story of the man born blind that Jesus healed. He sums it up, " It is a beautiful thing to meditate upon. Once I was blind to God's goodness and wisdom and authority and now I see. Once I was blind to my personal, moral corruption and now I see. Once I was blind to God's plan for reconciliation and now I see. Think about it."
The author says, that thinking is hard work. For me, it is more that avoiding wrong thoughts is hard work. It's the gate-keeping that gets me.... I do often think wonderful, good, lovely, true thoughts, I love the Bible and meditate on it daily, I enjoy lofty, kind, beautiful thoughts, but little "stray dogs" sneak in through my gates on a regular basis - thoughts that aren't loving or kind, thoughts that are suspicious or selfish and I think for me it is going to be learning to keep these out, consciously replacing them with good things that is going to be a key. You can't really think about two things at once, if you're running along in one track your "wheel" can jump into the next rut or even back and forth, or one thought can lead to another but you can only think about one thing at a time, so replacing wrong thoughts with good ones, overriding the bad with good will be a habit I need to strengthen. Patti
* * * * * * * * * *
In reading Chapter two I was blessed to see "How I Think" "It is not a matter of whether we think but what we think about. We think." (pg 16) This
sentence is so true. There are so many thoughts that I have that may or may not be under the categories of true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, and/or praise. "So the real question is, "Do we think in ways that are pleasing God and therefore beneficial to us? Do we entertain thoughts that are selfish, mean
spirited or otherwise sinful? Or do we just aimlessly, randomly think?" (pg 16)
I love all the scriptures that he uses in this chapter. Even though I have read them and have heard them I am surprised at how many of them talk about thinking and thoughts. His description of the blind man on page 23 was so good. I really saw a
or his parents." Then Jesus told them why he was blind and then he healed him. Then the Pharisees, the parents and neighbors all had their thoughts as to what happened. Jesus said, "So that the works of God should be made manifest." When I think thoughts of why things happen I often have an interpretation that misses that God might be doing this so that His works
will be made manifested. I have been and am blind in areas and so blessed when the Lord opens to me something Spiritual that helps me to grow closer
to him. Thinking on these things should encourage us to see that sometimes he opens our eyes to see so that others can see the work of God be made Manifest. WOW!! (pg 24)
The last paragraph of the chapter that tells "When Paul wrote his short letter to the church in Philippi he recognized that their thoughts were important because they influenced their actions. He also made a direct
connection between their anxieties and their thought processes." Therefore giving them the eight themes to think about. Looking forward to finding/asking the question that will stop the negative thoughts sooner and begin to think on the things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, good report, virtue, and/or praise. Phil 4:8
Cathy
* * * * * * * *
Here are my thoughts on Chapter Two! :) I love using the study guides while I'm reading, they are so helpful!
"Chapter Two was very
convicting to me; it didn't hold anything that I DIDN'T know, rather was
full of wisdom I know, have learned, and forgotten/pushed aside. I love
the mental picture of our minds being a "fortress", and having 8 gates
with which we filter our "incoming traffic" through God's filter of
Philippians 4:8.
I am reminded again how easy it is to be
lazy in my thinking, allowing destructive thoughts to filter-sometimes
rush-in and instead of taking them captive, I entertain...indeed
welcome...them far longer then I ought. It's SO much easier to just be
lax and let thoughts come as they wish, but that can be and is SUCH a
destructive and dangerous way to live life! Satan knows all our
weaknesses and LOVES to exploit them at our weakest times. I have in my
life certain times when I KNOW to be on guard because if (A) happens,
it's VERY COMMONLY followed by (B) thought process from the enemy. As I
was reading this week, I was encouraged to instead of guarding my mind
only at those "known" times, to be
always vigilant against our enemy. I
find myself forgetting he is "prowling about as a hungry lion, seeking
who he may devour." Our enemy certainly isn't lax in actively seeking
our souls destruction, so we cannot be lax in actively fighting against
him!
I found this quote from Albert Einstein; "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Sarah
I found this quote from Albert Einstein; "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Sarah
* * * * * * * *
Such a wonderful reminder not just to pay attention to what
I'm thinking about but to put effort into what I'm thinking about. It's
been so easy recently to start dreaming about something or strategizing
how I could handle a situation that won't be on my plate for a long
time, or to let vague feelings of guilt over who-knows-what get in the
way when I'm trying to spend time with God. But NO! I need to focus on
Him and on His goodness every day and all the time, not worrying about
the future or wondering about the past, but focusing on Him and knowing
that He's in control of everything! To go beyond just keeping my
thoughts clean, but to continually focus on Him Who has made us clean.
Before picking up the book I needed some renewal-time with God and
started journaling, asking Him to open my eyes to discern truth from
error while I'm at school, but especially to see Him and to know
Who He is. That I could see life from His eyes, like Elisha's servant
whose eyes were opened to see the armies of light protecting them - to
see life like He sees it, and to know what's important. That the dust
from the battle and the fog of confusion
wouldn't prevent me from seeing beyond it to His version of the big
picture. And then I picked up the book and it was a HUGE
encouragement to read confirmation of God's desire to open our eyes
spiritually - He came to give sight to the blind! That we may live in
confidence in Him!
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