September 9, 2020
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
(Romans 8:6-7 (NIV))
In case you were thinking this, no, it is not possible to be governed by both!
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
(Matthew 6:24 (NIV))
Before I am accused of mixing scripture passages and meanings, it is important to understand that the love of money serves the flesh. It is the ultimate worldly and fleshly control on the human mind. It is the embodiment of lust, power and ego. When your mind is governed by the things of this physical world, it seeks carnal satisfaction. It seeks sin!
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 (NIV))
We must strive to overcome human nature and focus on Jesus. We must follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we falter, and we will, we must recognize our failures, repent and return to the Lord. We must desire to possess true peace as only it can be found in the Lord.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 4:7 (ESV))
We have all seen what happens in this world when government is bad. People suffer. We have also seen what happens in this world when government tries to do what is righteous in the eyes of God. We have our own personal election each and every moment of every day. We can choose to be governed by the flesh and suffer the consequences, or we can choose to be governed by the Spirit and find peace.
How is your mind governed?
Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | 
decision, Godly submission, priorities, submission | Tagged: Be still, carnal, Christ, consequences, control, death, desire, despise, devoted, ego, embodiment, eternal, falter, flesh, fleshly, focus, gift, God, governed, hate, Holy Spirit, hosile, human, Jesus, law, life, Lord, Love, love of money, masters, meanings, mind, nature, overcome, passages, peace, recognzie, repent, satisfaction, Scripture, seeks, serve, spirit, strive, submit, suffer, true, two, wages, worldly | 
Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
February 14, 2020
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
(Romans 8:6 (NIV))
What lurks in the back of your mind when you have nothing going on?
Perhaps if I ask that another way it will make more sense. So, what do you do when you think that no one is looking?
The human mind is a difficult thing to control. We must keep it engaged with external stimuli or we take the chance that it will wander into something that will have disastrous consequences. Even when we focus on external stimuli, we have a tendency to seek out things that will eventually cause us trouble. We need to be very careful and very deliberate with our thoughts. The old saying, “Garbage in, garbage out” comes to mind. In other words, we become what we choose to fill ourselves with. Since we have two parts to our existence, spiritual and physical, we have two distinct paths we can pursue. We can choose the things that are physical in nature such as wealth, power, greed and lust, or we can choose the spiritual option. Even when we choose the spiritual option, we must be careful to not embrace a demonic spirit, but we must strive to follow the Holy Spirit.
As I sit here praying and writing, I find my mind wandering. It has been a long day, and I still need to spend my time with the Lord. You may find yourself in the very same predicament. It is human nature. With that said, when your mind does wander, are you able to redirect it? What do you redirect to, or do you go through life constantly facing distractions and chasing after the proverbial squirrels that we all encounter? Long ago I made a decision that I must establish my priorities, control my own thoughts and keep them focused on what I truly want to focus on. In other words, I have made the Lord not only a priority, but the priority in my life.
Allowing your mind to be governed by the Spirit of God requires commitment. It requires a maturity that most of us wish we had. Most of all, it requires a desire to seek after God in all things and the ability to recognize when you stray. When you stray, and we all do, repent and refocus! Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your life and to govern your mind. You will find that you do possess a maturity and a peace that passes all understanding.
What governs your mind?
Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook
Like this:
Like Loading...
Leave a Comment » | garbage in garbage out, Godly priorities, it is a matter of priorities, our thoughts, peace that passes all understanding, peace that passes understanding, priorities, pure thoughts, self control, self-control, sinful thoughts, the thoughts of my heart, thoughts, thoughts lead to words and deeds, turn your thoughts to God, Uncategorized, what are your priorities, what fills your thoughts | Tagged: ability, back, Be still, careful, commitment, consequences, control, death, deliberate, desire, difficult, disastrous, engaged, external, flesh, focus, garbage, garbage in, garbage out, God, governed, governs, Holy Spirit, human, life, looking, lurks, maturity, mind, peace, priority, recognize, requires, seek, sense, spirit, stimuli, stray, tendency, think, thoughts, trouble, understanding, wander | Permalink
Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 