Month: April 2017

CHANGE THE CHANNEL

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CHANNEL MIND
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV

Hello My Dear Friends!  Forgive me for being so long away from my post.  (Pun definitely intended!)  I have no real excuse.  At times I can be a master of procrastination and sometimes for prolonged periods of time.  It’s kind of like the beautiful fruit tree blooming in my front yard.  I looked out the other day and it was covered with butterflies!  But when I got close to them to take a picture, they all flitted away.   Similarly all of these lovely thoughts bloom in my mind just longing to be immortalized on the written page.  But like the elusive butterflies, when I get close to accomplishing my goal, the discipline to carry it out seems to flit away as the menial tasks of the day take over.  But not today!  Today I want to capture the thoughts and just like those butterflies, milk the nectar from each bloom and share it with you.

I have Sirius Radio in my car and I love it!  It is commercial free and I can listen to my preference in music 24/7 if I like.  I choose to listen to the Escape channel, which is easy listening music, mostly instrumental.  I find it to be so soothing after a long day at work. But I have discovered that not everyone agrees with my choice.  As soon as my daughter gets in the car her first priority is to change the channel.  Okay, I get it!  She is from a totally different generation.  Then the other day a friend drove my car and upon returning the keys said, “I changed your radio station.  You’ll have to change it back.”  My thoughts were, “How could anyone not like that type of music!  What is wrong with these people!”  But you know what…I had absolutely no problem changing the station back to the music I enjoy.  It is my prerogative.

I liken this illustration to the channels of thought we allow to play in our mind.  The human brain produces approximately 70,000 thoughts in an average day. There are 86,400 seconds in a 24 hour day. That means we have a different thought every 1.2 seconds.  Wow!  That’s incredible, but believable!  Sometimes I think my brain is working triple-time.  When I speak, my speech is halting because I have so many thoughts in my head I can’t decide which one to say first!  I have to discipline myself to stop, regroup, then proceed.

But we don’t always think about things that are mentally, emotionally or spiritually healthy.  And often we don’t think about what we’re thinking about.  We just let our mind tune in to whatever station happens to be on and accept whatever thoughts play in our brain.  We daydream about what might have been or should have been.  We ruminate about mistakes long past and irreversible.  We feel guilty and  beat ourselves up all over again.  Whoa!  Enough of the funeral dirge!  We need to change the channel!!!

In other words, the channel we are tuned to is bringing us down.  Have you every heard anyone refer to “a chain of thought” or “a train of thought”?  That’s because like the links on a chain or the cars on a train, one thought leads to another.  The thought you started out with is followed by many others that may or may not be related.  A train of positive thought can digress to the point of pulling a load of  worry, regret, despair, and defeat.

We have to make ourselves constantly aware of what we’re thinking about in order to do a turn-about.  In other words, when you realize what is happening, change the channel!!!  Reprogram your playlist!  Uncouple those cars to release the negative thoughts and hook up to some positive ones.  Unchain your soul!

Focus on things that will build you up rather tear you down.  Renew your mind with the promises in God’s Word. Philippians 4:8 says, “And now one final thing.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are admirable and worthy of praise.”  The implied subject in this verse is…YOU!  You fix your thoughts.  You think about what is admirable and praiseworthy.  It’s up to you!  If you want to allow those old “somebody done somebody wrong songs” to permeate your mind, be my guest.  But as for me…I’m changing the channel!!!

When depression is trying to overtake you, change the channel to praise!  When lack is trying to fill you with worry, change the channel to replay the times the Lord has graciously supplied your needs.  When someone has treated you badly, change the channel to recall all the wonderful family and friends who support you.  I think you get the picture.  Changing the channel can change your attitude and your life!  Think about what your thinking about and change the channel now!

 

THE MEANING OF EASTER

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EASTER

The LORD does not look at the things people look at.
People look at the outward appearance,
but the LORD looks at the heart.”
I Samuel 16:7 NIV

I have been Children’s Church Minister at a number of churches over the years. I say “have been” because I have relinquished that position to younger people who have the energy and patience that it most definitely requires! You might more readily understand that statement when I tell you about a class I had on an Easter Sunday which consisted solely of three, four and five year olds…seven of them, to be exact. I think they all had indulged in more Easter candy than they should have, as some were bouncing around like the Easter bunny himself! They all were talking way above their inside voices and one was whining and crying every time anyone looked at him. But, all of that aside, I had planned a very simple Easter program for the entire church congregation, in which even the smaller ones could participate.

The children followed me onto the stage as I donned a festive hat with flowers on it and sang, ♫ “In my Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it” ♫… Then I proceeded to talk about how Easter was all about new spring clothes. The children responded by yelling “Nooo”! I then brought out an Easter bunny and started to sing, ♫ “Here comes Peter Cottontail” ♫…and talked about Easter being about the Easter bunny’s yearly visit. Once again they responded with a very vigorous, “Nooo!” Next I brought out the marshmallow “Peeps” and talked about Easter being about getting lots of candy. Now you know this one must have been hard, but they yelled even louder, “Nooo”! I think you get the picture by now. We then brought out a palm leaf…a cross…and a stone. The children proceeded to give me explanations for each object and we decided that Easter is not about any outward appearances or festivities, but about Jesus death, burial and most of all His resurrection. The other things are fun, but should only stand in the shadow of the true meaning Easter.

Every holiday has become so commercialized now days, that the meaning of the event has become almost totally obscured by the hype and hoopla. We can let ourselves get so caught up in the excitement and/or stress, that we don’t observe the real meaning or enjoy the spiritual refreshing it affords. Searching for that perfect outfit…if not for you, for the kids, getting the basket ready for the Easter bunny to deliver or organizing the egg hunt can leave us too tired to get up for Sunrise Service, let alone enjoy it! I have two words of advice for us all…JUST CHILL! I know things need to be done for the children’s sake, but let’s try to get them done ahead of time so that we can enjoy the day that we have set aside to celebrate the very foundation of our Christian faith…the glorious resurrection of our Lord. Lest the rocks cry out in our stead, let us shout “Hosanna to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…Our King and Our Lord Jesus Christ!”