Guarding Our Minds: Tools of Thought

What tools do we use to guide our thoughts?  The following are a list of the tools we use to guide our thinking: imagination, stories we create in our minds, the conversations we have with ourselves and others in our minds, the ideas we create, the things we contemplate, what we focus on daily, the judgements we make, the conclusions we derive and the opinons we share all represent our thoughts.

Habitual Thoughts: What are They?

What thoughts do you tend to have when you:

• are hungry
• are full
• are happy
• are sad
• are angry
• are lonely
• are discouraged
• are encouraged
• are confronted
• are confronting
• are confused
• are enlightened
• are looking to purchase something
• want something that you can't have
• talk to someone "important"
• talk to someone who may not be "important"

Is it possible that the way we think in certain circumstances has become habitual?

Here is an outstanding sermon on renewing our minds

http://www.northpoint.org/messages/a-beautiful-mind

A Tweet About Habits By John Ortberg:

johnortberg John Ortberg

U r a collection of habits Tru change means-not more willpower-but new habits.

Transformation Discussion Questions About the Heart

Discussion Questions for Transformation V:
Give an example of something you guard or protect?  How much effort do you put into guarding it and why?

What is the difference between guarding your heart and renewing your mind?
Is guarding your heart like playing defense and renewing your mind like playing offense?

How much effort do you put into guarding your heart? 
How much effort do you put into guarding the hearts of your family members?

How do you guard your heart?
Do you ever forget to guard your heart?

As a leader of your family, how do you help guard the hearts of those in your family? 

What are some examples of spiritual junk food that may be harmful to our hearts?

List possible enemies to your heart? 

Are the enemies of your heart consistent or do they change? 

How often do you participate in activities that help guard your heart?

Scriptures for January 2011 Transformation Gathering
Luke 10:27 states to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind."

Psalm 119:11 states "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against God." 

Matthew 12:34 New Living Translation (NLT)
34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

Mark 7:20 (NLT)
20 And then he added,“It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Proverbs 14:30 New International Version (NIV)

30 A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

Proverbs 4:23 New International Version (NIV)
23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.In Philipians 4:7, we are told "the peace of God will guard your heart and minds."

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways aknowledge Him and He will direct your Path.

Here are some blog entries on the heart:
http://nowaboutyourmission.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-is-difference-between-guarding.html
http://nowaboutyourmission.blogspot.com/2011/11/heart.html

Discussion Questions For Next Transformation Gathering

Patterns Of This World: Habits and the Heart
What habits do you practice that help you guard your heart?

How do our habits relate to guarding our hearts? 
What are the habits in your life that help you to guard your heart? 

What are the habits that help you guard the hearts of your family? 

Blog entries for the next Transformation Gathering
http://nowaboutyourmission.blogspot.com/2011/12/when-will-power-defeat-our-habits.html
http://nowaboutyourmission.blogspot.com/2011/12/collection-of-habits-and-conditioned.html

What is the difference between guarding your heart and your mind?

In proverbs 4:23, we are told we should guard our hearts because it is the wellspring of life.  According to dictionary.com, a wellspring is "the original and bountiful source of something."

In Philipians 4:7, we are told "the peace of God will guard your heart and minds." 

What is the difference between guarding our hearts or minds?   How do we know when we are guarding our heart or our mind?  It seems that our hearts are where our dreams, desires, motivations and zeal for life are kept.  Our hearts are the driving force behind what we do, what we say, where we go and how we relate with one another.   To guard our heart would mean not to get discouraged, but to feed our hearts with God sized thoughts and actions.  Verses that are "heart healthy" are, "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11 and "For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self discipline."  2 Timothy 1:7  What are some examples of spiritual junk food that may be harmful to our hearts?

To guard our minds seems similar to guarding our hearts.  Some may suggest guarding our heart and our mind would be guarding the same entity.  Psalm 119:11 states "I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against God."  At first glance, I thought this verse was referring to the memorization of scripture causing one to believe the mind/heart is where this type of activity occurs.  However, taking a second glance, I realize the word has already been memorized...it is being stored in the heart.  Luke 10:27 states to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind."  The mind and heart are written as separate entitities in scripture which means they have different spiritual purposes.

If the mind is a separate entity from the spiritual heart, I would imagine the mind represents the analytical and data gathering/remembering aspects of our existence.  It is with our minds that we work out problems, make decisions on the best options depending upon what makes most sense, memorize information and contemplate our being.  With our mind, we memorize His word and then we feed those thoughts to our hearts.

To guard our minds would mean to focus on the truth.  I believe to love the Lord with all our mind means to work toward learning and growing our thought processess as much as possible.  If we guard our mind, we keep "spam" from getting through our mental filters.  We fill our minds with powerful information that leads us to greater understanding.

Open Our Eyes

Dear Father,
In your word, you gave us examples of people who were lost and scared.  Your words states you opened their eyes.  Balaam was confused and heading down the wrong road.  You opened his eyes to see an angel.  Elisha's servant was afraid.  You opened his eyes and he saw chariots of fire all around protecting them from the invading forces.  Open our eyes.  Help us see where you want us to go.  Help us see what you want us to do.  Remove our blinders.  Help us not to be nearsighted and help us not to be farsighted.  Help us see your chariots of fire surrounding us.  We don't want to miss out on one second of your power and what you can do in our lives.

Balaam's eyes were opened to see an angel on the donkey.  Numbers 22:31

Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."  And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.  2 Kings 6:16-17