Welcome to Monday, January 16th! I hope you had an amazing weekend serving our Jesus!
This week’s devo is “You Will Do What You Believe” written by Dale-Jennifer Schwarz! Please take the time to read as she shares her heart with us today!
I hope you have an awesome day!
You Will Do What You Believe – Jennifer Schwarz
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. ~Proverbs 4:23
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. ~Proverbs 23:7 a
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. ~ Matthew 12:34
Not that which goeth into the mouth, defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. ~ Matthew 15:11
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. ~ Luke 6:45
Over and over the Bible tells us to be careful, to watch, to guard, those things which feed our mind, our emotions and our will- the components of our heart.
This admonition needs to be taken so seriously.
Anxiety, depression, and overwhelm are words we hear on a daily basis. Meds and therapists are replacing Bible and preaching. Often a person will say, “I don’t do or can’t do the things I should do.”
A common response is, “Well it’s not really your fault…” Then the speaker or writer will continue on to explain how your actions are result of your circumstances and finally, he will give you some tips on how to not be a victim to your circumstances, or how to overcome your circumstances. These can range anywhere from medicine and/or counseling therapy, to a healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise, to some natural product, to some positive thinking mindset or mindfulness – we could go on.
While there are many good things in there, the catch lies in that the truth has been twisted. And the most important remedy is being largely discounted, yes, by born again, Bible believing Christians.
Here’s what is happening. In simply going about our daily lives and doing our duties, we are being flooded in every area by massive quantities of information. And truly we are in danger of spiritual death by drowning. Social platforms, podcasts, internet articles, books, periodicals, radio, televised shows, conversations with friends (especially texting), impact us like so many waves, multiple times a day. Many of these are set up without boundaries or limits, so there’s not a clear stopping point. Just try reading an online article: Multiple Ads, pop ups, links to another article , videos, sounds, and more, are all competing for your attention in just a hundred word article.
Do not dismiss this by arguing that you just ignore them. The reason those things are presented in this manner is because the world knows our subconscious catches and stores much more than the conscious mind realizes. The mind must process and store or eliminate everything that is presented by our senses and the majority of this is handled subconsciously. What our subconscious mind is filled with is what we actually believe. It is what makes the mental picture when a word is presented to you. It is how you will act under pressure. There’s actually a scientific experiment repeated multiple times that backs this up. I just get so tickled when “science” catches up with the Bible, don’t you?
This is the experiment. A circle is drawn on a piece of paper and divided into four equal quadrants. The quadrants are labeled A, B, C, & D . The paper is then placed on a table and a volunteer is to take a key tied to a string and told to hold it still over the center point of the circle. Once the key is held still, the person is told not to move the key it just to imagine it moving between quadrants A& B or C &D. And then reminded – do not let the key move, only imagine it. 98 out of 100 times, in the case cited, the key moved between the quadrants imagined. The couple of times it did not move the volunteer explained he could not get a mental picture of the key moving.
It bears repeating, not what we know (consciously reason), but what we picture(imagine, believe) is what we will do. The Bible tells us this. It also tells us our heart (imagination center) is deceitful and not to trust it.
So think with me for a minute: Our conscious mind is presented with a piece information. It is filtered by what we know and we are then able to discard things we believe to be unneeded. Simultaneously, though, our subconscious is being presented with information which is not filtered by our reason and within nanoseconds, this information is sorted and stored in our memory bank alongside the category in our memory to which it most closely resonates. Our mind uses the new memory to build a picture or imagination. Then when, in the future, our conscious is presented with a question, we draw from our stored memory an answer (word or action) that may or may not be accurate. When our response is different than what we “know” it causes us to “lose faith” or some of the ability to trust what or whoever we were trusting in for that knowledge or action. Now we have a “ problem” and also an inherent responsibility to fix the “problem” or to rebuild that broken trust. We go searching for the truth/ remedy that will repair the trust and, whether an easy fix or a bigger deeper problem, in so searching we put more information into our minds, both conscious and subconscious. A vicious cycle ensues. If left unchecked, a person will crash and burn( a break down, a health problem, a gross sin, depression, you name it) This is how we end up with, “How could that happen to that person?”
There were ungaurded parts of heart. ( as parents we are entrusted with guarding our children’s hearts too until they set up their own family)
We need to do heart checkups every night before bed. No space here to expand but it’s Bible doctrine repeated over many times. Morning and evening…
This is why the Bible instructs to be:
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing, that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God; and bringing into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ. ~ 2 Corinthians 10: 5
How do we guard our heart?
Answer: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5
Jesus Christ -represented visually to us as the Word of God. Our Bible. Immerse every part of your life with it. Let it flood your mind. It will cleanse and heal. Read copious amounts, play it audibly, memorize it, write it out, have it as pictures in your house, sing hymns and songs that teach a scripture or doctrine (watch out here, its easily twisted and hard to remove) witness, listen to preaching, engage in socialization centered on praising God – not casting doubtful disputations. Note: That is why KJV is so vital. A small change can build a very different imagination and before you know it there are “ Bible doctrines” being believed that are not in the Bible.) When your life is filled to overflowing with the Bible in this way, there wont be much time (or desire) for social media, televised entertainment , worldly pleasures ( I’m talking about the non sinful types) Less exposure equates to a healthy mind. This pure and holy mindset is the prize God has set before us to be always reaching towards. The plus side is that when our mind is full of the things of God and the half truths are presented to our subconscious-the half truths will be seen for the lies that they are and will be relegated to the garbage bin to be destroyed. Somebody get happy!
2 Peter 1: 3-10 Gives us what the Bible says is the unfailing recipe for what we should be using to fill our minds. When we fall (and we will) we need to go here find our mistake, confess it, forsake it and go again.
Jesus (the Word) truly is the answer to every ailment . You cannot get too much. More than likely we are vitamin KJV deficient.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear ( unconditional trust and respect) God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. ~ Ecclesiastes 12:13
https://www.sappsolutely.com/devotions/you-will-do-what-you-believe-jennifer-schwarz
