Hope

Sometimes I get so discouraged. I find myself longing for something better. I had high hopes for this new year... I still do I suppose. But, I just seem to have no self-discipline. I realize spending time with the Lord, seeking, praying to and worshiping him is something that has the greatest affect cumulatively and when practiced consistently. It is like exercising. Working out once in a while and hoping to become buff is futile. It's like sporadically dieting every now and then when the thought occurs to you that you're fat rather than consistently following a plan and sticking to it. So it is with one's walk with the Lord through life. A man's focus defines the man. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. (Prov. 23:7) Focus is so powerful and sometimes so hard to control. Like the grip of emotion in a sad song, a man's focus can be latched to negativity or despair. Each previous thought or note leads into the next. We are creatures with moods and associative minds. Each idea somehow leading to the next. Randomness in a discussion is often thought odd or funny and seldom is it truly random. Our thoughts flow like a river through mud, creating gullies over time that become harder and harder to escape. Part of being a Christian is having a new way of thinking. Do everything without complaining or arguing. (Phil. 2:14) Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things (Phil. 4:8) Negativity, hopelessness, despair and faithlessness are all wicked and from the evil one. Following these gullies in the mud is a way of darkness and ultimately death. But fixing our minds and hearts on whatever is true, lovely and pure as Phil. 4:8 says is a way of joy and life and light. I remember when I was first taking cello lessons, my cello teacher used to get upset with me for practicing something he hadn't shown me how to do yet. The problem was I would try it, but do it all wrong and then practice it that way. The more I practiced it the deeper ingrained it would become in me to play the song the wrong way. So it is with life and God. We need him to teach us how to play the songs we face when living in various situations. We need to learn how to play them right and once we know, practice them correctly and daily. "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor. 10:5 Our thoughts are precious and our enemy knows this. If he controls or sways our thinking he controls us and possibly even our destiny. (This is why television programs exhibiting the worldly culture and way of thinking often even only on a subconscious level are so powerful and dangerous.) Learning to recognize a negative, faithless, hopeless, worried or despairing thought and rebuke it replacing it with a faithful thought rooted in our commitment to believing in God, his love and saving power is vital to walking in the Spirit as Christians. Trying to do this on your own is dangerous as well. Though God does not magically change us and our lifestyles when we become Christians, he offers us all the tools and help we need to do it. As long as I am pressing on and trying to be His and live His way trusting him for the rest, he will cover the rest for me. Because he is faithful and he is love.