Three Ways to Steward Your Mind in an Age of Deception

By Dr. Scott Rodin    

Is your mind ready for whatever God may be calling you to do?

Six weeks ago I decided to take a ‘Social Media Fast’. I did so because reading through the posts was stirring up too much frustration and at times, jealousy toward others I admire. I pondered the benefit of the experience and found no good reason to continue with a few personal accounts. The results have been unquestionably positive on my attitude and outlook.

This experience got me thinking about how we steward what we allow to enter our minds. There is an old computer programming adage that goes, ‘garbage in, garbage out’. That is, the output of any program is dependent upon the quality of the inputs you start with.

Scripture has much to say about the way we steward our minds. Consider the following.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

“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.” Philippians 4:8

“We have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16

Read the rest: http://thestewardsjourney.com/three-ways-steward-mind-age-deception/

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“Ten-Minute” Steps To Strengthen Your Walk With God

~ Lawless

Almost all of us, if not all of us, can find ten minutes a day to focus on God. In fact, we can likely find several “ten-minute segments” to devote to Him throughout the day—which means that we can grow in our walk with Him a little bit at a time. Start here: plan to use ten minutes each day this week to do one of these tasks:

1. Read a couple of chapters of the Bible. You don’t have to read a whole book in a single setting. I’d rather you read consistently for ten minutes each day than read once a week for an hour.
2. Pray for a few non-believers. Focus on them, and ask God to turn their blinded minds (2 Cor. 5:3-4) to Him. Ask Him to send someone—including the possibility of you—to speak the truth to them.
3. Meditate on your blessings. Do what the old-fashioned hymn told us to do: “Count your many blessings; name them one-by-one.” My guess is that this simple exercise will pick up your entire day.
4. Tell somebody how good God has been to you. Ask a co-worker, a fellow student, a neighbor, or a family member for permission to tell your story – and gladly jump into it when you find a willing listener.

The rest are at: http://chucklawless.com/2018/08/ten-minute-steps-to-strengthen-your-walk-with-god/

How to Sharpen Your Concentration for Bible Reading

We live in a distracted age. We sneak frequent glances at our phones and get immersed in things that don’t matter in the long run. This has consequences for our work and family lives. It also wreaks havoc on our Bible reading. When we struggle to pay attention, it makes it difficult for us to read God’s word profitably.

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can regain our attention span and drill deep into God’s word, but it will take work. Here are four ways you can recover your concentration for Bible reading.

Shut Out Distractions

We probably “read” more than any previous generation, but most of our reading consists of status updates, tweets, and scanning blog posts. We trained ourselves to read short bits of information and avoided thinking through demanding subjects by scrolling to the next thing.

I recommend that you do your daily Bible reading from a physical copy of the Bible instead of an app on your phone or tablet. Your phone doesn’t have a home button, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, or your email. Each person only has a limited amount of willpower, so don’t spend it by avoiding the temptation to scroll through Facebook instead of reading your Bible.

In addition, you may find it necessary to either turn off your phone, put it on “airplane” mode, or leave it in another room. Studies have shown that the presence of a phone erodes the quality of a conversation. There’s something about seeing our phones that reminds us of all the things we could be checking. Instead, cut out this temptation by not having it in sight or within reach.

Continue: https://scottslayton.net/2018/05/31/bible-reading-concentration/

How Do I Live An Intentional Life

I do not so much happen to my life as my life happens to me. By nature I’m a bit passive, wont to fear of trying anything in which there is a possibility of failure, prone to finding the easiest way out or through a situation, and likely to ignore problems instead of facing them. The good thing is I know this about myself and feel constantly armed with fresh candoitiveness. Mondays are my favorite, tomorrow mornings are too—”fresh, with no mistakes in it, yet.” I love Januarys and also Septembers. Any chance for a do-over, I say.

It is strange to me then that I get asked the question (often): “You seem to live your life so intentionally, how do I do that?” Oh dear, she said, I have no idea.

The truth is I am less intentional about my life than I am introspective about it. I think it is easy to confuse the one for the other. The former means coming at life well and the latter (for me) means to look behind at what happened well. These are two very different things. One is active, determined, and disciplined. The other is insightful, thoughtful, and optimistic. The former knows failure is imminent and plans for it, the latter muddles through the aftermath of failure for the lemons and makes lemonade. I make great lemonade, but, dear reader, do not confuse this with growing a great lemon tree. I am introspective, but intentional I am not.

Continue at: http://www.sayable.net/blog/2018/6/14/how-do-i-live-an-intentional-life

John Stott: One of the Most Neglected Themes in the Bible

Whole life discipleship

https://churchleaders.com/pastors/videos-for-pastors/176790-john-stott-one-of-the-most-neglected-themes-in-the-bible.html

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God’s Word

We should always read and meditate over the Word of God with reference to ourselves and our own heart. This is deeply important, and I cannot press it too earnestly upon you. We are apt often to read the Word with reference to others. Parents read it in reference to their children, children for their parents; evangelists read it for their congregations, Sunday school teachers for their classes. Oh! This is a poor way of reading the Word; if read in this way, it will not profit. I say it deliberately and advisedly: the sooner it is given up, the better for your own souls. Read the Word of God always with reference to your own heart, and when you have received the blessing in your own heart, you will be able to communicate it to others.

Whether you labor as evangelists, as pastors, or as visitors, superintendents of Sunday schools, teachers, tract distributors, or in whatever other capacity you may seek to labor for the Lord, be careful to let the reading of the Word be with distinct reference to your own heart. Ask yourselves, “How does this suit me, either for instruction, for correction, for exhortation, or for rebuke (2Ti 3:16)? How does this affect me?” If you thus read and get the blessing in your own soul, how soon it will flow out to others!

~ George Müller