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Here are THREE THINGS for you to think about today!
Three Things Thursday is my opportunity to share great stuff from the blogosphere with you. I love to let you in on material that is motivating me, teaching me, or shedding new light on something I thought I knew well! As a reminder, over the next three Thursdays, I am sharing related to three areas of development based on Luke 2:52. The mind, body, and spirit, are the three areas in which Jesus, Son of God and Savior of the world, had to experience a process of maturation… so it’s OK if we do too!
We are also commanded in Mark 12:30 to love God in each of those three areas so I think it’s worth our time to explore! If you need to read or review read my initial thoughts about focus on these verses click HERE).
If you have mastered a particular area or do not need my suggestions, come up with your own! Then keep your Kingdom Kindreds posted by sharing your journey in the comments!
O.K. Kingdom Kindreds. Here we go!
1) The Mind… Take Every Thought Captive As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Psalm 121:1-2 is one of a few awesome memory verses you can choose from this week. If scripture memory is difficult for you, that’s OK. Keep working your brain! Let learning God’s word be the focal point for the exercise of your mind.
Today I want you to focus on the idea of taking every thought captive. This means that we need to have control of our minds with God’s help and lead our thoughts purposefully in a direction that is pleasing to Him. Negative thoughts, fearful thoughts, selfish thoughts, etc. all can be a part of this process.
And let me tell you, renewing your mind is a process. But this process does involve reading, memorizing, speaking aloud, singing, and listening to the word of God. A major way we get control of our thought life is to fill it with the Word of God which is why scripture memory is so important and why that is a major component of the “One Month Journey”.
This morning I want to make it easy for you to do just that. I want to give you some tools that will prayerfully help you to focus more on God and His Word, help you to re-align your thinking, and help you to dwell on things that are good for you!
The first is a song that has blessed me over the years. The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir put Psalm 121 to music and I’m telling ya, it will BLESS YOUR SOCKS OFF!
Also, this video put together by Katie Orr over Hello Mornings will wash you the Word and give you other verses that I pray will fill your mind with God’s Word and specifically with verses that I pray will help you to know how God wants YOU to think!
Last week the goal was to drink more water. How did that go for you? Hopefully you have started the habit of drinking more water. Try to keep that habit going! Water is your friend! This week let’s talk about MOVEMENT. Now don’t get scared if you don’t already get much of that in. We all have to start somewhere right? All you need to do is think of what you are already doing and do a little bit better.
Challenge yourself. If you don’t exercise at all, make it your goal this week to go for a walk at the park. One time. That’s all. If you are inconsistent, make it your goal to pick up where you have left off, decide what you are going to do, and STICK TO IT. If you are good with this area of your life, why don’t you make it your goal to encourage someone else by inviting them to join you at the gym or for a walk?
Our bodies were designed to move and most of us don’t move enough. Science has shown and (we probably know via common sense) that regular exercise helps your brain to work better. So moving more is kind of a two for one! We only get one temple to work with right? And no matter how much our hearts love the Lord, our body is the casing that carries us to fulfill whatever mission he sends us on. We have to take care of it! And movement is one of the ways we do that.
John Piper, founder and teacher of desringGod.org author of more than 50 books, blogged about exercise and why he does it. I think this will give you a little motivation 🙂 If you still just are in need of ideas for working it in, try these 5 Clever Ways to Find Time to Exercise by Ron Edmondson. If you are simply at a loss for how to exercise, find 25 simple and easy ideas from Prevention Magazine.
Remember… just like learning to take your thoughts captive is a process, learning to discipline your body is too. But we do it because we want our minds and our bodies to be available to Him for his purposes, right? Right!?!?
3) The Spirit… Be Still
We rush. Many of us are so busy we simply rush from one thing to the next. Even if we don’t want to. Our world races to a finish line that never stays still and we are encouraged by forces outside to hurry to the next thing. The discipline of being still is quickly becoming a lost art.
But it’s in the stillness, in the waiting, that we give our spirits and souls room to breathe. And let me tell you, it’s in the waiting, in the empty spaces, in the stopping in our tracks that we can be nourished by the Spirit of God and hear his voice.
My sister has written a wonderful book on the topic of waiting and hearing God speak to our souls. You can read Chapter 1 here. Also, check out Lisa Terkeurst commentary on how she hears from God.
I pray that these encouragements in the areas of your mind, body, and soul motivate, educate, and spur you on to doing new things, reviving old things, or being more consistent with things you are already doing.
Recap of the Three Things…
Take Every Thought Captive Work on your thought life
Make a Move Exercise your Body
Be Still Learn to wait. Practice listening for His voice
Remember…
Q & A – Submit questions on biblical womanhood for myself or my dad, Tony Evans, to answer! Just click on the “Ask Chrystal” button on the menu bar (under “Chrystal”). Each week on Wednesday via video blog, one (or both) of us will answer some of the questions we receive!
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I can whole heartedly say I am working on (D) all of the above! — I actually did well with water intake.. And went for a walk for an hour prior to this being posted.. And during that walk actually prayed and told God that I was patiently expecting to hear from
Him. No matter what it took or how long I had to wait, I need confirmation for my next move and what He desires for me. I sometime wince at this because although I am so eager to hear from God, I am not always as eager to obey with what He shares with me.(Work in progress) I will keep my mind and focus on getting better in all of these areas.. Renewing of the mind is DAILY. Even though we may have went to bed with a great mind doesn’t mean we will wake up with one.. Oh the choices we have.. It’s all about making a conscious effort to impact my own life. Anyone can tear me down but I’m the only one that is guaranteed to do one or the other.
I can improve in all 3 areas! I can honestly say I need more improvement in The mind… I sometimes struggle with taking control over my thoughts and leading them in a direction to is pleasing to God rather than pleasing to myself. I also struggle with memorizing verses, I’ve tried writing post it’s around the house..: I still struggle… I know it will be a process.
The body- my goal is to just stay consistent in the gym. I tend to go strong for 2-3 weeks and then I will fall off. I want to stay consistent and push myself to maybe doing a hike or jog around the lake instead of always going to the gym.
The spirit is another area I struggle with… Being still and waiting patiently to hear from the Holy Spirit. I am constantly on the go, I work 2 jobs and am trying to plan a wedding.. Along with trying to keep my body in movement. I have a lot of my plate, but I know at times I just need to slow down and listen.
Thank you Chrystal for these 3 things! I appreciate it and I am loving this journey!
It really does help me to remember Danielle that Jesus was busy too and MADE time to have quiet moments. We all have 24 hours in the day and it does require EFFORT to carve out some time for our souls and for talking to the Lord but you can do it!
I am late responding because yesterday was just a lazy day to be honest! Then when I wanted to get started I had other things jump out at me! Smh! No excuse! I really could’ve used this yesterday! Anywho, being honest I struggle with all 3 areas especially controlling my thought life and listening for Gods voice! I have done the notecard thing too! I would read my scriptures to keep my mind focused…do good for a week then fall off! Consistency is my weakness. That video “Captive Every Thought” is so good! I think I will play that in the mornings! Hearing Gods voice has always been a struggle. I would get so frustrated at times that I would just walk away (literally and figuratively). But the chapter in Priscilla’s book enlightened me on something’s that I need to change! I’m praying for all of us Kingdom Women as we journey together! It’s not easy but it’s so worth it!
Take every thought captive is what I am struggling with right now. I know that God. Was speaking through you and the verses reminded me of what I should be thinking. I am struggling with unkind thoughts about a certain person and I have prayed about this. God did help me for a while, but those thoughts have popped back up. I do not voiced them,but God convicts me that the thoughts are against His teaching. I know that God can give me peace and I am trusting in His word.
I got to hear your dad in Montgomery, AL and he was awesome. Enjoying the time and thank you for sharing with us.
Our minds can be a battlefield if we don’t take our thoughts captive. Our daily lives bring about disappointment, hurt, failure, etc., that distracts our focus from God. I like to think that I won the battle in my mind a couple of years ago when my husband and I were going through some rough times in our marriage. Low and behold, now I find myself and my focus being drawn from God back to some of the same issues that we dealt with during that time. Listening to My Help Cometh from the Lord really blessed my soul as you said it would! It helped me to realize that God is the ONLY constant in my life; all my help comes from Him. It makes it easier to accept disappointment and hurt brought on by my husband, or any other factors in my life. Re-aligning my thinking and focusing on God will definitely help me to dwell on those good and perfect things from above! Thanks, Chrystal, for sharing that song!