I want my mind to be at peace.
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:3).
“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2)
The following questions are designed to help you think about everyday things in a new way, to think about how they relate to God and how everything is about Him, to keep your mind on him.
Read the following pages carefully and meditate on those that apply to you.
How tall are you? He picked your genetic code. “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14).
Do you have talents? He gave you those talents. He formed you in the womb (Psalm 139:15).
Do you like jewelry? When you wear your jewelry, do you think of God? He created the original stones and the gold, silver or platinum (Genesis 2:12).
(I had the privilege of practicing as a clinical psychologist for many years. Looking at the rings on my hands while doing therapy helped me remember the God who created the stones and the gold. They helped me remember who is in charge of the universe and who is in charge of the healing process.)
Have you lost someone you loved or cared about to death? That is about Him. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Psalm 116:15). You have a certain number of days to live, which are allotted by God before you were born. “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).
Have you been disobedient? It was the Lord you were disobeying. “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4).
Have you been obedient? Again, it was the Lord you were obeying. He made all the original rules. “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Do you have disabilities? They are about Him even though they may have come through birth or accident. He has given thorns in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7) and he causes all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
Are you breathing? “In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10).
Have you tried to stop breathing? He has picked the day of your death before you were born (Psalm 139:6).
Are you artistic or do you love color (Exodus 31:1-11)? He set the color spectrum at creation. You can rearrange amounts to make new combinations but you cannot create.
Are you “engineeringly” inclined? He put the sound and electromagnetic waves such as radio, micro, TV and X-rays in place at the time of creation (Genesis 1:3). He creates, you discover.
What do you eat? He created all the original food (Genesis 1:13, 24). How do you relate to the food he made?
What do you drink? He created the water (Genesis 1:2, 6, 9). We have polluted it. However, he made pure water, sometimes miraculously (Exodus 17:6).
Did you change a tire or the oil in your car recently? He created the rubber and oil as well as giving someone the intellect to put together a car made from iron, steel, glass and other materials. Man made it, but God created the materials (Job 38:36).
Are you redeemed? Christ died for your salvation (John 3:16). To redeem means to buy back. Have you been bought back from Satan?
If you are resisting salvation you are resisting Him. "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" (Romans 9:20) “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are the clay, you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand” (Isaiah 64:8).
Do you like the seasons? He made them. “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth’” “And it was so” (Genesis 1:14-15).
Did you measure something to cook, bake, build or plant recently? “A just balance and scales are the LORD’S; all the weights in the bag are his work” (Proverbs 16:11).
Do you think you know another's motives? You don't. He does. “For the Lord searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (1 Chronicles 28:9). “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit” (Proverbs 16:2). “He will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5).
How do you know the difference between right and wrong? He gave the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the Holy Spirit to give you conviction. “He will convict the world concerning sin” (John 16:8). Do you recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit?
Are you saved? If so, the Holy Spirit has been given you as a seal (2 Corinthians 1:22, Ephesians 1:13). He lives in you. Your body is His temple, his dwelling place (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). Is your body a good dwelling place for the Holy Spirit?
Did you wash dishes or windows? He created the sand out of which the glass is made (Genesis 1:9).
How do you know what to do in a given circumstance? Did you fix a sink or a toy today? He gave you the intellect to ask for and use wisdom and instruction. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5).
Have you given birth? Children are a gift from the Lord (Psalm 127). Did you have labor pains? They came from God via Eve (Genesis 3).
Have you had to work by the sweat of your brow, with stress? That is one result of Adam’s disobedience to God (Genesis 3).
Are your relationships about Him? “Do not be unequally yoked” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Do they bring him glory?
What happens when you forget to stay focused on Him?
Worship and adoration are about Him. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Center of the universe and deserving of all praise. Everything is about him.
Why is it important to recognize that everything is about God?
You have been designed to worship. If you don’t worship him you will worship something that is not worthy. He is the only One who is worthy.
Do you want to be happy and blessed? If so, you need to meditate on the law (the Bible) day and night (Psalm 1:2).
The goal of this chapter is to learn to think about God first in every situation. The examples given are designed to help you look at everyday circumstances and to learn to realize that every situation is about God. That will bring him glory. Are you renewing your mind?