THANKSGIVING 2020

Dear Ones,

This Thanksgiving, we face unprecedented challenges. I felt okay with all the COVID restrictions since last March, but I’m not as extroverted as some people who fiercely resent these social restrictions. Writing and editing do not require a lot of social interaction, so I enjoyed my quiet time alone and the increased freedom from social expectations.

Over time, I missed face-to-face fellowship with close friends, so we made careful allowances from time to time. Meeting another couple outside in the park, church attendance with social distancing, and home visits with our daughter, her husband, and eight grandchildren for meals and much-needed hugs all around.

However, when the governor made more recent and more restrictive mandates, my world crumbled, and I felt the anger of disappointment and what I held to be unjustified governmental control. My husband, always the more cautious one, ended up with intensified anxiety, which didn’t help my attitude in the least.

Of course, these emotions can either drive wedges between us or draw us closer to God, who is ultimately the Blessed Controller of all things. Many voices carry conflicting messages, which makes finding the truth like looking for that proverbial needle in a haystack. I know the enemy is out to divide and conquer. He is the author of confusion and masquerades as an angel of light to deceive the gullible and uninformed. I read a lot, search the Scriptures, and ask God for wisdom.

His Holy Spirit reminds me that vengeance belongs to the Lord, and human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires (James 1:20). He tells me that love covers a multitude of sins and fulfills the law of Christ (1Peter 4:8; Rom 13:10). Even though my husband and I see these mandates through different lenses, we also believe in the unity of the Spirit, forgiveness, and submission to one another. The enemy seeks to divide all of us and bring anger and resentment through our passionate beliefs over how we see things happening in this strange new world. We all feel so much loss and find ourselves grieving those losses.

Therefore, this Thanksgiving, it takes intentional decisiveness to take our eyes off the world around us, off our differences, and focus squarely on the Savior of our souls. In Psalm 103:1-6, David says,

Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth (desires) with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.

This Thanksgiving, may our gratitude, praise, and worship drown out all other voices that come against us. May we remember, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Rom. 8:37 NIV), and “God Inhabits the praises of His people” (Psalm 22:3 KJV).

Battle For The Mind

Do you feel them? All those uninvited thoughts and emotions that barrage our hearts and minds—worry, anxiety, fear, doubt, dread, fretfulness, even panic? Or how about guilt, accusations, shame, resentment, spite, grief, heartache? The list goes on until those thoughts and emotions drive us into the arms of Jesus or crush us in a python strangle-hold.

The election looms before us, and all the conflicting information and disinformation flies into our faces every time we read, listen to, or watch the news. It is enough to overwhelm us with fear, anger, and confusion. The enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He hates us and fights by any means necessary to take over our minds with deception and lies. Often He masquerades as an angel of light to deceive well-meaning people into believing that wrong is right and right is wrong.

One reason I long for the Lord Jesus to rapture me into glory is to escape the mind games of the devil. Can you imagine freedom from anxiety, discouragement, or accusations? In heaven, our minds will overflow with truth, honor, righteousness, purity, loveliness, admiration, virtue, and praise. It cannot come soon enough for me!

In the meantime, how do we fight this battle of the mind? I’ve discovered that Philippians 4:8 gives me an excellent method to replace those anxious thoughts with God’s peace. The preceding verses promise God’s peace to those who replace their anxiety with prayer and thanksgiving. Seven thought patterns follow to replace anxiety:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is virtuous or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Philippians 4:8

“Whatever is true” 

A whole plethora of thoughts and emotions get censored when we use truth as our plumb line. Is this thought or information true, or is it speculation and imagination? How do I know this thought is true? When we ask God for discernment, sound biblical resources exist to answer questions about God and His Word, right and wrong, truth and error. Paul tells us to use diligence to present ourselves approved to God as unashamed workmen, accurately handling the word of truth (2:Ti 2:15). Paul’s purpose in writing to Titus was to further our faith by knowing the truth that leads to godliness (Tit 1:1). Paul also prays for us to discern what is true (best) as our love abounds more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (see Phl 1:9-11).

“Whatever is honorable” 

Do our thoughts honor others or demean them? Chrysta Bairre, a career coach, wrote 19 Ways to Honor Someone: “Pay a compliment, Treat others with respect, Be understanding, Be patient, Ask questions, Challenge assumptions, Overlook mistakes, Forgive, Show compassion, Celebrate accomplishments, Cheer someone on, Listen, Encourage, Learn from others, Help others, Find common ground, Appreciate your differences, Accept help, Be open- open your heart, open your eyes, open your mind.” If we fill our minds with ways to honor others, they will crowd out a critical, demeaning spirit.

“Whatever is right” 

Do my thoughts lead me to what is right or to do wrong? The enemy of our souls targets our minds with every unrighteous thought and attitude. He tempts us through our senses to live independently from God and follow our fleshly desires, which leads to destruction. The other day a Sunday school song ran through my mind, “Be careful little eyes what you see… there’s a Father up above looking down in tender love….” It continues about being careful what we hear, where we go, and what we do. I added, “Be careful what you think and what you love.”

“Whatever is pure”

Are my thoughts pure? God sees our hearts and knows the motive behind our actions. On the outside, our actions may appear righteous and honorable. Ulterior motives, selfish ambitions, and unwholesome imaginations often hide beneath self-righteous robes. When a thought floats through my mind, I need to question if it glorifies God and edifies others. If not, it needs to hit the trash bin! Titus says, “Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Tit 2:13-14). How important to think pure thoughts since we are not our own but bought at the highest price in the universe. 

“Whatever is lovely”

Is this thought lovely? Does it lead me to adore my Lord Jesus, who captivates my heart? Or does this thought draw me away and distract me from the Lovely One. Do the world’s attractions and distractions take more of my headspace and heart affections than my Savior Redeemer? Do I consider this world more lovely than the Son of God? Do I desire praise, human perfection, power, or pleasure more than I delight in a growing relationship with God and His Word? In the Song of Solomon, the bride praises her lover and tells the daughters of Jerusalem, “His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend” (Sng 5:16).

“Whatever is admirable”

What or who do I admire? I just read an article on leadership by Paloma Cantero-Gomez called The Top 10 Characteristics Of Highly Admired People. She expertly reveals that highly admired people’s characteristics are not “their money, glamorous cars, lovely holidays, pretty faces, or luxurious houses.” Instead, the character qualities of humility, ability to learn in life-changing ways, integrity, responsibility, resilience, compassion for others, respect for others, visualizers, inspiring others, and the flexibility of those who do not let circumstances determine their lives. What a great list of admirable things on which to focus our minds! 

“Whatever is virtuous”

Virtuous thoughts give us a heavenly perspective. Virtue, by definition, is moral excellence and the ability to tell right from wrong. As believers, we know our virtues come only through the power of the indwelling Spirit of God within us and produce the fruit of the Spirit. “The Holy Spirit produces this kind of virtuous fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). by walking in the Spirit, rather than by our fleshly desires, these virtues flow from the inside out. May our thoughts reflect the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.

“Whatever is praiseworthy”

How much easier to criticize and tear down in this world of broken people. Yet God calls us to “Encourage one another and build each other up” (1Th 5:11). We celebrate a lot of birthdays in my daughter’s household with their eight children. One tradition they developed is the “hotseat” for the birthday person, which means everyone shares something about that person they count worthy of praise. We find it a great exercise in thinking of things praiseworthy in each person. It also makes each person want to live up to those words.

One day, God will bring an end to this battle for the mind. Every thought will focus on truth, honor, righteousness, purity, loveliness, admiration, virtue, and praise. But until then, the person who walks in the power of the Holy Spirit has the mind of Christ (see 1Co 2:15-16).

As the election results play out, we feel the anxiety of what may or may not happen. This winter, the ongoing Covid-19 tempts us to despair. These evil times torment our souls, as they did Lot in Sodom. Yet let us run to Jesus and fix our eyes on Him, who is able to keep us from falling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and great joy (Jude v 24).

Absolute Trust

IT TAKES ABSOLUTE TRUST TO WALK IN THE DARK. When we listen to a bully, we doubt in the darkness what God told us in the light. A few months ago, the lights went out for me, and I set aside a large project over which I had prayed and worked on for years. I did so, thinking it more Christian to keep the peace. However, a significant difference exists between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker.

A peacemaker is willing to resolve both outer and inner turmoil to establish peace with others and themselves. A peacekeeper, on the other hand, desires to maintain peace by avoiding conflict. They typically give in to the tension or steer clear of disagreement to keep others happy.

— Google

My desire to keep the peace led me to lay aside the passion God gave me to complete this project. Surely, this relationship was more important than my project, so I thought that giving it up pleased God. I felt a measure of peace because I avoided conflict. Yet, in Ephesians 4, Paul tells us to walk worthy of the calling with which Christ called us. Christ calls me to authentically share my life as it intersects with the truth of God’s Word.

Paul goes on to tell us to follow our calling with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph 4:1-3). However, Romans 12:21 says, As much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 

As I entertained self-doubts, I also thought about all those months and years of trusting God to direct this project. What about all my prayers for guidance and direction? Jesus says in John 10:27, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I needed to return to faith and believe that I really did hear from my Shepherd and trust Him again for His love, leadership, and guidance.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Could it be that I leaned to my own understanding to let this project go? If so, how could God direct my path?

The Psalmist says, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? (Psa 27:1). As I asked God to shine His light of understanding upon my situation, He gave me the wisdom to continue to follow Him.

The enemy of our souls often uses bullies to silence and paralyze us through fear. A bully is someone who is overly critical, domineering, or authoritative, or who is physically or psychologically abusive. In my case, the enemy didn’t want me to share what God has done and is doing in my life, so he used others to criticize my project and bring confusion about what God wanted me to do or say. I stumbled in that darkness for a time, tossed to and fro like waves of the sea. James tells us a double-minded person will not receive anything from the Lord.

For God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2Ti 1:7). When I decided to trust God with absolute trust for what He’s been telling me all along, the lights came back on, and the devil fled. John says the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome the light. When we focus on God’s love and faithfulness instead of on a bully’s words and actions, we walk in freedom and clearly see what He wants us to do and say. When I walked by faith into His light, His love overwhelmed me.

Right after Hebrews lists a string of biblical heroes of faith, it says, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Heb 12:1-2a).

What bullies want to intimidate, overpower, and shut you up? What hinders and entangles you from running the race to which God called you? I pray God blesses your way with His love and His light as you trust Him with absolute trust. May He keep your mind clear, and may His Word be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Ps 119:105).