You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You —Isaiah 26:3


Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).

Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature-the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.

“We have sinned with our fathers . . . [and] . . . did not remember . . .” (Psalm 106:6-7). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don’t say to yourself, “But God is not talking to me right now.” He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.

Good morning Lord,
This makes total sense … when I look at it objectively. I can see that when the focus of my mind is off target, thinking my own ideas and about my own problems and struggles it is truly the devil’s playground and I can generate a lot of stress and depression. Or I can choose to not focus on all that stuff and focus on you and just stay curious and expectant about all that other stuff … and life will be better, my life, and the lives of those around me. And your kingdom will be better served. So it’s all good, to “keep my mind stayed on you” But I have two questions? Why can’t I seem to do this more consistently? And How do I share this concept with those who are hurting and I can see that this would be really good medicine for them. (even though I’d feel hypocritical prescribing it for them because I dont follow it so well myself)

The first step to cure a wandering mind is simply to decide. Decide to focus on me and our relationship. That will last a short time. But dont accept defeat. I do not condemn you when you fail and your mind begins to wander. But I’m happy when you bring your mind back to me. I’m really happy when you get consistent at that and I know I can rely on you to always and quickly bring your mind back to centering on our relationship. The more you do that, the more communication and blessings I will be able to pour out on you. And that is my desire. Here it is in The Message:

People with their minds set on you,
you keep completely whole,
Steady on their feet,
because they keep at it and don’t quit.
Depend on God and keep at it
because in the Lord God you have a sure thing.
Isaiah 26:3

So make the decision, And keep on making it. Dont waste time feeling guilty when you “fall off the horse” . Just get back on. Re-make the decision to keep your mind focused on me and our relationship. Replace guilt with curiosity. Stay curious about how long you can maintain focus and what stressors you will allow to draw you away next time. Go ahead. Be curious about whether there is a problem too big for me to handle. Watch and see. Together we can handle all that will come your way

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