Hello, my name is Sherri Woods and I will be your journey guide for Wednesday Wanderings. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, to wander means to move about leisurely without a fixed course or goal. The purpose of Wednesday Wanderings is to set aside time to allow Jesus to accentuate our creative mind and fill them with His truths. For Wednesday Wanderings, we will be journeying with Jesus into encounters to heal our mind, body, and soul. You may want to consider utilizing a journal to record what I have termed the “transformational conversations” of your venture.
Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome.
Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey of examining what it means to Have a little talk with Jesus.
PREPARATION: In our last Wandering we explored the components of a transformational conversation. This week we will delve into battles of the mind. When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue of mind talk with Jesus by stating:
” Jesus, I invite you to help me to wander aimlessly into your Presence where my mind, body, and soul can be transfigured. I welcome your truth and a holy encounter with your Word. Illuminate my spiritual senses that my eyes may see you, my ears may hear you, my body may feel you with me, and my heart may receive you.”
PROMISE: Our mind is where our thoughts develop into the actions that keep our hearts captive. If we want to experience transformational conversations with Jesus, it is necessary to acknowledge that our minds are battlefields and to seek a mind of Christ that will take our thoughts captive so our hearts can hold the evidence of freedom. Phillipians 4: 6-7 provides us with the remedy for the battles of our mind.
Phillipians 4:6-7 Amplified Version
6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything (every circumstance and situation) by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your (specific) requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God (that peace which reassures the heart, that peace) which transcends all understanding, (that peace which) stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (is yours).
The scripture instructs us not to BE anxious or worried. It does not say we won’t FEEL anxious or worried. It is human to experience the pain of anxiety that is created when our thoughts lie to us and handcuff us to self-reliance during difficult circumstances. When we are unable to separate our feelings from our being —anxiety and worry accost our hearts, sabotage our mind of Christ, and paralyze us with self-fulfilled future thinking.
PSALM: The song writer of Just a Little Talk with Jesus transparently shares the battles of his mind in his transformational conversation with Jesus.
Verse 3:
I may have doubts and fears, my eyes be filled with tears,
But Jesus is a friend who watches day and night;
I go to him in prayer, He knows my every care,
And Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right.
The writer acknowledges that thoughts of doubt and fear lead to tears. His confession demonstrates the importance of acknowledgement. Acknowledging in our transformational dialogues with Jesus that we have anxious, fearful, doubtful, judgmental, and worrisome thoughts begins the process of casting our cares upon the one who cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). Casting our cares will lead us to being sustained (Psalm 55:22) in peace and rest.
PARABLE: Verse 3 introduces us to two of the four common battles of the mind. Thoughts become actions. Actions are guided by our feelings. Battles of our mind engage our emotional being to experience feelings of doubt, anxiety, confusion, and judgement.
Four Common Battles of the Mind
- The Doubting Mind (indefinite in thoughts which manifest wavering and uncertainty)
- The Anxious Mind (worried in thoughts which manifest fear)
- The Confused Mind (deficient in wise thoughts which manifest doubt)
- The Judgmental Mind (critical in thoughts which manifest suspicions)
The reflections of “what if”, the questions of “how”, the perceptions of uncertainty, and the rationalizations of suspicions paralyzes our PRESENT living.
The remedy to the battle of doubtful, anxious, confused, and judgmental thoughts and feelings is a Mind of Christ.
Phillipians 4:6-7 provides us with the strategies to demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we how to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
In every situation or circumstance to obtain a mind of Christ that is able to capture thoughts we are to:
- Pray (Have a transformational talk with Jesus)
- Make petitions (Ask for what you need Jesus to do with the battle in your mind)
- Offer thanks (Use future thinking the right way to assure yourself that Jesus WILL care for you and your situation)
- Continue to make specific requests (Tell God about your doubts and fears, invite Him into your tears and His peace will reassure your heart)
PONDER and WANDER:
When we deliberately take the time to wander aimlessly into the presence of God we build our arsenal against the battles of the mind.
The Mind of Christ is obtained in His Presence through a life of prayer (transformational conversations with Jesus). We can use anxiety and worry as barometers. If a circumstance or situation is enough to bring worry or anxiety upon us, it is enough to pray about and cast upon Jesus. Know that any time, any place, in any situation Jesus is petitioning on your behalf to El Roi, the God who sees you.
Lets take some time to wander with Jesus and ponder a few questions. Take a few breaths in and out. In and out. As you breath in invite your spiritual imagination to become activated. As you breath out, release the clutter of concerns and anxieties. Breath in and out.
As you wander with Jesus, invite the Holy Spirit to sanctify your spiritual imagination. Now invite the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind the root of your doubtful, anxious, confused, and/or judgmental thoughts that you battle in your mind. When you are ready, have a little talk with Jesus and ask and record the answers to the following questions.
- What is at the root of my doubt, anxiety, confusion, and/or judgement?
- When I feel doubtful, anxious, confused, or judgmental where do I feel it in my body?
- When I feel doubtful, anxious, confused, or judgmental what does it do to my mind?
- When I feel doubtful, anxious, confused, or judgmental what does it do to my soul?
Now that you are aware of these things, with your spiritual imagination view the baseball and baseball mitt. Imagine that the ball represents your cares. As you have a little talk with Jesus, throw them into His hands with the assurance that His hands are big enough to catch every care you throw at Him.
PRAYER: As you Watch the waterfall video invite the Holy Spirit to sanctify your spiritual imagination and pray this prayer.
Water of Life flow within me today. Saturate me with your Presence. Like rushing waters, let your living water drown out the thoughts of anxiety, doubt, confusion, and judgment that attempt to accost my mind. I need you Lord Jesus to help me invite you into the situations and circumstances that feel antagonizing. I do not desire to BE anxious or worried about anything. I know that trust is the antagonist to the emotional upheaval that tries to capture my mind, body, and soul. Help me surrender my self-reliance and solutions to your purposed will and plan for my life. In your Presence I can walk through the shallow waters of every situation without sinking. In the name of Jesus, my mind regulator I pray, Amen.
PRAISE:
Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to offer a praise of thanksgiving. Let the work of your wandering transform your mind into a mind of Christ and the assurance that there is a remedy you CAN choose in the midst of every mind battle permeate your soul.
Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.
Until next time, be Resonant.
