think

28
Apr
2021
The Meditations of My Heart

The Meditations of My Heart

I love spring. Everything starts to get green, and the yellows, reds, and whites of the flowers and trees begin to give off their radiant beauty. The drab brown of winter is replaced by the spectacular colors of spring. I have some beautiful tulips that have added some beauty to one of my flower beds that I don’t remember coming up in previous years. I love the surprises of bulbs.

From my kitchen, I can see the flower bed that is the most work of all my flower beds, but it also has the most beauty. It always needs to be weeded or flowers dead headed. I spent an afternoon weeding it and sprucing it up. It still needs a bit more work, but it looks so much better now. Getting rid of the weeds and the dead leaves from last year brings out the beauty and the fresh colors of spring. As I write this, I am looking out my window and enjoying the beauty of this flower bed and am thankful I put the work into cleaning it up. My back was sore after I finished, but the pain is worth the enjoyment.

Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

The meditations of my heart are like my flower bed. As I meditate on the sweet things of Scripture there is beauty that comes from my mouth and my life. When I meditate on the things that are opposite of what Philippians 4:8 says we are to think on, the weeds and dead leaves are what comes from my mouth and life.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8).

Have you found yourself thinking and meditating on things that are opposite of this list in Phil 4:8? Thinking about lies, dishonorable, impure/dirty, shameful, humiliating, and decrepit things. These are the weeds and the dead leaves that clutter our hearts and our minds.

Most of us don’t consider that our thoughts contribute to our health, our viewpoint on things, the words that come from our mouths, our sleep, and the actions that we perform.

The meditations in our hearts impact our lives.

So we must be intentional about the meditations of our hearts. Many times we are not aware of the things we think. They are fleeting thoughts that come and go without us even realizing it. Yet, when we begin to be intentional with our thoughts, the beauty of intentional meditation and prayer changes our lives.

The beauty of the tulips did not happen overnight. The bulbs were planted years ago with forethought. Now that all the dead leaves and weeds are gone they are better able to give off their vibrant beauty. It is with intention that the bulbs were planted and it was with intention that I cleared the bed of all the ugly debris.

So we must be intentional that the meditations of our hearts are “acceptable in your sight, O Lord.” (Psa. 19:14). He wants to help us with this as well so the Psalmist draws our attention to this fact by using two more names for our Lord. “Our Rock and our Redeemer.”

Jesus saved us and rescued us from our sin. He wants to continue to rescue us from the sin that so quickly comes to our thoughts. The sins we so quickly seek to meditate on.

Be intentional on what you meditate on. There is no better thing to “chew on” and dwell on that God’s Word. Pray it back to Him. Have a conversation throughout your day with God about His word. Don’t let you morning devotion time be lost memory throughout your day, rather let it be a lasting and impactful memory throughout your day.

Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”

 

 

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
24
Feb
2021
Idols of the Heart

Idols of the Heart

Throughout the Old Testament, we see God commanding the people of Israel to “have no other gods before Him.” (Exodus 20:3). Yet, throughout the Old Testament we see the Israelites time and time again worshipping idols. I am currently reading through the book of Exodus and just read the account of the Golden Calf in Exodus 34. I look at these people and I think, “How quickly you have forgotten what God has done for you.” How could they forget the 10 plagues, crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, watching the Egyptian army that was coming after them be swallowed up by that Red Sea, manna, quail, water from a rock, etc.? As we come to Exodus 34, we see that they did. They forgot. All the miracles that God had done for them, quickly left their memories and they made a golden calf to worship instead.

We often think that the Old Testament stories are from a different era, a different time period, a different culture and have no relevance to today, but that is so far from the truth. These stories are very relevant to today. We may not worship a Golden Calf or make idols of Baal or other gods, but we can still be guilty of idolatry.

Often times, we think of current idols as “things.”  Things like a car, a boat, a house, a cottage on the lake, our phones, or some other inanimate object. Yet, if we dig deeper into these things, we will find that there is something else at the base of our desire for these things.

Last week, I wrote about “Think about what you are thinking about” and asked you to trace back the emotions you are having to your thoughts and then to trace those emotions back to what you are wanting.

I have written about our emotions and thoughts in a blog last year as well. Please follow this link to read more.

When we follow the trail, we will see what our idols are. Start with your emotions. Then ask yourself, “What is it that you are thinking?” This leads to our wants. Once we dig into what we want, it will lead us to our present day idols.

Emotions – Thinking – Wanting – Idols

No one really wants to go through this process. Who wants to be told that they have idols of the heart that they are worshipping? No one does, but do you ever feel like you are empty? Maybe you feel like you are in search of things that always seem out of your grasp. Striving for that sense of satisfaction or happiness that you never can attain. That is because you are seeking after an idol.

Here is a list of present day idols of the heart that many of us seek and search after:

  • Security
  • Affection/love
  • Attention
  • Satisfaction
  • Comfort/refuge/ease of life
  • Joy/happiness
  • Approval

Thinking back to what I wrote about last week – you don’t receive the recognition for an accomplishment that is truly yours to receive. What idol could we be seeking? Approval or Satisfaction

What about when your friends treat you poorly? Approval or Attention

What about when you have a “discussion” with someone and they don’t seem to care about your point of view? Love, approval.

What about when things seem too hard? Comfort, ease of life.

What about when a relationship seems too hard and yet you know that you have a responsibility to help that person see Christ? Comfort/ ease of life

God wants us to have no other gods before Him, because He knows that we will never find joy and happiness when we are worshipping these other idols.

God does not need us to worship Him. We need to worship Him.

God knows that the more we seek after the idols of our hearts, the emptier we will be. The more we seek after God and seek to worship Him and Him alone, the more joyful and fulfilled we will be.

Evaluate your emotions. What are they telling you? What are you thinking? What are you wanting? What idols of the heart are you worshipping?

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:1-4)

(There is a great book and sermon series by Brad Bigney on this topic of Idols of the Heart called Gospel Treason. This link is to the first sermon in his series on this topic.)

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
17
Feb
2021
Think about what you think about

Think about what you think about

Last week, I wrote about Scripture memorization and the transformation that it has had in my life. The transformation that has taken place is not that I can better remember where I laid my glasses, rather it has made an alteration in my thinking.

Do you ever stop to think about you’re are thinking about?

What do you think about? Have you ever taken stock in even those fleeting thoughts that are hardly even perceptible, and yet they are? I know it seems like a strange question to wonder if you have thought about what you think about, but our thoughts impact every aspect of our lives whether we realize it or not.

Let’s consider a few things that we all at some point or other have thought. “That’s not fair.” I know we have all thought this one. Someone else gets recognition and you worked just as hard. It may have even been your hard work that this person received accolades for and there was no acknowledgement of you. What about the friends that are disrespectful to you and say things that are not true, and your actions toward them have been nothing but kind and honorable. Have we thought, “That’s not fair?” Or even “what did I do to deserve this?”

I am sure many of us have thought, “This is so hard. I can’t do this.” Whatever the obstacle is in front of us, it appears to be too difficult. It takes too much effort. Whether it is the challenging friendship, the difficult child (or puppy right now in my caseJ), a difficult spouse, or a grueling job. The list could go on, but there are many things in life that feel so overwhelming and we think, “I can’t do this.”

As we allow ourselves to think these thoughts repeatedly, they begin to impact our emotions. Our emotions begin to be a byproduct of our thoughts. Again, this is not something that we are even aware of.

What are we feeling when we experience the “That’s not fair” thought? If someone else receives recognition that we should receive, we might experience anger. What is at the root of that anger? We wanted the recognition, but what is at the root of us wanting the recognition? We feel like we deserve it. Rather than being happy for the other person that received the recognition, we want our fair share.

What about when you are in a “discussion” with someone and you begin to feel angry because they do not see your point of view on things. What is it you are thinking: “I just want them to understand what I am saying. I want them to see my point of view. I want them to agree with me. I just want to be heard.” When the other person does not see things our way, we get angry.  Did you ever stop to think about what they are trying to say? See their point of view? Actually listen to them and seek to understand with more clarity? That anger you are experiencing is rooted in you wanting your way.

When things are harder than you thought they should be and these circumstances that you are confronted with seem too hard, what are you thinking? “I can’t do this. Why are things not going the way I thought they should be?” These thoughts can lead to feelings of anxiety or depression.

So what are you thinking? What do you need to do? When you experience an emotion, you need to evaluate it. What are you thinking? What are you wanting?

Take some time to evaluate what you are thinking and what you are wanting. Begin to evaluate these emotions, and trace them back to your thoughts.

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7).

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments
10
Feb
2021

Yes, you can Memorize Scripture

A few years ago, I wanted to improve my prayer life. I decided to work at memorizing Scripture that would be good Scripture to incorporate into my prayers. What better thing to pray than God’s Word. So I set out to memorize Scripture. I began in November 2018. I have been memorizing chapters or parts of chapters rather than a verse here and a verse there. Memorizing at my age has become more of a challenge than it used to be, but I decided I wasn’t going to let that get in the way of me memorizing God’s Word.

I am in the process of memorizing the book of James now. I am hoping to be done with it by the end of 2021. Part of my struggle is that I may have it memorized, but if I do not continue to review what I have memorized I easily forget it. So I have taken to reviewing the passages that I have already memorized so they do not escape. Now if I memorized a verse as a child, I can easily recall that. However, these chapters that I have memorized are not that engrained in my brain. When I am driving, I review a passage. When I am outside for a walk or riding my bike, I review what I have already memorized.  I have to admit that I am glad that I made this decision to memorize Scripture 2 years ago. The benefits and the effects it has had on my life has been amazing.

“I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” (Psalm 77:12). I read this verse this morning and realize that this is what I have been doing. As I review God’s Word that I have memorized, it gives me the opportunity to ponder and meditate on God’s work and mighty deeds. As I lay down at night to go to sleep, I think of the things that I have to be thankful for praise God for these. When I wake up in the night to go to the bathroom, and take a few minutes to go back to sleep I begin reviewing my verses.

Without realizing it, I have transformed my thinking. What started out as a way to improve my prayer life, has transformed what I think about.

As Paul told the Romans in Romans 12:2 “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” What are you filling your mind with? What thoughts are you dwelling on? What flits through your mind without you even realizing it? Just as an athlete must make a concerted effort in the training they do, so we must make a concerted effort in renewing our mind.

Memorizing Scripture has become something that I talk to anyone that will listen to me about. It has become a passion of mine.

“I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” (Psalm 77:12).

Posted by ddykema5@gmail.com in The Seasons of Motherhood, 0 comments