Before we get to today’s post, I wanted to share with you where you can find me tomorrow, Thursday, August 15th.
It is my honor and total pleasure to be a guest on The Whole Woman with Lisa Shaw. Lisa’s BlogTalk Radio program is a wonderful source of spiritual wisdom mixed with a whole lotta love. If you don’t know Lisa, you have missed a mighty big treat. Tomorrow at 11am Lisa and I will be talking about what the Lord is up to in the ministry that He has appointed to me. We will talk about the Legacy Bible study (From the Trash Pile to the Treasure Chest: Creating a Godly Legacy), my When Words Won’t Come devotion book, and my newest writing endeavor, the Hebrews Bible study that will be published in 2014.
I invite you to hop online at 11am EST and join us at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cwa-radio/2013/08/15/the-whole-woman. In case you can’t join us, the podcast of the show will be available shortly after the show airs for your downloading pleasure. –
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Several years ago, my Ford Explorer was being serviced, so I drove my husband’s Ford F350 truck to work.
I was driving along the interstate when I noticed that the fuel level was low, so I decided to pull off and fill up. I pulled into my usual gas station, at my usual pump and got out of the truck. After my credit card was swiped, I removed the nozzle from the fuel pump and proceeded to fill up the truck. I completed my transaction and got back in the truck.
WHOOSH!! Suddenly I realized that I had put GAS into a DIESEL truck.
My initial thought process went something like this:
“I know that gas is not good for a diesel truck. So, I’m going to just get back on the road, and call Greg to see what I need to do.”
As I reached for the ignition, I heard a voice in the back of my head screaming, “NO!!!!! Don’t turn that key!!!”
I sat back in the seat and decided to call my brother-in-law for advice, because I knew Greg was at work and probably with a patient. I called my sister’s house and had her explain my predicament to Robert. I could hear him in the background saying in urgent tones, “Tell her not to crank the truck. Do not crank the truck. It will ruin the motor.”
Ah, so that was why I heard that voice in the back of my head!!!
I immediately called the dealership where we bought the truck, and they sent a roll-back out to pick up our full-to-the-brim-with-gas diesel truck. I was extraordinarily thankful that the Holy Spirit had stopped me from cranking the truck. The dealer told me that it would only cost about $200 to drain and flush the tank. If I had cranked the truck, we would have been purchasing a new motor, to the tune of many thousands of dollars.
Why am I confessing my blondeness to you? Because I see so many Christians putting things into their hearts and minds that are going to cause a major blow up. I am guilty of it, and I bet you are too, at one time or another. Sometimes it is not what we put in, but what we leave out that causes problems. Allow me to give you some examples.
- Much of today’s television programming is utterly worthless
- Ditto for the movies
- Gossip – gossip programs, gossip magazines, gossip sessions…blech!!
- Some of the things that pass for preaching today are devoid of Christ, but full of feel-good, happy, thoughts about health and wealth
- Often our self-talk can cause a heart disaster quicker than anything
- Jealous thoughts
- Failure to feast on the Scriptures on a daily basis
- Filling the mind with musical lyrics that encourage violence and immorality
- Critical words from others
- Judgmental, critical thoughts ABOUT others
- The lie that we ‘can have it all’ or ‘we can be everything to everybody’
Junk. It is all gas in a diesel engine, and it will cause a blow-up faster than you can say ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. I know this one from experience. I have done many of the things I listed above.
So, how do we make sure that we have diesel in a diesel engine? Make sure you are pumping from the right pump.
Philippians 4: 8 (NLT) And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
None of what I listed above would fit into the Philippians 4:8 description. Also, notice there is nothing said about happy, healthy, or wealthy. God is not primarily interested in our health, wealth, or happiness. He is interested in our holiness and Christlikeness. It is only when we fix our thoughts on Jesus and His Word that we will be running smooth and not have a blow-up.
Meditation Moment: How about you? What are you putting in your tank?
