Devotion
What Are You Feeding Yourself?
Chipo Biti
The words that we speak are always a reflection of our hearts - the state of our minds. The things that we choose to dwell on will affect the mindset we choose to base our life decisions and actions on. If your mind is focused on the right things, the right things will flow from your mouth. If your mind dwells on negative things that bring no life, dead things will flow from the words that you speak. By "dead things" I mean that no refreshing words will be able to come out of your mouth. You will not be able to edify the people around you.
This is why we need to be mindful of the things we feed our minds. These things will be the things our minds will dwell on and formulate beliefs and convictions. If you feed your mind things that tear down and hurt others, you will end up hurting others yourself. If you feed yourself with godly material, material that gives life, you will end up giving life-giving words to the people that you encounter. It is profitable to be wise and walk in the counsel of the Lord. The words you speak and the advice you give will give life and restoration to those who are in need of it. When your words are based on the Word of God, you will be able to refresh the souls of many.
But if your mind dwells on foolish, unfruitful things like gossip and foul speech, your words will not be profitable for anyone - they won't even be profitable for yourself. If you let foolishness lead your life, you will find yourself in many terrible situations. Focusing on the wrong things, things that are not godly, will always lead to painful mistakes.
Prayer
Let your words be rooted in the word, so that you can edify yourself and you can edify those around you.
Night Prayer
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
Inspiration
We cannot surrender part of our lives to serve the Lord; we must surrender it all. We see multiple occurrences in the New Testament when Jesus says, 'follow me,' met with an excuse or other business that needed to be taken care of first. We like to think that, given the opportunity, we would follow immediately, but that may not be true. We put many earthly activities before the Lord. We make idols of technology, sports, and other activities or people. These secondary priorities cause us to wander away from the Lord instead of closer to Him. We must analyze our walk closely and remove all stumbling blocks that distract us from the Lord.
Prayer
Dear Lord, we want to serve You with all our hearts. Help us analyze our lives and remove stumbling blocks that slow our walk with You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
