the mind

One of my goals for this year is to read a new book each month that will teach me more about God and also how to be a more godly woman. This month I am reading a book called Loving God With All Your Mind. 

I picked it up a while ago when Jonah and I went with our teenagers to a teen camp called The Wilds. At that time in my life I was going through a lot of emotional pain. I suffered from my first panic attack early in that year caused by a lot of change in my life, the losss of my grandmother, and job changes in the family, and it made my emotions go through a whirlwind of pain and confusion. Doubt, sadness and depression seemed to loom over me like a dark cloud and in the midst of all of it God was there watching and holding me. It was truly one of the hardest years of my life as I've always considered my personality to be a bubbly optimist, with excitement about the little things. It was a hard year, but through all the dark I kept climbing up I kept searching out God, I kept crying to Him. Why? Well God doesn't always answer that way. What for? If I can grow and learn something and be a help to someone else well that's what for. 

We all go through periods in our lives when we feel like the world just fell in and there is no one that could understand, and that is true to a certain extent no one can understand, only God can, because He gave you what He knew you could handle and what would strengthen you.

I'm amazed at how much He loves us, how individual God is. How detailed.

But back to the book I am reading, I bought this book and read some of it, as well as other books at that time, but I ended up putting it on my shelf and leaving it for some time. 

Here I am years later and I decided to start it back for my monthly read.

I like to read with my devotions- I found a chapter a day gets me through about a month depending on the book. 

So far I am really excited about what I have learned. The verse for the year I  believe is 

Philippians 4:8 Finally,brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

It's one verse I remember learning as a child, and I tend to read over it quickly half out of memory without thinking about it. But that is just it, this verse is so important to me because it deals with my thinking. It's a filter for my thoughts. 

All day long thousands of thoughts go through our minds and depending on who you see or how you feel there can be a lot of negative thinking. Thinking on this verse whenever I start to 'feel' sad, or negatively takes me on new thought patterns. I stop to ask myself is what I am thinking true? And is it honest? I know Satan tries desperately to attack through my emotions and feelings and the root of that is my mind. What you allow yourself to think and believe determines how you choose to feel. Memorizing God's precious Word is so key in victorious living and thinking. 

I'm excited about learning something old in a new way. Onto the next day!