I’m participating in a seven-day Bible Study Challenge (Wholehearted Quiet Time). The topic today was timely for me – which is just the way the Spirit of God works in our lives isn’t it? The facilitator talked about filtering our thoughts through the sieve of God’s word. Filtering means separating to refine. She shared three truths from the Bible and challenged us to evaluate our thoughts and responses to circumstances in light of these truths.

My relationship with Christ has grown over the years by reading the Bible (his Word), listening to his Spirit (his indwelling presence), and living in accountable relationships with his people (church fellowship). But the real evidence of Jesus’ presence in my life has been the ongoing transformation of my mind. (Romans 12:2)

Last week, I took my youngest daughter to the airport very early in the morning. As I drove home in the dark, my thoughts started down a road of self-pity… my children are all grown, they have all left me, they don’t need me, they don’t love me. You see where I’m heading.

I drove in that state of mind for about fifteen minutes – dwelling in the muck. But then the Lord Jesus Christ’s Spirit in my heart rose to clean up the mess.

The filtering began. (Praise God.) The truth is, my children are precious gifts from God. They are following Christ where he leads them. They love me. I don’t want them to need me, I want them to need Jesus. What does John the Baptist say? He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3:30 NIV) 

Within minutes I was thanking God for my children, my husband, my life, and for Christ’s steadfast love. My emotions lifted with the dawn.

To close, I’ll share the three truths given to us in the challenge this morning:

Truth #1: He first loved us (I John 4:19 NIV We love because he first loved us.)

Truth #2: His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9 NIV “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.)

Truth #3: The world is not my home (Philippians 3:20 NIV But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.)

It is my prayer that the reality of these truths sink into our souls, and Christ uses them to transform our minds and hearts.