We all have blind spots, and that prevents us from "telling ourselves" the truth - We don't stop to think.

We fail to notice the important details, probably because we have more background biasness than we realize - we jump to conclusions. How often do we place "the situation" into two categories? Right/wrong, listen/argue, good/bad, ... When exactly did we reach the point where we began to see everything thru 2 or 3 categories? When did we stop seeing the "bigger picture"?

One of the biggest reasons why we shouldn't believe everything we think is because... we see what we want to see. There is a direct link from the eye to the brain, called the optic nerve. What's interesting is that this optic nerve sends more impulses from your brain than from your eye - Our brain tells us what we see.

Think about witnesses to an accident - Four different people, four different stories. This is why we must remind ourselves not to believe everything we think.

The next thing that we need to learn in this fight against our mind is, guarding it from garbage. Parents are familiar with the saying "bad influences influence badly"... Health-conscience people know that what they put into their body, will affect what they get from their body... People who are familiar with coding know of GIGO - "garbage in, garbage out".

There are things that we can take in that will make us smarter, more godly, and more mature emotionally. Then, there are things that we can take in does little - It's neither good nor bad.

If we want to be healthy & "successful" in our walk with God, in our personal ministry, we need to fix our minds on the right thing.

Look at Philippians 4:6-8

How do we know when we have the peace that "transcends all understanding"? It's faith! (Maybe the brother from my previous post was onto something...) We have that peace when we stop trying to understand why God does what He does, and we simply trust in Him.

The first way to guard our heart & mind is to pray. Re-read verse 8 - It can be summed up into a simple statement:

This type of prayer isn't the "bow our heads and lets hold hands" type. This is a "running conversation"... one that doesn't end. It;s the one we pray with our eyes open, as if we're talking to our best friend. God wants to "see" us when we talk to Him.

Along with prayer, We need to "fix" our thoughts - Paul said "think about such things".

We need a new approach to how we "see" things. When we try to not think about something, what do we end up thinking about? And the more we try to not think about it, the more we end up thinking about it. So we can't merely resist it, but replace it - change the channel, scenery, conversation, ... Turn your mind away from what the devil wants you to focus upon, and turn to the things that God wants you to focus upon.

As disciples, we know the much-needed power we get from delving into God's Word. I don't know of any healthy or strong disciples who don't read consistently.

Per the definition, we cannot be "disciples" if we are not learning. Our education doesn't end after our graduation - I laugh because i know that this is true, and yet I feel as if I should know everything. Our education is critical - spiritual, professional, personal - it can never end. Just as it's impossible to be a disciple w\o consistent learning,

We can learn from anyone (even ourselves) as long as we know how to ask the right questions. No one knows everything, but everyone knows more than you.

Remember when we were 20 - remember when you thought you knew everything? Life was just going to be "spectacular"! What we thought we knew, we lacked in humility. (Little did we know that we lacked both)

We don't just learn from teachers and wise counsel. We can learn from the young, from the ones who may not like us, we can learn from anyone.

This is why we carry so much unnecessary baggage throughout our lives. We've squeezed it, pushed it to the back, made excuses for it, or simply just ignored it. How common is the thought: "We're guys and we don't do 'feelings'!"

One of the most important things we need to be happy, is something that we don't spend a lot of time on - our minds. We all know of our need for God in our lives, but how important is that to ourselves? We use methods that "protect" us from what we've been through, but in the end, we're hurting no one but ourselves.

If you ever witnessed anyone "limiting" your child (Telling them that they're stupid, or won't amount to anything, ... or the like), what would you do? How would you react? And yet, do this to ourselves on a daily basis!

We need to replace what we do & how we "normally" react, with how God wants us to react.