Clear Those Stray Thoughts out of Your Mind

“How precious are your thoughts of me…”

We have lots of stray dogs that travel through our neighborhood. A pair of a rather large breed has set up residence, at least part time, in our yard. They come back often. While I like big dogs, I know whose these are so I can’t claim them for my own. Other dogs come into the yard and repeatedly trash things. They might strew things that are on the deck or they might even try to get into the trash. We holler and tell them to get but they come back again.

Our minds can wander too can’t they? Sometimes it seems that our minds want to linger on the same thing over and over. Bad memories, mistakes, wrong thinking like to show up on the doorstep without invitation. Wrong thoughts like to trash our hearts and minds. Out of nowhere those thoughts show up and try to ruin us. If we let those thoughts stay or feed the memories, they grow bigger and bigger.

The only way to keep our thoughts in line is to practice the presence of God and rehearse His Word. Without God’s presence to guard us and without His Word to remind us, we’ll have a constant stream of stray thoughts playing in our minds. But when we start using the Word of God as our weapon, the only one we have, the spoken Word has much authority and the enemy has to flee.

Oh beloved, God’s thoughts about you are precious! They are good and right and comforting! God’s thoughts towards you won’t leave you reeling in past mistakes or rocking over future fears. Two strays will always want to come into your heart and those are past regrets and hard times. Yes, you’ve made mistakes, you may even be living with terrible regret. But God says as far as the east is from the west is how far your sins are from Him. He has forgiven it all. Everything you’ve ever regretted is under the sea of forgetfulness. Those thoughts may return but you can meet them at the property line of your heart and say be gone! Confessing your mistakes and your sins to God lets you know and the enemy know that you mean business with the Lord. It’s a no trespassing sign beyond measure. There are also troubles you may be dealing with and things can look bleak, but God’s Word is true. The enemy may try to parade your desperation back to you, but again you have a high fence of protection around your heart and mind as you read the Word and speak the Word. As you pray to the Father and ask for His help He’s there. As you look away from your circumstances to the Father’s heart you see that those trespassers in your heart are just vapors. Whatever your problem is, beloved, you have God with you and His Word to speak over it, so that you can rejoice as God cleans the yard of stray thoughts.

How precious are God’s thoughts about you! His Word is True. He goes on to say that His GOOD thoughts about you outnumber the sands. Try counting grains of sand and you will quickly see that the sum of those wonderful thoughts about you, His beloved, are more than you can count. Rejoice in His truth, rehearse it often, spend plenty of time with God and you will see that stray thoughts will cease to be a problem in your heart and mind.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s an impenetrable fortress no enemy can get through as you live in the light of His Word all the days of your life.

Psalm 139:17-18 How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me!

Isaiah 55:9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Ephesians 4:23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.

Philippians 4:8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 103:102 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Psalm3:3-5 But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; You are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and He answered me from His holy mountain. I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me.

God's Word is Your Greatest Treasure!

We watched an episode of Buried Treasure. Leigh and Leslie Keno, the twin brothers who are often on Antiques Roadshow, travel to different homes to investigate items of interest using cutting-edge technology to determine authenticity, condition and—ultimately—worth. Not every hunt yields a pot of gold. Some people will have treasures, while others will have trash.  The participants are often in need of cash and so episodes share their emotional journeys as well.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. And sometimes people literally have a goldmine in their homes and don’t even know it. As in the episode we watched, once authenticated the items of interest often turn out to be worth millions.

While Danny and I probably don’t have a million dollar painting in our home, we do have something that is a real treasure, a goldmine of rarest quality. It is the Word of God. Authenticated by the Holy Spirit, it is full of treasures beyond belief. Often buried in the bookshelf in many homes, it is actually a treasure that is meant to be handled and read and touched and taken in.  

Unlike physical treasures that can be ruined or proven not really worth anything, the Word of God is full of amazing information that will transform your life. Inside the binding you will find answers to marital problems, financial woes, relationship issues, and more. There is treasure for church matters and fellowship information. Reading on you will find everything you need for life and godliness. How to love people, how to appreciate God in the hard times, how to be a success in life and more.  There is hope for the hopeless, help for the helpless, relief for the grieving and forgiveness for the sinner. There is direction for the lost, inspiration for the downtrodden and purpose for everyone who is looking. Inside the pages you will find the way to get real wisdom, find true love and how to get to heaven. Most of all you will find everything you need to know about God, including His names and His essence. It is indeed an authenticated treasure beyond worth when measured against anything this world has to offer. It is genuine, true and perfect for everything anyone will ever need.

Oh beloved, pull out your buried treasure this morning, dust off the cover and read! God is speaking to your heart about your situation and He already prepared the Word for you before the foundation of the world. He knew what you’d be going through and His treasure will tell you what you need to know. God’s Word shows you how to live, how to worship and how to praise Him. It also shows how much He loves you and how wonderful His care for you is.

You may have been considered someone’s trash, but beloved, you are God’s rarest treasure! He has authenticated your worth before you were even formed in your mother’s womb. Christ knew you were in need of a way to find your true worth so He went to the cross, suffered the shame, carried your burdens and sins all the way to Calvary. Then He stepped into the grave and three days later rose from the dead so that you too could rise to newness of life! No man can put a price on you for you are priceless. No one can say you are worthless because you have been set aside to show forth the praises of God, who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. God’s plans for you are wonderful and blessed and you are treasured always. You, beloved, are chosen and redeemed and a beautiful object, precious to your heavenly Father in Christ.

Read your greatest treasure, God’s Word, find your message and believe it! You can go to the bank on what God says about you and on what His plans are for you.  Amazingly you can share this treasure trove with others and still have all you will ever need.

God loves you and He’s for you and that’s worth more than any treasure this world has to offer as you live in the light of His Word.

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Isaiah 33:6 And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure.

Job 23:12 I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Matthew 6:21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves.

You are Priceless Treasure to the Lord

My mother was a trash to treasure kind of woman. She could spot something sitting on the side of the road, take it home and remake it. It would sit in its new place of honor and no one could tell it had ever been a castoff. I find myself doing the same thing. A rickety rocker or a bent frame can have a new life by a simple touch of a delicate hand.

God speaks to my heart: I’ve been a castoff. You may have too. Someone made a personal private decision that you were no longer worthy of their time, their presence or their attendance. So to the curb you went.  You tried to make yourself believe you were going to be okay, but the wind and the rain and the scorching heat as you sat in despair drenched you with sorrow. You wished, you hoped, you dreamed.

But before the trash truck can thoroughly destroy you, there comes One on the scene who has fallen in love with you. He has a place just for you; to display you in His home of grace, surrounded by His fields of blessings. This honored spot in His home is protected by goodness and mercy and unwavering devotion.

He picks you up, me up, all up and gracefully bundles us to Himself, holding us very closely and tenderly right near His heart. Although others are laughing and making fun – for you see they only see with their natural eye. They see tatters and rips, rusty edges and broken glass. They think the One who is carrying you is foolish for even bothering. Some are even mad that the thing they threw away in derision is now loved passionately by Another.

The simple touch of the delicate hand of the Master, the hands that were nail pierced along with the side wounded for you, has taken you in! You are no longer trash, you have become treasure! You have been Redeemed, Renewed, Restored! You are fragile indeed as He sits you in His Kingdom for His admiration and use. Everything about you is beautiful, perfect and useful.

Oh beloved, who told you that you were trash? Who cast you off? Who decided you weren’t worth knowing, loving or friending? Who spoke deceitful things about you? Who left you wounded on the edge of the street?

What is the truth about you? Is it the truth that you were dumped like so much junk? Or is it the truth that you, although considered worthless by others, have been bought with a price above all rubies?  Which truth you decide to live in is the truth you will become. And it is the truth you will share with others.

Run to the One Who picked you up out of the gutter and only sees you as priceless! He is your King and your God. But He is also your worth and your value. Others may spend their whole life on worthless things, but God gave His whole life because you are of extreme value to Him. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is what God says about you. And He spreads the sweet fragrance of your worth around the world for others to be encouraged and set free from their own dumpster of lies.

Rejoice that God loves you extravagantly and watches over you continuously. He said you were worth it, and therefore you must walk in the light of His Truth every day of your life!

 

Psalm 72:14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to Him.

Isaiah 43:4 Since you are precious in My sight, Since you are honored and I love you, I will give other men in your place and other peoples in exchange for your life. (NAS)

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? (NAS)

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (NAS)

You Are God's Greatest Treasure!

We love to watch American Pickers. Hitting back roads from coast to coast, the two hosts earn a living by restoring forgotten relics to their former glory.  Sometimes I cringe as I see them discuss items I know from my youth. To think a $5 toy is now worth hundreds is amazing. Danny and I will laugh and sometimes we find them looking at something with gleaming eyes that we once owned!  The two guys will go through junk and traverse waist high weeds looking for something they just can’t live without. They’ll go up into the loft of a barn that is sure to cave in any moment, but they’re not afraid because they are on a treasure hunt!

They both have an eye for things. Especially when evaluating potential purchases that are covered in mildew, buried under dust or broken into fragments. I’ll be worrying about chiggers and snakes but they’ll spy a rusty piece of junk. Next thing you know they’ll be extolling the virtue of their find.  Turns out it’s not junk, just looks like it.  It’s actually a beautiful piece of Americana that someone somewhere will pay five prices for.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

You may have resigned yourself to living on an old shelf in the back room of life. As far as you can see, there is absolutely no virtue left in you. You feel worthless, useless, worn out, discarded, cast off. It could be someone has told you that you’re nothing. It could be that you have told yourself this for so long that you now believe your own heart.  You may even have mumbled to yourself: “trash”, “rubbish”, “disgusting”.  

Oh beloved, there is One Who is pursuing and seeking you. Though you may consider yourself trash, you may have been told you are trash, you are the Father’s greatest treasure! He is so incredibly fond of you that He’s gone all the way to the cross for you! He loves to restore forgotten lives to His glory! He doesn’t just take broken things to revive them; He takes them and makes them brand new!  Run to His Book of Treasures this morning and read all that He has written about you. His Words are loving, His restoration is gentle and His future for you is to set your feet upon the Rock!  Believe Him today and watch as He makes all things brand new! He loves you, He’s for you and that’s the True measure of your Worth!

Psalm 139:13-15 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.  You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

Isaiah 63:9  In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.

Psalm 94:14  The LORD will not reject His people; He will not abandon His special possession.

James 1:18  He chose to give birth to us by giving us His true word. And we, out of all creation, became His prized possession.

You've Been Rescued! You are Valuable!

Back in the day the city dumps were pretty much out in the open for all to see.  Sometimes you could find a real treasure in something that others threw away.   One day we were driving back into town and I suddenly asked Danny to pull over. I had spied something.  Danny complied and I jumped out and found a pitiful little puppy eaten up with mange.  It was skinny and ugly but something made me want to rescue it.

Danny let me take it home. I went to the vet’s to get medicine and amazingly enough the little critter thrived! Not only that, it turned out to be a beautiful full blood long haired dachshund.

I know. Sometimes it’s hard to feel good about ourselves. We watch tv, we read magazines, we listen to others and find ourselves unable to measure up.  It might be that you’ve felt your life is really on the trash heap and there’s no redeeming value left. 

Oh beloved, run to the One Who says you are of great value! He knows all about you and He is fully aware of your shortcomings. However, He is the One Who wants to pick you up off the side of the road and give you a fresh start! With the medicine of the Word taken in daily you will begin to see yourself as He does! Beautiful, complete, healthy and strong!  He loves you just the way you are.  He wants to take you in as His own.  No one else will ever love you and take care of you as He will.  Is there any better life to live than to be rescued by the Lord of Heaven and Earth Himself?!

 

2 Samuel 22:20 He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me.

Job 33:28 God rescued me from the grave, and now my life is filled with light.

Psalm 86:13  for Your love for me is very great. You have rescued me from the depths of death.

Jeremiah 20:13 Sing to the LORD! Praise the LORD! For though I was poor and needy, He rescued me from my oppressors.