SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/21/2025 10:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “A Discerning Mind”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Timothy 2:23
Message of the
verse: “23
But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce
quarrels.”
John MacArthur writes the
following: “Of the ten billion or so
cells in the human brain, by far the majority are used for memory. And although the ease of forgetting makes it
hard to believe, scientists have determined that everything the brain registers
it remains. The passing of time and the
lack of use make information harder and often impossible to retrieve, but all
the information received is still there, no matter how far it recedes from
consciousness. The memory cells are
interconnected by equally microscopic fibers, which enable stored facts, ideas,
visual images, feelings, and experiences to be associated with each other to
produce thought patterns, which store still more permanent information in the
brain.” This is very interesting, and
yet even though I know now all of life’s experiences that I have hand are in my
brain, the older I get the more difficult it is to find them.
“Paul may not have been aware of
those facts of physiology, but he well understood the power of ideas on a
Christian’s mind an knew that the only protection against false and evil
notions is God’s truth and righteousness.
He therefore advised, ‘Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is
honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
let your mind dwell on these things’ (Phi. 4:8). Our mind is to be a treasure house, not a garbage dump.” I have to say that this verse from
Philippians has been on my mind because of my desire to have great communion
with the Lord in order to pray for what is going on with my wife and the best
way of treating her cancer, and so the following verse has also been on my
mind: “The effective prayer of a righteous
man can accomplish much (James 5:16b).
MacArthur then gives the following
information: “From the early days of the
church and continuing almost unabated to our own day, many believers have
carelessly forsaken personal study of Scripture and have fallen prey to every
sort of false idea and practice. Not
bothering to check what they read and hear against God’s own Word—as did the
God-fearing, noble-minded Jews in Berea (Acts 17:11)—they are corrupted by foolish
and ignorant speculations, which make them stumble and fall, often without
knowing it.
Moros
(foolish) has the root meaning of being mentally dull, silly, or stupid,
and is the word from which we get ‘moron.’
Apaideutos (ignorant) means
unlearned and untrained and often carried the additional idea of
undisciplined. Zetesis (speculations) refer to that which is controversial and
seriously disputed, having no certain basis in truth.”
Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today: There
are times when I study the Bible that I get my toes stepped on and today was
one of those times. I did not become a
believer in Jesus Christ until I was almost 27 years old, and there was a lot
of “living” that I did those first 26+ years, and for that I am happy that I
don’t remember it all. I worked in a
foundry for 35 years and that was a difficult place to work, especially after I
became a believer. The work environment
was like what I could call the world as it was hot and also the language was
not good, and before I became a believer my language was not good either, but
God took that away the moment He saved me.
Sometimes I will watch a movie that has bad language in it and my wife
will talk to me about it, and I will say it is like working in the Ford foundry.
She is right about me not watching those
kind of movies and as stated my toes were stepped on today from God’s Word.
My Steps of Faith for Today: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever
is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,
let your mind dwell on these things” (Phi. 4:8).
3/21/2025 10:22
AM
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