Scripture
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.
~Philippians 4:8, NLT
Quote
Learn to focus or life will become a blur.
~Anonymous
Thirty years ago, when video games first appeared, there was a very addictive little game called Tetris. One year, during the Christmas break, I played it so much that I could literally see the cubes and hear the music when I closed my eyes in an attempt to go to sleep. After a while, this became a form of torture and I gave up the game. I’m not sure what word I should use but I will pick two and you determine which one fits me best. Either, I am very passionate or sensitive. If I am to survive is this sin cursed world, I have to focus on what is good; otherwise, I get angry, frustrated and terribly side tracked. I watch no news, none. I have not watched the news [TV] for the last 30 years. There is more than one reason, I don’t watch: first, they have a hidden agenda and most of what they report is propaganda but another reason is their focus on the negative.
I know there is a lot of bad things happening but do you suppose there are also good things happening? Sure there are many good things taking place but they get little ink. You and I have to be careful about our focus. What ever we focus on is burned into our mind. Believe it or not, you can control your mind. If you are like me you can’t think two different thoughts at the same time just as you cannot focus on two objects at the same time. Paul understood this principle and that is why he said, “Fix your thoughts,” on good things. Things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and worthy of praise. The only thing I can think of that fits all these adjectives is Jesus but yes, there are some true things out there, noble things, lovely things, and things we can admire. A group of homosexuals pressing around in an amusement park is not one of them. A political party hell-bent on killing babies is not one either.
Paul said to the Thessalonians, “God has not called us to be dirty-minded and full of lust, but to be holy and clean.” [I Thes. 4:7, LNT] If I am to remain clean or practice holiness, I have to avoid all forms of pornography or maybe I should say degrees because I would be tempted by only one form. They tell me that men, more than women, are image driven. God said through Peter the Apostle, [1 Peter 2:11] “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” It is definitely a battle men but it is one we can win if we keep our focus on the right things. By the way, Peter was talking to Christians. The unregenerate don’t have a battle, they simply follow their instincts. I spend a lot of time renewing my mind with the word of God. This is not because I am good. If I were good, I would not have to do this to survive, but I am not good. For me to win this battle, I have to maintain a right focus.
- Wonderful Father’s Day for me and I hope you had a good one also. It is one thing to be a father but another to be the patriarch of the family. I was certainly honored by our children and grandchildren yesterday.
- We could use a rain here at 11:20 Iron Man. Joe David and Seth got one yesterday, a shower but we didn’t get a drop.
- The Robert De Niro tirade lambashing Trump may be backfiring. A steady stream of Trump supporter are showing up wherever this vulgar heathern goes. I will have no problem never watching anything he is in again. His movies will be no different from the NBA or NFL.
- Sorry about this folks, I forgot to hit the publish button this morning.
- Hey, let me tell you something about LOWE’S: they run ads and then when you get there, they don’t have what you want. So earlier today, I asked for a rain check. “We don’t give rain checkes was the response.” I said, “That is OK, what about a law suit for false adverting.” This time the response was “Good luck on that, it has been tried before.” Don’t buy anything that runs from LOWE’S. They have no service department. They don’t stand behind anything. From now on if Willard don’t sell it, I aint buying it.