When you open up your Facebook page you are usually greeted with a question along with a blinking cursor, asking: “What’s on your mind?”
And truth be told, thanks to so much of what is out there today on the internet, especially in social media platforms, I would say there is an awful lot of clutter on our minds. And when I say ‘a lot’, think of those images you have seen where they go into homes of people who are ‘hoarders’. I suppose I should have included giving ‘thanks’ to all the various mediums in which people consume ‘televised entertainment’ as well.
I want to share with you today some thoughts and personal observations for you to consider. No need to make or come to rash conclusions on any of this as I am simply sharing what I think fits in to what I have been talking about these past few days regarding what it means to love God with , not only all our hearts, but ‘all our minds’. (Matt. 22:36-37; Luke 10:25-28)
Let me begin with an ‘aha moment’ I had just a little over four years ago, shortly after I had what I fondly refer to as my ‘burning-bush-awakening’ experience in March of 2020. If you care to read a little background on that and what led to these daily lessons I post here, and have continued to now for nearly the past three years, then feel free to visit my blog page in the link below found in the first ‘comment’ box. There is another link to an archive where you can search for the blog post from 10.24.21.
To summarize briefly, it was the week leading in to spring break for many schools back home in Texas. I had just returned from a trip to Yosemite and was gearing up for another round of school ‘spring photos’ along with having a few weddings on the books, softball/baseball team photos, social events to be covered, etc. My calendar was full and I will be honest with you - I was not in some ‘spiritual zone- mode’ where I had been reading my Bible, or praying or fasting or ‘seeking God’ in any shape, way, or form. And yet, while rummaging through a desk drawer to find some documents, I stumbled across an old set of Bible studies I had from many years back. These were lessons which had made a significant impact on me early on; and yet over time...like anything else we might neglect, that ‘fire’ dwindled out and that ‘impact’ was filled up with other things which found their way in to my heart, affecting my priorities and affections.
Then, just two words that I heard as clear as day: “It’s time”. Those words stopped me in my tracks and I knew exactly what they meant. It was the first week of March and you might say it was the ‘calm before the storm’; and when I say ‘storm’, I refer to the outbreak of the pandemic that turned our country and world upside down with shutdowns and fear and confusion and division. Four years later we are still reeling from its effects in multiple ways.
But for the most part, those first 4-5 days I stayed buried in my back office while my wife was off at work in Dallas while I spent pretty much 6-7 hours a day in the word. It was nothing short of a divine outpouring of grace that had me on my face in tears, repenting when I was not reading, listening, taking notes, etc. It was as if scales were coming off my eyes as so many ‘truths’ that had been buried in the scriptures were jumping off the pages at me, and in many cases, had me trembling with fear as God now had my undivided attention.
And the results during this time of being humbled and broken allowed me to experience what both James and Peter promise will happen when we are humbled and draw near to God. He comes and ‘picks us up’ (James 4:10) and we experience the ‘times of refreshing from His presence.” (Acts 3:19) Can I just tell you His presence brought a peace, a love, and an inner joy that had eluded me for a very...long time.
I will also tell you now that during that first week, I had no time for TV and spent little time interacting online with people. Then the ‘wheels came off’ with all the reports of a virus spread and the stock market plunged and schools decided to shut down extending the spring break for many. As you know, the schools never reopened that school year.
During that first week, I was at home alone and just in a ‘different place’, basking in God’s presence as my heart was overflowing with His grace and peace. But that is not to say I was not curious as to what was going on in the country at that time. I remember one late afternoon in particular , I came out from my back room so I could fix some supper and I just turned on the large TV in our living room before making my way in to the kitchen. Shortly after that, I became aware of an ‘absence of that peace’, that ‘presence’ that I had been basking in; so much that I had to pause and sought to understand what just happened.
When I looked up at the TV, there was some news show or press conference taking place where there was much arguing and discord and confusion coming out of that screen. We saw an awful lot of that for a long time; not only through news formats but there was all the online arguing as conspiracy theories were being launched and ‘lines drawn in the sand’ that brought great division and distrust. And in that moment, when I looked up at my giant TV screen, on the right side of the screen I had this brief ‘vision’ of sorts that looked like the open mouth of some kind of ‘dragon’...and all the noise and confusion and turmoil that was coming from that screen was the outflow of the mouth of that dragon. The scripture came to mind from Revelation 12:15 and I’ll just encourage you to pause here and go read that for yourself now if you would.
In that moment, I remember oh so well two thoughts that came to mind as I recognized the source of what seemed to disrupt that flow of peace I had been basking in. The first one was the awareness that I felt no legitimate ‘need’ to have all that ‘noise and distraction’ coming in to my home; and I quickly turned the TV off. That fell in line with the immediate awareness that there was nothing coming out of that screen that could ever produce what I was feeling and experiencing as a result of my time in His word and presence. It was as if the world, through that TV screen, was screaming for and demanding my undivided attention. Then came the reminder of the promise found in Isaiah 26:3 stating that “perfect peace have they whose mind is stayed on thee.”
It was an easy and quick decision for me to shut the thing off, and keep it off. This decision was confirmed a few days later when I went to bed for the night and as I had for years, turned on the TV in our bedroom to watch a prerecorded show that I liked about life living off the grid in Alaska. I saw the show as ‘harmless’. Yet in the opening minutes of the program, I could almost sense I had just been hooked up to an IV bag and a numbing sensation began to wash over my mind. It was subtle, for sure. What we take in to our minds does not have to be ‘bad content’, as long as it slowly detracts us from keeping our minds on Him...when we have the luxury of making that choice. I never watched another episode of that show afterwards, or much of anything else for that matter.
Where am I going with all this today? It all has to do with this ‘battle for our minds’; because if the enemy can grab our attention and divert us off this ‘narrow path’ that Jesus taught on, (Matt. 7:13-14) then it is only a matter of time before we ‘drift’ and our hearts end up elsewhere. (Heb. 2:1). Remember...we have a choice on what we consume. And wherever our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. (Matt. 6:21). You don’t have to be a rocket-scientist-theologian to figure out why there might be an absence of peace in one’s life today. (Isa. 26:3; Phil. 4:8-9)
There’s no need to get ‘legalistic’ with any of this today as I openly shared at the start, this is a personal testimony of sorts that I wanted to pass on for your consideration. I’m also going to give you some ‘homework’, if you will. :- )
You probably have heard recently in the news where congress was trying to pass a bill banning the widely popular app known as ‘TikTok’. I don’t have that particular app on my phone but obviously know what it is. What I did not know is that nearly half the population in our country has it, and apparently there have been growing concerns as to what long term effects it might be having on multi generations of people. It also happens to be an application that was created and owned by the Chinese who apparently have their own ‘tailored version’ of it, regulating what many of their own younger people are able to access.
Only recently did I read up on some of this and I am going to include two links below in the comment box, articles that you need to read. You might find them not only interesting, but alarming. It is no secret today that there are increasingly growing concerns on what effect social media is having, especially on our young kids. Let’s not even get in to all the wild things adults are ‘in to’ that they find on the ‘internet’. Interesting ...how it was known for years as the ‘world wide web’ (www). And we all know what a ‘web’ is used for by spiders, do we not?
But here is what we need to remember: While it is hard not to suspect, whether you are a believer or not, that there are some ‘external forces’ at work today trying to manipulate and redirect our attention and focus, what remains to be seen for many, is just who is...that ‘man behind the curtain’?
I would submit to you that it is NOT the Chinese, George Soros, or the ‘left-wing-liberal’ media.
We can read clearly in 1 John 5:19 who is ‘pulling most of those levers’. But this ‘wicked one’ certainly can use whatever ‘channel’ is available to him as we read in Job 1.
Join me tomorrow? Be sure to check out the two artices below here....very worth your time.
https://nypost.com/2023/02/25/china-is-hurting-us-kids-with-tiktok-but-protecting-its-own/
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