Think about what to fill your mind with as a yummy pie filling! We delight in juicy peaches, apples, ripe cherries or God’s living and active Word! Recently I have bathed my mind in the wonderfully written pages of  Romans “And do not be conformed to this world any longer with its superficial values and customs, but be transformed and progressively changed as you mature spiritually, by the renewing of your mind.  Focus on godly values and ethical attitudes so that you may prove for yourselves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect in His plan and purpose for you.” Romans 12:2 Whenever we ask God to help us grow ‘in Him’ the Holy Spirit in us will wash our surrendered mind, that we may enjoy the mind of Christ.  “For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ to be guided by His thoughts and purposes.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 We are well advised to turn off the news, and stop scrolling through social media. Instead we can watch a heart warming performance of Anne of Green Gables.  My mind was immediately swollen with all kinds of colorful, uplifting, edifying words to share.  This scrawny orphan’s  uninhibited tongue renames anything that impresses her as “royally wonderful!” May we all delight to uplift others with specific words that accentuate their positive impact.  Let us observe others with eyes that seek and find what God loves in them, and then be bold enough to proclaim it!  With great care Anne used vivid words to adequately describe the glorious moment when she was greeted by her new family. This fictional kid should remind us all to search our hearts and to forever  seek the very best of words of thanksgiving to speak.  My mind was entirely arrested by the story of this unwanted, abused, uneducated orphan who was finally welcomed into a family. The wonder of God so captured her soul that words of pure amazement poured out for every encounter she had with a bloom, a tree, or a droplet of water. Consider how God purposefully created beauty to mesmerize and still us that we might hear His voice! In a single day we breathe in more than 11,000 liters of God given air, and each evening He lights up the sky with millions of stars blazing in glory…yet we fail to look up and gasp with absolute astonishment. Listening to this young girl’s glee-filled-bluster of praise for the tiniest confrontation with a rosebud – re-awakens my enchantment by the majestic grandeur that God hopes to use to pierce my ho-hum soul.  In the days to come,  I am keen to allow an entire season to saturate my mind with suitable, fresh words to express genuine gratitude. Who does not long to capture and hold onto that seemingly slippery moment of “JOY” that comes from viewing the face before us as it lights up when we speak the truth in love. The “White Way of Delight” is how she proclaimed the wonderfully silent, yet vivid impression she received when Matthew quietly drove her through the Avenue. “It’s the first thing I ever saw that could not be improved upon by my imagination!”  We too are on a journey, in a physical buggy, best driven by the Holy Spirit…to a place of peace and eternal rest..that also cannot be improved upon by our imagination…our heavenly home. “After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this….  And the One who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.” Revelation 4:1-4  — It seems quite possible that the Author of our souls knows how beauty implores us to respond in praise! God’s living Word gives us a glorious indescribable glimpse of His impact, His brilliance and His promise to us as He calls us to “Come up here, and I will show you”…the unmatched beauty and magnificent sounds of what our eternal home, in His presence will be like. Anne of Green Gables, and all of us are promised

I see a lush green field…not an unkempt lot of weeds across from our casa

a bright future by our Creator!  We can joyfully choose to worship all the beauty that our faithful Father, our generous King, our powerful God has placed before us!  More now than ever before, it is critical to all those that watch and listen to us – that we look for the opulence, that we proclaim the rare blessings of viewing a cloud passing over, or a flower opening in the glory of the daily sunrise. As I live in Mexico and drive along cobblestoned streets, I am slowed down to appreciate the beauty, and not complain about the pot holes.  During the summer months I see amber-brushed hillsides on both sides of the road turn to emerald green by the drenching rains at night.  Our beach hides within a flush of ethereal shades of green bobbings. The lily pads may appear to be a threat, but God has a purpose for all that He has created. The lake that shimmers incandescently under a rainbow colored sky,

Anne would certainly refer to our lake as “the Pond of Blooming Waters”. Lake Chapala is a little valley that is saturated with God’s creative handiwork. Wistfully and eagerly I am quick to thank my Lord for giving me eyes to see what He sees in each one of us. His guidance, provision and promises are glorious to behold.  Oh my heavens Jesus, my mind is raptured into silent reverence as I consider ALL of what You have prepared for those who love You. An awesome word that always fits is: Hallelujah! Our state of mind and heart affects the world. Out of what we filter through our mind, those attitudes turn to the words that pour out of our mouth. There are certain habits we should never dare indulge. If we feed our mind with the negativity in the world…then the Truth gets buried by all the fierce mud slinging. We must recognize Who we allow to infiltrate our thoughts. Until we get still, and quiet the noise of the world, our trust in God gets diluted. Our confidence is either in our flesh/our will, or it is in Who abides in us. Is He who is in me, greater than he who dominates the airwaves? We must choose what rules our life. Are we listening to God’s voice, or to the enemy of our soul? World news distracts us from the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ. Beware of “the cares of this world…” (Mark 4:19). The NEWS broadcasts the cares of the world. If we freely choose to fill our minds with world news we can easily forget all that our Father is doing behind the scenes. Our Father is always at work. His Good News does NOT produce mistrust, hatred, bias and pride in our own understanding/or conclusions. It is so easy for followers to hand over the enormous power of our mind to our enemy. Refuse to dive into the swamp of “the cares of this world.” Focus on Who is greater, more worthy of our praise and attention. Our freedom “in Christ” allows us to draw on Wisdom and choose to Think about whatever is pure, holy and good. Add positive words into your mind and let them flow from your heart 🌷 in praise of our Almighty Father who is always at work, and ever aware of who we give our attention to.