Necessary Amputation

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you…. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you …. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you. Mark 9:43-47 (New King James Version)

I am facing the necessity of amputation this morning. Not of my hand, foot, or eye, but rather of disparaging thoughts. I have no doubt it is better for me! So much of my journey entails turmoil, despair, and sadness because of thoughts that I dwell upon and allow to lead me down paths that are not intended for me. They may be innocent in and of themselves but by the time I am finished with them they are poisonous and destructive to my spiritual, emotional, and intellectual well being.

I am a visual person and many times God has to give me a picture of something before I can fully understand it. That is exactly what He has done in the area of diseased thinking. I am picturing wrong thoughts as small tumors that attach themselves to my brain…much like moss on rocks or shelf mushrooms on trees. If I allow them to stay, they grow and pull me into a downward spiral. That happens when I make the choice to dwell on them, play out scenarios with them, and eventually allow them to master me which in turn affects my actions, attitudes, and demeanor.

God has used today’s passage to implore me to cut them off and out! I can do that by meditating on Scripture (such as Philippians 4:8), depending on His Spirit to infuse me with truth, keeping my thoughts on what brings life instead of death, remembering past counsel I have received from friends and books, voicing my praise and thanksgiving to God, filling my life with music that is full of spirit and truth, continually seeking communion and communication with God, and refusing to allow the wrong thoughts to be introduced, entertained, or sustained.

I have a choice in the matter and God is more than willing to help me make the right choice. His desire for me is to live in spacious freedom rather than the confines of emotional dungeons. He wants to release me from all that binds me to earthly weaknesses. He longs to lead me into living out of my spirit rather than my flesh. One step at a time He is showing me how to do that!

Father, You have once again stoked the fires of my teachable spirit. I accept Your invitation and Your help to be made whole. It will take time but it will be accomplished. Amen.

He Sends His Love - Point of Grace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SatL1vr_Cvs

He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16