Echoes

Imagine your mind as one of your most precious treasures. When you possess something valuable, you want to guard and protect it from harm. This treasure that is your mind should be a safe place where your thoughts promote growth and healing, strength and wisdom. Our minds are the epicenter where we process new information, experience emotions, and make decisions—all things that contribute to our overall quality of life. Our minds matter. But sometimes it can be difficult to protect our minds, to know what to let in and what to keep out. We need a gatekeeper.

When you put your trust in Jesus, you have the ultimate Gatekeeper because God’s Holy Spirit is in you (John 14:15-18). In Jesus, we have complete access to God the Father and forgiveness from our sins. Our old way of life offered brokenness, fear, and enslavement; our new life in Christ is abundant with healing and freedom. As we follow Jesus and listen to His voice (John 10:27), He will protect our minds and hearts from destructive patterns. With the Holy Spirit’s help, we have the ability to choose to set our minds on things above instead of earthly things.

Philippians 4:8 gives us several examples of what we should be allowing into the gates of our minds. Instead of allowing our thoughts to overwhelm us, we can bring our thoughts and requests before the Gatekeeper with thanksgiving.

When those thoughts from our old self come crawling up the gate of our mind, we can choose to put on our new self (Ephesians 4:23-24) and take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Allow the Gatekeeper to examine your thoughts in His perfect light and lead you in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:24). • Savannah Coleman

• Read Philippians 4:8. Ask God to show you one of these areas where you need His help, where you need Him to be the Gatekeeper, and if you’re ready, commit to bringing these thoughts before Him.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Psalm 34:5; 86:1-7; Hebrews 4:14-16