The phrase “A mind is a terrible thing to waste” was coined by Vernon Jordan of the United Negro College Fund in 1972. It was part of a campaign slogan to raise money and awareness for education. From a Christian perspective, God has much to say about the mind. We know that man is a three-part being. He is a spirit, has a soul, and lives in a body. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)-23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your soul is made up of your mind, will, and emotions. It includes your personality, your conscience, and your subconscious. God never meant for us not to consider the mind or think of it as a lesser importance in comparison to our spirit or body. The mind is just as important and not something to waste.
The mind and the brain are two separate functions. Studies have shown that the mind can change the brain and how it functions, which will affect the body. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man continually thinks in his heart- his thoughts, so is he.” Let’s look at Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)-3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. The Hebrew Word for mind is yēṣer, The word means form, conception, things framed, fashioned, or imagination. The Hebrew Word for peace is shalom. This word means, i.e., (figurative) well, happy, friendly; also welfare, i.e., health, prosperity, peace. It is not just any peace but perfect peace! The word perfect is the Hebrew word shalom again. In other words, “You will keep him in, “shalom, shalom.” Double peace is God’s promise to us when our minds are stayed upon God. Our mind is fixed on the Word of God and His promises. The mind and our imagination are the place of conception. This is where we dream, envision, think deeply, and see a preferable future. We are the sum total of our continual thinking and what we believe about God, His promises, and about ourselves.
We are to love God with all our minds ( Matt. 22:37), and we are to renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2). To be renewed in the spirit of our mind.( Eph. 4:23). We have a spirit of a sound-disciplined mind. ( 2Tim. 1:7). Apostle Peter tells us to gird up the loins of our mind! To be ready for action. Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “a mind stayed upon Him.” The Hebrew Word for stayed is saw-mak’-A primitive root; to prop (literally or figuratively); reflexively to lean upon or take hold of, bear up, establish, (up-) hold, lay, lean, lie hard, put, rest self, set self, stand fast, stay (self), sustain. We have to do the staying part. This takes discipline. It requires making the right choices. It is a mind where our thoughts, etc., are leaning, resting, and taking hold of the Lord and His Word. We do this because we trust Him. This Hebrew word for trust is bāṭaḥ: A verb indicating to trust, to be confident. It expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else. If we can’t trust in God, who can we trust? God will keep us in perfect peace. The Hebrew Word Keep is nāṣar: A verb meaning to guard, to keep, to observe, to preserve, to hide.
The greatest battles at times are in our mind, our thoughts, and imagination. The Devil and his demons know this. He brings fear, doubt, and unbelief. These darts of his can only be quenched by the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God ( Eph. 6:16-17). There is a woman in the Word of God who understood this battle. spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Mark 5:25-26 (NKJV)-25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years,26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. We can see how her thoughts and hope turned to faith over time, changing her life from prolonged sickness to sustained health. She thought within herself continually, “If I but touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, I shall be healed. Not only was she thinking, establishing this new thought, imagination, this new picture, this new perspective, she also declared with her mouth, reinforcing her new thoughts that eventually moved her faith into action, where she physically went to Jesus and was healed of her infirmity. Mark 5:29-30 (NKJV)-29 Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in Himself that power had gone out of Him, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My clothes?” We have to get to the point of stopping to talk, think, and imagine sickness, defeat, or fear! Getting to the point of being sick and tired of being sick and tired!
She is a woman with a chronic disease getting worse day by day, financially broke, and has suffered at the hands of many physicians. She could not be in public settings, couldn’t go to Church, and be with her family. Whoever touched her would be unclean. The emotional turmoil that she faced every day with loneliness, hopelessness, depression, disappointment, and fear. Would she have said to herself,” Why is this happening to me? Is God punishing me? What have I done wrong? What great sin have I committed to bring this on? Yet when she heard of Jesus, it changed everything. Hope was kindled! A seed was planted or conceived that brought a miracle into her life. What changed first was how she was thinking, what she was seeing for her life, and what she was saying. Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)-21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NKJV)-19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; With everything against her, she had to make a choice to choose life, and to speak life! When our thoughts come into line and our hearts start to believe in the promises of God, then miracles can happen! It did for her, and we have her recorded testimony of healing given by the Holy Spirit! Mark 5:33-34 (NKJV)-33 But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.34 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.“
In closing: What joy, and what freedom she must have felt. Life became wonderful again. What was impossible with man was possible with God. What we think on, imagine, and say is so very important when it comes to walking in faith and receiving from God ( Phil. 4:8). What the enemy stole from her, God healed and restored. Where there was no hope for twelve years, a seed was planted in her heart that a man from Nazareth was healing people ( Acts 10:38). Hope turned into faith, faith turned into action, and healing flowed. (Hebrews 11:1) This woman wasted no time in changing the course of her life when she heard about Jesus. God’s Word is a seed planted in our hearts. It is thought upon, meditated upon, confessed, and fully persuaded and believed on ( 1 Peter 1:23, Luke 8:11, James 1:21, Romans 4:18-21). This is the goodness of God towards us. To give us life and life more abundantly. When it comes to God’s Word, there is no time to waste, spiritually and mentally! Jesus is the living Word! He saves, heals, and delivers. Just think about that!
In Christ’s love;
Brent and Linda Bushen
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