With All Our Mind

 

With all our mind

Necessitates we have a change of heart

For how else from our carnal desires

Can we draw ourselves apart?

 

With soul and heart and mind:

This is the command

That is given to the born-again believer

Already living by God’s plan.

 

It is not for the unregenerate

Who are not yet saved

Neither for the goody-two-shoes

By the vain way they behave.

 

It is only the born again

That seeks to know God’s way,

This is the endeavor of a renewed mind

Over which God holds sway.

 

The heathen does not seek God

But wants the things God gives:

Like peace and joy and purpose

And the good life they live.

 

“The seeking after God

Is no business of the heathen

But the seeking after God

Is the business of the Christian.”

 

The preceding quotation

Is not a product of my mind

But I find it extremely appropriate

To reference at this time.

 

It defines the stark difference

Between the pagan and the Christian

It is a matter of the mind:

Like Christianity and religion.

 

Christ’s righteousness and man’s

Yes, another stark contrast,

One is counterfeit and superficial

The other is destined to last.

 

Romans 12:2

 

And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that ye may prove what is that good,

and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

 

The unregenerate mind

Can never be in tuned with God

But is turned in enmity against Him

And is manipulated by King Fraud.

 

The devil is doing his worse

To destroy and to deceive

And he targets and attack our mind

To challenge what we believe.

 

But the injunction is:

Love God with all of our mind,

This is to the born-again believer

Both now and for all of time.

 

Philippians 2:5

 

Let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus

 

With this mind, seek after God

With this mind, Him adore,

With this mind, Him alone worship

And grow and go and glow!

 

Stewart Russell © January 17, 2022

 

As a Man Thinks

 

 

As a man thinks in his heart

So is he,

Eat and drink, he says,

But his heart is not with thee.

 

Whether of heart or mind

I will not here debate,

That they are both incorporeal

Is what matters at any rate.

 

My focus, however,

Will be on the human mind,

That innate, immaterial facility

We are using all the time.

  

It is always at work,

Some believe, even in our sleep,

The subconscious, some call it,

And that is pretty deep.

 

I am by no means an expert

In matters of the mind,

And so, I settle on Proverbs 23:7

And not what others opine.

 

As we think in our heart

That is who we are,

The mind is surely a better gauge

And in this, by far.

 

 

But who can know the mind?

There is only one I know

And I can step out boldly on this

Because Romans 8:27 says so.

 

And he that searches the heart

Knows the mind of the Spirit,

And so, he knows our mind also

And whatever we store in it.

 

You may have "five minds"

Re something you plan to do

But the truth is, you have only one,

And that one determines you.

 

As you think in your heart

So are you

And since it's the Bible says it,

You'd better considered it true.

 

What is more, it was Solomon,

The wisest that ever lived,

And the wisdom he demonstrated

Was not his wisdom to give.

 

 

God is wisdom’s source

And there is none besides,

James says it is heavenly wisdom

So, who are we to deny?

 

So, if you want to know me,

You must get into my mind

And I know that is impossible

Whatever you opine.

 

The devil cannot read it

As some people want to believe

And neither can a psychic,

Please do not be deceived!

 

The only one that can

Is the blessed Trinity:

God knows it, the Son showed it,

The Holy Spirit reveals.

 

What preoccupies one’s mind

Is who a person is

So, if you want to know yourself,

It is yourself you must quiz.

 

Do it with an open mind,

Be honest in answering yourself,

Self-talk is not insanity

And improves mental health.

 

And bear in mind, my friend,

You are what you think,

Your mind can determine today

Whether you rise or sink.

 

With so much at stake

I would therefore want to advise,

Let the mind of Jesus be in you

And let Jesus be your guide.

 

Stewart Russell © January 7, 2022

 

The Myriad Minds

Some people have five minds

Some only have one,

Some can’t make up theirs

Others use only brawn.

Some leave theirs lying around

That’s how it seems to me,

Others think the weirdest things

That’s insanity.

Some think mostly evil

Others thing mostly good,

Most are in between these two

And think mostly as they should.

Some minds are overloaded

Like a computer hard drive

Thinking mostly about themselves

And how to cut and contrive.

Some are recycle bins

And are often filled to the brim,

Never a time to empty

And the stench is awful within.

Some are shrewd and cunning

Conniving to say the least,

Plotting another’s downfall

And the disruption of his peace.

Some are great repositories

Of ideas and positive thoughts

From which many will benefit

When such information is sought.

Some minds are evil bent

And full of devilish vice,

Such are crafty minds and devious

Which think about nothing nice.

Some minds are inquiring

Always seeking to understand

What the Word says about God

And about His redemptive plan.

  

Some minds are creative

Blessed with making life better,

Such are often Spirit led

And ought to be the trend setters.

Some minds need a little fixing

They are always under stress,

And even the simplest task

Becomes an unreasonable test.

Such are the vagaries of the mind

So difficult to comprehend,

From the Professor at University

To the child that plays “Let’s pretend.”

Stewart Russell © March 2018

The Mind

 

I wonder about the mind

What and where is it?

I know it’s a reality

Just from my daily habit.

It is something; that’s a fact,

To it we often refer,

Every human being uses it

I am sure on that we concur.

But where is it located?

Does anyone know?

Is there a part of the anatomy

At which it will clearly show?

Let this mind be in you

Says Philippians 2 and verse 5

But where within you

Does one’s mind survive?

Consider medical science

And its surgical procedures;

How oft have they entered a brain

But no mind there discovered?

Oft one may have said,

“I’ve a lot on my mind.”

Shouldn’t that add weight to a person?

But only a fool would so opine.

So what really is the mind?

And where is it located?

These are difficult questions to answer

Even among the most opinionated.

A simple yet compelling answer

Might very well be,

It’s part of man’s incorporeal

The corporeal being his anatomy.

Here the Psalmist praises his Maker

I refer to Psalm 139 verse 14:

“I am fearfully and wonderfully made,”

Shows God’s intelligence is supreme.

  

Perhaps when God breathed into man

Into him he breathed a mind,

A facility with which to think

And to God his thoughts incline.

It’s like the personal computer

With its advanced technology:

There are hard ware and software

That ensures its capability.

We know the hardware well:

The physical components put together

But if these were all to the computer

Not one single piece would matter.

What makes the computer run

Are programmes and apps we upload,

These essentially are its mind

That helps to achieve its goal.

Somewhat like cyberspace

That behaves like a universal mind

There we hide our written treasures

Where only we can find. 

Similarly the brain cavity and tissue

Comprise our hardware capacity

But the mind that’s somewhere in us

Is our software capability

There we store our thoughts

For retrieval in the time of need

Some we keep securely locked away

And upon them daily feed.

So that when we think of the mind

Don’t think of the what and where

Rather, think of its essential purpose

To contemplate why we are here.

Think on these things the Bible says

Things honest, true and lovely,

Set your affections on things above

Should be the mind’s foremost priority.

Stewart Russell © October 2017