"Battle Of The Mind"

I just received a prayer request this morning of a teenager that tried to take his own life for the second time and is now on life support. I bring this up as I hear of this all the time. When I was younger we never heard of this even though I am sure it happened but why the increase now?

Many years ago there weren’t video games that could keep you glued to a screen for hours upon hours at a time. For the most part it was go outside and find something to do. This accomplished two things. It forced us to be imaginative and it burned off energy. Our former Headmaster at our Prep School wrote an article about ADD a number of years ago. At the Prep School we had to be involved in a sport from 3:00 to 5:30 each afternoon. This burned energy and as teenagers we had a lot of energy to burn. Now I am not saying that exercise cures all ADD symptoms but it helped with mine. Of course running 15 miles a day helped. But now we are quick to prescribe a pill when “Effort”, “Exertion”, in the form of exercise does the same thing. Some kids truly need medicine but please try exercise first. Please turn off the TV, Video games and have kids think for themselves.

So where am I going with all of this? Whatever goes into your mind is kept forever, good and bad. Whether you are a teenager or an adult we are what we read, see and meditate upon. EVERYTHING in this life that WE do is a heart issue. The only one who can do the heart surgery we need is Jesus.

Matthew 15:17-19 ““Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”

Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders about the true essence of the heart. Many of you have followed my saga with Depression.. If I can run over 25 -30 miles a week I don’t get headaches and my depression is not there. So why don’t I run all the time? I have a selfish heart. I am glad I have Julie as she always wakes me up out of my stupor. After my shoulder healed from surgery I started running again. I started with 1 mile a day but after three weeks I was running 7 miles a day. Then I signed up for a half marathon. I was feeling so good mentally that I was praying for the Lord to give me my speed back one last time. You see I had a great gift God gave me when I was younger to run and I wasted it. I asked Julie if I could do this race and she gave me the thumbs up but with some trepidation. Sure enough yesterday I was back in the doctor’s office with Plantar Fasciitis, an overuse injury of too much running to fast. Was it selfish to try compete again? I didn’t think so but apparently God did. No matter what our finances look like God has called me to preach His word, not run in races, not work at another job but build into all of YOU, HOPE that will last.

Hope Is not found in a computer screen, a world record in the mile, a promotion or a gaggle of kids. Hope is ONLY found in Jesus. I share with you all the quirks I have so you can see that there is a God and He IS still in control. More so when we are out of control.

I can’t tout the benefits of exercise enough. I even have Bryce and Chase running a mile with me every morning. They may moan and groan but when they are finished they are two happy kids. If you desire a change in your family then get yourself and your kids moving. It is easy after a hard day to veg out and mindlessly watch the screen. But God made us so much more than that. If you don’t feel like getting out then just take 10 steps outside and come back in. Chances are those 10 steps will turn into 100. Satan want’s to dull our senses and take over our mind. Will you let him? Please pray for the Lord to take back the ground that you have given over to the enemy. But you and I need to take the first step.