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You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

In the Last Samurai, there is a scene where Tom Cruise’s character, James Algren, is learning to fence but keeps being defeated. The commander’s son, Nobutada, finally tells him that he has “too many mind”. He reminds him that he is trying to “mind the sword, mind the people watch, mind enemy - -too many mind”. What he means is that if James is to learn the way of the Samurai, he had to focus more intently on this one thing. James had his focus in other areas and couldn’t concentrate on fencing thus ensuring his defeat in each match. The prophet Isaiah, says that God promises to keep us in perfect peace if we keep our minds on him. For one to do this we must realize that God is all-powerful, all-knowing and everywhere at all times. Understanding God’s character helps us to trust him. This conditional promise is based on us being righteous and finally trusting in him. But how do we become righteous? There is only one way for sinful man to become righteous and that is to put on the righteousness of Jesus. He came to Earth and died for our sins in order to bring us back into relationship with God (see John 3:16). His sacrifice allows us to accept the free gift of salvation which makes us righteous. So becoming righteous is essentially an act of the will to accept something that has already been done for you. God delights in the contrite and broken spirit not the religious acts of men (see Psalm 34:18; 51:17). To receive the gift of salvation we must realize our sinful state and accept God’s forgiveness—this process alone saves us and makes us righteous. And the same way we trust God for our salvation is the same way we should trust him to walk out our new-found salvation. Paul tells us in Romans 12 that we must continue in a state of renewing our minds so that we may prove (recognize, examine) God’s will for our lives (see Romans 12:2). Practically speaking we have to trust God to do what we are unable to do for ourselves. This is where accepting God’s grace comes in. Even in coming to Christ, God’s grace was present to help us get to that point (see Ephesians 2:3-8). How much more is it present after we are saved and we start a new life of trusting in him! Just as a baby begins to take its first steps and falls and gets up over and over, we must trust that our Heavenly Father realizes that we will experience this as his children. However, in order to finally walk that baby focuses its attention again and again on trying to walk. God wants us to focus our attention on him as he enables us to walk out our salvation. This takes trusting him to know what is best for us as he conforms and transforms our old mindset into a new mindset. We must trust him as he changes our focus from the things of the flesh to the things of the Spirit. During this process we can experience the peace of God despite any trial we endure—job loss, death of friends and family, sickness and disease, abandonment or whatever the situation. God promises to keep (guard, watch over, preserve, blockade) our minds when we trust in and focus on him. Will you commit to focusing your trust on God and not the many things around you that may serve as distractions? If you will, God made a promise to keep you in peace.

"Inspiration For You" from Randy Mitchell

Honoring A Father