I have a problem! I use one of the small vacuums that runs on a rechargeable battery. The battery did not last long enough to clean even the main floor of our home. The available battery power was even shorter when I used the high power setting. The tool worked well enough, as long as the stored power lasted.
My daughter, Dana, has one of the same vacuums with the same shortcomings. She solved her vacuum problem by buying a conversion kit that implemented one of those 20-volt batteries that come with power tools used in the construction field. The upgrade worked wonderfully for her.
I bought the same upgrade. Mine worked wonderfully also. . . for a time. My power tool battery, however, was an old 18-volt. It kept the vacuum running longer, but not by much. Worse, when I pushed the higher power switch, the vacuum shut down altogether.
I could live with the lower power setting. I just needed to keep the 18-volt battery charged more often. I also used that same battery in my shop for a drill and a couple of saws. I was constantly charging the battery, I began moving the charge station to wherever I ran out of power. That presented me with “the problem”: I now can’t remember where I last used the charger! I have looked at every electrical outlet in the house and in the wood shop.
No charger!!! I know I put it in a logical location (at least it was logical at the time).
Not only do I no longer have a vacuum, but I am getting close to having no hand power tools to work with. Woe unto me, for I am undone!
Because my mind is usually overheating as it processes what I need to do next, while simultaneously trying to finish what I started, I often lose track of the details in the non-important actions my hands perform during the transition moments. I’m not your man for multi-tasking. I must be very intentional where I set my mind because it is quite easy to lose track of where I set things down.
What dominates our minds determines how we live, what we talk about, and the filter through which we develop and sustain friendships. And it probably has a lot to do with our blood pressure, not to mention calmly sleeping through the night.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us to “Store up for yourself riches in heaven.” He gives this advice because, in life, circumstances can manipulate your emotions, leaving you feeling weak, powerless, vulnerable, and valueless. You are not who you think you are! You are who God says you are!
Take a look at Colossians 3:1-2:
1Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. (The Amplified Version)
Listen to the Apostle Paul’s advice in verse one, “seek the things above, where Christ is…” And again in the second verse, “Set your minds on things above, …” This is not hollow advice from a traveling preacher/teacher. This is wisdom built from years of hard knocks and rejection.
See Psalm 1
Notice two things in these words of wisdom and challenge. We each are choosing what we “set our minds on.” Do I focus on what I feel or fear rather than on the coming of the Kingdom of God in all the circumstances of my life? Second, notice that we are not instructed to “set” our minds on the “good or the bad” but “above” or “below.” That makes a difference. That difference is our attitude orientation for every sunrise.
Not continuing to be strategic in “setting” and maintaining a Kingdom mindset is to become apostate by default. Being an apostate is no small matter. Among the synonyms for apostate are renouncer, defector, deserter, and renegade. Flatly said, opposed to God! As Jim Croce sang back in 1972,
“You don’t tug on Superman’s cape
You don’t spit into the wind
You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Slim.”
(You gotta listen to him sing it, not just read the lyrics!)
Here are two lists for your consideration:
What I choose to look at is what I will come to think about
My thinking spawns my desires
My desires morph into my beliefs
My beliefs drive my behavior
My behavior reveals my character
Therefore, be careful what you look at.
Anatomy of Peace
1. I am accepted
2. I am noticed/seen
3. I have value/usefulness
4. I have influence/impact
5. I am not what I feel
In a healthy relationship with our Triune God, we are provided with all five.
Photo – Taken this past summer at Rutledge Falls near Tullahoma, Tennessee.
Baldwin Heirlooms 