What the mind focuses on, it feasts on. And if you want to know what a person's focus and feast is, all you have to do is listen to the words that come out of her mouth.

Just because I want something, doesn't mean it's God's best for me. Just because I can do something, doesn't mean I should do it...I have the right to do anything, but not everything is constructive.

The mind feasts on what it focuses on.

I can make the choice to leave the cookies in the bakery case and the chips on the grocery shelf, I could make the choice to walk away from that remark. That's what the apostle Paul was talking abut when he said, 'we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.' (2 Corinthians 10:5)

I can't control the things that happen to me each day, but I can control how I think about them. I can say to myself, "I have a choice to have destructive thoughts or constructive thoughts right now. I can wallow in what's wrong and make things worse, or I can ask God for a better perspective to help me see good even when I don't feel good.

Cravings. Are they a curse or a blessing? The answer to that depends on what we're craving. And what we're craving will always depend on whatever we're consuming . . . the object of our desire or God and His truth.

We consume what we think about. And what we think about can consume us if we're not careful.

It's so easy to park our minds in bad spots. But this is where pity parties are held, and we all know pity parties demand an abundance of high calorie delights. Pity parties are also a cruel way to entertain, for they leave behind a deeper emptiness than we started with.

Taking thoughts captive and being transformed by thinking new ways isn't some New Age form of mind control. It's biblical and it's fitting with how God wired our brains.

Breakthroughs happen when we get about the business of honoring God moment by moment, step-by-step, day by day by what we do and, more importantly, with the thoughts we think while we do.

Jesus is the gatekeeper for the thoughts I put in my mind and the identity I allow to sink into my heart. Lord

I'm just determined - determined not to go places I don't want to go simply because I didn't take the time to honestly evaluate. 70