7 ways to align your heart and your mind.

It is Sunday evening, and for most of us, we are winding down our weekend and getting ready for another Monday...another work week will soon begin. We all go out into the world on Monday morning and give our time and energy to different things in the place we call 'work'...and at the end of the day, and the end of the week, and ultimately, the end of our lives, what are we REALLY giving ourselves over to? For some of us, it is money... We work, work, work, just for the almighty dollar. Yes, money is a blessing, and yes, there is this idea that supposedly, it makes the world go around, and to a degree it does in the sense of survival, but when it comes right down to it, it’s good to have some, but if this is all we are living for, it truly will leave a hole in your soul. It is bottomless and empty, and a fleeting chasing after the wind.

The purpose of life is to leave a mark on others, to shine our light into this dark world, and ultimately live for the God who created us and redeemed us. When our lives here on earth come to an end, we don't want the thing that is said about us to be - 'yep, they made a lot of money.’ May our reach go FAR beyond any dollar signs or possessions we 'earned'.

​This world often marks 'success' by "Financial Success", which is really dependent on others; the markets, the economy, the buyers, etc. But, when we die, we are no longer making any money... And what good is all this striving for money then? Does your hearse have a trailer which allows you to take your money and all your 'things' with you? Of course not!

So now, compare success in a financial light with the success of leaving your mark on the world. Your name lives on long after you are gone because of what you did, what you said, how you cared, how you loved...your words are quoted, your smile is remembered, your actions actually changed someones life, pointed to the Lord, gave someone hope in the bleakest of times, put things into perspective when everything was cloudy. That right there, that is true SUCCESS... A life well lived, highlighted by God's grace, and not your own empire built by YOU and for YOU.

So, what does a 'life well lived' look like? This comes down to a heart matter. It also comes down to a matter of being dead or alive in our hearts. If we are still walking around in this world, dead in our trespasses and sins, unregenerate...well, no good deed on this earth is going to EARN you a 'life well lived', but a life that has been found and born again in the life-changing truth of Jesus Christ, now that is a foundation, the ONLY foundation, for a 'life well lived', for it is not the life you ultimately live, but the life He lived and gave for you and for me that will allow each of us to hear at the end of our lives, "well done, good and faithful servant"... THIS and THIS alone is a LIFE WELL LIVED! So, once we have been made new in Christ, what should motivate us and move us, whether at work, at home, or out and about in the world?

I pondered and prayed over 7 motivations we should have as our drivers in order to truly leave an impact on this world and nourish the lives of those around us... 7 things that will help align our hearts and minds in a Godly and positive way!

1. Start with the heart:  No matter what you are doing, work as unto the Lord. Let this be at the very core and center of your heart and anything you do will thereby flow out of this. This always helps me align my motives for doing something. Sometimes it stops me right in my tracks and I realize my motives are not aligned with glorifying God or helping others and I have to go back to the beginning. Other times, this core driver in my heart motivates me to keep going, even in trials and valleys low, it inspires me and helps me remember that there is a bigger purpose at work than my eyes or circumstances can tell of. 

2. This life is temporary:  It might be scary to some people, but we’re all going to die someday. These earthly lives we live are so fleeting and will be gone in the blink of an eye. You may be wondering why this is a good thing to reflect on? Well, for me, this helps me to put the whole of life into perspective. It helps me to align myself with a great truth spoken by one of my heroes of the faith, Amy Carmichael, "All that matters is that which is eternal" ...and when I reflect on these words, or the words of Jesus, "store up treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust cannot decay" ...this helps me to check and see if what I am doing and giving myself to is for eternal glory or earthly glory. This is often a wonderful work of grace that God uses to guide me in all that I do. Again, it either helps me prod along or it stops me in my tracks. Living with eternity in sight will align our temporal lives with that which truly matters, that which truly lasts.

3. Start connecting:  People are a great blessing in life... Other created beings, made in the image of God. It is really good to start looking outside our own little ME bubbles and not just notice that we are not the only ones breathing in the air, but really CONNECT with others. Once you really start connecting with people...whether a great big smile on the street as you're walking, saying a simple good morning to your neighbor, praying with your friend in her time of need, making a meal for the family in a crisis, reminding your loved one of a scripture when they truly cannot see any hope in a situation... In these moments, we are truly engaging in the lives of others, and once we invest one of the greatest things we are blessed with in life - our TIME - in others, we will start to realize there is more to this world than our selfish wants or gains. 

4. Write a thank you note:  How many times have you said "I need to remember to thank him or her for that" and then life gets moving along (as it often does and always will), and then we forget. As soon as someone does something for you, make a note to yourself to write a thank you to that person. I know this seems very old-school, and it likely is, but that does not take away from the fact that I LOVE writing a thank you note. Sitting down, stopping life, and putting hand to pen, pen to paper, and writing out your heart in such a way to say thank you, to truly show appreciation for what another did for you, there is power in that. Great power! A handwritten note is a lost treasure in our culture, and it is a great tragedy I find.  Say thank you. Write thank you. It is a great blessing to those receiving this thank you and there is an added bonus... It truly aligns your heart with being thankful. Gratitude is a gift. Oftentimes we are too busy to stop and be grateful and this is a travesty and simply feeding the selfish hearts of mankind. If we are born again of life and light, we have no excuse... Stop the selfish trend! Be thankful...and show it, in words and deeds! 

5. Stop watching and reading and listening to the news 24/7:  Those who are close to me have probably heard me say this before plenty of times, but it is true, and I feel it really can make a huge difference in your life. The news is so unbelievably biased towards bad news that a lot of us believe that the world is not a good place to live in, and in a lot of ways it is not, but the truth is, we cannot account for those around us, but we CAN choose how we act and choose how we spend our time. If we took some of that time that we watched the news or even tv in general and we went out into the world and helped others, what a wonderful difference this would make. Volunteer at your church, visit with the elderly in the local nursing home, help a busy mom out, volunteer for a great cause, visit a sick friend, or just SPEND TIME with those you love, inspiring them, caring, loving them! This is time WELL SPENT!

6. Read God's Word:  This world we live in can be a real loud and overpowering place...if we let it. The key words there are: IF WE LET IT. We have a choice, each moment, each day, to choose what we let in our ears and into our hearts. We hear a lot of things each day, we see a lot of things also. What will we allow to nestle into the burrows of our hearts and what will we cast away as garbage? How can we know the difference? How can we know which advice to take and which to kindly pass over? How can we know when we ought to speak up for the truth and when to allow silence to speak? Well, the wondrous thing is WE CAN KNOW...and we can act accordingly. We have a standard for all we think, do, say, and believe. We have God's Word...the Bible. His Word is never changing, never failing, ever enduring, ever faithful. Read it. Read it again. And read it some more. This is what we need to fill our minds and hearts with. This is what we need to paint out into the world. This is what will guide our steps and light our paths. Spend time with God. Pray. Seek Him. What a wondrous gift this is, and it is ours only if we CHOOSE to open that precious living Book and reap the lovely truths therein.  

7. Start with one and start now:  To change the lives of the 7,279,637,249 people of the world you have to start with one single person. Start with a thank you note to one person, start with a single overdue phone call to say "I love you" or "I am sorry", start with a word of appreciation, a word of kindness, a word of joy, start with a smile, start with a great big hug, start with eliminating one tv show and reading your BIble instead. Start with one task tomorrow morning and evaluate if it works for eternal glory or simply a fleeting earthly chasing of the wind, and act accordingly. Start small, but DO start. Start with a single step, but take the step...and keep stepping, and one step at a time, before you know it, you're walking along, and though you may fall, you will get back up in the strength of God, and begin again. Keep going, keep stepping, keep making an impact. Small changes will change the whole of your life. Small changes will change the whole of others lives that you touch, and so the domino effect goes on, in the best way! ​