MIND MANAGEMENT

There are varieties of management courses that universities and schools offer today. But what about mind management? Is it for everyone, schooled and unschooled? Do you hire people to manage your mind like your business or who does the management of your mind? Is it scriptural as a Christian to manage our minds? Let's explore the scriptures.

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23 (AMP). Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Proverbs 4:23(NLT).

In the olden days when kings usually led their countries to war, there was a popular and powerful king, who felt there was no need to go to a particular war since he had highly trained and skillful military generals. He stayed in his palace, relaxed, listening to battle report from the news channel.

Then something happened, he went to the rooftop of his palace where he could view the whole city, there he saw a very elegant, tantalizing and beautiful married lady, bathing. The woman's husband was at the battle field fighting for the king and country that is not his own. What a loyal army general!

The King thought of tasting the woman's pudding. What he saw with his eyes, the mind processed it and action taken. The pudding of the woman, what a tasteful evening meal! A lion does eat fresh meal, you imagine right. Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!" Proverbs 9:17. By the executive order of the king, the order couldn't be rejected but executed and submitted to, eventually, the king started another battle at home, despite not being at the physical battle field. He tasted the fruit juice, with a burger in the land of that married woman which was full of milk and honey and the land produce a big harvest. Afterall, people usually pray that they should eat the fruit of their labour.

But the aftermath of the King's action put his family in trouble till today. That's why, this King gave his Son, the Prince that will replace him, a wise counsel to guard his heart or mind above everything. There you could see, mind management is being taught and it is for everyone. Did the Prince apply his father's counsel? This is a thought for another day. But from this story what are the lessons or insights for us today.

Mind management for the New Testament Christian is the way you control your thoughts and actions, feelings and affections with the Grace and dunamis of the Holy Spirit given to you. Proverbs says guard, protect it with all diligence above any treasure you have because issues of life and death proceed from it.

First, we should all know that every where is a battlefield. Business place, offices, church or worship centers, schools, homes, markets, village or cities, toilet, or club centres, hotel or hospital, UK, US, Canada, Lesotho, Libya, Afghanistan or Nigeria, public or private places. Something, one day, will challenge your integrity, skills, faith, patience, wisdom, peace and so on, including your finances or money matters.

Every human concern, needs or wants poses a battle to our mind to win or loose. Some of these human concerns are finance or money matters, Child, sexual or marital matters, entrepreneurship, academic or professional issues, wealth and health matters.

 It is your responsibility to manage all information you allow in your thinking faculty. Your memory has power to store information more than any computer. It has long and short term memory. Your mind or thought affects everything you do.

The way you see things determines what attracts you or what you're attracted to and what repels you. The height you will get to in life also has to do with your life. Your financial peace or rest is function of the information you put in mind.

Your perception about your income, wife, husband, children, friend, boss, enemies, and competitor will affect your actions and reactions towards them. It's not every information that is edifying and healthy for and your children. This does not mean should not be conscious of your environment.

Your mind and your thought life, is invisible to people but visible to God and it affects your future. God, Devil and the world are interested in your thought life.The sickness or health of mind, cannot be healed or repaired by medical doctors but you and God. Psychologist can really help but responsibility belongs to you.

Imagine many health issues come from mind. Fear, stress, hypertension, lunacy, suicide, anorexia, rape, sexual disorder, abuse and vices, murder to mention a few, are all symptoms of an unhealthy mind. But evil words come from an evil heart and defile the person who says them. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all other sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. Matthew 15:18-19 (NLT)

It takes intentional diligence to protect and manage what you put in and out of your mind. You can learn, unlearn and relearn anything you will in life. You will have peace and rest financially and other areas of life in Jesus name.

©Adewale Abiodun Fadare is a Pastor, Bible Teacher, Finance Expert and Writer. He lives happily with his wife and children in Lagos, Nigera.

Kindly put your comments, questions, prayer and testimonies.

3 Qualities You Need To Gain Advantage Of Times And Seasons

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We live in a time and age where discernment is sorely needed and this cuts across all works of life; religion, education, business, finance, administration etc. among the mighty men of David were those of the tribe of Issachar whose special gift was their understanding of times and their ability to apply correctly the wisdom gained from it.

“Bee-nah” is the Hebrew word for understanding and it has the same root word with discernment, wisdom, perception and knowledge. Understanding is a gift of prophetic insight and to gain it, you need to be diligent, resourceful and versatile in whatever things you engaged in. Your view, opinion, and perception to life are determined by the level of understanding you have gained and this will in turn influence your approach to life issues.

These were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the warriors who helped him in battle; they were armed with bows and were able to shoot arrows or to sling stones right-handed or left-handed; they were kinsmen of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin): men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do-200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command. 1Chro.12:1-2a, 32 (NIV)

David as an anointed king understood this particular season of his life (when Saul wanted to haunt him down) to be a delicate period. He had to engage in some battles which he could not face alone. Therefore, he chose his armies carefully. There are qualities, credentials or criteria needed in those who would be admitted to be among the troop of his armies:

1.      Expertise (vs2): The archers were experts in their chosen career. They gave themselves to adequate training, gain mastery in their fields and became professionals.  How often do you give yourself to training so as to gain needed knowledge? Apprenticeship is no longer popular, as only few individuals are ready to pay the price of commitment, endurance, time and discipline to training. Training has nothing to do with age, class or status and it is not a waste of time and resources.

 

2.      Skillfulness: Their mastery in the usage of weapons of war placed them at better advantage over others. They could skillfully shoot arrows with both hands and sling stones to a far distance without missing the target. Oh! What an advantage. To gain advantage in times and seasons, opportunities must always meet your preparedness. Dynamism is the key to gain mastery. Rehearse all the time, seek counsel, attend seminars and participate in webinars related to your career, upgrade your knowledge, don’t be complacent and strive for excellence.

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3.      Proactiveness (vs.32): Proactiveness is acting in advance to initiate and deal with unexpected change or difficulty. The children of Issachar were proactive and not reactive. They see far ahead of time. They always evaluate their decisions. They have good structures upon which their operations are based and carried out. They understood the signs of times and know the right course of action to take.

Many people are caught up with problems and difficulty most of the times because they lack foresight, they don’t recognize signals and warnings and they don’t know which course of action to take in the right order.

Beloved, don’t be a mediocre. Shape and sharpen your knowledge (wit) in your chosen career. Upgrade yourself so as to gain mastery. Be dynamic as you become an expert. Above all, gift of discernment comes from the Holy Spirit (1Corr. 12:10). Build your spiritual immune system by diligent study and meditation in the WORD. Immune your gift against attack and let your gift be managed and controlled by the Holy Spirit.

 

©Ayodeji Oyedokun. 27th July, 2020.

He's a Pastor, Writer, Christian Children Educator, and an IT Enthusiast. He is married and lives in Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria.

 

6 TIPS TO MANAGE YOUR MONEY BETTER

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Sometimes managing your money can seem very complicated. In order to manage money well you have to learn to simplify the process so you can keep your financial situation straight and easily understandable. But you don’t have to be a genius at cipherin’ like Jethro Clampett to keep your money organized and making sense.

6 Money Management Tips

Usually, the biggest complications that keep things disorganized financially arise from not doing a few simple things. When you fail to do some or all of these things, it’s easy for your finances to descend into chaos and start causing serious problems in your life.

So here are six things you can do to start simplifying how you approach your money management and learn to more easily keep it under control:

Track Your Spending: Start writing down every penny you spend for 30 days. Once you do that you start getting the feel for what you’re spending on everything, then you can begin a monthly budget. I know a budget may sound complicated, but if you do it religiously it saves you a lot of time and money in the long run. It may seem a little difficult at first, but it gets much easier the more you do it.

If You’re Married, Combine Your Finances: If you’re married, there shouldn’t be “his” money and “her” money or “his” bills and “her” bills. All of it belongs to both of you, as we say here in the South, It’s yall’s money. So always deposit all of the money into one central account and distribute it from there. Doing that fosters good communication and, along with a budget agreed on by both of you, will eliminate money fights.

Make a “Bills” Calendar: If you have trouble staying organized when it comes to paying bills, make a “bills” calendar showing when each bill is due. Review it once a week and pay the bills due for that week.

Build an Emergency Fund: When you have money set aside for emergencies, you’re not tempted to go into credit card or other debt to deal with it. Everybody has the occasional emergency, and if you are already prepared when it comes, that’s one less thing you will have to worry about in a time of crisis, and you won’t have to spend months or years paying it off.

Use Cash: Goes along with doing a monthly budget. Once your budget is done, put cash in envelopes for each spending category and spend only cash, only out of those envelopes. This simplifies things because you have a set plan to spend only so much, so you don’t end up spending more than you make.

Sell Your Crap: Most of us have too much junk that we don’t need, don’t use, and just takes up space. If you never, or rarely ever use it, then sell it, donate it, or give it to someone that can use it. Those things don’t add value to your life and don’t bring you any joy. All they do is take up space and drag you down. So get rid of the junk and pass it along to someone that can enjoy it.

Money Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

When you take steps to simplify how you handle your financial situation, you start being proactive with your money, and it becomes so much easier to deal with on a daily basis.

Money doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take diligence and attention to what you’re doing. Finding any way you can to simplify and streamline how you do it will always pay dividends by cutting out lots of time and effort you can better spend doing something much more enjoyable.

Question: What have you done to simplify or streamline your finances?

Article originally published on Celebrating Financial Freedom. Used with permission.

Dr. Jason Cabler is a Christian personal finance blogger, author, and speaker. He teaches how to get out of debt and live a debt free lifestyle through his Celebrating Financial Freedom blog and self study course. His book How to Budget: The Quick and Easy Guide to Making a Budget That Works is now available (more info here). He can be reached for interviews or speaking engagements by email, and can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +. Publication date: June 9, 2014 but published in Crosswalk.com. Copyright © 2020.