The Aroma of Christ Is a Choice

6/22/2024

Caught in the aroma of Christ,

Drawn into the Wind of Heaven,

I force my heart, my soul, my mind,

Back to Jesus, my center, my haven.

Every thought, captive to His sight,

See the world through His eyes, His light,

Not just in struggle, not just in pain,

But in every moment, His peace to gain.

Cast down the worries, the cares of this world,

Replace them with thoughts of Jesus unfurled,

In the chaos, in the calm, in the mundane,

Let His perspective, His peace, remain.

When thoughts are chaotic, absorbed in self,

Or yesterday’s desires, left on the shelf,

The radio of fears, memories, and pride,

Must be tamed, with Jesus as our guide.

Every thought, captive to His sight,

See the world through His eyes, His light,

Not just in struggle, not just in pain,

But in every moment, His peace to gain.

Cast down the worries, the cares of this world,

Replace them with thoughts of Jesus unfurled,

In the chaos, in the calm, in the mundane,

Let His perspective, His peace, remain.

Resist the laziness, the autopilot mind,

Draw near to God, His peace you’ll find,

With your alabaster jar, pour out your love,

He’ll draw near, with peace from above.

Cast down the worries, the cares of this world,

Replace them with thoughts of Jesus unfurled,

In the chaos, in the calm, in the mundane,

Let His perspective, His peace, remain.

As I woke up this morning, I realized,

My dreams and thoughts, not through Jesus’ eyes,

The volume of my mind was just filled with stuff,

Unacceptable, I knew, it wasn’t enough.

So I forced my mind to things above,

Changed the balance, drew near to His love,

Conscious of God, in every thought,

Reflecting the decision, His peace I sought.

The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace,

Not just resisting, but cultivating His release,

Orderly, peaceful, generous thoughts of God,

Observing the world through His love, not flawed.

As I woke up this morning, I recognized my dreams weren’t particularly of this present age through Jesus eyes or saturated with Jesus. The volume of my thoughts was primarily “just stuff” and that is unacceptable. So I forced my mind and heart towards “things above” and changed the balance of “volume” of my thoughts to draw near to God and be conscious of God. And wrote the above to reflect that decision.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8

Thanks so much for sharing your poem with us and letting us all in on your morning. I love that, and it was very very helpful for me, too. My husband and I were listening to Philippians together earlier and this verse had a deeper meaning than it had before. The nobility of a sound mind being the life and peace. I used to read that verse in my younger years and think of it as simply having to do with not thinking bad things. :) But now reading your poem, it’s even more alive with making that choice of Celestial air, such oneness with our Head. This is where I desire and choose to live today.

We’ve spoken recently with children about David’s song “Bless the Lord, oh me.” And what it means to “bless” and what it means to “praise,” and why he would be singing songs to himself in the first place.

Choice. It’s not “spiritual” to *only* praise when spontaneous and out of an overflow. And if you are depressed or frustrated, and it’s not an ever-always natural overflow, then it’s too much about you. Transformation through renewing, and renewing as a deliberate, forceful process.