Power-Up, Brain!

My precious mom would say to her doctor “Doc, some mornings I just don’t want to get out of bed!” He replied: “The day you decide to do that, expect to be bedridden very soon!” In essence, he was saying: “If you don’t use it – you’ll lose it!”

I’m sure Mom’s doctor’s words were applicable to body AND mind. I think that was why she had only slight dementia when she graduated to heaven at 94. She daily read her Bible, prayed, and played word games and UNO with friends. She couldn’t remember what she had for lunch, but she could quote scriptures, remembered people and experiences from recent and long ago.

“Power-Up, Brain” is part of my daily mode of operation. Besides heading to the fitness center for a body work-out, I keep my mind strong by daily devotions, praying, and writing blogs. Then, two days a week, I play Mahjong. I am doing my best to “use it” so that I don’t “lose it”. I want to do my part to keep my body and mind as strong as I can for as long as I can.

Mahjong is an excellent mental workout that helps keep our brains in good health and our minds sharp. I should clarify that this is the 4-player game and not the solitaire version that we see online or on our phone.

The game requires considerable mental finesse just to play it, let alone play it well. When I first learned the game, it was all I could do to keep track of all the rules and plan a strategy. That kept me so busy that I barely even noticed what my opponents were doing. If we can’t keep track of what our opponents are doing, we are at a significant disadvantage. We could literally end up playing straight into their hands. In other words, I need to “power up” my brain if I want to improve my game skills.

Did you catch the catch-phrase in the last paragraph? “That kept me so busy that I barely even noticed what my opponents were up to. If we can’t keep track of what our opponents are doing, we are at a significant disadvantage. We could literally end up playing straight into their hands.” That catch-phrase is also applicable to the enemy of our souls who plays mind games and life games with us. He uses tactics to weaken our minds — the lies, threats, temptations, and powering-down our lives. POWERING-UP our hearts, minds and spirits are God’s mode of operation.

Powering Up” our brain is powering up our attitudes for enjoying life, laughing often, developing an optimistic outlook, making sure our minds are freed of stress and anxiety AND the lies of the enemy. We should daily “power up” our brains by keeping our minds on what God says in His Word — even memorizing scriptures that help guarantee sound and healthy minds and eliminating the lies and cheats of the enemy!

Here are examples of powering up our minds by speaking affirmations from God’s Word:
~ I have the mind of Christ! (1 Corinthians 2:16)
~ My mind is renewed daily! (Romans 12:2)
~ His mind is in me! (Philippians 2:5)
~ My mind is in perfect peace because it stays on God. (Isaiah 26:3)
~ I love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and MIND. (Matthew 22:37)
~ Daily, I think on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8)

I’m in for the long haul so rather than my mind being used “mindlessly”, I’m “powering up” to be sure I live up to the best version of me that I can be! How about you?

“I refuse to give in to my fears. For God did not give me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a SOUND mind!” (2 Timothy 1:7)