DAY 8 - I am not a coffee drinker but my son is. Every morning when he gets up he brews a fresh pot of coffee. I love the smell of coffee but have never developed a taste for the brown brew. But even I know that every once in awhile one must change the filter on the coffee maker. The same is true of my car when I take it in for an oil change. I need a new oil filter every oil change. Sometimes I need a new air filter or even a new fuel filter. Things don't run well with a clogged filter.

God has given our minds a wonderful filter in Jesus Christ His Son. Today's text reads, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6,7 NKJV). Praying has a way of bring peace to our troubled hearts and minds. When we pray, casting all our anxieties and cares upon the Lord, something wonderful happens. Peace settles in. Not only that, peace guards our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ from the things that were bothering us just a few minutes before we prayed. When you know you have the mind of Christ you are guarded by this divine filter. Take a coffee filter and write on it with a pen or felt-tip marker the message of Phil. 4:6-7.
It will remind you each day of the divine filter that God gives you to protect your mind from the grit, grime and "old grounds" of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Hymn: Ev'ry day the Lord Himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me, He whose name is Counselor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure is a charge that on Himself He laid;
As your days, your strength shall be in measure, this the pledge to me He made.
(Carolina Sandell Berg - Translated by A. L. Skoog)