The Secret of Radiant Living

The Secret of Radiant Living by Peter J. Wade The awe-inspiring abilities latent within the human mind are indeed wonderful and important to the believer. One of these great abilities is mentioned in the book of Colossians, chapter three, verse two: Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Here we are exhorted to set our thinking (the word "affection" is phroneō, mind) on the things of God. Your mind has the ability to concentrate upon a specific thing, and to remain in that state of concentration for a considerable period of time. There are mentioned in The Word specific things upon which we, as believers, should concentrate our thinking. We are also blessed with several records of men who concentrated on things other than what the Father intended. As we examine these we can learn by their mistakes. The records clearly show what was the outcome of their concentration upon inferior things, and, above all, how these men were brought back to a right understanding of what they should concentrate upon. How to be Miserable Asaph, the psalmist, gives us our first insight into this subject in Psalm 77. He tells us of the time in his own life when he faced serious problems. His autobiography in this Psalm tells us, "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted" (verse 2). His mind refused to be comforted. In the midst of tremendous trouble he says: "I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed" (verse 3). He briefly remembered the greatness and the goodness of God to him in past days, and yet he was troubled. He could not conceive why this particular problem was upon him, nor why, as he thought, God had left him alone. As his mind went from thinking about the great things of the past days to the terrible problems of the present his spirit was overwhelmed. So much so he tells us in verse four, "I am so troubled that I cannot speak." Psychological