{"id":1467,"date":"2023-01-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2023\/01\/10\/attention-is-everything\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T00:31:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T06:31:01","slug":"attention-is-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2023\/01\/10\/attention-is-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"The Incredible Difference It Can Make When We Choose to Pay Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This post contains affiliate links, which means that STAR earns a small commission on products purchased through these links at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting the mission of STAR in this way!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m convinced, every single thing we think about changes us. Maybe in a beautiful way. Maybe in a distorting, damaging way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe you\u2019re familiar with something Paul wrote to the Corinthians about, that we should \u201ctake captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u201d (2 Corinthians 10:5<\/a> ESV) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We really can do that. Thoughts happen, sure, but we can capture them<\/strong>, and then we can hold them up to the light of day, take a good look at them, and dismiss them if needed. We can say to ourselves, \u201cNow that\u2019s a dumb thing to think about,\u201d or \u201cThat may not even be true,\u201d or \u201cI need to move on from this and think about something else.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t a guilt trip. It\u2019s an exciting opportunity. If we want God\u2019s joy in our lives, we need to pay attention to our thoughts, and choose to focus on Him<\/strong>. One of the most earnest and hopeful little books about this is a classic called The Practice of the Presence of God<\/a>, written by Brother Lawrence: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He does not ask much of us, merely a thought of Him from time to time, a little act of adoration, sometimes to ask for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, at other times to thank Him for the graces, past and present, He has bestowed on you, in the midst of your troubles to take solace in Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him during your meals and in company; the least little remembrance will always be the most pleasing to Him<\/em>.”  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The slightest turn; a little nod; acknowledgment of His goodness in your life. Right in the middle of everything else. It matters so much. It can make the difference between being crushed by harmful thoughts, and thriving in the joy of the Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that I think of it, I think this is how love<\/a> works. I know my wife likes it if we\u2019re in a crowded party, or at dinner with other couples, and I look over at her. (I need to remember to do that more.)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or maybe when she grabs my hand as people are demanding my attention, and I enthusiastically hold hers. There\u2019s a little glint of recognition: I know I belong to you.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s small, sure. But like I said\u2026  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s everything<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brant Hansen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morning Show Host, STAR 99.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brant’s latest book, <\/em>Unoffendable<\/a>, released January 10th and is available now for purchase.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a>\"\"\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If we want God\u2019s joy in our lives, we need to pay attention to our thoughts, and choose to focus on Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-13 15:55:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}