I read the following, "The average person has 10,000 separate thoughts each day. That works out to be 3.5 million thoughts a year." WOW! That would mean every one of those 10,000 thoughts represents a choice we make, a decision to think about this, and not about that. What about you? How is your thought life? Positive? Negative? We hear a lot today about "Positive Thinking" and how to train your mind to dispel negative thoughts. There are articles, books, and videotapes on how to approach unpleasantness in a more positive and productive way. The idea is to think the best is going to happen, not the worst. Positive thinking often starts with self-talk. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head. Do you know who the first positive thinker was? The Apostle Paul! At the end of his letter to the Philippians, he gives a prescription for positive thinking that if followed has the power to transform your life. This is his advice in Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Paul is instructing before you think and before you speak, ask yourself these six questions.
Is it true?
Is it honest?
Is it right?
Is it pure?
Is it lovely?
Is it admirable?
Paul says, “Think about these things.” It is a command for Christian living and if you notice, it’s in the present tense. We are to keep on focusing our thoughts on these eight areas. Find the truth and think about it. Find the honest and think about it. Find the lovely and think about it. Find the virtuous and think about it. Do it, and verse 9 tells us that “the God of peace will be with you.” Those who think on these things experience God’s peace in their lives. Who doesn't want that?
But what if things around you are so bad you just can't seem to think positive about anything .. your health is shot, you're dangerously in debt, your spouse wants a divorce, your child is strung out on drugs. All of us fight the tendency to let our minds dwell on the negative. I do at times. Just watching the nightly news can make my heart quiver. So how do you “change your mind?” It all begins with "Garbage In, Garbage Out." If you put garbage into your mind, garbage is what you will get out. It can involve so many areas of life because we receive input from so many sources: The music we listen to, TV, rented videos, radio stations, books we choose to read, who we date, conversations at work, on and on and on. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says that we should “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” What does it mean to take every thought captive? It means that you have a chance to do something about all thoughts that are not well-pleasing to God before they enter your heart and become a part of you! “As a man thinks, so is he,” says Proverbs 23:7. In order to do that, however, you’ve got to look at the sources of your input. For instance, begin with changing your "diet."
1. Do an inventory of what you’ve been putting in your mind. Are you guilty of reading trashy novels, listen to filthy song lyrics, partaking in gossip?
2.Examine the Influence of Your Friends. I Corinthians 15:33 warns us that “bad company corrupts good character.” You become like the people you hang around with. If they drink, curse, are easily angered, negative, hostile, critical, filled with self-pity, and convinced that the world has cheated them, those traits will rub off on you sooner or later! You’ll never get a new mind unless you examine your friends and the impact they have on your life.
3. Begin to Memorize Scripture. As you begin to hide God’s Word in your heart, it will slowly but surely “change your mind.”
More than once I have found myself waking up in the night bothered by some problem or gripped by some fear. In those moments, as I begin to quote “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1), I discover that God’s Word soothes my soul, chases away my fears, and brings my problems down to their proper size.
Look at this closely! You’re not what you think you are, but what you think, you are! Proverbs 23:7 reads, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Your mind is the best predictor of your future. Why? Because if you think you can’t, you probably won’t.If you think angry thoughts, angry words are sure to follow. If you fill your mind with sexual fantasies, your body will find a way to fulfill those desires. If you dwell on your problems, they will soon overwhelm you. If you feel like a victim, soon you will become one. If you give way to worry, don’t be surprised when you get ulcers. If you think low thoughts of yourself, you'll soon hate yourself. If you expect defeat, you’ll probably lose. If you dwell on rejection, you will set yourself up for even more rejection. If you focus on how others misunderstand you, you will soon become angry and bitter. What goes in must come out! Sooner or later your thoughts translate into reality.
You’re not what you think you are, but what you think, you are. The flip side is also true. If you focus on the truth, you will speak the truth. If you look at noble things, nobility will mark your life. If you seek out lovely things, your life will be lovely to others. If you dwell on that which is right, that which is wrong will have no attraction to you. If you think about pure things, you will become pure. If you look for virtue, you will find it. If you search for higher things, you will elevate your own life. THIS is God’s prescription for believers trapped in unhealthy living: Think On These Things! Focus on the good, the pure, the true, the holy, the right, the lovely. Find those things that elevate the mind and think about them!
“Find them,” you exclaim. “But where do I look?” Look all around you. Even in our fallen world, beauty is everywhere, truth is right by your side, purity is yours for the asking, things that are admirable are all around you. If you are a Christian, you have within you the power to obey this command. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, AND A SOUND MIND. You can literally change your mind if you want to. How? By remembering that all that is best is embodied in a Person! I speak of Jesus Christ. If you link yourself with Jesus, you are joined with the highest moral power in the universe. He is the embodiment of everything Paul has commanded us to do. Jesus is all virtue, all beauty, all holiness, all truth, all that is good and right is found in him! Remember, you have a personal relationship with Jesus! If Christ is in your thoughts, then all these things must also be there. Woo Hoo! It is the magnetic power of His transforming life. As you hold on to Jesus, He pulls you up from the muck and mire of the old life. He pulls you up from bitterness, up from futility, up from resentment, up from impurity, up from dishonesty, up from selfishness, up from greed, up from pessimism, and up from despair. Do you want to change your mind? You can. Realize Christ lives in you and His Word has the power to renew your mind (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:16; John 17:17; Romans 8:6). Enthrone him in your mind. Then you will find it easy to “think on these things.”
Until He Comes,
-Pat-
No comments:
Post a Comment