I would like to talk to you about our thoughts. It is important to realize that as Christians each one of us must mold our thoughts to that of what the Word of God teaches us. In so doing, each one of us will begin to talk the same talk and to walk the same walk. This is because we are of the same mind, because we have molded our thoughts to what thus saith the Word of God!
2 Corinthians 1:19-20
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea.
20 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
It’s in your mind set. It’s in your belief system.
Faith says I can!! Doubt says I can’t!!
Romans 14:23
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Did you hear it? Whatsoever is not of faith is sin!!
It’s time that each one of us challenge our belief system!! Let us examine our thoughts and see if what we are telling ourselves is truth or a lie!!
Proverbs 23:6-7
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Hear it again!! For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he!! Your thoughts are directly responsible for your feelings!!
If you believe you are a failure, then you will be a failure. If you see yourself as a world changer, you will become a world changer. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
You must guard your thoughts!! What are you telling yourself? What are you allowing your mind to ponder upon?
Philippians 4:8
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.
This is a great filtering system for your thoughts!! Think upon whatsoever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and things that are of a good report!! Not a negative report!! But things which are of a good report!!
Do not spend your time thinking about and speaking to others about things that are of a negative report!! Even if the negative report is true, we are not to spend our time dwelling upon it. We are to think on things that are of a good report!! This does not mean you live in a fairy tale world, but this means if you hear or see a negative report, you do not have to dwell upon it and you do not have to share it with everyone. Instead look for the good in the bad!!
1 Peter 1:13
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
gird: to encircle or secure with a belt or band. Notice carefully that we are to HOPE to the end!! For the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revealing of Jesus Christ!! We are to maintain hope until the end!! We are to maintain a positive attitude through hope!
How do we maintain hope? We must maintain our faith!! Remember, Faith says “I Can”!!
Hebrews 11:1
11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
To maintain hope we must maintain our Faith. To maintain our Faith we must maintain our Belief system. To maintain our Belief system we must apply the Word of God to our thoughts casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ!! In order for you to do this, you must know the Word of God!! You must gird up the loins of your mind and apply what thus saith, the Word of God!!
2 Corinthians 10:4
4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Did you hear it? Are weapons are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. For all the promises of God in Christ are yea, and in him Amen!! I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Faith says, “I Can!! and I will!! not by my own strength, but through Christ which is my strength!!
1 Peter 5:8-9
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
He cannot devour one who has girded up the loins of their mind!! He cannot devour one that is applying the Word of God. He can only devour those who let him!! Those who are either ignorant of the Word of God or those who are not applying the Word of God!! [re-read v. 8]
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Your thoughts are directly responsible for your feelings!! If you allow yourself to think that you are trapped and without hope, then you will feel trapped and without hope!! Examine your thoughts. When you begin to feel unwanted feelings, stop! and begin to think about what you were thinking about. What are you telling yourself?
Learn to identify what you are thinking that is triggering your unwanted feelings and learn to replace your unwanted thoughts with other thoughts and your feelings will begin to change. But you must not only replace your unwanted thoughts with other thoughts, you must also change your underlying belief system that you are irrationally holding on to that is causing you to have the unwanted thoughts you were having.
Are you feeling down and out? Are you feeling depressed? Examine your thoughts and see why you are feeling this way. What are you telling yourself?
Are you telling yourself that you feel down and out? Are you telling yourself that you feel depressed? Because your feelings are a direct result of what you are thinking. Are you telling yourself that you are without hope? Are you telling yourself that you can’t make it? All of these types of thoughts are going to make you feel that you are without hope? Is this true? Remember what we are to be thinking about? Whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and whatsoever things are of good report.
How are you without hope when Christ is the hope of glory? Is what you are telling yourself true? Examine your thoughts and tell yourself what is true. I can make it!! I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!! Tell yourself the truth!! I am not without hope. I have all hope in Christ Jesus.
I may have felt feelings of despair, but the truth is everything is ok. I’m a child of God!! I’m a child of the king!! And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mt 10:28)
Romans 8:28-32
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
All things!! Not some things!! But all things!! Turn your negative thoughts into positive thoughts!! Boy I’m having a hard day, but thank God the day doesn’t define my future!! But my obedience to Jesus Christ and the Word of God does.
Do not stop with just saying, Boy I’m having a hard day. This will give you a completely different set of feelings. You can change your thoughts and your belief system simply by adding more information to what you are telling yourself. Boy I’m having a hard day, but thank God the day doesn’t define my future!! But my obedience to Jesus Christ and the Word of God does.
Address feelings of Self Worth and Worthlessness. Is it true that you are worthless? Is it true that you have no value? Not according to the Word of God.
Matthew 10:29-31
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.
Are you not judging and condemning yourself while telling yourself that you are of no value and worthless? Is not this the way you see yourself? Is this true then? The answer is no as we have seen. You must then change your belief system and the way you perceive yourself!! You must challenge these unwanted thoughts and lies that you are telling yourself? You must ask yourself is this true? Does this align up with the Word of God? If it does not, then you must remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Luke 6:37
37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
1 Corinthians 4:3-4
3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
Do not begin to feel overwhelmed!! Do not begin to think that I cannot do this!! Faith says, “I Can” Remember this is a process of time. It will take time to begin to recognize your unwanted thoughts and to then replace them with thoughts that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and things that are of a good report!!
Each time you apply this, you will see your unwanted negative feelings disappear and new feelings will appear in their place, depending on what you are now telling yourself. You must believe that you can change your unwanted negative feelings!!
Luke 12:29
29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Faith says, “I can”!!! Gird up the loins of your mind and be not of a doubtful mind!! For all the promises of God in Christ are yea, and in him Amen!! If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. (Mt 17:20b)
Do you believe it? Do you believe the Word of God? You must eliminate your doubtful mind and the worries that accompany it!! You must learn to let the peace of God rule your heart and your mind through Christ Jesus!! Faith says, “I Can”!!
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
A precious promise of God!! However, the key to allowing this peace of God to keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus was to 1) Be careful for nothing. Which means do not allow yourself to be anxious for anything!! 2) But in every thing by prayer and supplication 3) With thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
At that point is when you say never the less Lord your will be done and not my will. It is at this point that you 1) Choose to refuse to allow yourself to be anxious 2) That you place your faith in the Lord that whatever the Potter chooses to do will work together for your good 3) You then place your trust into the Potter’s hand 4) Wait with patience for what you have sought from the Potter 5) Accepting the will of the Potter with contentment.
This is a delicate balance of belief, faith, hope, trust, acceptance, patience, and contentment. You must maintain each one of these in order to allow the peace of God to rule your heart and mind.
If any one of these gets out of balance due to the thoughts you are having you will lose the peace of God that you were experiencing. This is because Belief and Hope maintain your Faith and Trust.
If you allow yourself to begin to Worry, then the Hope you had in what you sought from God will begin to waver which will directly influence your Faith. This negative influence on your Faith will then begin to destroy your Trust that you had in God, which will then begin to destroy your Belief in what you Hoped for in God.
Fear tells us things like:
I can’t do that. What if I mess up? What if someone sees me mess up?
How can I handle myself if I am made fun of? I don’t understand.
Who do I turn to? Where will I go? How will I get there?
What if I made the wrong choice? Should I rethink what I’ve done?
What should I do?
All of this fear is directly tied to your belief system which is completely controlled by your thoughts!! What are you telling yourself that is provoking this worry and fear? And is it true? Take the time to start analyzing what you are telling yourself that is provoking your fears, doubts, and worries.
What did the Word of God say? Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7) And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind!! (Lk 12:29) Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ!! (1 Peter 1:13) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Cor 10:4-5)
We must learn to bring our thoughts under subjection to the obedience of Jesus Christ!! We must learn to challenge our thoughts and our belief systems and see whether or not they align up with the Word of God!! If they do not, then we need to change our thoughts to that which does align with the Word of God. This changing of your thoughts will also change your feelings because as man thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Pro 23:7a)
Therefore it is of the utmost importance that you focus upon telling yourself what is the truth and not allow yourself to continue to sabotage yourself with thoughts that are not true. Remember to use Philippians 4:8 as a filtering system for your mind and think about whatsoever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and things that are of a good report!!
Is this going to be easy? The answer is no, but Faith says, “I CAN”!!
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