Powerful Thoughts


 

Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life

Proverbs 4:23 NCV

Your thoughts run your life. We know this is true because it comes from the sacred word of God, every word of which is truth. But do you agree with it? Do you think it's true for you?

Look closer. You hear a song on the radio. It reminds you a great time you had at the beach when you were a kid. Your mood brightens and you feel a little burst of happiness, maybe even energy. The beach, you think, hm, when was the last time I went to the beach? If it's been longer than you want to think about, your mood starts to shift. Poor you, you haven't been to the beach in far too long. Now how's your mood? Still happy? Still energetic? No. Now you're feeling a little sad. What just happened? Did your life in the moment change? Not at all but your perspective did and you became dissatisfied. Letting go of the joy of the Lord.

All around us there are things vying for our attention, commercials, songs, conversations, memories, to name just a few. If we don't own our thoughts, they will own us. If we don't take those same thoughts and make them captive to God (2 Corinthians 10:5) the enemy will gladly use them to take us captive.

There's a woman who is quite successful. She's confident. She's well liked. She has a full life. Things are going her way. Then one day she hears her husband on the phone. He's saying something negative about her. Maybe it's her weight, the way she cooks or cleans, her new hairstyle, whatever it is, he doesn't like it. Much to her dismay she realizes he's speaking to another woman. Suddenly and drastically her life begins to change. No longer is she confident, which means before long her likeability suffers, her career suffers. Her full life is still full but now it's full of doubt and fear. What if he leaves her? What if he's right about her? Our thoughts are so very powerful.

Not long ago my husband and I spent time with some friends. They're in a far better financial position then we are which gives them far different life experiences from our own. Otto asked me if I was bothered by the discrepancies in our lifestyles. I was quick to assure him that I was not. They have money but they don't know our Savior which to me gives us the better lifestyle.

What if he hadn't asked me? What if he had just let his thoughts take over. He would see me as dissatisfied and himself as unable to provide what I most surely, in his mind, wanted.

Millions of thoughts cross our minds each day and they can make or break us. If we follow the directive of 2 Corinthians 10:5 our hearts and minds will be in much better shape.

The NIV says, Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23 Same verse, different wording. Our hearts, our very lives are at the mercy of our thoughts. Best that we give them over to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Applause, Applause and Protection

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1 Reading some Scripture this morning I was reminded of a message that I watched from Louie Giglio. In it Louie described a child of God leaving her home for the day. He goes on about how the heavenly beings see it. With great excitement, he tells of the joy and applause going on in heaven as the woman gets in the elevator, gets to the parking lot and gets in her car. It’s hilarious and over the top, (remember I did say it was Louie Giglio!) but there’s a great lesson in it. My husband and I were watching a TV show about a fictional former president. At one point the poor man is just over the Secret Service detail. He’s tired of them following him around so he fires them. It takes less than five minutes for him to start to see all that they’ve been doing for...
Read more

My Father Saw That

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me, “for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13 There’s a movie from several years ago that I absolutely love! It’s called “The American President.” The premise is that the president, who is a widower, has begun to date. He’s dating a lovely woman while running for reelection. His opponent is awful. He knows he doesn’t have much of a chance against the popular incumbent so he tries to make a mountain out of the molehill of the standing president’s romance. At one point there is a news clip that shows the woman in a protest during her college days. After the clip plays the opponent refers to the president’s lady friend as “the president’s whore.” She groans and says to the president “My father saw that!” She is devastated, not because what is being said is true but because her father, who she loves and respects, saw the clip and heard those words spoken about her. I thought of ...
Read more

Not Really god, where are you?

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning to noon.”Baal answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said, “Surely he is a god! Perhaps his is deep in thought, or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18:26b-27 Those who know me would be quick to tell you that I am a bit sarcastic. It’s a quality that I have passed on to my children and even some of my grandchildren. Some days I feel a little guilty. Is that really a quality that God wants to see in me? Certainly that cannot be my go to attitude but there are times that it comes in quite nicely. This morning, reading a totally unrelated verse, I was reminded of this account in the first book of Kings. (It begins at verse 16 and continues to the end of the chapter. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t and it if you have reread it. It’s great!) In this p...
Read more