Updated: Sep 26
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NLT
When we talk about a sinful thought life, the reference may be assumed to be about things having to do with murderous thoughts, sexual thoughts, any imagining of sinful behavior.
Now, whereas these types of thoughts (imagining sinful behavior) exist, and must be taken captive (by the word of God) and cast out (by the authority of Jesus Christ), there are also many kinds of sinful thoughts we may not identify as such, yet corrode our relationship with God, as well as negatively impacting our state of being.
We must make sure that our thought life lines up with the word of God and that we entertain only those thoughts that are pleasing in His sight.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 NLT
Paul made clear that thoughts directly affect our spiritual state. Think about it: If we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds (having a mind informed by righteousness), doesn’t it stand to reason that our thoughts can keep us (even as Christians) aligned with the world system?
Friend, if we profess to be following Jesus, shouldn’t our minds, our thoughts, be aimed at that which is eternal (the Kingdom of God)?
“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.”
Colossians 3:1-2 NLT
You may not be able to help what thoughts knock on the door of your mind, but you certainly can refuse to invite them in and give them a place to rest.
Let us again today employ the words of David:
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart [my thoughts] be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 19:14 NLT
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.”
Proverbs 18:21 AMP
Have you ever heard of someone “talking out of both sides of their mouth”? This phrase references someone who says one thing at one time, and the opposite at another time. Often, one side speaks truth, while the other side speaks a lie. Often, one side speaks good of a person, but behind their back, speaks vitriol from the other side.
Now, the worst kind of this both-sides-of-the-mouth behavior is when the word of the Lord is spoken from one side of the mouth; and then what goes directly against His word, is a spoken out of the other side.
Have you ever said things like, “I’ll never get well,” or “They’ll never amount to anything,” or “This always happens to me”? These types of statements directly contradict the word of God and His promises and instruction to us. Like it or not, when we speak things that contradict or distort the word of God, we are doing the devil’s work.
“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”
James 3:7-10 ESV
James points out that our mouth should not be used to spew both bitter and sweet water. And when we do so, we should not expect the Lord‘s word to work for us when we want it to work for us.
Let’s repent today for using our words to annul the effectiveness of the word of God in our own lives, and in the lives of others. Let us pray these words with David:
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 19:14 NLT
Yes and amen!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
“Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.”
Psalm 86:11-12 ESV
Today we repent for any way in which we are looking away from the Lord Jesus Christ at other things. We repent for anything that has co-opted our affection or attention in such a way as to detract or distract from our focus on our precious Lord!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”
Hebrews 12:1-3 NLT
We may consider the great forerunners of our faith, supposing that we could never live our lives for the Lord as they did. But the fact is, they all did what they did by keeping their eyes on the Lord through faith.
“And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.”
James 1:13-15 NLT
James rightly warns against letting fleshly desires cause us to look away from the Lord, therefore straying and falling into temptation.
Make no mistake. Great exploits will never be done by those who allow earthly desires to steer their focus off of the Lord.
David well knew what can happen when one loses focus on the Lord. In our opening scripture we see his beautiful prayer in which he is asking the Lord to unite his heart so that all of his focus would be on Him.
Child of God, let David’s prayer be your own!
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!