What Are You Thinking?!

Sigh.  I need to be rescued today.  My heart needs to be rescued today.

Do you ever need that?  Just need to be rescued from yourself?  From reality?

One of my most favorite things about God is He rescues me over and over and never seems to get tired of it.  He’s happy to do it- He’s just waiting for me to call out to Him.

Right now I’m in the throes of spiritual warfare because of something I’ve been called to do.  I’ve dealt with more warfare than I think I’ve ever experienced before.

 

Several months ago, the Lord told me that He was taking me to a new level of warfare.  He wasn’t kidding.  It’s just coming from every side right now, or at least it feels that way.  However, He never fails to meet me right where I’m at and equip me and strengthen me to fulfill His commissioning.  He’s always ready to give me exactly what I need, right when I need it.  I’ve experienced some of the most precious and beautiful moments with the Lord throughout this last few months that I wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.  He’s revealed Himself to me in ways that just blow my mind.  I don’t always like where I’m at right now, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.  He’s constantly taking me deeper into His love for me and my faith grows with every new circumstance.

 I spend a great deal of time in the presence of the Lord.  More than I think I ever have.  I have to- it’s the only way I can ‘do’ my life right now.  I love that time with Him and it’s not something that I take for granted.  So much is made right in His presence.  It’s where I find wholeness, peace, joy, healing, and restoration.  I’ve spent more time in the Word than ever- I can’t get enough of it; but the words that I cherish the most and get the most nourishment from, are the ones He speaks directly to my heart.

Lately- He’s been pointing me more and more to Philippians 4:8.  Because so much of the warfare I’m undergoing takes place in my mind, my thoughts are constantly bombarded with, ‘what-if’s, maybe I should’s, maybe I shouldn’t have’s, I wish I could’s.’

That is not the mind of Christ.  Those are not the thoughts that He thinks towards me, and that’s not how He instructs me to think.

2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every rebellious thought captive.  That means that whatever doesn’t agree with God is rebellious- we’re to take it captive (stop thinking it) and change the way we’re thinking. 

We need to change our perspective and make it agree with God’s perspective.

Romans 12:12 tells us to not behave like the world, but be transformed by God and let Him change the way we think.

We can’t do this without submitting to His will, His ways, His thoughts, and His love.

More often than not, I realize that when I need to be rescued, I actually need my mind to be renewed.  I need to change the way I think and take captive and get rid of the thoughts that I allow to penetrate my mind.

God knew this would be difficult for humanity to do- He knew specifically, I would struggle with this.

As I keep running across Philippians 4:8, I realized it offers us a challenge: to ‘fix’ (set firm) our thoughts on certain things.
People, this is becoming an everyday exercise for me.

I go through the list:

What is true (God’s truth, not the world's)?

What is honorable?

What is right?

What is pure?

What is lovely?

What is admirable?

What is excellent?

What is worthy of praise?

 I find myself hiding posts on Facebook because I don’t want to see things that are going to pull my thoughts away from what God says.  I want to agree with God, in all circumstances. 

Unfortunately, too often I’m hiding things other Christians are posting.  A good example is fear.  Social media is driven by fear and it’s a tremendous trap believers fall into.  Fear of your food (everything in your food is going to kill you apparently), constant fear for your children’s health, fear of your home falling into a lake, fear, fear, and more fear. 

The enemy is the one speaking fear, because fear kills faith.  We’ve become so accustomed to it that we don’t even notice that’s what we’re feeding our minds. 
God says that we do not have a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a SOUND MIND. (2 Timothy 1:7)

More and more people are finding themselves in a place of oppression and depression and I have no doubt that letting our thoughts rule us instead of the other way around is a huge factor in that equation. (Did I really just make a math reference there?)
Now, don’t misunderstand me, I’ve dealt with depression for years, I understand there is a chemical factor, but I know that on really down days, if I put forth the effort to change my perspective- the way I’m thinking, and come into agreement with what God says, something definitely changes for the better.

 So- I’m extending this challenge to all of you- put more effort into what you allow to bombard your mind.  Especially when you’re having a down day and need to be rescued, or you just need a mental break, try it.

Come up with answers to the aforementioned (fancy, right?) questions.  Line up with what God says.  If you’re feeling fearful- remember that you are free from fear and you have power over fear (2 Timothy 1:7).

If you’re feeling anxious- remember that God says He’s got your back, He, Himself fights for you (Exodus 14:14).

If you feel like you’re going to be on the news (this happens to me a lot) – remember that no weapon formed against you will defeat you (Isaiah 54:17).

The most important thought I keep at the forefront of my mind: 

The enemy DOES NOT WIN.

Regardless of my circumstances, he’s already lost.

Now go, do, and be blessed!

 

Philippians 4:8 (NLT)

^“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.”

 

Blessin’s Y’all!

Pamela

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I can be reached at: Pamela@ACreativeWord.com