Philippians 4:8: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I love that show What Not to Wear. Clinton and Stacy can take an unsuspecting fashion train wreck and transform her into a fashion triumph. It all begins when they empty all of the trashy, ill fitting, undesirable clothes from her closet. Then Clinton and Stacy give her a credit card and she replaces that trash with treasure. When the makeover is complete, the show ends with the “big reveal” where the former train wreck surprises her family and friends with her transformation. She is confident, joyful and beautiful.
Our minds are similar to those closets. We can’t fill ourselves up with trash, and expect to shine the joyful and beautiful light of Jesus to the world. The mind is the number one target of the enemy. He knows our insecurities, our fears, our weaknesses, and what we long for. Satan is the father of lies and if we let him, he will fill up our minds with deceit. Proverbs 23:7 says: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he…” If our minds are full of pride, or lust, or envy or anger or negativity, it will show in our words and our actions and we will fail to glorify our Lord and Satan has won his battle.
Take inventory of your thoughts. Are justifying a sin in your mind? Do you constantly berate yourself? Are you full of lust or pride? Do you covet or envy? Are your fears of failure or insecurity or pride keeping you from serving the Lord? Ask God to search your heart and reveal any areas where Satan is setting up strongholds. Consider giving up a “guilty pleasure” on TV or the radio and replace it with something that fills you with the spirit of righteousness. Start using the weapons we discussed yesterday (Prayer and the Word of God) to strike down these destructive thoughts. Pray that you will be “transformed by the renewal of your mind so that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). Replace those old thoughts with new thoughts – dress your mind with thoughts that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy and rejoice in the beauty that comes from your transformation!
Today's blog is posted by Bridge member Kelly Coxe
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really enjoy focusing on the power of the mind, and on the fact that control of my thoughts is so very important to my Christian walk, per being in relationship with my actions. Did you know that it would take a hard-drive the size of the Empire Stae Building to store the information existing in just one human mind? The Bible tells me that if I have sinned in my heart, but have not actually carried out the sin(physical sense), I have sinned just the same. WOW!!! Satan's never-ending assault and spiritual warfare must be defeated via aligning my heart and mind with the perfect will of The Lord!! Can I actually accomplish this? It's in the book-->YES I can!
ReplyDelete