I get annoyed with two kinds of preaching.
One is prosperity preaching…
The other is “The Power of Positive Thinking”
The scriptures never teach that giving is the only thing a Christian should do. We must have works.
We must be hearers of the Word and Doers of the Word.
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits Matt 7:15
We are commanded over and over to go, and to do.
Not just give.
And our motive for giving should not be -to get.
We give because there is a genuine need.
And we certainly do not give money to buy blessings from God!
Secondly,
Just-think-it-into-existence by powerful positive thinking
is not Biblical either.
I do believe a person can think themselves happy by looking for the good in every thing…no matter their circumstances…
but lets be honest
that can be hard when you’re walking through some fiery trial!
And I don’t believe for a moment that by just thinking positively-
my bills will get paid, I’ll be healed of cancer, or my lost family members will be saved.
Ok.
End of Rant.
Let’s move on.
Let’s talk about this:
“Where the mind goes, the man follows.”
No I am not contradicting my first statements…
bear with me!
It is absolutely amazing how quickly our thoughts
can change our moods.
Negative thinking of any kind quickly
steals our joy and enthusiasm.
God has given us the fruit of self-control for a reason. We do not have to follow our thoughts but
we can be intentional “in our thinking!”
God makes it clear in His Word that thinking
is directly connected to quality of life.
We do not have to meditate on everything that pops into our minds;we actually have the power to choose what we want to think about.
Learning to “think great thoughts” ON PURPOSE
is the key to a great life!
To really have a great life, one has to have purpose.
They need to feel needed.
They need to love and to feel love in return.
They must know some measure of joy, peace, contentment, and have a right standing with God.
But that alone, will not change some circumstances.
It will however help you deal better WITH the circumstances.
A lot of people the “world” would deem having a great life, are actually miserable people.
Attractiveness, athletic success, wealth, fame, popularity…do not automatically constitute a great life.
Most of these people can still be quite miserable if they have not trained their minds to think on good things.
Colossians 3
1IF THEN you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, thus sharing His resurrection from the dead], aim at and seek [the rich, eternal treasures] that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.
To set your mind means to make up your mind firmly!
To set your mind is to determine decisively what you will think, what you will believe, and what you will or will not do– to set it in such a way that you cannot be easily swayed or persuaded otherwise.
Concrete is a powerful material. You can actually move wet concrete with relative ease- but only when it’s wet.
Once concrete becomes dry- it won’t budge!
Once you set your mind according to the truth of God’s principles for a good life, you need to keep it set and not allow outside forces to reshape your thinking.
ROMANS 4:18-21 (CEV)
18 God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations. 19 Abraham’s faith never became weak, not even when he was nearly a hundred years old. He knew that he was almost dead and that his wife Sarah could not have children. 20But Abraham never doubted or questioned God’s promise. His faith made him strong,
and he gave all the credit to God.
21 Abraham was certain that God could do what he had promised
One BIG reason to set your mind and keep it set is that there’s really not much hope of being able to resist temptation if you don’t make up your mind ahead of time concerning what you will do if you are tempted.
When a person goes on a diet, they must apply this principle of “setting their mind and keeping it set.” In order to be successful.
You can easily commit to a diet after a big Sunday dinner but the real test of your “setting you mind” comes on Monday afternoon when you are feeling hungry.
People who have their minds set will stick with their decision in order to get the result they want!
This same principle can be applied to many areas:
Exercise, getting out of debt, staying pure till marriage, finishing college, applying yourself to learn something new…
Some people cannot be victorious in Christ because they simply can’t “Make up their mind!”
They start living for God, then they quit because they lack that “made up mind”
To set one’s mind takes the effort of thinking right thoughts over and over and over- till it sets!
Nothing in this Christian life will hinder us as badly as
a bad attitude or mind set!
It’s our carnal nature to think negatively, but if we are gonna walk in the spirit with a “set” mind we have to re-train our thoughts.
With practice, you can train your mind to reject thoughts that make you feel uncomfortable.
Keeping a right mind set is a whole lot easier
than re-setting a mind-set!
Deut 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
That’s a mind set!
Isaiah wrote: Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. (Is 50:8) a flint was a very hard stone
A positive mind-set gives you power over how you deal with your circumstances instead of allowing your circumstances to have authority over you:
Say this out loud:
THIS WILL WORK OUT!
GOD HAS NOT FORSAKEN ME IN THIS TEST!
I’M GONNA GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS!
I WILL GET ON MY KNEES AND
SEEK GOD FOR THE ANSWER!
THERE’S NO TURNING AROUND…Because
THAT’S NOT AN OPTION!
That is positive powerful spoken faith!
You can get up from that kind of a prayer meeting and still face your problem but you will face it with determination to get through no matter what!
Paul said, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course,
I have kept the faith:
David said, I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes
Joshua said, as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
They all set their minds to not change
no matter what!
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to king, Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods,nor worship the golden image
which thou hast set up.
But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the
wine which he drank
David wrote, The Lord is on my side;
I will NOT fear What can man do to me?
Timothy wrote: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind!
Make up your mind Friend!
You are going to make it to the end of this thing~
No matter what!