Guarding Your Thoughts – Part 1: Day 6

Guarding Your Thoughts – Part 1:

Today, most of us are very conscious about our health and body. We take care what to eat and when to eat. When it comes to what we are feeding our mind, we don’t care much about it. The way that we think can either be beneficial on our walk with Christ or it can become an extreme hindrance. Not only will it hinder how we live our lives, but it will also alter our view of God. Positive thinking has many benefits including increased confidence, lower stress levels, better coping skills. Our Lord knows how we are feeling and what we are thinking. You don’t need to hide your struggles in this area. Instead, bring this to the Lord. Pray that He allows you to see things that are affecting your thought life in a negative way and pray to be more positive in your thought life. The mind/body connection is extremely strong. Your thoughts can affect any physical pain that you have in your life. Some people get severe panic attacks and blood pressure spikes that is initiated solely by their thoughts. Thus the cycle, you think > you feel > you do. The way that we think will affect how we react to bad news and disappointments. In trials our thinking can lead to depression or it can lead to us joyfully praising the Lord. We have to make a practice of renewing our minds. As believers, we should be reminding ourselves daily of who we are in Christ. We should remind ourselves of how much He loves us. We are told to speak kind words to others, but for some reason we have trouble speaking kind words to ourselves. “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” John 15:16 (NKJV).

Look around you. Whatever you are watching and whatever you are hearing is your food for your mind. Whatever you feed it today will affect your tomorrow. The more that you associate yourself with positivity the more positive that you become. If you speak something to yourself enough times, you will eventually believe it. If you are speaking death into your life, you will become more and more pessimistic. Eventually you will feel that you are the negative words that you are speaking to yourself. If you speak positivity in your life you will grow into being a positive person. Studies have shown that people who stop negative self-talk also notice reduced stress levels. Make a practice of speaking encouraging words to yourself and I guarantee that you will notice a difference in your mood. The great thing about making this a practice is that others will begin to notice. It will become contagious and others around you will become more positive as well. If you are in need of more beauty and a reminder or encouragement of just how wildly loved you are by the Father, now is the time to embrace who you are created to be in Him. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV).

If your thoughts are pure, your intentions will be pure, and so your actions. If you are feeding negativity inside your mind, it will come out with every activity, eventually. Start identifying all of the negativity in your thought life. Now that you identified the negativity it’s now time to fight against it. Whether you are struggling with self-criticism, lust, or pessimism, cast all those negative thoughts down. Don’t dwell on them. Change the scenery in your mind. Make a habit of dwelling on Christ and His Word. This might seem like stuff that you have already heard before. However, it works and it’s practical. You have to set up a healthy environment in your mind if you want to produce fruits of positivity. “Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power” ~ Shirley MacLaine. If you catch yourself criticizing yourself, then stop and say something positive about yourself using God’s Word. Take every thought captive and always remember this truth. You are who God says you are. He says you are redeemed, loved, fearfully and wonderfully made, chosen, a light, a new creation, a royal priesthood, a people for His own possession. Don't Invest time with negative people. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV).