WHERE IS YOUR THINKING LEADING YOU?

It was William James who said;

Man can alter his life by altering his thinking."

Now Mr. James may think he had discovered

something new but back before Mr. James was

born, before you were born or even before I was 

born - in fact about 930 years before Jesus Christ

was born, king Solomon said it this way;

"Be careful how you think;

your life is shaped by your thoughts."    

(Proverbs 4:23 GNT)

[I know.  Other versions say it differently.

But this is what it means.]

You and I both know that at times the things we

have been thinking about has gotten us into 

trouble.

The Apostle Paul puts it this way;

"Those who are dominated by the sinful nature

think about sinful things, but those who

are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about

things that please the Spirit.  So letting your

sinful nature control your mind leads to death.

But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to

life and peace."  

(Romans 8:5,6 NLT)

Latter he says;

"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)

For a true Christian Paul continues;

"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, for you died

to this life, and your real life is hidden with

Christ in God."  

(Colossians 3:1 - 3 NLT)

I know professed Christians who seemingly can

only think about the things of this life, even at

Church.  Christ himself tells us that "out of the

abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  Frankly,

I fear for such people.  Their mind seems to be 

constantly on the affairs of this life.  Does Christ 

whom they profess to serve even have any part

in their life?

"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."  

(Philippians 4:8 NLT)

I do not know about you.  But when I fail to 

do this and allow my mind to wonder where 

it should not, is when I get into trouble with

God.

"Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the LORD!"  (Psalms 150:6 NLT)

That even got this ape to thinking.

REJOICE

"Whatever happens, my dear brothers and 

sisters, rejoice in the Lord.  I never get tired

of telling you these things, and I do it to 

safeguard your faith."  

(Philippians 3:1 NLT)

In my browsing around in the book of Philippians

I almost pasted over this verse because the same 

thought - rejoice - is again brought out in chapter

four and verse four.  Then a truth caught my attention;

rejoice "... to safeguard your faith."

I do not know what all benefits there are to rejoicing.

But we are told by the prophet Nehemiah;

"... for the joy of the LORD is your strength!"  

(Nehemiah 8:10 NLT)

However another fact occurred to me.  I was not

rejoicing, being glad, or happy in the Lord at the

time because;

I knew for a couple of days I was not living and

acting the way God wanted me to and my conscious 

was bothering me.

I had to conclude that if I am not rejoicing in the

Lord, something is wrong with me and I need to

straighten up.  That is a safeguard in it's self.

The Bible is full of the word rejoice or rejoicing.

It will vary from one version to another because

sometimes they use the word "rejoice / rejoicing"

or, "happy" or "glad" etc.  But in one version of 

the Bible in Paul's writings alone he uses the word

20 times.  An in the New Testament it is used 43

times, and in the Psalms it is used 54 times, so,

rejoicing must be important in God's sight.

"Always be joyful."  

(1 Thessalonians 5:16 NLT)

When I consider all that God has done for me through

the death of Jesus Christ in my place - how can I help

but rejoice - even if things are not going the way I want

at the time.

  

"So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you

who obey him!

Shout for joy, all you whose hearts

are pure."     

(Psalms 32:11 NLT)

"This is the day the LORD has made.

we will rejoice and be glad in it." 

(Psalms 118:24 NLT)

ME OR JESUS

Still browsing around in the book of Philippians

we find this sad comment.

"I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely

cares about your welfare.  All the others care

only for themselves and not for what matters

to Jesus Christ."  

(Philippians 2:20,21 NLT)

Paul of course is writing from prison in Rome

at this point.  You will remember that there is a 

church or group of Christians in Rome and they

have been encouraged in their living for God by 

Paul's presence there in prison.  And it seems that

there are some companions along with Paul.

But,

out of all of these there is only one person who

cares enough about other Christians to go check

on them for Paul.  The others were all too selfish

in their affairs to worry about the work of Jesus

Christ.

When asked about the greatest commandment

Jesus himself stated;

"You must love the LORD your God with all

your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

A second is equally important: 'Love your

neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all

the demands of the prophets are based on

these two commandments.'".  

(Matthew 22:37 - 40 NLT)

Now caring only about your own interest is 

not loving your neighbor as yourself.

God allows us to make the choice,

am I going to be interested in the things

that concern me and mine or the things

that are of concern to Jesus Christ.