Fix your thoughts on what is true …

Our thought life is extremely vital to our spiritual well-being. Bible says, "As a man thinks, so is he." how we can guard our mind? We must master it. You’ve heard: Sow a thought, reap an act; Sow an act; reap a habit; Sow a habit; reap a character; Sow a character; reap a destiny.” Galatians 6:7 agrees. “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant...” Our mind is the master builder and that which we think upon may become misery or miracles. Therefore “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”(Proverbs 4:23 GNT) Everything we perceive in the physical world has its origin in the invisible, inner world of our thoughts and beliefs. Our thoughts determine our destiny.  To become the master of our destiny, we must learn to control the nature of our dominant, habitual thoughts.

Minds are really an amazing creation. Our brain contains over 100 billion nerve cells. Each individual cell is connected with 10 thousand other neurons. Research indicates that most people speak at a rate of 150 to 200 words per minute, but the internal dialogue that you carry on with yourself (self-talk) you do at a rate of 1300 words per minute. The problem is, in all that self-talk, a lot of people are Negative. Whatever your circumstance today – rich or poor, success or a failure, happy or sad – is nothing but the product of your thoughts. The conscious human mind is capable of great good and equally extraordinary evil. Study reveals that we have between 40,000-60,000 thoughts every day and most of the time (85%) they are negative…

God destroyed an entire civilization because of their thought life. “Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Wickedness springs from our thought life. A generation was eradicated because of its thought life. One of the most important steps we can take toward achieving our greatest potential in life is to learn to monitor our thoughts and its impact on our attitude.

How can we gain control of our thoughts?

First, you must be born-again to have a converted, regenerate and renewed mind. Just as a computer file might be corrupt and only print out gibberish, an unregenerate mind corrupts our thought life (2 Cor. 4:3-6) and wars against God (Romans 8:6-7).When we are born again, we are born to win- 2 Corinthians 2:14- God desires to transform us and upgrade us into who we are In Him. “But God, who “…commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6) We who are saved can now have a new mind, the mind of Christ.

Second, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Your heart is the center of your thought life and the seat of your emotions. You cannot master your thought life separately from your heart. If someone feeds his mind with negative thoughts of worries, fear, anxiety and confusion, his life becomes one of frustration, fear anxiety and worry. On the other hand, if another person feeds his mind with positive thoughts of a better tomorrow, good and worthwhile goals and work towards them, it will become a reality, because that is what he thinks about. If you keep feeding your mind with negative thoughts, you achieve negative results. To get what you want, change who you are by simply changing the way you think. In a very simple manner, you are a product of your thoughts. You become what you think about and God changes us by changing our minds.(Ephesians 4:23)

Third, how do you eliminate negative thoughts so you can become a refine person? It is the principle of replacement: Bible says. “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right … Think about all you can thank God for and be glad about” (Philippians 4:8 TLB). As your thinking changes, your feelings, decisions, actions and attitude will change and conform to the mind of Christ. Your thoughts shape who you are, but you can change the way you think. Therefore, if you are not satisfied with your present circumstance in life and you want to change it, you need to change your thoughts. Think and act like the person you want to become. Before you can do something, you first must be something.

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. You become valuable when you value what God value. Transformation comes when we allow God’s Word to change our thinking. People do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. To attract good people, you must be good. To attract godly people, you must be godly. Instead of going to work on them, you go to work on yourself. Your circumstances may be out of your control, but God is in control of everything. Instead of my problems, I will focus on God. God communicates to us through our minds. (Ephesians 4:17-18)

Fourth, love the Lord with single-minded sincerity. He must be number one in your life. Romans 12:2 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.”(NLT) Renewing the mind is not just an academic exercise. Renewing the mind means to work on becoming Christ like. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. (Hebrews 12:2). Romans 6:4 says “We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”We have the power to transform our lives. Williams James said, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitude of mind.”Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude. Neither success nor failure is final. The way your mind is programmed determines your mindset. Your mindset determines your character that has overwhelming impact on your attitudes.

Fifth, prepare yourself for spiritual warfare- Not a war of the flesh, but a battle for control of your mind (see 2 Corinthians 10: 3-4). God and Satan are in a battle, and the battleground is our mind-(see 1 Corinthians 10:3-5)- Our flesh does not have what it takes to have the right thought process. (see 2 Corinthians 10:3) We do not fight the flesh because our enemy is not flesh. (see Ephesians 6:10-13) Satan wants to control your mind and thoughts, because we act upon what we believe. He uses your mind as a battlefield. People around you also can influence your beliefs and philosophy, so spend most of your time with those who share Godly values. Associate with people who are righteous, and wiser than you are. Their influence should drag you up instead of tear you down. They should motivate you to leave your comfort zone and pursue your ideal self. Do not use convenience as an excuse to rob yourself of superior associations. If your location limits your options, seek God’s guidance.

What you choose to believe, you will do. You do not act upon things you do not believe but upon what you do believe. However, Paul says we can take back the strongholds Satan has established. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” Our weapons are the Word of God, prayer, repentance, the blood of Christ, the authority we have in Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who indwells us. Use your weapons. Take back conquered ground. Legally you can move Satan out with the authority of Jesus Christ and the Word of God. Tell him, “In the name of Jesus Christ, by the authority of the Word of God, God has forgiven me, and you have no authority. You are trespassing, and in the name of Jesus, be gone.”

Then focus upon Him with a single-minded focus. Submit yourself to God. Recognize the satanic strongholds in your life. Screen your thoughts; take every thought captive. or that thought is going to take you captive. No one can think two things at one time. If you are thinking what is right, you cannot be thinking what is wrong. Refuse to let it into your mind. Bring your mind back to Jesus Christ and enthrone Him. Take up the weapons God has given you. You may think this is just positive thinking or sanctified psychology but it is the Word of God. Then you can say with the apostle Paul, “We have the mind of Christ. "Do you have some stronghold-demolishing work to do? Take up that battering ram of the Word of God. You cannot do it in your own strength. Submit, call upon Him, and get to it."If you are operating by sight, you see the calamity and complexity all around you. Sight without vision is dangerous because it has no hope. Sight is the ability to see things as they are, and vision is the ability to see things as they could be. Life is so full of depressing things that you need to learn to live by vision and see with the eyes of Faith. -

- Bishop Lalachan Abraham - Bihar India