Have you ever taken a survey on what you are thinking all day long? I have and believe you me; I came to realize why I am unproductive in many areas of my life.
We do not realize what we allow to go into to our brain everyday through TV and the Internet; not including negative associations and offenses we accumulated through the years at family, friends, and fellow workers, and maybe even at God. We allow these thoughts to keep twirling in our heads like one of those songs that you dread hearing because you can’t get rid of it. You know what I am talking about, that one little ditty that just drives you crazy. I think, much like you, we do not realize the problems or the damage these thoughts build into our minds every day. Have you ever taken into account that we place demands on ourselves to keep our houses, cars, and offices cleaned and organized. And not only that, we will get up and dress our bodies pristinely and make sure there is not a hair on our heads out of place; but when it comes to our minds, we allow them to be a dumping grounds for all kinds of trash.
What do you think? Is this not true?
Today people say we are living in different times. We can do whatever makes us feel good, or we are our own keepers. If that is so, are you happy with the results? Let me ask you this, is what you are allowing and doing producing peace, and a tranquil environment in your life and your family’s lives? Or are you spending most of that feel good time crying because your kids are on drugs and running the house? If so, then why do you think they are doing that? Aren’t they just following your standards and doing what makes them feel good? You see what I mean, or are you one of those hypocrites that say, “Do as I say, but don’t do as I do?” This is what the Sadducees and Pharisees were doing in Jesus’ day. Jesus told the disciples to follow the instruction given from the word, but not to follow them or their example. They were putting so many man made laws and restrictions on the people they couldn’t breathe, much like today. The regulations and the restrictions that our own governments send down to us, believe me, just like the Pharisee and the Sadducees, they have no intentions of following them. It is just a way to control us, because for the most part we are a people governed by laws.
We will never win following that kind of standard, especially as Christians. We’ve got to start ordering our lives according to the Word of God. You say, “I do not know where to start.” Well, I don’t know about you, but I found that I had to start with myself. I cannot ask someone to do something I am not doing first. I must get my thoughts on the right thing. Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a person thinketh in his heart, so is he.” We have to check up on our own thinking and get on the right track.
You see, what we keep allowing in our thoughts paints an image in our minds; and, good or bad, it affects our spirits. I don’t think any of us have truly learned to train our own human spirits through the Word of God. You see in Philippians 4:8, it says, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, and whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of a good report; and there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
Every successful person that has really done anything great in the Lord has had to lay aside quality time to meditate on God’s Word. If you would just lay aside as little as half-an-hour each day to meditate on the Word and prayer, it would make a huge difference in your life. I guarantee if you spend some time with God it won’t be long until you are moving your schedule around to make more time. You will start feeling a peace in your life that you haven’t felt for a long time; believe you me, there is no money that can buy that kind of peace. That is what the Lord meant in Proverbs 23:23 when He said, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” You will notice as you begin to seek God that, through that peace, you will begin to have an understanding of where you disconnected, and why you and your family have fallen apart; and this will bring correction to your life. Let us, before we move on in this subject, go back and spend some time on the statement I made about the power of thoughts that can paint images in our mind.
You do know that what you spend your time thinking about is what your actions will line up to? For instance, when you were a child, let’s say you are a male child, you kept saying over and over to your mom and dad, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a fireman.” Now, unless his life is interrupted by a life of drugs, or an untimely death, and he keeps saying this, this will paint an image on the inside of him; he will become that very thing. I know that if you that are parents would take just a moment to reflect back on the lives of your children that said similar things, you would be able to follow the pattern that led up to their success in becoming what he or she confessed. This young child’s life probably went something like this.
First off, he wanted mom or dad to buy him anything that pertained to a fireman, a truck with all the bells and whistles and ladders. Then, he wanted the hat and the fireman’s badge; and every time he heard a fireman’s loud horn go off, he would run and get his hat on and pretend he was putting out a fire.
Secondly, as he grew up and progressed on in his schooling, from time to time when you or your husband inquired about what he was going to do, his answer was always, “I am going to be a fireman and save lives.”
We need to realize, what we spend our time on is what we will become. I heard an evangelist say years ago something that has stuck with me throughout my life. He said “What you spend your time thinking and doing today is what you will become tomorrow.” How true that statement is, and the Holy Spirit has brought this back to my remembrance many times when I hit an impasse, or when I am just being lazy. Because when I start reflecting on the things that have or have not transpired in my life, I can pinpoint the time almost down to the minute when I stopped believing in myself, my dream, and the effectiveness of God’s Word; and I can also pinpoint the failures that happened because of it. We must come to grips with the fact that thinking on the wrong things or thinking on the right things is like planting seeds in our lives. We must also realize that when we spend time thinking on any one thing over a period of time, this is a form of meditating. Meditating in turn paints images which causes us to in-vision ourselves doing those very things. And when we believe something so strongly, we have a tendency of repeating it over and over again, just like the male child that wanted to become a fireman. Jesus declared: if you believe in your heart and doubt not, and keep saying it with your mouth, you shall have what you say. (Mark 11:23-24) This is a spiritual pattern that if followed, is fail proof. But at the same time, you can meditate on the negative, and it also will bring results and is fail proof.
I will continue talking about this subject, and please feel free to comment on what I have written. I appreciate your feedback.
Hey this was a good article. It is such a good thing to do thought reflection. And reflecting on the good things of God is the best. Keep writing, we all need to think more on these things. Awesome!