Are Thoughts Dragging You Down?
” Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes”.(Eph. 4:23)
*If you have asked Christ to be your Lord and Savior you no longer belong with the crowd. You are your own person; following what God says is right. You have to let go of your old self.
*God’s goal is not for my comfort, but that I would become more like him.
Don’t ever “confront” someone or “take a stand” unless you are a cleansed vessel!
If you’re NOT filled with God’s Life, “self-life” will pour forth from you and make the situation even worse.
* “Now it will come about that instead of [a] sweet smell there shall be [a] stink…”Isaiah 3:24
*We would rather look good than be good because looking good is ultimately more exciting. By “looking” good, we create a world of our own where we are the judge. It separates us from the world we live in and allows us to control our real-life avatar.
A Toxic thought produces toxic emotions— we can control our thinking!
1. Replace negative attitude with positive ones-Cain had a bad attitude. Genesis 4:3-7
2. Replace all evil with good especially in relationships. 1Thess 5:15
3. Replace worry with faith-Matt 6:30
4. Do not get upset when thing don’t go your way.
5. Replace sorrow with joy. Hab. 3:18.
The Holy Spirit has an uncanny ability to communicate to us. The Lord wanted me to know that I am not to worry about someone else. God has called us to a unique life that may look totally different from anyone else’s life. Once we begin to compare ourselves to others, we begin to live for others and ourselves.
So, here are three questions we’d do well to ask ourselves when thoughts are dragging us down.
1. Did someone actually say this or am I assuming they are thinking it?
*If they actually said it, deal with it then. If I’m assuming it, that’s unfair to them and unnecessarily damaging to me. Instead of staying anxious, I need to Seek Truth by seeking God and asking Him for peace.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God”.
2. Have I been actively engaging with truth lately?
*The more we read God’s truths and let truth fill our mind, the less time we’ll spend contemplating untruths.
*Thinking run-away, worrisome thoughts invites anxiety. Thinking thoughts of truth wraps my mind in peace and helps me rise above my circumstances.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”.
3. Are certain situations or friendships feeding my insecurities?
*If so, maybe I need to take a break from these for a season.
*I need to seek friendships that are characterized by truth, honor, and love.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things”.
There is only one audience we should be living for-the audience of One. Ask the Lord today if you are living solely for His pleasure.
“The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith”. (1 Timothy 1:5).
*We have to be watchful of who we let speak into our lives. Since most people lack integrity they will say anything to get what they want.
Just as error can be detected by what it produces, so too can Truth be detected by what it produces.
****You can tell the gospel is having its effect upon you when you are becoming a more compassionate, loving, patient, tenderhearted person and you are reflecting these qualities to people around you.
That is what Jesus said would happen, and that is why His great commandment to us is that we should love one another.
You begin to be a vessel from which flows the love of God. As Paul said in Romans 5: 5 “And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love”.
“God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Love begins to touch you and those all around you. That is the gospel.
If you will cooperate with the work the Lord is doing in you and in His Body, the Lord will bring you into a wide place, and you will be released from restrictions that have kept you from moving freely with the flow of His Spirit. Some of these restrictions have been the result of your interaction with other people, and some restrictions have been of your own making and choices. Now is the time when you can establish yourself in greater freedom than you have ever known.
* John 8:32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Dear Lord, reveal to me untruths throughout my day that can so easily distract and discourage me. Help me see You and Your truth in all I do. You have taught that only Your truth will set me free. Grant to me, Lord, that I may learn more fully to appropriate that new life that is available to me, by which I may become a loving person as Jesus was. “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, OGod. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me! (Psalms 139:16-18). In Jesus Name, Amen.