Rest on Us ~ Harvest
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
The other day, during my dental cleaning, Elizabeth stood
right over me. She asked the hygienist tons of questions about what was going
on and the tools that were being used. Elizabeth said, “I just want to know.”
There are times we all “just want to know.” God isn’t
bothered by our questions, but He is concerned about the direction our thoughts
can take us, if we’re not careful. In Battlefield of the Mind, Joyce
Meyer said, “You need to think about what you’re thinking about.” Philippians
4:8 gives us 8 focal points for our thoughts: things that are true, honorable,
right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise.
When we don’t pay attention to our thoughts, they can wander
and tend to settle into negative patterns which are in opposition to
Philippians 4:8. Instead of the truth, we begin to dwell on all the things
that could go wrong. Instead of what’s honorable, we begin to question
the character and decision-making skills of the person who “did this to us.”
Instead of praising God for all He has done and will do, we begin
to doubt His faithfulness. Your thoughts are the doorway to victory or defeat.
You get to decide which path you take. In her book, Switch on Your Brain,
Dr. Caroline Leaf said, “As we think, we change the physical nature of our
brain. As we consciously direct our thinking, we can wire out toxic patterns of
thinking and replace them with healthy thoughts.”
God has given us the power to choose “life and death,
blessing and cursing,” (Deuteronomy 30:19). We give power to what we practice.
It takes both effort and time to change a pattern. But when you choose life,
the effort will definitely be worth your time! Therefore, choose life, that
both you and your descendants may live.
©Heather Potts 2020
