For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:..-Proverbs 23:7 (KJV)

More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.-Proverbs 4:23

To put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.-Ephesians 4:22-24

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will.-Romans 12:2

Joy Comes in the Morning

 Another long, cold, dark night
And my heart is unforgiving.
My eyes search the skies for light
As I pray without thanksgiving.
When I see the sun begin its rise
Relief comes with its warming.
I release all anger with a sigh,
As joy comes in the morning.

The nighttime howls with loneliness
As I pace my barren room.
My mind is torn by faithlessness
For I anticipate my doom.
But as the sun rises to end the night,
I release fear and anger storming.
The night is host to pain and blight
But joy comes in the morning.

As the sun begins its steady fall
And the sky begins to darken,
I hear a bleak familiar call
But I decide I will not harken.
For my soul is aching to explore
A new paradigm I feel forming;
That joy is my full birthright
And not only for the morning.
©Linda Troxell 02/16/2017

 

I am sure we all remember the old saying, you are what you eat. And many of us, I am sure, have heard the saying that you are what you think. Well, I am going to take this one step further and tell you that you are what you think and so is your world. That may sound radical but there is scripture to back it up.  Consider Proverbs 23:7, As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Clearly, this says our thoughts shape who we are; they create our character. It is not a big leap in logic from understanding that our thoughts shape our character, to understating that our thoughts create our reality. Basically, it comes down to this, what we think is what we get; whether character or reality, we shape it, indeed, we create it with our thoughts.

The entire chapter of Proverbs 4 is a parent’s instruction to his child about this very topic. I do recommend that you read the whole chapter for yourself, but for our purposes here, I want to focus on verse 23 which tells us: More than anything guard your mind, for life flows from it. That is pretty clear language telling us that our thoughts are responsible for our life. In 2 Corinthians Paul suggests the same thing when in 10:3 he warns us that though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. He tells us, in speaking about our war against the enemy, that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God, to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Once again, we are being told that it is thoughts that are powerful and creative and therefore, we need our thoughts to be in obedience to the word of God.

Now while the idea that we create ourselves and our lives with our thoughts may be a shocking idea, it is good news. If we can, by our thoughts, create our character, indeed, create who we are, as well as our reality, then to change ourselves and our world we simply have to change our thoughts. Isn’t that exciting? Who would have ever thought that change would be so simple?  However, while it is simple, it is a far cry from being easy.

Changing our thoughts, which are all but automatic from a lifetime of repetition, without help would be a daunting task. Fortunately, we don’t have to do it by ourselves. God wants us to change; to pattern ourselves after his son. Therefore, He has provided us with the means to change.  In Ephesians chapter 4:22-24 we are told that we are to put off our old self and be made new in the spirit of our minds so that we can put on the new man, who was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Notice that, according to this passage, we can only put on the new man after we have changed or been renewed in our minds. In other words, after we have changed our thinking. Notice also that part of this new man that we put on is the ability to see ourselves and our world through the eyes of our creator.

God cherishes all of his children. He sees them as, if not perfect, at least blameless and redeemed. So, if we are now, after having been renewed in our minds, able to think of ourselves the same way as God does, and, if our thoughts create who we are, then we can become blameless and redeemed. The same is true for our world. God does not see the world as a bleak, hopeless and a difficult place in which to live because He didn’t create it that way. He created this world to be paradise and that is the way He still sees it. So, if we, as this new man, could begin to think of the world as God does, soon we would create a paradise here on earth.

In Romans 12:2, Paul warns us not to conform to the pattern of the natural world, but be transformed by renewing our minds. Later, in Philippians 4 verses 6-7 he gives us means by which we can protect ourselves from being conformed to the natural world and it is through our thinking. Paul tells us to not be anxious but through faithful and thankful prayer ask our Heavenly Father for what we need. If we do this, Paul tells us, we will not only have the peace that comes from God, but that peace will guard our hearts and minds [against the natural world]. In verse 8, he goes on to tell us that we should meditate, or think about, only things of virtue and that are praiseworthy. These, then are the things that will help us to change our thoughts and ultimately change our reality.

There are many places in the Bible where we can find the concept, that changing our thoughts will change our reality. There is Proverbs 3:5-7 which tells us not to lean on our own understanding, nor be too wise in our eyes; Colossians 3:2 tells us to keep our minds on things above and not on things on the earth. But in the Gospels, we find an explosive idea in the story of Adultery in the Heart. In this story, Jesus says that whoever looks at a woman in lust, (thinks about adultery) has already committed adultery in his heart. This story speaks to the fact that not only can thoughts change who we are and influence our reality, but they are equivalent to action in their ability to change reality.

However, there is one Gospel story which I think illustrates, better than any others, the concept of as you think so, quite literally, is your reality. In Matthew 14:22-36, Mark 6:45-66 and John 6:16-24 we are told the story of Jesus alone on a hill praying as his disciples were on a boat in the middle of the sea. A storm came up and the disciples’ boat was being tossed in the waves of the stormy sea. So Jesus walked out onto the water to help them. When the disciples saw Him, walking on the water, they were frightened thinking he was a ghost or spirit. Jesus told them not to be afraid, but Peter decided to test him and said to him, “Master, if it is really you, command me to walk on the water.”

Peter believed that, only through the power of his Master, could he walk on the water. Jesus called Peter to come to him, and because Peter trusted Jesus, he didn’t question his ability to walk on water. So, without hesitation, he walked out on the sea. Peter was walking on water, just like the Son of God. However, Peter suddenly thought, “What am I thinking, I can’t walk on water?” and he became afraid. When he became afraid He quit believing, (thinking) he could walk on water and he sank into the water.

This story perfectly illustrates the creative power of our thoughts. When Peter thought and believed he could walk on water, he could. But the instant he changed his thoughts from “I am able to walk on water” to, “I cannot walk on water” he began to sink. This story is a perfect example of the power our thoughts have to create our reality.

As much as that story illustrates the power and creativity of our thoughts, in this article we are not primarily speaking of temporary or passing thoughts, although they too have power.  No, we are talking here about deliberate and automatic thoughts that become beliefs. We are talking about thoughts that build our faith until we are sure in our hearts and minds. We are talking about a process of thoughts that become belief, and beliefs that become faith. Because that is how it works. Much of the message of the Gospels is about thinking which becomes believing which builds faith.  One of the major lessons of the New Testament is the power of belief, which is the power of faith.

But belief and faith do not just happen to us. We don’t wake up one morning with a new belief. Nor do we wake up one morning with faith. No, what we believe comes from many, many years of thoughts, one after the other reinforcing one another. For, example, we don’t wake up one day believing we are ugly, or beautiful, for that matter. Our beliefs about our looks came from years of messages we have received from our parents, from our friends, from our culture and ultimately from ourselves. Messages from outside, which became messages, (thoughts) on our inside, which in turn become our beliefs. Every thought we have either reinforces a belief we have or is a brick in the building of a new belief. That is why it is so important that we do not allow ourselves to entertain negative thoughts. Every thought is one more brick in building a belief; a belief that will create our reality.

Ultimately, belief and faith are choices we make. We need to make a choice about what we want our life to be and then we need to begin thinking the thoughts that will build that life. And God’s word can help us. We can begin this process by creating a new habit of confessing the word of God, out loud, every day; that is a thought. We can add to that praying to God, asking for his help in creating our new belief and faith; that is a thought. We can write affirmations, in the present tense, and then speak them out loud; that is a thought. We can strengthen this plan by deliberately thinking these thoughts with which we are building our new belief as often as we can remember to. We can help it come to mind by printing affirmations and putting them where we will often see them throughout our day; the bathroom mirror, the refrigerator or the visor in our car. Each time we do one of these things we are adding a brick to the building of our new belief.

But, in paying so much attention to our new thoughts, we must be vigilant of negative thoughts which are the enemy of our new thoughts. When we become aware of a negative thought or thoughts that contradict the word of God, we must, immediately, deny it out loud and replace it with a positive thought, using an affirmation. It is important for all affirmations to be in the present tense because in affirmations we are not asking for something, we are affirming that we already have it. God often spoke of what was not as if it was. This is how He created the world. If it was good enough for God to use in creating the world’s reality, it is certainly good enough for us to use in creating our reality! is it not?

 

Points for Prayer and Pondering

1. I am familiar with many Christians who, although they love God with all of their hearts, do not seem to have much happiness or joy in their lives. Usually, lack of joy or happiness indicates that one has some negative thoughts or behaviors in one’s life. What are 3 things that can keep us from having joy or happiness in our lives? Look up a Bible verse to support each of your answers.

 

2. Each of us tends to have one or more negative thoughts that are particularly difficult for us to eliminate. Write down several of your most difficult and entrenched negative thoughts. Write a positive affirmation for each of them in the present tense. You can choose to include a scripture or not.

 

3. In the above Poem, Joy Comes in the Morning, the first two sections contain several different negative thoughts and/or behaviors. List at least one negative thought or behavior from each section and write about how you might eliminate or counter it. In the last section, the subject finally makes a decision to do something differently. What, in the poem, indicates this? How might the change of thought or behavior change the subject’s experience?