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Paul taught that if you allow a thought into your mind, it will come out in your life. So if you want to change your life, you have to change your thinking. You need a new declaration.
OUR SPIRITUAL ENEMY HAS BEEN WHISPERING THE SAME LIES TO US REPEATEDLY OUR ENTIRE LIVES.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. — PROVERBS 3: 5–6 ESV
THAT’S WHY IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT. YOU CANNOT DEFEAT AN ENEMY YOU CANNOT DEFINE.
You can take these same steps. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control how you frame it.
We thank God for what he didn’t do. We look for God’s goodness.
“‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’” (Isa. 55:8–9).
HOW DO WE REFRAME OUR PAST? We thank God for what he didn’t do. We look for God’s goodness. We practice gratitude for the consequences of God’s activity in our lives.
I’ve often found that when I think I have victory and the battle is won, there’s still battling left to do.
I was not looking for God’s goodness; I was just plain upset.
Once again I had to thank God for what he didn’t do, and realize that I had been ignoring God’s goodness.
What we crave is peace.
WE GET FIXATED ON THE PRESENCE OF OUR PROBLEMS, AND WE LOSE OUR FOCUS ON THE PRESENCE OF GOD.
Perhaps God wants you to slow down, to be still, to listen carefully for his soft, comforting, quiet voice.
When you’ve had enough, God is enough.
If it’s big enough to worry about, then it’s big enough to pray about. If it’s on your mind, then it’s on God’s heart.
“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace” (Rom. 8:5–6 NLT).
Your circumstances may be bad, but your God is still good.
When we practice God’s presence—always mindful that he is near—we will pray, and when we pray, that leads us to praise.
When I’ve had enough, I pray, putting my concerns in my God box. I praise God—for the who, not the what—even when I don’t want to.
“The Lord is near” (Phil. 4:5) and, “Do not be anxious about anything” (v. 6) and, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v. 7). It’s why he could tell his readers, “Rejoice in the Lord always” (v. 4).
A change of perspective leads us to praise God. And praising God changes our perspective.
The psalmist might begin by recounting what’s wrong in his life: enemies are attacking; he is feeling rejected by God; he’s been falsely accused; he has spotty cell phone coverage.
Worshiping God has even been shown to decrease heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and serum markers of inflammation.
What consumes your mind controls your life.
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Paul calls for us to make petitions and offer thanksgiving. Or we could say, prayer and praise. The promise is, if we do that, God will guard our minds. His peace will guard our minds. Peace guards your heart and your mind. Peace is preceded by prayer and praise.
We know we have an enemy who is seeking to destroy us. His weapon is the lie. Our weakness is believing lies, and if we believe a lie, it will affect our lives as if it were true.
Let the truth about you trickle in, become a torrent, and transform you. Your God is with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Your God is for you. He will fight for you. No weapon formed against you will prosper. You are more than a conqueror through him. Your God is enough for you. He is more than enough. Nothing can separate you from God’s love. Not death. Not demons. Not the present nor the past. Nothing will ever separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let God change your thinking. He will change your life.
Second Corinthians 10:3–5 became his strongest weapon in the battle. Paul writes, “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
