What We Think About

Illustration

Lego Movie

Our thoughts are some of the most powerful entities that we are in possession of

They can provide comfort

Maybe you have a story, a scene from a tv show, or a memory you find yourself often being drawn to in order to derive some sort of relief from present circumstances

They can provide creativity and new challenges

Maybe its artistic creativity,

maybe its thinking about how to throw your friend the best party given what you know about them,

maybe its a way to dull and pass time

maybe your sitting in a circle with your buddies and your trying to find something fun to talk about

they can enduce fear

Often we can find ourselves meditating on things we have been deeply afraid of, whether they have or have not happened

They can inspire anger and bitterness

Ever been wronged? Ever had someone do something to you that you think was unfair and unjustified?

We begin to build this court case in our anger

they can be distorted

Sometimes we experience complicated thoughts as the byproduct of a broken world

OCD and intrusive thoughts

Anxiousness

Depression

We must acknowledge our own Depravity if we have any chance to be

Verses

Mark 7:21-23

Proverbs 12:5

Jeremiah 17:9

Notice 2 things from these verses

First is that our natural disposition is not inclined to be holy

Jeremiah reminds us that due to our broken condition our hearts are wretched and evil

We must not fall into the prideful trap of thinking we are the exception to the rule

Second, there is a redemptive nature that can take place within our minds. We can have holy thoughts. These thoughts come about through the meditation of what the Lord has asked of us

How often are we actively seeking to battle our thoughts? How often do we lie down when negative thoughts arise and entertain them?

Our greatest weapon against unholy thoughts is the ultimate truth of the Bible

Take a moment and close your eyes

What have you spent today thinking about? What has occupied your mind?

Only one person in scripture is Called a man after God’s own heart

David’s verses on meditating on the law of the Lord

Psalm 1:2

Psalm 119:97

Other verses about meditating on the Lord

Psalm 63:5-6

What has your mind captive? What do your thoughts inspire? Are we delighting in the Lord? Are we focused on what we don’t have? Are we thinking through what God has asked of us? Do we find joy thinking about Christ?

Meditate on What is true, not what is felt

Phil 4:8-9

Take note that this verse comes after Pauls prescription for anxiety

That when we want to battle our internal thoughts, the ways of scripture must appear to our minds

Paul’s encouragement to this group of believers he cared about so deeply was for them to pursue holiness

What are these things? What are they to you?

What is true in your life? What is not true?

What is honor? What makes something honorable?

What is justice? What does it look like? How do we know?

What is purity? why is it our goal?

What makes something lovely? What is lovely in our lives?

What makes something commendable? Why would such a thing be worthy of that title?

What makes a thing excellent? What in life is excellent?

What makes something worthy to be praised? What makes it unworthy?

While our thoughts are not always Holy, we must make an active decision in how to deal with them. They don’t have the final say