You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)
Watching what we think on is one of the most important responsibilities we have as believers. Our quality of life is directly related to the quality of our thoughts! It’s repulsive to think of eating food taken from a garbage can, but how many people allow thoughts to enter and linger in their minds that are more harmful than rancid food?
We process thousands of thoughts daily as we interact with life. The key to the peace of God ruling us is to keep our thoughts clean and undefiled. It’s possible to have an educated yet undisciplined mind!
We must become the doorkeeper of our thoughts. As a new believer over thirty years ago, the Lord challenged me to control my thoughts. I would find myself in a cesspool of mess mentally. And as my emotions followed my thoughts, I would find myself confused, fearful, depressed, lonely, and without peace.
Here’s what I began to do. Instead of allowing my thoughts to wander onto whatever came into them, I began to choose what I allowed myself to think on. The Christian’s “think list” in Philippians 4:8 helped me. I wrote true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy on a note card and carried it with me all day. Every now and then I would look at the card and compare my thoughts to the list. If anything in my mind disagreed with the list, I repented, and consciously chose from that point what I would think on.
I would force my mind to think on a Bible verse when I had any idle mental time where I wasn’t consciously using my mind to perform a task. I found this to be the best way to control my thoughts and emotions. And I began for the first time in my life to experience the peace of God.
If you lack peace, then challenge your thoughts and change them. Focus your mind and don’t allow your thoughts to wander just anywhere. The peace of God is available if you’ll do this. You’re the doorkeeper of your mind today. Keep it focused and enjoy His perfect peace!
Amen. Worked for me this morning. Instead of allowing bad thoughts about my marriage. I meditated on Numbers 1:1-7. Although not about relationships, the scriptures preoccupied my mind long enough to keep me from giving place to the evil one, and God worked out my situation marvelously while I kept my mouth shut.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying memorizing passages throughout the scriptures and then scanning through them mentally and methodically all day.
My spouse and I use a lot of note cards, too.
Also, verses rise up in my mind during the day from James or Peter or Ephesians that apply to my circumstances and situations.