Runaway Thoughts

…Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9 (NLT)

A long time ago, when I was in college, we would say GIGO, which simply meant garbage in, garbage out. If I wrote computer programs with illogical commands, I would get illogical results. Therefore, in order for the computer to operate properly, I had to feed it good information.

Likewise, in your Christian walk, if you feed your mind with garbage, you will get back garbage. That garbage may result in bad thoughts, like hatred, jealousy, worry, and depression. On the other hand, if you only feed your mind with good things, then it will generate good thoughts, like love, faith, joy, and peace.

You can control your runaway thoughts. Paul says in Philippians 4:8-9 to “fix your thoughts.” In other words, secure or firmly fasten your mind on thoughts that you know are pleasing to God. Are your thoughts true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and worthy of praise? Imagine for a moment, God giving you instant feedback on what you are thinking, what would He say?  

The things that you choose to allow your mind to dwell on are important. For that reason, have no part in rumors and other falsehoods. Keep your mind uncluttered from everything that is shameful and vile. Replace all inappropriate thoughts with right thoughts, thoughts that are holy and righteous. Resist all worldly ideas; instead accept only pure, wholesome thoughts. “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think… (Romans 12:2, NLT).

But how do you go about cleaning up your thoughts? Remember GIGO, garbage in, garbage out. You can clean up your thoughts by cleaning up what you feed your mind.

If Jesus were standing beside you, would He approve of everything that you watch on television? Would He like the books that you read or the lyrics in the music that you pump into your head? What about your conversations, are your words pure and honorable?  

The best way to clean up your thoughts is to clean up your heart and to meditate on God’s Word, putting it into practice in your life (Mark 7:18-23). When you actively choose to feed on God’s Word, following His commands, your thoughts change and become good. Instead of choosing to feed on garbage, you are choosing to feed on righteousness (Ephesians 4:17-32) (Colossians 3:1-10).

In summary, you have control over your runaway thoughts through the choices that you make. You can choose to feed your mind with garbage and get garbage back—garbage like negative thoughts, which in turn leads to an unproductive spiritual life. Or you can choose to feed your mind with pure holy thoughts, which in turn leads to a pure, holy life. The choice is yours. Which do you choose?

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Three Key Concepts:

1.             If you feed your mind with garbage, it will spit out garbage.

2.             You can clean up your thoughts by meditating on God’s Word.

3.             Right thinking can lead to right living.

The Counselor, Comforter, Teacher, and Friend

If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

John 14:15-17 (NLT)

Have you ever had an “Ah Ha” moment while reading your Bible? What I mean is that as you are reading your Bible, suddenly you realize that the Word is speaking to you about a current situation in your life.  It feels as if someone suddenly flipped on a light switch and flooded a dark room with brightness.  Your heart has been flooded with truth from God’s Word, and the One who flipped on the light switch was the Holy Spirit.  

Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit. He said that if you would obey His commands than He would petition the Father to send you a Counselor. The Counselor (Holy Spirit) will guide and clean you up. His light of truth will illuminate all of the dark corners in your heart, exposing any sin that may be lurking in its deep recesses. Once He has exposed sin in your life, listen to Him and obey. He will teach you how to become pure and holy.  “Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth” (John 17:17, NLT).

But notice the “if” above. This means that in order to qualify for this promise, you have a responsibility. That responsibility is to obey. So does this mean that you have to earn the Holy Spirit? No! You are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:7-9). However, when you are truly saved then you love God and want to obey Him (1 John 2:3-6).

So if you are saved, then you love God. And if you love God, then you obey Him. God then sends His Spirit to live within you, who begins teaching you how to live a holy life, a life that brings Him glory. “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Just as a potter molds a lump of clay, God’s Spirit molds you. He reminds you of Scriptures that can help you make good life choices (John 14:26).

The Holy Spirit is also the convicting voice that you hear when your flesh-man begins throwing worldly temptations at you. At those times, deep in your heart, you hear God’s whispers of instruction and whispers of rebuke. Be quick to respond. God’s Spirit will help you resist temptations if you will surrender to Him. When you surrender, His Spirit empowers you to overcome your flesh-man (Romans 8:13).  He can deliver you from evil and, thus, bring you life

If you do make a wrong choice, the Holy Spirit is the Encourager who whispers, “Dust yourself off from the world, repent, surrender, and begin again.” Not only does God’s Spirit teach and encourage you, He also comforts you. He speaks peace into your heart when you are in the midst of life’s storms.

How precious it is to fellowship with God’s Spirit.  Do you feel Him deep inside you, leading, guiding, and comforting you? If not, then let me introduce you to Him. God’s Holy Spirit will help you when you are down, He will teach you God’s love, and He will lead you to eternal life. Will you let Him be your friend and help you today?

Those who obey God's commandments live in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Holy Spirit lives in us” (1 John 3:24. NLT)

Three Key Concepts:

1.             When you love and obey God, He sends His Spirit to live inside you.

2.             The Holy Spirit teaches, counsels, comforts, and empowers you.

3.             The Holy Spirit molds and remakes you into a pure vessel.

Love is Dependable and Forever

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever….

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NLT)

Happy Valentine’s Day! When you were a young child, you probably celebrated this day by trading cute little valentines that promised your love forever. But forever usually meant only until the day that you were taunted, or until the day that you saw someone that you liked better. Face it, in elementary school, forever was often just a fleeting moment of time—a day, a week, a month, or a year.

Maybe if you didn’t think that anyone was looking, you might have even been brave enough to slip a valentine, or a love note, to someone that you secretly admired. Puppy love—wasn’t it fun. However, that special someone may not have felt the same as you did, or worse yet, maybe they were interested in somebody else. In that case, you quickly forgot your puppy love and replaced it with disdain. That type of love was just a passing fancy and not a real love.

Real love is permanent, unfailing, and dependable. It does not quickly fade away on a whim. Unfortunately based on today’s staggering divorce statistics, many marriages are not founded on real love. Rather they are just short-term infatuations that are swiftly forgotten.  

God’s plan for marriage was the joining of two individuals (of the opposite sex) for a lifetime—not just fleeting moments of time. Marital partners are to be dependable and committed to each other, through both good times and bad. In fact, they are to be united and become as one. Jesus said, “…they twain shall be one flesh” (Matthew 19:5). He also said, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6).

In addition to loving our spouses, Jesus told us that we must love the Lord, our God, with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Further, we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. He said everything depends on these two requirements, love of God and love of neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). But what was Jesus talking about? What type of love must we show towards God and towards our neighbors?

God modeled that type of love for us. He showed us how much He loved us by sending His only Son to be the blood sacrifice for our sins (John 3:16, and 1 John 4:9-10). God loved—so He gave. Too many times, we say we love—so we can take.

Love is not about taking, it is about giving. True dependable love will motivate you to give of yourself to others. It may require the giving of your money, your time, or simply your prayers. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is patient and kind, it never gives up and it endures through everything. True love lasts forever, and forever is a long time.

God loves you with a dependable, enduring love. He will love you through your goods times and your bad times. There is no end to His love because He is love. As a child of God, you too must love with a dependable, enduring love. “But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love” (1 John 4:8, NLT).

Today ask yourself these questions:

Do I love others?

Is my love dependable and enduring?

How do I show my love for others?

God, please fill our hearts with a love for our neighbors. Let our love be true, dependable, and eternal.

Three key concepts:

1.         Love is dependable.

2.         God loved so He gave.

3.         If we are truly of God, then we too must love.

New Lord—New Heart—New Life

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Ezekiel 36:26-27

Last week’s blog included a line from the Wizard of Oz. This week, once again, I am going to refer to another line from the Wizard of Oz. But this time it is something that the Tin Man said, “If I only had a heart.” The Tin Man desperately wanted a new heart inside of his empty chest. Like the Tin Man, do you want a new heart?

You know that everyone has to have a heart in order to survive physically, but do you also know that you must have a new heart (a changed heart) in order to survive spiritually? I am not referring to a heart that can be surgically implanted inside of your chest. No, I am referring to a new heart that you can only get by a spiritual rebirth through Jesus Christ. You must be spiritually reborn (John 3:1-17).

In order to be spiritually reborn, you need a new Lord. What I mean is that you have to willingly submit yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Webster’s Universal College Dictionary says that a lord is, “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; master or ruler.” Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord, giving Him complete authority and power over all areas in your life?

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).  Jesus came not only to be your Saviour, but He also came to be your Lord. In order for Him to be your Saviour, you must first accept Him as your Lord. You have to give Him control over your thoughts, actions, and words—surrendering everything to Him. You must accept Him completely as both, or you have not truly accepted Him at all.

When you accept Christ completely as both Saviour and Lord, God then creates within you a new heart.  Your old life fades away and is replaced with a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). No longer are the passions of this world your lord. Those evil passions are replaced with a new Lord.

Jesus Christ as your new Lord and Saviour, breathes His Spirit into your heart, which, in turn, offers you a new life. You evil conscience is purified through His blood sacrifice, and your sins are washed away(Hebrews 10:22).  Progressively, as you learn to follow God’s Spirit, you begin to reject the wickedness of your flesh. Now as you follow His Spirit, you evolve into a new creature with a new life. You begin to bear the good fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, and faith (Galatians 5:23-25).

Just like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz sang, “If I only had a heart, I'd be tender—I'd be gentle and awful sentimental.”  Do you have a new heart, one that is tender and full of love? Today, will you allow Jesus to be your Lord so that He can be your Saviour?

Three key concepts:

1.         Jesus Christ has to be your Lord in order for Him to be your Saviour.

2.         In addition to a physical birth, you must undergo a spiritual birth.

3.         God’s Spirit creates within you a new heart, which in turn, leads to a new life.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me (Psalm 51:10).

Idols, and Tumors, and Plagues! Oh My!

They carried the Ark of God into the temple of Dagon and placed it beside the idol of Dagon. But when the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the Ark of the Lord!

1 Samuel 5:2-3 (NLT)

Everyone remembers the famous line from the Wizard of Oz, “Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh My!” Dorothy, the main character in that movie, was afraid of being ambushed by fierce predators as she walked through a dark forest. However this lesson is not about animals; it is about idols, tumors and plagues.

Let’s begin this lesson by first looking at 1 Samuel chapter 4. The Israelites, God’s chosen people, went into battle against the Philistines. Unfortunately due to their unfaithfulness to God, the Israelites lost the battle. They panicked! Several of them got together and decided that the Ark of the Covenant would protect them, so they removed the Ark from the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle and carried it before them into battle. This did not work, and once again, the Israelites were defeated. Not only did the Philistines defeat the Israelites, they also captured the Ark.

The Ark of the Covenant was to remain behind a special curtain in the Tabernacle—the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26), but the Israelites disobeyed God’s command. They removed the Ark from its sacred place and treated it as if it was a lucky charm. The Ark was not a lucky charm: it represented God’s promises and instructions to the Israelites, and as such, the Ark itself did not hold any special powers. God was the power. He alone had previously helped the Israelites defeat their enemies.


Similarly, wearing a cross around your neck does not give you any special power. It is what the cross represents that empowers you.

I can imagine the Philistines shouts of enthusiasm after they captured the Ark, “Goody! Goody! Now we will win all of our battles because the gods of Israel will empower us.”  Joyfully, the Philistines carried the captured Ark into their temple and placed it beside their idol Dagon. Dagon was one of the many gods that the Philistines worshipped. They believed that the more gods they accumulated the more power they would have. They were wrong!

The next morning when the Philistines entered the temple, they found their idol, Dagon, lying face down in front of the Ark. During the night, Dagon had fallen and bowed before the Ark so the Philistines picked the idol up again. The following morning when they entered the temple, they found that Dagon had again fallen down. This time the idol’s face and hands had broken off.

The Philistines completely missed the point. They thought that they could co-mingle the Ark with all of their other gods and become stronger. It did not work! Instead of bringing them power, the Ark brought them a plague of tumors (1 Samuel 5:6, NLT). In their worldly wisdom, the Philistines decided to move the Ark from their village into another Philistine village. But the same thing happened (1 Samuel 5:9-12). Each village that harbored the Ark was struck by a plague of tumors! Finally they wised up and returned the Ark to its rightful owners, the Israelites.

Like the Philistines, you cannot co-mingle God with any other gods (Deuteronomy 5:7). God is a jealous God and He will not share His place of honor with anyone or anything. He alone must be first place in your life and nothing can come before Him—not even a god of money or a god of fame (Deuteronomy 5:9) (Psalm 81:9).

Further, you should never be jealous and attempt to steal God’s blessings from His chosen people. The Philistines were jealous of the Israelite’s many victories and thought that they could steal God’s blessings by stealing the Ark. They learned a valuable lesson the hard way.

Many people hurt themselves by allowing jealousy to creep into their hearts. That jealousy may cause them to act against God’s chosen people. Miriam, Moses’ sister, did this when she became jealous of Moses and began finding fault and speaking out against him (Numbers 12). Like the Philistines, she too was punished for her wrong.

When God blesses someone around you, do you become jealous? Instead of becoming jealous, you should help them pursue God’s blessings by assisting them anyway that you can. If you help others attain God's blessings, you just might find yourself sharing in those blessings. So be careful in this forest of life and stay away from all the lions, and tigers, and bears. Do not fall for any idols, and tumors, and plagues. Oh My!   

Three Key Concepts:

1.             True worship of God means removing all idols out of your life.

2.             Disaster can strike if you attempt to steal someone else’s blessings.

3.             Religious symbols cannot duplicate God’s power, nor are they a substitute for obedience.