SHORT REFLECTIONS 1.
I am starting a small series on some of my daily reflections. Hope you find them useful. If you do, drop a comment below and let me know how this helped you.
Are you tired of living below par? Some live life as though they are running on a treadmill going in the opposite direction. It's exhausting and takes you nowhere. Our mind can be like that sometimes.
I too have sometimes been caught in a web of negative thoughts that are not life-giving.
I am learning to remind myself that I need to be alert to what I am thinking and what self-talk am I engaged in. If not, it will become a playground for the devil to plant all sorts of weeds of worry, negativity, criticism and being judgmental.
Now when I am alert and clear-minded as the Apostle Peter reminds me in 1 Pet 4: 7, my mind becomes a battleground where I take every thought captive and make it subject to God thoughts that I am learning to wield like a two-edged sword to fight off doubt, anxiety, anger, and more.
No more am I taken over by weeds as I begin to carefully tend the garden of my heart.
How do I do this?
I begin to think about things that are good, noble, loving, respectful and pure. I repent of my negative thinking and replace thought with thought.
I replace anxious thoughts with trust
I replace unforgiving thoughts with forgiveness.
I replace bitterness with kindness.
I replace thoughts of lack with promises of provision
When I do this I become what I think - matching my new nature in Christ.
I can learn not only to deflect the fiery darts of evil but I can turn it on its head and not just maintain ground but take ground for Jesus. Instead of being trapped by negative thoughts which perpetuate a negative situation I can generate positive thoughts that lead to positive action. What the enemy meant for evil I take and fling it back like a boomerang.
With Christ in me, I can chase 10,000. With Christ in me, I am able to conquer every thought. To every problem, there is a promise or provision. I just need to learn to take hold of it and stand on some eternal truths.
Facts may say that the situation is bad. Truth tells me God can work all things out for my good.
Facts may say I have an illness. Truth tells me I have a God who heals.
Facts may say there is a relational breakdown. Truth says He has given me the ministry of reconciliation and love is the greatest of all virtues.
When I do this I ware down the enemy of my soul.
A renewed mind leads to a transformed life.
Renewing the mind takes time. It is a process. I need to persevere and not give up. So will your mind be a playground for the devil or a battleground where you are more than a conqueror?
Navaz D'Cruz
