The power and danger of the mind…..It can go one way or the other and the choice is always yours. 

These past few months have been a journey for me, God has been speaking to my heart about the power of my thoughts.  To be totally honest I have not mastered it yet, as a matter of fact, most days I mess it up but I am beginning to change my patterns and behavior daily to reflect what His word says about how I think and the thoughts I allow to pass through my mind.  Anyone else face this daily battle?

I have been reading a book by Caroline Leaf called “Switch Your Brain On” It has challenged me on so many levels and has given me new insight into the power I have to control my thoughts but also some of the reasons why I think the way I do. 

God has made the mind as an amazing part of our body and we have the power to shape who we are and how we treat others, use it to glorify him in our thought life or let it be the thing that can destroy us.   

Our heart and mind are so closely linked, designed to work in harmony with one another.  Leaf shares in her book that if we truly understood how powerful our thoughts really are we would never think another negative thought again.  We don’t have to be a victim to our thoughts – we have the power to control them and its a choice worth making.

Our brain is a powerful circuitry system and how we think determines the wiring and health of our brain.  The amazing news is we have the power within us capture those wrong thoughts and effect our think which in turn can rewire us for healthy thinking circuits in our brain.  2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”  God calls us to control our thoughts and not let them run ramped.  With the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we can overcome.    When we take time to transform our mind we are co-creating our destiny alongside God.  Romans 12:2 says, Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  This is an ongoing process that needs our daily attention.

For so long I have played the victim to my poor choices.  I was easily hurt and offended and everything was filtered through my toxic thinking.  I was not an easy person to live with because my family had to dance around on eggshells to not upset or hurt me.  I thought feeling sorry for myself would make me feel better about where I was in life but the reality is it only made me more miserable.  

God loves me so much and He gently began to speak about my heart and thoughts – His truths began to transform my mind one thought at a time.  I began to study the Word of God to see what He had to say about my thoughts.  I began to realize pretty quickly that how I functioned and thought was not healthy for me or anyone around me.  It’s hard to change old habits and patterns but I knew it had to be done – one thought at a time.  I had to learn to make choices to not entertain thoughts that do not line up with His Word and what it says about me or those around me.  In 1 Corinthians 2:16  “For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ to be guided by His thoughts and purpose.”  I cannot control the events or circumstances that happen around me but I sure have the power to control my reactions in those situations.  In her book, Leaf reminds us that Satan is a liar and He will do his best to make sure we are filled with negative thought probabilities but we need to always remember that probability has no power.

I have since learned to set aside time each morning to fill my mind with God’s truth and when the enemy comes in, I have to stop thinking negative call his bluff and meditate on what our Father says.  This is not easy and some days I fight to take those thoughts captive but I don’t stay there as long as I used to.  I am choosing life one thought at a time.

Ask God to speak truth to you and to prompt you when you are thinking a lie.  He is the greatest partner in thinking you can align yourself with.  Our mind can be a dangerous place of destruction for our heart or it can be a place with life and destiny are birthed and grow into the beautiful destiny He has called us to!  I love the verse in Proverbs 4:23 “Above all, be careful what you think because your thoughts control your life.”  

SCRIPTURES TO STUDY

• Isaiah 40:13
• Genesis 1:27
• Romans 8:26-27
• 1 Corinthians 10:13
• 2 Corinthians 5:17
• Colossians 1:20
• John 16:33