Start Your New Life Today (8 page)
Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].
Sadly, most Christians don’t put much effort into their study of the Word. They go to hear others teach and preach, and they may listen to sermon tapes and read the Bible occasionally, but they’re not dedicated to making God’s Word a major part of their lives.
Be careful what you think about. The more you think about good things, the better your life will seem. The more you think about Jesus Christ and the principles He taught, the more you become like Jesus and the stronger you grow. And as you grow, you win the battle for your mind.
One of the things I like to think about is what I can do for other people. Galatians 6:10 says to be mindful to be a blessing to others. To me, that means to have my mind full of ways I can bless other people. I once spent a lot of time thinking about what others could and should do for me, and it only made me unhappy. Now that I’ve formed a new habit, I find my joy has also increased.
There are many ways to bless people. We can encourage them, compliment them, or help them with a physical need like moving, baby-sitting, or transportation. We can help meet a financial need, we can pray for them, or we can simply listen. Actually, when we help someone, we do more for ourselves than for them. The Bible says it is more blessed to give than to receive. Giving does not always come naturally. The natural man is quite selfish, but learning how to change our thinking can form new habits. Instead of thinking,
What about me?
, think,
It’s all about God and other people.
Meditation Produces Success
W
hen we refer to meditating, we mean to ponder something and give it our full attention. A French couple helped me see that meditation is like eating. They take a bite of food after they have enjoyed the way it looks on the plate. They comment on the pleasant aroma and often mention one or two special ingredients. They chew slowly and deliberately, and they sometimes even comment on how it makes the insides of their mouths feel.
That seems a bit too much for most Americans, but that’s a good picture of meditating on God’s Word. We don’t just wolf down a few words or a verse and hurry on to the next. We pause to reflect on a word, a phrase, or a concept. We compare that scripture with others that come to mind. We feel in no hurry to dash to the end of the chapter. The words are there for us to savor and enjoy. We should learn to be more concerned about quality than quantity. It is more important to grasp a deep understanding of one verse of scripture than it is to read five chapters and understand nothing.
Meditating on God’s Word demands discipline. We live in such a fast-paced world few of us make time to meditate. We should form a habit of setting aside time just to sit and think about God’s Word and the wonderful promises He made to those who believe in Him. The blessed person mentioned in Psalm 1 is the person who meditates on God’s Word “by day and by night” (v. 2). The expression “by day and by night” means it is a major part of a person’s life. It’s a way of saying that thinking about the Word of God should be a regular part of daily activity. This will require casting down wrong thoughts when they come and choosing to think on things that will benefit us. Keeping ourselves focused will pay off spiritually.
I spend time with God in prayer and in study of His Word each morning, but I also apply the Word to situations I deal with throughout the day. During the writing of this segment, I received some bad news by phone, and my response was to quote and think about various promises in God’s Word. His Word strengthens us and helps us keep our peace and joy. For many years all I did when I got bad news was get angry and frustrated and begin to think all negative thoughts. The change in me didn’t come because I wished it; I had to choose it, and you will have to do the same thing. It wasn’t always easy, but I am sure glad now that I did it.
I titled this chapter “Meditation Produces Success” because it is important for us to understand that contemplating the meaning of scripture isn’t simply a good thing to do or an activity reserved for scholars. It is God’s command to all of us and a requirement for true success.
I thought of the instructions to Joshua as he prepared to lead the people into the Promised Land. The first few verses of the book of Joshua provide God’s direction for him. There were at least two million people going into the land, and the responsibility of leading them was immense.
Contemplating the meaning of scripture is God’s command to all of us and a requirement for true success.
God promised to be with Joshua as He was with Moses, and He urged the new leader to be very courageous. Then He said,
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success (Joshua 1:8).
The instructions seem clear. Joshua had the commands of God, and his primary responsibility was to contemplate those words. By immersing himself in the law, he was learning to understand the mind of God more fully. God went on to say that if Joshua kept his mind and heart on the law, he would be prosperous and successful.
Too often people focus on their problems instead of meditating on God’s promises. As they do, their problems seem to get bigger, and God’s power diminishes. Do you have a problem right now? If so, this is a great time to start practicing your new way of thinking. Think about a breakthrough, not a breakdown. Don’t think about the way things are; think about the way they can be with God on your side.
God doesn’t want Satan to fill your mind. He doesn’t want you to give Satan the opportunity to inject wrong and negative thoughts into your head. For the devil to control your life, all he needs to do is to control your thoughts. Make a decision right now that you will not allow him to do that. Don’t let him defeat you. Proverbs 4:20–22 is another scripture that tells of the importance of meditation: “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh” (
NKJV
).
“I Want a Mind Change”
I
find a great deal of comfort in thinking about who I used to be and who I have become. It helps me to not be discouraged when I make mistakes or find I still struggle over some issues. I’m greatly encouraged when I consider where I started and where I am now.
In Ephesians 2, Paul describes those outside Christ in verses 1 and 2 as dead (slain) by their trespasses and sins in which they habitually walk and writes that unbelievers follow the prince of the power of the air, who is Satan, and they follow the way their master leads. He also pointed out that all were once dead through their sins, but believers are now alive in Jesus Christ and are not governed nor led by our lower nature—the impulses of our lusts and ungodly desires.
Many Christians have trouble in this area because they haven’t learned to control their thoughts. A lady once told me, “It simply didn’t occur to me that I needed to direct my mind and keep it healthy and positive. If ministers preached or taught about the control of our thoughts, I never heard it. One day, however, I read an article about the power of thoughts, and God convicted me. That’s when I knew I needed to change my thinking.”
This lady said she drove down the street of a busy city and spotted a sign, a cartoon of a car with big eyes for the front lights and tears flowing, and the words “Please help me! I need an oil change.” As she passed, she thought,
I need a mind change. I don’t like being the way I am, letting my mind go wherever it wants. Part of my responsibility as a child of God is to keep my thoughts healthy and strong.
“I want to make it clear that I went to church,” she said, “and I had been active for years. I knew a lot of scripture, and I even did some volunteer work at the church. But I didn’t control my thoughts. Even when I sang in church, my mind jumped from subject to subject. We’d be singing about joy and grace, and I’d think about the dishes still in the sink, the unfinished laundry, or what I wanted to eat for lunch.
“I attended church and I was faithful, but I was not faithful in attending to the Word. I listened when the preachers quoted scripture. I usually followed along with my own Bible, but I didn’t really think about what I was hearing or what my eyes were reading. I was doing the right things outwardly, but I wasn’t thinking the right things. My mind was a mess, and I didn’t know what to do about it.”
When she finally said, “I need a mind change” aloud to herself, she actually pondered the words she spoke. She was like the car on the sign—she needed a change—a mind change. She needed to let the Holy Spirit direct her thoughts instead of the devil. As she prayed, she felt confident there would be a positive change.
She thought to herself,
Is there anything I am supposed to do?
She realized that if she didn’t make lifestyle changes, the devil would soon make the new thinking as muddy and gunky as the old thinking was.
For the next several days, she looked up all the scriptures she could find that used the word
study
or
meditate.
She also looked up scriptures that talked about the mind or thoughts. Among them were Proverbs 23:7, Ephesians 4:23, and Psalm 119:48. She read the verses, wrote them on slips of paper, and pondered them. The more she meditated on the right things, the less trouble she had with Satan trying to control her thoughts. That’s how it works with all of us: The more we focus on God, the less often the devil can defeat us. Many people would love to have her result, but they don’t want to do the work. Are you willing to do your part? If you are, I can assure you God will do His.
The more we focus on God, the less often the devil can defeat us.
Transforming Your Mind and Your Life
T
he apostle Paul used two interesting words in Romans 12:2:
conform,
“be not conformed to this world,” and
transform,
“but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” for the result that you: “may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (
KJV
) “[in His sight for you]” (
AMP
).
I asked a friend who is a Greek scholar to help me understand the difference between them. He told me the word translated
conform
referred to the outward form. For example, my outward form at age twenty was quite different from what I’ll look like at age seventy. The body changes, but it was more than that. He said the Greek word carried the idea of the changes we make according to the fashion—what was in vogue at the time—much like the way our culture goes today. One year, skirt hems are above the ankle; another year, above the knee. Those things are constantly changing.
The word Paul used for being
transformed
from the world refers to the essential part of ourselves—the part that doesn’t change, our identity. He was saying that if we want to worship and serve God, we must undergo a change—but not only of our outward form. The change must be inward, and it involves our personality, our mind, and our essential being. Outward fashions may change, but inner purity is always in style.
The preceding verse, Romans 12:1, exhorts us to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices. Only Christians can do that. His words are not about
becoming
believers, but about
living
as believers. This scripture challenges us to present all of our members to God for His use. That means our mind, mouth, will, emotions, eyes, ears, hands, feet—all of us.
If we want to see God’s perfect will proven in our lives, we can—but we have to have our minds transformed. We have to think different thoughts and look at life differently. We have to have disciplined minds. We must begin to think in agreement with God’s Word and not the devil’s lies.
Although God has a different plan for each one of us, one thing applies to all: We are to have inwardly transformed minds. If our minds are transformed by the Holy Spirit, we will act differently. When He began transforming my mind, I know I acted differently. Church became a place for me to celebrate and to learn with my brothers and sisters in the faith. I began to understand worship, and I became a participant rather than someone who simply went through the motions.
If we want to see God’s perfect will proven in our lives, we can— but we have to have our minds transformed.
Does your life need to be transformed? Start by being willing to think right thoughts, and you’ll see the change in yourself—and so will others around you.
The Devil Lies
T
he devil lies. In fact, the devil doesn’t know how to speak the truth.
“There is no truth in him,” Jesus said.
You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false (John 8:44).
