Good Thoughts

As I'm thinking in advance a bit about this Sunday's message that I've titled "Faith for Building." I'm considering the attitudes that are necessary in order to undertake good work in the Lord's name. There is a spiritual battle we engage whenever we take positive steps in our lives, or in the lives of others in our community. Joyce Meyer has a good word on this today.

On-Purpose Thinking  

by Joyce Meyer - posted September 20, 2014

But Jesus, knowing (seeing) their thoughts, said, Why do you think evil and harbor malice in your hearts?
—Matthew 9:4

It's amazing how quickly and completely our thoughts can change our moods. Negative thinking of any kind quickly steals my joy and causes a variety of bad moods. When we are negative and gloomy, other people don't enjoy being with us; when our thoughts are down, everything else goes down with them. Our moods, countenance, conversation, and even our body can begin to droop in a downward position. Hands hang down, shoulders slump, and we tend to look down instead of up. People who tend to be negative in their thoughts and conversations are usually unhappy and rarely content with anything for very long.

Even if something exciting does happen, they soon find something wrong with it. As soon as they see one thing wrong, they tend to fix their minds on it; any enjoyment they might have is blocked by concentrating on the one negative. They may occasionally experience momentary enthusiasm, but it quickly evaporates and gloom once again fills their entire demeanor. They probably do not realize that they could be happy if they would simply change the way they think. We must stop merely waiting for something good to happen and take action to ensure that something good will happen.

I am truly amazed when I consider the fact that we have the ability to make ourselves happy or sad by what we choose to think about. The Bible says we must be satisfied with the consequences of our words, whether they are good or evil (see Prov. 18:20).

Our words begin with our thoughts, so the same principle that applies to our mouths also applies to our minds. We need to be satisfied with the consequences of our thoughts because they hold the power of life and death. I would add that they hold the power of contentment and discontent, of joy and sadness.

Trust in Him
God has given us the ability to make choices about so many things in life, including our thoughts, and we [are] responsible to make those choices carefully. Trust Him to help you choose positive thoughts and to think on purpose.

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From the book Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2012 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

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