thoughts

  • What Are You Thinking About?

    “May the words of my mouth
and
the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you”
~Psalm 19:14 NLT

    Todd loves to watch Funny videos online.  He’s always coming up with the most hilarious ones and sends them to people, it’s kind of his ministry J lol.  A couple years ago, Todd sent me this YouTube link called, ‘German Coast Guard Trainee’.  It’s a German commercial for a program to help improve your English. You can watch the video below, or here’s the run-down of the clip. There is a senior Coast Guard officer showing a young trainee the equipment in German.  With little instruction, the trainer slaps him on the back and leaves the room.  Suddenly a harried call comes in from an English vessel and you hear, “Mayday, mayday… we are sinking”. The young trainee bewildered responds in broken German/English saying, “Allo, zis is ze German Coast Guard…”  Another frantic plea breaks through his speaking, “we’re sinking, we’re sinking”.  With a puzzled look, the trainee says, “Vat are you… Sinking About?”

    This play on words gets you thinking about your thinking.

    WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?

    In today’s Bible verse, the psalmist challenges you to make sure the words of our mouth AND the meditations of your heart are pleasing to God.  Sounds simple enough, but this is where the hard work of faith kicks in.  It’s easier to keep what comes out of your mouth in check but keeping the meditations of your heart pleasing to God is ‘fish-swimming-upstream’ kind of tough.

    Proverbs 4:23 warns you to,

    “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

    What you think, fills your heart.  What’s in your heart will eventually come out of your mouth. So, you need to get intentional about what you allow to stay in between those ears of yours! Paul taught about the issue of controlling our thoughts in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 when he said,

    “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

    This verse isn’t just talking about arguments that other people are making or lofty opinions that others are sharing contrary to the truth of God.  You can’t take captive the thoughts in someone else’s head, you can only take captive your own… and if you’re directed to do something in Scripture, then you can do it!

    So… Vat are you sinking about?

    Prayer

    Father…I thank you that You’ve given me the power to control my thoughts. I’m not powerless in the battle to control my thought patterns. I have the mind of Christ, so I am able to take captive every thought and make them obedient to you Jesus! Help me to exercise the authority I’ve been given.  In Jesus Name…Amen

    To give you some ‘rubber hits the road’ help for when those negative thoughts are tough to manage, I’ve posted another article called,
    11 PRACTICAL STEPS TO HELP YOU CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS
    Check it out to go in a little deeper on this subject.

    #Dare2Share
    Post in the Comment Section below and bolster the faith of someone else!

    DRAWING FROM THE WELL

    1. Isaiah 28:5-6
    2. Romans 12:2 (NLT is worded in a clear way)
    3. 1 Corinthians 2:16
    4. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
    If you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

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  • 11 Practical Steps to Help You Control Your Thoughts

    I published a devotion called, What Are You Thinking About? and felt it needed some practical suggestions to make it complete.  So, here are just a few tips you could implement to help keep your thoughts in check.

    11 Practical Steps to Help You Control Your Thoughts11 PRACTICAL STEPS TO HELP YOU CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS

    1. Practice Breathing Exercises
    2. Decrease Stress In Your Life
    3. Eat a Healthy, Balanced Diet of Nutritious Food
    4. Decrease Intake of processed, chemically created foods and drinks
    5. Read Your Bible to help bring peace and renew your thinking
    6. Spend time meditating on God’s Word
    7. Put encouraging Scripture verses on cue-cards and strategically place them for easy access and frequent visibility
    8. Spend time in prayer, brining your anxious thoughts to Him for help
    9. Read Books That can help heal your soul wounds
    10. Get Counseling to help heal your soul wounds
    11. Talk to your doctor if you’ve done all these things and can’t get control of your thoughts

    This list was not meant to condemn you, but to help you.

    If controlling your thought life is an issue for you, then begin to work towards getting your soul healthy, so your mind can think right. There are great books to help you heal wounds you’ve experienced to your mind, will, and emotions.  I recommend getting counseling because too often you can’t see the hidden things of your hearts and counselors are trained professionals to help you unearth what’s been buried, so it doesn’t keep popping up in your life {usually at the worst times}. If you’ve been working on getting your soul healthy, reading your Bible and praying on a regular basis but you can’t seem to get a handle on your thoughts (the meditations of your heart), then you might be struggling with depression or anxiety, or both.

    An inability to control your thoughts is a clinical marker for depression.  

    I have created a page on my website to help discuss many of these issues.  I’m not a health-care professional by any means but have experienced these struggles myself and so do close family members. As a result, I’ve done a lot of research and it’s helping so many people. Click here to explore my mental health page and find resources that might help you, especially the videos at the bottom of the page.

    “May the words of my mouth
and
the meditations of my heart
be pleasing to you”
~Psalm 19:14 NLT 

    Soul H2OIf you liked the refreshing in this #SoulH2O devotion, you’ll love my latest Soul H2O Devotional book: 40 Thirst Quenching Devotions for Women.

    WHERE YOU CAN OFTEN FIND ME LINKING UP MY BLOG WITH OR PLACES WHERE MY WRITING HAS BEEN FEATURED

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