CENTRAL THOUGHT
An individual is not greater than his thoughts.
HYMN: TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE
TEXT: Proverbs 4:20-23, Romans 12:1-3
INTRODUCTION
It is widely recognized that many spiritual battles and intrigues occur at the thought level within the human mind. The devil also recognizes this, and does whatever he can to ensure that he gains the upper hand at this level. He realizes that when battles are won at the thought level, it will only be a matter of time for them to manifest in the physical. When the Devil told Eve, “Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1), it was an assault on the mind of Eve. The wavering response of Eve brought about the next and final assault, “You shall not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4). To this final assault, Eve had no reply. Her thought processes had been overtaken by the devil, and the physical act of disobedience followed naturally.
We need to avail ourselves of the divinely-arrayed weapons at our disposal to “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). These weapons give us victory at the thought level. When the Devil comes to us telling us that we are non-achievers, we can respond confidently that, “We can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth us.” You may never know the power of your thought until you allow God’s word to renew your mind. Pessimism will give way to divinely-wrought optimism, and failure will give way to success. What you thought you could never do comes within reach. A good example is the write-ups of these lessons. It was because a number of individuals with virtually no training in written English thought that they could produce these lessons, it is then that these manuals became a reality. You can be all that God wants you to be if you allow His word to saturate your thoughts.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
- To know how to guard your thoughts.
- To know how thoughts, originate.
- To know God’s thoughts towards believers.
- To know how to overcome at the thought realm.
- To know how to use our thoughts positively.
BIBLE TRUTH
Q1. WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THOUGHTS?
Our thoughts are imaginations, intentions, and purposes that are conceived in our minds. Thoughts are considered as processes which take place within our minds and have profound influence on our general perception and outlook on life. Our thoughts play an important role in molding our person. “For as he in thinketh in his hear, so is he”. (Proverbs 23:7). It is because of the great influence that our thoughts have over our lives that we are undertaking this study on guarding our thoughts. When we allow the Holy Spirit to provide a filter that gets rid of negative thoughts and sucks in positive ones, then we will observe the positive results in our relationships, dispositions, and outlook to life. You will find yourself seeing the water in a half-filled glass of water, while others see the unfilled half.
Q2. HOW DOES THE STATE OF OUR HEART AFFECT OUR THOUGHTS?
By the heart here we mean the figurative use of the word in the scriptures to represent the seat of the moral and spiritual life of an individual. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23). The heart represents the “hidden man” or the true person. Its state is determined by the nature of the relationship that an individual has with the Lord. An individual who has a personal relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus has a heart from which godly thoughts can issue forth, whereas he who does not know the Lord has a heart from which “proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” (Matthew 15:19) it is, thus, obvious, that the state of our hearts which in turn depends on our relationship with the Lord, has profound influence on the way we think. It will be cosmetic to attempt to change our thoughts by simply trying to think positively; we need to come into a personal relationship with the Lord for us to expect to think right.
Q3. WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD SAY ABOUT THE THOUGHTS OF THE NATURAL MAN?
By the natural man we mean an individual who is yet to be regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit through the blood of Jesus Christ. The following passages of scripture indicate vividly the thoughts of the natural man: Genesis 6:5, Psalm 94:11, and Isaiah 55:8-9. His thoughts are evil not occasionally but continually. That is not surprising because the heart of the natural man is evil. When the source is evil we expect that the thoughts that issue forth will also be evil.
Q4. WHAT ARE GOD’S THOUGHTS TOWARDS THE BELIEVER?
It is interesting to note that the Lord God Almighty has faculties to be able to think. He is a divine personality. We who are His children should mirror His thought patterns. In terms of quantity, God’s thoughts about each one of us are numerous (Psalm 40:5; 139:17-18). That is significant when we recall that there are over 6 billion persons on the earth at present, and His thoughts to an individual could outnumber the grains of sand. How awesome our God is! In terms of the quality of His thoughts towards His children. It is best stated by the prophetic words of Jeremiah: “For I know the thought that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11). The Lord thinks well about each one of His children with a view of bringing us to our desired end. These words should not be forgotten by a believer under any circumstances. They sooth our nerves and provide us faith and courage to weather any storm we may be in right now or that may come our way.
Q5. WHY SHOULD THE BELIEVER KEEP HIS THOUGHTS UNDER CHECK?
One of the great and magnificent phenomena of nature is the spring which is known to sustain the lives of many. Many springs provide continuous supply of good drinking water all year round. The nature of a spring depends largely on its source, and where the source is-is a deep and rich water-bearing soil formation; the spring will have a large quantity of water. Our thoughts are springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). They should be protected from pollution of all forms ranging from those that come from what we see, to all about us, to those that arise from association with others.
One other significant reason why we should keep our thoughts under check is because it is at the thought realm that the devil carries on most of his attacks against the believer. To be victorious over the devil and his hosts, we must by the power of the Holy Spirit overcome the devil at the thought realm. It is at the thought realm that most sins of immorality are contrived. When an individual is defeated at this realm, it only requires the circumstances to be properly arranged for this sin to manifest itself if in the physical. Those who overcome at the thought realm are also overcome in the physical.
Q6. HOW DOES THE BELIEVER KEEP HIS THOUGHTS UNDER CHECK?
Proverbs 4:20-21 says, “My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart.” The word of God is a powerful tool in ensuring that our thoughts are under check, How the word achieves this is quite easy to appreciate. The word, like flowing water, renews the mind as we meditate on it (Ephesians 5:26). It washes away the dust sprinkled by the enemy as we interact with various persons in the course of the discharge of our day-to-day responsibilities. However, for this to be effective, there must have been some deposit of God’s word from study and preaching the word of God. This underscores the importance of a consistent personal study of God’s word on a daily basis and involvement in a regular program of group Bible study and in a church where the undiluted word of God is preached.
We need to keep ourselves from perverse ways, corrupt talk, and perverse associations (Proverbs 4:24). We cannot expect to have godly thoughts when our ways are perverse (Matthew 7:16-20). We also cannot expect to have godly thoughts when we engage our lips in immoral talk. And ungodly associations will not help either.
The need for singleness of vision and purpose cannot be underestimated if we are to achieve godly thoughts. “Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.” (Proverbs 4:25) The eye provides an entrance into our being (Matthew 6:22-24). Singleness of the eye denotes singleness of purpose and devotion. When we are that focused on the Lord, then our thoughts will take cue.
To keep our thoughts in check, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to constantly search us (Psalm 139:23-24). Every area of our lives should be open to the scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. We should always be bare before the search light of the Holy Spirit so that our thoughts stay under check.
Q7. HOW CAN POSITIVE THOUGHTS AFFECT OUR TOTAL WELL-BEING?
Godly thoughts emanate from a godly mind. Such a mind is saved from the agitations from within and without (Isaiah 26:3). It is at peace. A mind at peace provides for a wholesome being. Believers who have trained their minds to think godly and positively can weather any storm. In the face of adversity, they are at peace and would speak faith instead of unbelief, fear and doubts. They never consider themselves to be failures because of one or two slips, rather they see them all working for their good. A number of times, our inability to take bold steps of faith is because we are defeated at the thought level. We must cease to listen to the Devil and listen to the Lord so that it may be well with our souls.
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Thoughts can be quite powerful in sharpening our lives. We think what we believe. When we believe in an apologetic God who, though Almighty, has lost control of all that is going on all about us because of the evil works of the Devil, we tend to think that we are subject to the Devil. We must therefore change our beliefs. We must seek God for the grace to overcome the Devil at the thought realm so that we be all that the Lord would have us to be. To achieve this, God’s word has to renew our minds. It should be a daily renewal. In that way our beliefs will line up with His word. In that way we will understand that we not only serve a mighty God, but we are saved to be overcomers.
MEMORY VERSE:
Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”