Behind The Scenes
I was listening to the story in Matthew, Chapter 9 this morning where a paralyzed man was brought to Jesus on a sleeping pad. Jesus saw the faith of the people and told the man that his sins had been forgiven.
And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
Matthew 9:3 ESV
Notice they were talking to themselves. They were not speaking out loud but thinking this.
Many times we will see or hear something and immediately we will criticize it in our thoughts. We will discount and belittle another because they do not conform or measure up to our standards. Instead of accepting the absolute power of God to move in our lives or in the lives of others, we respond with jealousy. Our words and actions do not always reflect what we truly think. But there is One who does know.
Our negative thoughts about ourselves or others are evil in the eyes of God.
Many times we will see or hear something and immediately we will criticize it in our thoughts. We will discount and belittle another because they do not conform or measure up to our standards. Instead of accepting the absolute power of God to move in our lives or in the lives of others, we respond with jealousy. Our words and actions do not always reflect what we truly think. But there is One who does know.
Our negative thoughts about ourselves or others are evil in the eyes of God.
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Matthew 9:4 ESV
The fact that Jesus replied not to their words but to their thoughts really hit me this morning. All summer God has been dealing with me about my motives for doing everything. Sometimes this is painful because it requires humility and honesty on such a deep and sometimes a public level.
No one else is aware of our thoughts and motives except God.
I have lived a lot of my life saying and doing one thing while I was thinking something completely opposite. I didn't pay much attention to my thoughts or motives. They would run through my brain like previews at a movie theater reminding me of all the things I have done wrong or not done good enough. I would fill myself up with guilt and condemnation. I was also critical and jealous of others and I let all those thoughts affect many of my choices.
Our Heavenly Father does not want us filling our minds with this kind of junk! With the help of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we can clean out our negative thoughts and replace them with God's thoughts. Not sure about this? Let me help you.
We may fool the people around us by not saying what we are thinking but this does not stop God from hearing it. He knows our thoughts and motives. He hears every judgmental and negative thought that goes through our minds. Even when we think in pictures, God sees it. He sees it all. And what we allow to dwell in our minds feeds our hearts and will eventually be reflected to others through our words and behaviors.
Our hearts contain what we think and feel about ourselves and others. If it is full of our own opinions then there is no room for Jesus in it. But, when we begin to memorize scriptures that remind us of God's presence and power and His unconditional love for us - things start to change. By not focusing on our own opinions and looking repeatedly at our faults or failures, we remove their presence from within us. In other words, we clean house.
We get rid of that old junk and sweep out our hearts when we refuse to pay attention to our shortcomings and when we refuse to think critically of one another. This is called "guarding your heart" (Proverbs 4:23).
God knows that our hearts will find peace and joy when we put our attention on Him instead of others or ourselves. The devil knows it too and that is why he will try to keep you thinking about the negative things. He does not want you be live happily in the love of God. He wants you miserable and upset.
There is living power in the Word of God and when we intentionally focus on that instead of our opinions, our lives become full of God's power.
Refuse to give anything to devil. Pay attention to your thoughts and guard your heart with the Word of God. Put effort into memorizing scripture and watch how your heart and life grows in joy and peace.
Fill your heart with God's Word.
Heidirn
Our Heavenly Father does not want us filling our minds with this kind of junk! With the help of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we can clean out our negative thoughts and replace them with God's thoughts. Not sure about this? Let me help you.
We may fool the people around us by not saying what we are thinking but this does not stop God from hearing it. He knows our thoughts and motives. He hears every judgmental and negative thought that goes through our minds. Even when we think in pictures, God sees it. He sees it all. And what we allow to dwell in our minds feeds our hearts and will eventually be reflected to others through our words and behaviors.
Our hearts contain what we think and feel about ourselves and others. If it is full of our own opinions then there is no room for Jesus in it. But, when we begin to memorize scriptures that remind us of God's presence and power and His unconditional love for us - things start to change. By not focusing on our own opinions and looking repeatedly at our faults or failures, we remove their presence from within us. In other words, we clean house.
We get rid of that old junk and sweep out our hearts when we refuse to pay attention to our shortcomings and when we refuse to think critically of one another. This is called "guarding your heart" (Proverbs 4:23).
God knows that our hearts will find peace and joy when we put our attention on Him instead of others or ourselves. The devil knows it too and that is why he will try to keep you thinking about the negative things. He does not want you be live happily in the love of God. He wants you miserable and upset.
There is living power in the Word of God and when we intentionally focus on that instead of our opinions, our lives become full of God's power.
Refuse to give anything to devil. Pay attention to your thoughts and guard your heart with the Word of God. Put effort into memorizing scripture and watch how your heart and life grows in joy and peace.
Fill your heart with God's Word.
Heidirn
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