How I Manage My Thoughts

Hello, Friends!

I’m writing to you from the beach today where the sky is blue, the water is turquoise and so beautiful it almost makes my heart explode with gratitude to our Father who created it all. We have been down here for a few days now, socially distancing, avoiding even our most favorite restaurants, wearing masks when we go into public places, but still totally enjoying ourselves.

I do have to admit that I miss my key lime pie from The Donut Hole,

and crab cake sandwich from The Market at Seagrove Village,

and shrimp and grits from The Great Southern,

and pizza from Grimaldi’s,

and that we will have to wait until next time to see the Red Bar, which just reopened after burning to the ground last year.

But this post isn’t about food even though I spend way too much time thinking about it.

It is, however, about other things I am thinking about.

Thinking about Thinking….

When I was a language arts teacher, I learned a lot about “metacognition”-thinking about thinking. Understanding how humans think is very important in developing reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Becoming a critical thinker is ESSENTIAL and doesn’t just happen. It is way easier to just believe what people tell you to believe, follow the crowd, do what you are told, and fall in line.

That is what the enemy of our souls has in mind for us. But God has a different idea.

The biggest battleground for almost all of us, it seems, is between our ears. I know it is for me.

For the past couple of years, God has brought to my attention over and over again that it matters what I think, not just what I say with my mouth and what I do. And today, I feel like I need to get it down on paper to help seal the deal.  I am a major work in progress in this area, but I truly desire to allow God to transform the way I think.

Here are some things that have helped me.

One….Acknowledge that there is a problem.

I had mixed up thinking about a lot of things during my lifetime, but I’ll just share one example.

I was a worrier not a prayer, for way too long. Sometimes, I placed my trust in my worry- almost believing that if I worried enough, planned enough for every contingency that MY WORRY would prevent something bad from happening. I didn’t ENJOY the moment for fear that my enjoyment would be rewarded with TROUBLE.

Isn’t that ridiculous?

A wise friend recently told me, “Susan, you can’t worry and pray at the same time.”  She is right.

I don’t know what mixed up thinking you might have, but I bet there is something. Let’s acknowledge it and let Him heal us from it.

Two….God cares what we think, not just what we do.

Did you know that God wants to TRANSFORM YOUR MIND?

I don’t remember hearing many sermons in my lifetime about this topic, but in the last couple of years God has brought this teaching to me in one sacred echo after another.

I am soooo thankful! I don’t have to keep thinking the same thoughts…which lead to the same feelings…which cause the same action…which lead to the same results.

No more excusing myself from bad behavior because “that’s just the way I am.”

Instead, I’m claiming these promises-

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”                   Romans 12:2

“‘Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?’ But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”

and this directive-

“Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right,and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ”  Phillipians 4:8

Three…Ask for God’s thoughts.

One thing that I has been helping me is to ASK my Father for HIS THOUGHTS.

During this crazy time we are living in, I have flip flopped between freaking out and peace. Can you relate?

God reminded me that I was spending way too much time meditating on other people’s words instead of focusing on HIS.

I choose HIM.

Four….Turn up the praise.

Things go such much better in my brain if I become a blessing seeker. God’s goodness is on display everywhere I look-in nature and in each face he brings into my path. We find what we are looking for, and when I DECIDE to look for good things, I find them in ABUNDANCE.

I am THANKFUL!

Five….Pray on Your Armor.

God promises to fight our battles and he is GOOD at it. Our enemy is not flesh and blood, the governor, the president of the United States, the know-it-all on social media.

When we were in Israel, God gave me a new awareness of the spiritual battle that is raging all around us. Our enemy can only be defeated one way and that is through the power of the Holy Spirit living in believers.

Sidebar: Read about our trip to Israel here.

The enemy came to kill, steal and destroy and he is the father of LIES.

Since we are unable to see our Florida friends this time, or do many of the other things we might otherwise do, we have been searching for something to watch on Netflix. It seems every show we try is a visual representation of what the world will be like when there is NO GOODNESS to be found anywhere.

Meanness. Meanness. Meanness. YUCK!

Thank the Lord, we aren’t actually at that point in the world yet, but that is exactly what HELL will be-no love, no joy, no peace, no patience, no kindness, no self-control, no gentleness, no goodness, no faithfulness, no Jesus.

NO THANK YOU.

Let’s pray on our armor, believers. We are in the battle of our lives.

Six….Believe the Truth of Who God is and Who You are in Christ

Several summers ago, a friend and I had a God appointment down here in Florida at a resale shop. In the midst of looking for a good buy on some used lamps, which I found by the way, we were blessed to hear the story of a ministry for women coming out of drug addiction. The man who shared his story with us also shared a list of affirmations that the women repeated every day.

When I began saying those same truths aloud each morning, God really used them to show me who I am as a Christ follower and He began to change me from the inside out.

I know I am loved and seen and known by my Creator and I have a purpose here on earth.

And so do you. When we stop believing the lies about ourselves that the world tells us or we tell ourselves, we can move with Holy Spirit confidence and live in the flow. Goodness, I want that for me and for you!

If you would like a copy of those affirmations, let me know!

Seven…Let Go of Your Manual for Others.

Aren’t you glad that we don’t have to stay in the same mindruts that we naturally gravitate to? We don’t have to react the same way we did last time that got us nowhere fast, we don’t have to seek what we need in our spirits from the people around us because we know to go to the SOURCE of ALL GOODNESS and HEALING, we don’t have to try to control people around us overtly or covertly.

We can let all the people off the hook!!! Release them from our manuals of how we think they should behave and treat us.

I’ll just admit that as I type these words, I’m praying that they will be true in my own life. I want to LOVE people as Christ loves them and that can only happen if HE DOES IT THROUGH ME.

Let’s be willing to let him control what happens between our ears.

To God be the Glory.

That’s all for today, friends! I’ll be praying for you and would love you to pray for me.