How To Control Bad Thoughts In Your Mind
Most of us if we will admit it have had bad thoughts going through our minds even as Christians. Our Circumstances sometimes dictate or dominate our thoughts but they shouldn’t be. St. Paul wrote a letter while he was in prison and said the following: Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable.”
Now how in the world could St. Paul write something like this while rotting away in a dirty filthy prison and knowing he was facing death by beheading? Well it wasn’t easy but he did and regardless of your circumstances you can too. It is easy to praise God when we have money, a nice house, a nice car, a job promotion, and lots of friends. Could you praise God though if you got fired from your job, the repo man took your car, you get evicted, and you find out your best friend is sleeping with your girlfriend? So many people will say, “No I cannot under the circumstances.” What they need to remember that Jesus is not UNDER the circumstances but He is OVER the circumstances! Paul chose not to focus on the negative but instead his mind raced back to the positive things that took place in his Christian walk. I am sure Paul thought of all the souls that had been saved, of all the churches that he had planted, of all the healings that took place, and of his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He wasn’t focusing on being arrested, being put on trial, being whipped, being beaten, that stinking dungeon of a prison, or his upcoming execution. We as Christians need to focus on the good things of God even when bad things seem to be ringing down all around us.
The word of God says to call things that are not as though they were. I remember hearing Gloria Copeland talk about how she and Kenneth were poor when they first started out in the ministry. She had old clothes and he had holes in his shoes, yet he was preaching prosperity. What he was doing was putting his faith out there, calling things that were not as though they were and God fulfilled it. Today the Copeland’s are extremely wealthy so they are living proof that it works. Of course they had to be obedient to God and focus on what was to come instead of what their circumstances were at the time. Now you just can’t be a poor person, choosing to live like the devil and for the world, confessing to be rich and expect it to happen. Obedience to God and faith in God are keys to making this happen. You see, others had seen the good things that happened in Paul’s life and he could appeal to others with such great merit in what he had to say because of it. It was a testimony to others.
You can’t dwell on evil thoughts and live righteously. Living for God is the result of thinking the thoughts as well displaying the thoughts of God which is found in His word.
To be a Christian means to be Christ-like. We are to strive with all of our heart and soul to be as much like Christ as possible which includes having the mind of Christ. We should develop our minds to have the thoughts of Christ which is found in His word. That should be every Christian’s desire and it certainly is the desire of Christ to see us have His thoughts in our mind. However, Satan would also like us to have his thoughts in our mind so he attacks our minds with evil, wicked and impure thoughts. A war takes place within our mind and it is a constant battle of ‘Good vs. Evil.’ It is normal for every Christian, no matter how much of a ‘Holy Joe’ or ‘Holy Jane’ they are, to have their mind attacked with impure thoughts. Sometimes we open the door of our mind to allow these wicked thoughts to come in by what we place before our eyes. I like what God’s Word says in Psalm 101: 3 “I will not put anything wicked in front of my eyes. I hate what unfaithful people do. I want no part of it.”
Remember, it is not Satan, but you who makes the choice to watch bad TV programs, go to naughty movies, look at porno magazines, go to websites that are bad, or go watch the girls at the nudie bar. Satan or anyone else can’t force you to do this. You make your own choice and you will pay the price when you choose the bad ones.
Another problem with allowing your mind to conform to the world’s way of thinking, is you will eventually become either hostile to God or you will begin to worship a counterfeit “god” that is not the God of the Holy Bible. That is what is happening today with a lot of these churches that have with the ‘new all-grace-no-repentance-needed’ theology which is in direct contrast with the Word of God I don’t care if your pastor preaches from all the top self-help books in the world and has a PhD in psychology! If what he is preaching does not line up with the word of God then get out of that church. Those who preach this damnable doctrine are more interested in quantity and not quality. To them it is about butts in the chairs for a bigger church and not about developing soldiers to serve in the army of the Lord! People that follow this sort of thinking end up leaving the Word and conforming to the world’s way of thinking because God’s rules and standards make them feel guilty.
The old saying goes, “You are what you eat.” I believe the Bible teaches us, “You are what you think.” Sadly I read where one study said that only 12% of people who call themselves Christians bother to read the Bible on a daily basis. If you have a car, and you never put gas and oil in it, eventually it is going to stop running. You need the word of God every day for fuel to keep going otherwise you will stop going for God.
A lot of us have bad thought habits because of what was taught to us in life, from parents, teachers, friends, or the type of entertainment we have been exposed to. For instance I was raised in an environment of racism so I could not expect all those bad beliefs and thoughts to go away overnight. Jesus didn’t automatically remove them from my mind when I became a Christian. He gave me the ability to do that. Romans 12: 2 says “Don't become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants-what is good, pleasing, and perfect.” (GWT) The Devil does not want you to think on the things of God though. He doesn’t care if you never think at all; he just doesn’t want you dwelling on the Word of God.
If we allow our minds to dwell upon the negative impure evil thoughts then they will take control and the Devil will win the battle. God created us with a free-will and it is our choice as to what we allow to dominate our minds. Therefore this is what a believer must do to overcome the bad thoughts.
1. Realize and believe that you have the mind of Christ and start acting like it! Show true faith! (1 Corinthians 2:16) (James 2:20)
2. Do not listen to worldly intellectual arrogance that opposes the knowledge of God. We take every thought captive so that it is obedient to Christ. Man’s wisdom is foolishness to God. (2 Corinthians 10:5;1 Corinthians 3:19)
3. Set your mind on the things that are of God and not the secular worldly things. Focus on good and not evil. God’s cure for bad thoughts is to fill our minds with that which is good. (Colossians 3:2; Philippians 4:8)
4. Resist the Devil and He will flee from you. (James 4:7) The entire scripture says Submit to God and THEN resist the Devil and he will flee from you. He won’t flee unless you are submitted to God.
5. Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God's will in Christ Jesus that you do this. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) You are not thanking Him for your troubles, but you are thanking Him for taking you through them.
6. Do like Job did. Praise Him no matter what the circumstances and know He is Over and not Under the circumstances. (Job2:10; 13:15)
7. Let Christ's word with all its wisdom and richness live in you. Use psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to teach and instruct yourselves about [God's] kindness. Sing to God in your hearts. (Colossians 3:16) Make the decision to sing praise to God no matter what and watch what He does for you. Paul and Silas chains were broken because of this. (Acts 16:25-39)
There are your keys to overcoming bad thoughts. Now it’s up to you to implement them.
Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary
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Rev. Elder Johnny Lee Clary is an ordained elder minister in the Church Of God In Christ, the largest African American denomination in the USA. He is one of the leading advocates for racial unity in the United States and has appeared on countless television and radio shows such as The Billy Graham show, Fox News, Morris Cerullo, Oprah, Morton Downey Jr., Rolanda Watts, Geraldo, Sally Jesse Raphael, Jerry Springer, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, Phil Donahue, A&E Investigative Reports, ABC World News Tonight, Bertrice Berry, The Today Show, A Current Affair, The 700 Club, Australia’s Andrew Denton, Australia’s morning Sunrise Ch. 7 and Kenneth Copeland's TV show. He has also been a regular guest on TBN's Praise The Lord show and has been featured in America's top newspapers and magazines, including a seven page feature story in Charisma magazine in Feb. 2010, April 1999, Moody Magazine, Guidepost Magazine (Sept. 1998), Kenneth Copeland's Believer's Voice of Victory magazine, as well as appearances on TV programs in Australia, England, Holland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, and Wales. He holds the record for the largest crowd ever at Hillsong Brisbane, Australia.
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