Spiritual Steak: a 30 Day Devotional

Publisher Marketing: Day 20 Our Thought-Life is Highly Important Phil 4:8, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." I love Joyce Meyer! She always talks about the fact that we need to THINK about what we are thinking about. That is SO true. If you are passive in your thought life, the enemy, Satan, will attack you to no end. You have to be intentional in your thought life. If you want to have a good day or be in a good mood, you NEED to think positive thoughts. To allow negative thoughts to keep circling in your mind is essentially sleeping with the enemy, Satan. Satan wants to keep you down and depressed and feeling guilty and sorry for yourself. Jesus said that he came that we might have LIFE. Thinking negatively is the farthest thing from having life. God does want you to be happy. We need to get over the notion that God wants us to suffer and be miserable all the time. That simply is not true. Granted he does test us sometimes, but only for our greater good. Generally though, God wants us to enjoy our lives. He is our heavenly father, and just like an earthly father, God loves to see his children happy. But to be happy is a decision. It takes a conscious effort. And it usually takes a lot more effort and determination to be happy than it does to be grumpy. If you are lazy in your thought life, you will generally be miserable. But if you intentionally think on whatever is "true, noble, pure, right, lovely, admirable" etc. you will generally be happy. But the decision is yours. Satan often puts thoughts in our minds. We may think everything that we think is ourselves but the truth is, Satan is putting thoughts into our minds ALL day long! Any thought that is negative, self-condemning, even obsessive thoughts, these are all from Satan. You need to tell Satan to shut up. I am serious. I tell Satan to shut up at least 20 times a day. You need to learn to bounce your thoughts. If you have a negative thought, transfer your concentration onto something that is good. This takes practice but with time you WILL be able to generally think positively, with God's help of course. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Amen Reflection Questions Do you often have negative thoughts? Do you wish that you didn't? __________________________________________________________________ Can you think of some positive things to think about instead when a negative thought comes into your head? __________________________________________________________________ Do you think your life would improve if you bounced your negative thoughts into positive thoughts? __________________________________________________________________ Did you realize that with the Holy Spirit you can have power over Satan and the thoughts that he tries to put into your head? Are you ready to tell Satan to shut up? Contributor Bio:  Bedrick, Lisa Here is some info about me, for any that might be curious. I was raised in Orange County, CA from 0 to 9. I then moved to Nebraska for 5 years, and then back to Orange County. I currently live in Midland, Texas. I went to Tustin High School in Tustin, CA. For college I went to Biola University in L. A. I have a B. A. in English with a minor in Bible. At Biola I was a member of the Torrey Honors Institute all four years, which is a great books program. I played basketball and was in choir from 4th grade through college. I really, really love animals. I have a beautiful 6 month old daughter named Serenity, and a wonderful Christian husband named Ben. I love the outdoors and I very much miss living by a beach. I have been to India, Taiwan and Mexico on mission's trips. I visited Sydney, Australia recently and got to fulfill my lifelong dream of snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. I was raised in the church. I have been a hard core, on fire for God, Christian since I was 14. Singing the song "Shout to the Lord" in church was what made the light bulb go on for me, and what made me transition from a head faith in God to a heart faith. I love to sing and I absolutely love Hillsong worship music. : ) That's me in a nutshell. God bless!