Soul Connection – Our Thoughts

 

What does God say about our thoughts?

Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

Your anxious thoughts….

they can take you down a slippery slope if you are not careful.  What starts as a little worry, can easily lead to full blown, overwhelming stress.  Before you know it, you are losing sleep, you have heart palpitations and a host of other physical ailments, all because you let your thoughts get out of control.

Something I read in one of my Bible studies struck a nerve with me concerning the effects from our thoughts.  It said, “If there are areas of your life where there is fear, anxiety, hopelessness, anger, disappointment, etc, then this is an area that the enemy has gained ground in your life.  Those feelings do not come from God.”

When you really think about this, it’s true. The enemy is out to keep you stuck in a place of lies in your mind and to be of no use for God’s kingdom.

Let’s not give him any more ground in your thoughts!

God knew we would need direction in this area of our mind so he lays it out for us step by step.  Let’s unpack this verse in Philippians so we can have the peace that God longs for us to have.

No more anxiety.

God starts right off with a command, Do not be anxious. He does not say “try not to be anxious instead He tells us “do not”.  This command needs to get our attention.  We are not to be anxious about “anything”. “Wait a minute Lord, you don’t know what’s going on in my life….. how can I not be anxious about it all?”

In everything by prayer and petition…..That’s your answer friends. The beginning of this secret to peace.  Bring it ALL to Him in prayer.  All the questions, All the whys, All the pain, and All the hurt.

With thanksgiving present your requests to God. This can be a tall order when life feels out of control.  God doesn’t want us to lose sight that having a thankful heart makes us see things differently.  If that’s hard some days,  rest on the fact that you belong to Him, He loves you, and you can go to Him with all that’s burdening your heart.   It’s a  place to start when thanksgiving seems really far down the list in your life.

And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  What an amazing promise!  God is going to provide a peace that you can’t explain because that kind of peace comes directly from His heart.   It defies all logic. The storms could still be raging on in your life but you can have peace because you are in the eye of the storm with your Lord.

You can find great comfort in knowing that Jesus is guarding your mind and your heart with His presence. Making sure stress and anxiety stay out of those areas and peace can reside there once again.

Life can be so uncertain at times and can cause your thoughts to escalate into mountains of stress…..but you now know what to do when our thoughts seem to be controlling you and peace is nowhere to be found.

We will remember to:

• Not be anxious because God has a plan
• Pray about everything and give it all over to God
• Be thankful because He knows it is healing for our hearts
• Remember that Jesus is guarding our hearts and minds helping us to get back to healthy thinking

Let’s pray,

Lord, you knew this verse would be life for us because our thoughts can be so emotionally driven at times, and cause us so much stress.  How we long for your peace that transcends all understanding during these times.  Help us to remember that you have to be the first place we turn to when our thoughts have caused us to lose our peace.  Thank you for guarding our hearts and minds until we are calmer and can think more clearly.  We trust you that in time this will become easier and the stress from our thoughts will be less and that this verse will become second nature to us. Help us to have a different way of thinking going forward.  In Jesus’s name, I pray, Amen

Until next time,

~pat

 

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