GUARD YOUR THOUGHTS
LIBERTY AND LOVE #108
Jesus is the reason for everything we do. He is the reason we have hope. He is the reason we rejoice. He offers us abundant life and unlimited spiritual resources (John 10:10; Phil. 4:19). Why, then, do so many seem to be living lives of frustration, confusion and discontentment? Why is there any such thing as a “negative Christian”? I believe the answer is found in the fact that we have not been properly trained how to think. We’ve been taught to be baptized. We’ve been taught to attend church assemblies. We’ve been taught to do this and do that. Man-made, organized religion has done all sorts of teaching and all sorts of damage with their teaching. Because all of their distinctive denominational doctrines only serve to distract us from Jesus Christ.
In man-made religious groups, you are not going to be taught how to focus on Jesus. There are exceptions to that, just as there are exceptions to everything. But on the whole, man-made religious groups exist because men somewhere stopped focusing on Jesus and started focusing on themselves. You cannot start a denomination or be anything but just a Christian by following Jesus.
Few are ever taught the most important part of life, the most essential key to living abundant lives. How to think! How’s your thinking? If you are a negative person, I can tell you why. You think negatively. If you are a habitual worrier, I can tell you why. You are thinking the wrong things. If you are critical, self-condemning, lacking proper self-esteem, I’m kind or inconsiderate to your fellow man I’m concerned about your fellow man, or sufficient faith in God to tackle life’s problems, I assure you it all goes back to your thoughts.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the source of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Do you know what that means? Your thoughts determine your actions. You are what you think. To change your life for the better, don’t focus on changing your life for the better. “Preacher, that doesn’t make sense.” What I’m saying is, don’t focus on “doing” different things. Instead, put all your energy into changing the way you think. That will change your life more than anything, faster than anything, and with more powerful results than anything else you could do.
Saturate your mind with thoughts of Jesus. Don’t make up your own thoughts, but get them from the Bible. Decide that you are going to be a positive person—the kind that will attract people to Jesus and not turn them away. Never say you cannot change. Trust in God and ask him to help you be “transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2). Your best days are before you.
Stay positive!
Dewayne Dunaway
