Thinking Biblically
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).
Can you say that you normally think Biblically during an average day? This is crucial because if Satan can keep us from thinking this way, all of life can become so confusing.
We have long known and even memorized verses like Psalm 119:11 – Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Throughout your day, can you say that God’s Word guides your thinking? Take a fresh look at Philippians 2:5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
There is a phrase in the business world that we have all heard many times – “thinking outside the box.” It basically means that we ought to think in some original or creative way, a way not limited or controlled by rules or tradition. God’s Word emphasizes that we are not to think like everybody else in our world is thinking. Rather, we must let the Spirit of God, the author of the Word of God, guide our thinking. It is the Word of God that will assist us to think the very thoughts of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thinking His thoughts will keep us on the right path of life without the confusion of Satan’s deceptive thinking. So many people today are thinking as Satan wants them to think. One of the failures of so many Christians is the failure of not being “Spirit-filled,” or “Spirit-controlled,” and some have even become “world-filled” leaving the door wide open for them to become satanic-filled or deceptively-controlled.
Irwin Lutzer, on his morning radio program talked about the dangers in this area with people using their cell phones. There is so much on those phones and in the computer that will cripple our minds into thinking as Satan wants us to think. Before long, we begin to experience the same kinds of problems in our lives that those without Christ experience.
Where is your focus today? Is it in the spiritual realm, the practical realm, the temporal realm, or the eternal realm? Is your thinking more God-ward or man-ward, more inward or upward?
The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Our motives for everything we do in life needs to be God-centered. When we focus on God’s glory, we can expect to experience God’s grace.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. If our focus is truly on God’s Person and Word, we will experience what God desires for our life. But if our desires get in the way of thinking as we ought, we can expect to have the same kinds of problems those without Christ experience.
For the sake of your mental and spiritual health, give this some serious consideration. How much time do you give to seeking after God and His desires for your life each day? Meditate on the following verses: Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalm 1:1-2). My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah (Psalm 62:5-8). I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2).
When we do this notice the promise of God to us. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
God desires that we constantly be connecting with Him, recognizing His sovereignty and His providence in our lives. The results will always be practical and beneficial in our lives. When we live this way, we can then help others whose minds have been tainted with Satan’s deceptions. God must always be both our focus and our motive.
George Stiekes serves as a Lay Pastor at Bethany Bible Church in Hendersonville, NC. See here for a more complete bio of brother Stiekes extensive ministry. We republish his material by permission.