CLEANSE
THOSE THOUGHTS
BREAD
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed
hands does not make him ‘unclean.’” Matthew 15:18-20 (NIV)
17 Join
with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live
according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For,
as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as
enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their
stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly
things. Philippians 3:17-19 (NIV)
15 A
simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps. Proverbs 14:15 (NIV)
29 A wicked man puts up a bold front, but an upright man
gives thought to his ways. Proverbs
21:29 (NIV)
11 When
I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a
child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 1 Corinthians 13:11 (NIV)
9 “And
you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted
devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and
understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found
by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider
now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong
and do the work.” 1 Chronicles 28:9-10
(NIV)
11 The
LORD knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile. 12 Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you
teach from your law; 13 you grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit
is dug for the wicked. Psalms 94:11-13
(NIV)
12 For
the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it
penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the
thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must
give account. Hebrews 4:12-13 (NIV)
1 Since,
then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For
you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in
glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)
16 Therefore
we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are
being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for
us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So
we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
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. Philippians
4:8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Consider how carefully you would be if
your thoughts were written on your forehead.
O how ashamed you would be if men could see your thoughts! Is not the eye of God ten thousand times more
to be regarded? Keep a tender conscience
to be aware of the smallest sin. A tender
conscience fears evil thoughts and a seared conscience feels nothing. Cast out sinful thoughts in the beginning,
before they settle themselves and make a dwelling in your heart. They are easier to be resisted at the
beginning. Your heart will allow them to
root and grow if you allow them to stay.
Remember your hidden thoughts must one day be brought into the open
light.” Richard Baxter
“Don’t meditate excessively on what you’ve
done, right or wrong; both of these activities keep your mind on you!
Center your thoughts on Christ.”
Anonymous
“We must be aware
of the various ways sin pulls us to wrong thoughts about God, righteousness,
grace, ourselves and sin itself. Only the truth of God’s word and meditation in
prayer can reveal the deceitfulness of sin.
Sin works against God. Sin will either deceive us into thinking God is a
cruel taskmaster, or, if that will not work, will deceive us into thinking He
is like a doting grandfather who really does not care what we do. Sin affects
every Christian’s view of God and leads us to worship idols, figments of our
own imaginations, and not the true God. Sin will deceive us concerning grace.
We will either be deceived into thinking it is too good to be true, or we will
buy into cheap grace and think that ethics are unimportant.” Dr.
Bob Flayhart
“We
need to keep our heart full of a sense of the love of God. This is the greatest
perspective available to us against the power of temptation in the world...Fill
your heart with a sense of the love of God in Christ, and apply the eternal
design of grace and shed blood to yourselves. Accept all the privileges of
adoption, justification, and acceptance with God. Fill your heart with thoughts
of the beauty of holiness...then in the ordinary course of walking with God,
you will experience great peace and security from temptation.” John Owen
“Her
example was the antithesis of complaining, that ‘woe is me’ tendency to grouse,
grouch, and grumble. Complainers are usually contentious instead of
content, tear down instead of building, and wear others out emotionally. A
complainer’s lack of contentment is often caused by a tendency to compare
themselves to others. Complainers are often people who relive ugly situations
and perceived injustices over and over in their minds. They are unwilling or
unable to let past events or hurts go. Complainers keep
reloading their minds with negative thoughts and often live in depression,
despair, or darkness. Pastor Harry
Reeder puts it like this, ‘Selfish, self-absorbed, self-centered people are
despairing, despondent, and depressed.’” Donna Evans
“Good
thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions
can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from
corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the
natural world and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral
world though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating. A person’s
mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or
allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will,
bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, than an abundance of useless
seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.” James Allen
“Think through me, thoughts of God.” Amy Carmichael
“As we think so we do. The action always begins in the mind. Therefore, it matters greatly what we
continually dwell on and we are not to take our thoughts lightly rather captive
always making them obedient to Christ.
As believers we are to set our minds on things above rather than the
baser things of life. This must be
intentional as the world is loud. Play
your thoughts out. Where do they
lead? Will you like the results? You have one life to live. Don’t waste it.” BHY
“See
God in everything, and God will calm and color all that thou dost see! It may be that the circumstances of our
sorrows will not be removed, their condition will remain unchanged; but if
Christ, as Lord and Master of our life, is brought into our grief and gloom,
‘He will compass us about with songs of deliverance’. To see Him, and to be sure that His wisdom
cannot err, His power cannot fail, His love can never change; to know that even
His direst dealings with us are for our deepest spiritual gain, is to be able
to say, in the midst of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, ‘The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord’. Nothing else but seeing God in everything
will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only instruments for
accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find
ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessing they bring us. Nothing else will completely put an end to all
murmuring or rebelling thoughts.” Hannah W. Smith
“God has chosen each of His children to build a temple of their
bodies to be a sanctuary for His glory.
And just as David said to his son Solomon, he says to us: ‘Be strong and
do the work’.” BHY
HEART SAVOR
- ·
I am to set my heart and mind on things above dwelling on
what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and
praiseworthy.
- ·
I am to take my thoughts captive making them obedient to Christ.
- ·
My mind is to be set on things above not on earthly things.
