On Sunday, I talked about my emotions sometimes getting the best of me.. When I get stressed, when I get angry… My emotions will tend to lead. My mind goes haywire and my mouth blurts out the worst.
What kind of situation creates a haywire mind for you? Bad news, work, family stress, or something else?
What helps you slow down when you feel upset or overwhelmed?
Fear, doubt, and cynicism, sarcasm are common thought patterns. Which of these do you think affects people most today? Why?
James 1:6-8 (NLT)
Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
So, God doesn’t like divided loyalty, I guess. What might divided loyalty look like to you in an ordinary week?
Colossians 3:2–3 (ESV)
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
φρονέω phroneō
This is the Greek word that means to direct your inward impulse and disposition. Phroneo on things above. Have your mind fixated on heaven.
Think back to those mental haywire situations we talked about earlier… What if our minds were fixated on moving in a heavenly direction, so that when those things hit, our minds, mouths, and hearts go in the right direction, instead of the wrong direction? How would that change the way we respond?
How would that change our relationships, our workplaces, our regrets, our hopes?
Psalm 139:23–24 (NLT)
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
I had a friend that prayed this prayer before he did almost anything. How could this prayer help you and I tell the difference between God’s leading and a reaction caused by fear or hurt?
Philippians 4:8 (NLT)
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
“Fix your thoughts” here is a different word… λογίζομαι… Logizomai.
Go ahead.. pronounce that one out loud.
It means to ponder, to reflect… But it can also mean to “pass to one’s account, to impute.”
Maybe what Paul is saying is that as we ponder and reflect on what is true, honorable, and right and pure… Maybe those qualities pass to us… are imputed to us. What do you think?
Maybe we struggle with having Godly thought patterns because pondering and reflecting take time. They take focus… And we aren’t exactly a focusing and reflecting culture, are we? What keeps you from doing that?
Psalm 1:1–3 (NLT)
Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
What is one thought pattern or habit you want God to change this week? What is one small step you can take, and who could pray for or encourage you?
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