Title: Thoughts for the New Year
Text: 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
CHCC: December 30, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
This is the last time we’ll be together in 2012. It’s the time when we think: "out with the old and in with the new". There’s a scripture that talks about that: Ephesians 4:22-23, "With regard to your old way of life, put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; and be made new in the attitude of your minds."
This sounds like a good resolution for 2013: be made new in the attitude of our minds. That’s something all of us can do. No matter what stage of life we’re in – children, young adults, middle age, seasoned citizens --- one thing that we all have in common is that we all have brains! Some may be still developing and others may be … fading away … but we all have minds that can be made new in 2013.
The Bible has a lot to say about how we think. Our thoughts affect everything in life: our homes, our relationships, our health, our jobs, our emotions. Maybe you’ve heard this little axiom:
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. (Author Unknown)
That’s absolutely true. We’ve all heard “you are what you eat.” But the truth is, “you are what you think.” Proverbs 23:7 tells us: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."
1. You are what you think
I have a challenge for us in 2013: Proclaim a fast from negative thinking. Let me define what I mean by “negative thinking.” (You could call it stinkin’thinkin’.) Stinkin’ thinkin’ is any thought that does not include God --- any thought that does not include FAITH.
Worry is thinking about the future without faith. Bitterness is thinking about the past without faith. All negative thoughts are thoughts that leave God out, whether it’s lustful thoughts or thoughts of revenge or rebellious thoughts or anxious thoughts.
What thought patterns do you need to change in 2013? These thoughts may be worry over the future. We may be mulling over our own past failures. We may nurture a grudge over what someone else did to us. We may be focusing on some problem or sickness or disappointment. Whatever the negative thought is … it is sinful… because it is a thought that doesn’t come from faith. If we give faithless thoughts a place in our mind, then Satan has claimed territory in our thought life.
Are you worried about the future? I’ve talked to people who are anxious about the future of our economy … and of our country in general. If we’re not careful, these kinds of negative thoughts can take over. Or maybe you’ve been dwelling on the past – on bad things that have happened to you … or on things you regret. I came across this article called:
Leaving the City of Regrets by Larry Harp (revised by Susan Skidmore)
I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip."
I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I chose to carry all my baggage. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. When I finally checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, the Annual Pity Party. Many of the towns leading citizens were in attendance.
First, came the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Of course the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterday's. There are too many of them to count, but each one had a sad story to share.
But as I thought about all of the stories of regret, it occurred to me that the "pity party" could be canceled … by ME! I did not have to be there.
One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address.
Instead, I took a trip to a place called, Starting Again. By the way, you don't have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God will help you find the way to this wonderful city. Here’s a hint --- it's in your own heart.
I wish it was that easy to stop our "stinkin’ thinkin’", but it’s a lot harder than buying a plane ticket. The fact is that there’s a war going on in our brains --- The war is spiritual, and the battlefield is the mind.
2. The battlefield of the mind
2 Corinthians 10:3 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
I want to focus on one key word --- strongholds. Satan is relentlessly trying to establish strongholds in our minds. He starts with a foothold, but his goal is to build a stronghold. The foothold comes when he plants a thought. But we have to cooperate with Satan before he can build a stronghold. If we accept the negative thought --- and revisit it over and over, then that sinful thought becomes a stronghold --- an area where Satan has claimed territory in your mind.
I saw an interesting article by a Doctor who might be able to show what a stronghold of the mind looks like. This is a picture is of healthy brain neurons. Dr. Caroline Leaf explains that every thought is carried by chemicals of emotion. The brain was created for positive emotion – thoughts of love, joy, peace, and hope for example. But stinkin’thinkin’ --- like thoughts of bitterness or anxiety --- those negative thoughts carry excess chemicals that build up in the brain and look like this picture. Dr. Leaf calls it a “thorn.” I’m calling it a “stronghold.”
One thought won’t cause this chemical “thorn”, but repetitive negative thoughts builds up a chemical “stronghold” in the brain. According to Dr. Leaf, every time the person revisits that thought, more negative chemicals will be released and the “thorn” will grow. (Dr. Caroline Leaf, "Who Switched off my Brain")
Strongholds of sinful thinking inevitably lead to sinful actions.
• If someone looses their temper, you can bet they’ve already built up a stronghold of angry thoughts.
• When I talk to someone who is determined to divorce their spouse --- every single one of them has a handy list of negative thoughts about their spouse. They’ve rehearsed that list so many times that they have it memorized. They can’t even think of their spouse without bitter emotions.
• No one has ever fallen into an affair. They’ve cooperated with Satan to build strongholds of impurity and lust in their minds long before they took action.
• Do you know anyone who constantly gossips or whines or grumbles? You can bet their brains are filled with strongholds of bitterness and discontent.
Our job is to break down strongholds by taking every sinful thought captive for Christ. But too often we act like our thoughts are beyond our control. Suppose I’m lying in bed one night and I hear someone breaking into my house. I have a cell phone. I even have a gun in the house. Am I just going to lie there and see what happens next?
That’s exactly what we’re doing when we take the attitude … “Well, those thoughts just keep popping in my head, so there’s nothing I can do.” God has called us to battle. He has commanded us to take sinful thoughts captive and to break down any strongholds Satan wants to build in our minds. And God has given us the weapons to fight this spiritual battle.
3. Choose your weapons
As usual, Jesus gave us the perfect example. Before he started his public ministry, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. This period of temptation was a spiritual battle … it was a battle of the mind. And the weapon Jesus used was the Word of God. For each temptation, Jesus answered with “it is written…”
Jesus used God’s Word to cut through the lies of Satan. Other than that, he didn’t talk to the devil at all. Too often we want to reason with Satan. If Jesus didn’t try to argue with Satan, why would we?
Hebrews 4:12 says, The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The way to take sinful thoughts captive is to fill your mind with God’s Word. This takes more than sitting in church once a week. It means reading the Bible on your own … listening to Christian programs and music … maybe memorizing.
When you meditate on God’s Word, you are undergoing spiritual surgery – an operation that separates soul and spirit. This is major surgery, like taking marrow from bone. In other words, God’s Word reveals what thoughts and ideas are of the flesh and what is of the Spirit … what thoughts are from above and what thoughts are from below.
Romans 12:2 tells us: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Are you willing to make this your resolution for 2013 --- to be transformed by the renewing of your mind?
If you are, here’s a quick “how-to”---
1) Think about your thinking
2) Use your sword… the sword of the spirit which is the word of God
3) Replace stinkin’ thinkin’ with a thoughts of faith
1) Think about your thinking – Don’t just let thoughts roam around in your head. Examine your thoughts and ask yourself, “Is this good for me?” Is it a thought of faith or a thought that leaves God out? If it’s good, go with it. If it’s bad, take it captive for Christ
2) Use your sword … the sword of the spirit which is the word of God ---Once you know what kind of strongholds you need to demolish, ask God to show you the scriptures you can us. The sermon-notes page of the bulletin has the paraphrases of some scriptures that might apply.
I use some of these. I often say “Fret not thyself…” Someone I know often says “Cast your care…” The Holy Spirit will show you the phrase that you can use.
This is family Sunday, so we have children here today. Any of you who are old enough that you’ve been listening to some of what I’ve been saying … you can do this, too.
If you get mad at a friend or brother or sister, then BEFORE you get in a fight … get out your sword and stop your thoughts with a verse like “Be kind one to another…” Or if you’re thinking about disobeying your parent, stop your thought with “Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.” This can save you a lot of trouble!
3) Replace stinkin’thinkin’ with thoughts of faith --- You can demolish a stronghold if you purposely think on that topic with faith. Dr. Leaf discovered that when someone thinks in a positive way, the negative chemical “thorn” gradually dissolves. Eventually you will find that you have won the war against that particular stronghold.
CONCLUSION:
We’ll sum this up the way Paul did in Philippians 4:8. " Finally, brothers and sisters, 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."
We won’t have as much trouble with stinkin’thinkin’ if we fill our minds with what is true, noble, and right!
It’s a good idea to have a purposeful think session every day when we focus our thoughts on what is pure, lovely admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. In 2013 let’s think about such things!
