Thoughts Equal Belief

Anytime I ponder something over a period of time, I obviously believe what I am considering has merit, but if those thoughts contradict Word-based faith, I risk the contradiction and probable follow-through on related choices—some lifelong, some irreversible—that undermine personal faith and dishonor God. 

Along with the logical flow of those choices and all they bring to bear upon my life, their impact produces a composite mental image—things I think about and probably meditate on, until eventually, the image is powerful enough to change what I believe about the Lord’s love for me. 

Some people feel justified, even entitled, to present contradictions of God’s Word as truth. They overlook the snare associated with contradictions to truth—that truth can be made to be anything they want it to be, even a result of their own obsessive thoughts.    

God can change all that; He wants to deliver us. By His Spirit, He helps sever connections to misconceptions. The Lord’s deliverance shines light on thoughts that run amuck; He brings light to wrong thoughts practiced over time, then extends grace to come clean and admit our sympathy for the very thing(s) God would cut off.  

Thoughts become beliefs that determine the way or direction we’ll go, so it’s critical to govern those—to discipline the thoughts we allow in, only those that honor God and satisfy our longing for peace: 

“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”      (Philippians 4:8-9)

Amen! 

Philippians 4:8-9