THE PAST THE FUTURE IT’S WHAT IS WITHIN THAT COUNTS
We Think. We
Feel. We Behave.
We all think. Sometimes the thoughts go every which way, and it
seems we can’t control them. II Corinthians 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of
strong holds;) Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…
We are to control our thoughts.
They are to be proper, right, and holy. Our mind is the gatekeeper to our whole
being. How much thinking ever got us out of trouble—thoughts about life,
responsibilities, bills, troubles. We
need to capture the thoughts and our way of thinking. In Matthew 6:25 Jesus
says Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye
shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? We should not be wasting the energy of our mind because HE WILL TAKE CARE
OF THESE THINGS.
We find this in Philippians 4:8. 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. We are to let
God take the heavy, cumbersome, difficult parts of our lives. That’s His job;
He’ll take care of them. OUR JOB IS TO
THINK ON THE TRUTH, JUST LOVELY, HONEST, VIRTURE, PRAISE.
So, there are two lists.
|
My Life |
Things that are true |
|
What I eat |
Things that are honest |
|
What I drink |
What is just |
|
For my body |
What is lovely |
|
What I put on |
A good report |
|
Job |
Virtue |
|
Troubles |
Praise |
There are two ways to think. We
can waste our energy on the first list, but those are things that God will take
care of for us. We are to think on the
second list. That is our job. Which list do you think from the most? It is our
human nature to think all about the first list. But at the end of the day,
thoughts focused on that will have drained us. But if we think on the second
list, we’ll find a lighter load. We’re not carrying the first list on our
backs. We won’t feel so drug down. While
we need to plan; we need not worry.
We all feel. Sometimes we feel hurt
and pain. Sometimes it’s anger. Emotions run the whole gamete. Solomon says in Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like
a city that is broken down, and without walls. We are
unprotected and venerable when we don’t control our feelings. All the feelings and emotions we allow are of
our own consent. No one can make you
feel inferior, unhappy or any other emotion without our consent. We can choose. I Corinthians 13:11 says when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things. Children feel as children; they can’t help it but an adult can
control it. We are to be mature and not as children.
We all behave. If a woman is asked what kind of child she’d like her child
to be, most say things like caring, mindful of others, or he/she interacts well
with others. We are finding our own behavior. We let it come out.
Let’s take a tool box. Inside are
a hammer, a small saw, a wrench, duct tape, and a level. We all have a tool box. We can react and take
out that hammer and beat someone down. We can let theme have it. Are we using
the hammer in the right way? We need a hammer, but if a fly is around you can’t
kill it with a hammer; you need a fly swatter. A hammer is not the right
tool. We’ll pull our hammers out less
often if we’ll do just that. We have a saw. We can take it out and cut others
off. We can slash them to pieces. Sometimes the truth of God’s word is not
pleasing to us, so we whittle this off and that out. If someone yells at us, we
yell louder. Whatever happened to the
“count-to-10-rule?” We’ll use our hammer and saw less frequently, especially in
the wrong way.
We have a wrench. A wrench
tightens a screw, but if it’s tightened to far, too tight, the screw will be
stripped. You can only go so far.
Sometimes we take out our wrench and we go too far with it. We must watch that and not go too far in any
situation.
We have duct tape. What is it
used for? It’s a temporary fix. It’s
what you use until the part can be fixed once and for all. Maybe we need to
make some temporary changes, for the time being, but also know that they need a
permanent fix.
Each and every time something
happens to us, we pull out a tool from our box. Sometimes we find we need a
level. We find we’ve gone too far. We need a balance and must look at things
with a level head and make adjustments as needed.
We all have tools within us. They
can be used constructively or destructively.
Philippians
1:27 says Only let your conversation be as
it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be
absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. We can honor God
with our tools, even if it’s a hammer.
In a novel I once read, it spoke
of the rain forest and how that things on the floor of the forest cannot get to
the light for the cover above them. So they feed on the rotten logs and debris
on the ground. What they feed on was called “nursing logs.” We all are responsible for the well being of
someone. We are responsible for their
spiritual growth. We cannot throw a new Christian out and tell them to make it
on their own. They need to drink from one else’s spiritual maturity. We are to
be their “nurse log.” We must pay
attention to how we think, feel and behave and what tools we use with and
around them. We all need a “nurse log.”
All of us need someone stronger than we are to feed on.
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote “what lies behind us and what
lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Think from
the right list. Train yourself. Rule over your own feelings. Does your behavior
honor God?
We are filling our toolbox everyday. Use it to honor God. Do
we need to inventory it honestly and see what’s within? Consider this.
A thought becomes an action.
An action becomes a habit.
A habit becomes your destiny.
A
thought
What
we feel and how we behave all begins with a thought.
Tina Tolbert delivered this inspirational talk to the women who attended the Virginia Woman's Auxiliary meeting. It was such a blessing and caused all of us to stop and think about ourselves. What are we doing with our thoughts, our feelings and our actions? Are they pleasing God.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 