DEALING WITH NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

Dear Sisters,

I trust God that you and yours are doing well.

Before now, I would beat myself up each time a negative thought crosses my mind. This led me to do a lot of meditation on the power of thoughts and how to take charge of them. Of the many things I have now come to understand is that: negative thoughts in themselves are not bad. I know that sounds weird but stay with me, let me explain myself. Allowing these thoughts to remain and control us is where the issue lies.

It reminds me of the analogy of temptation versus sin. It is okay to be tempted, but it is not okay to sin. When I was meditating on this, I read a devotional that week that reiterated that dwelling on bad thoughts is what causes believers to fall. For the purpose of context, not all negative thoughts are 'fornication' or 'adultery' related; sometimes, it is not doing the will of the Father. Peter is a good example here when he said Christ would not wash his feet (John 13:8) and when he reprimanded Jesus for talking about His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:22).

The mind is versatile and wanders from time to time, so we must be on guard - Prov. 4:23 (guard your heart with all diligence). To guard our thoughts is to continuously apply ourselves to the prescription of Phil. 4:6.

Often, in trying to analyse these bad thoughts, we linger, but I am discovering ways to deal with them.

1. Use them as prayer arrows: Whenever a negative thought crosses your mind, mutter a word of prayer against it. You are at the driver's seat, so push your thoughts in the direction you want through prayer. The transformation begins when we choose the right thoughts to align with God's Word.

2. Use them for self-assessment: The bible says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So your thoughts can be used as a mirror to assess the things you have exposed yourself to and your most dominant 'intake' so you know where to make adjustments.

3. Use them as a reminder to stay on guard: You know when you are going outside the path of righteousness and use it to test your spiritual sensitivity.

It is not enough to pray about bad thoughts; we must replace them with good ones - Matthew 12:43-45.

How then do we walk in the reality of good thoughts?

Yes, Philippians 4:6 is the answer, but more importantly, you must speak out in a low voice, high voices, or by muttering – as the occasion demands. In our Kingdom, we overcome first by speaking (Psalm 107:2, Romans 10:10, Revelation 12:11b).

Now we know what to do with that the next bad thought the enemy brings our way.

Victory is sure!

Loads of Love,

Your Sis

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