Read: Philippians 4:8
When e-mail first became a part of my life, it was a blessing to me. How nice it was, and continues to be, to receive notes from friends and prayer requests. Devotions sent right to the in-box were and continue to be, so convenient and up-lifting. However, there's another side to e-mail. Scams and on-going unwanted junk that adds nothing to my day. I received one such scam this week. It stated that my e-mail storage was full. I was to click a link to increase the capacity I could receive. If I didn't do this, in only a few days I would be locked out and unable to access my mail. I deleted without a worry in the world because I knew that what I had been told was a lie. Then this morning I received an e-mail from a source that is meaningless to me. I have tried to unsubscribe three times, only to continue to receive their correspondence. It is simpler to hit the delete key than to continue to try and unsubscribe; therefore, with a flourish, that's exactly what I did.
Have you ever thought that God has given us a delete key to help us with our thought life? It is triggered when the truth from the Bible shows us that a thought we are pondering is telling us something contrary to God's Word. It is surely true that we can't help it when a thought bombards our minds; however, with God's enabling, we can delete thoughts that are either lies or simply not helpful to us. Let's think about lying thoughts that pop into our thinking. Sometimes, the problem we face concerning thoughts that are lies is that we don't recognize the falseness of them right away. Perhaps these thoughts have been a part of our thinking for so many years, that they now seem to be true.
Thankfully, as we grow in our knowledge of God's truth through His Word, we learn precious truth that can replace the thinking that might have been a part of our lives for decades. This change of thinking that the Bible speaks of as renewing our minds, Romans 12:2, is a picture of both deleting and adding. Replacing the old unbiblical thoughts with the sweet and certain truths of scripture. I remember a day when God's truth came so sweetly and powerfully that the wrong thinking that was right at my mind's door was taken out of the way by it. Here is the story.
I had given my name to an employment agency. They were to call with any possibilities that they thought might match my capabilities. My husband and I heard of jobs, but no phone calls came our way; so, I asked straight out. Were they going to call me with any possibilities for job interviews. Reluctantly, with my urging that she tell me the truth, the lady said no. She didn't think any of the perspective employers whom they served, would want to hire me. After I thanked her for her forthrightness, the lies started swirling around in my mind. Lies about my worthlessness and value, but praise God! His truth penetrated my thinking. He reminded me that He could have given me any job regardless of the thinking of the lady at the employment agency. If it had been in His plan for me, nothing would have thwarted it because I belonged to Him. The truth of God squashed the lies, and my thinking was altered. What joy there was when I saw the lie as harmless because God's truth was so precious.
I wish I could say that I have never struggled with lies since that day; however, it is not a one and done thing. When the lies enter my mind, they have to be recognized and God's truth must kick them out. I need to use His delete key. The truth of scripture is what brings God's peace. Please don't hear me say that this is easy. Although, sometimes, the peace comes quickly, at other times, the victory comes with a battle. In Philippians 4:8, we are reminded where our minds should rest after we have kicked out thoughts that are not biblical. What a beautiful list which includes thoughts that are true, lovely and of a good report.
Even this past week, much of what I heard threatened to cause my thinking to wander onto paths that weren't biblical. We hear so many reports of things that might happen. So many stand in opposition to the Gospel, but praise God, there is hope because God is still in control, Psalm 115:3. I was reminded that Jesus continues to seek and save, Luke 19:10 when I heard that Joni & Friends has sent a team to the West Bank in the Middle East. They will supply wheelchairs, Joni books and Bibles to disabled folks there. What sweet truth to ponder. Who knows whose lives will change for eternity because of this outreach?
With God's help, let's delete thinking that doesn't agree with God's Word. Let's replace the harmful thoughts with those that are in line with Philippians 4:8 because it is surely true that greater is He Who is in us than he who is in the world, 1 John 4:4.