Tag Archives: changing our thoughts

February 8, 2024 · 5:30 AM

Calming Anxious Thoughts

Have you ever seen a giant Sequoia tree? They are some of the tallest trees in the world. They’re also some of the fastest growing trees, especially when they’re young. They can grow up to six feet per year. Not only do they grow tall, they also grow wide. These are the trees that you’ve seen pictures of cars driving through them. Their root system is shallow though. It grows out instead of down. They don’t have a tap root. Instead they have thousands of tiny roots that multiply, grow out and around the tree and can cover up to an acre of land.

If you think about it, they’re a lot like our anxious thoughts. Those type of thoughts grow quickly in our mind, they take up a lot of space and infect almost every part of our life. The more we entertain those thoughts, the more they grow. Before you know it, you’ve given up a huge portion of your mind and your life to worrying about things that may or may not happen. Because these thoughts take up so much space, they require a lot to feed them. That’s why they infect every area of your mind as they multiply and grow. The good news is that their root systems are shallow and they can be uprooted.

Psalm 94:19 says, “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comforts delight me” (AMP). Spending time in God’s Word, resting in His presence and worshiping Him are all ways you can uproot those anxious thoughts. Colossians 2:7 tell us to let our roots grow down deeply into God. When we do that, our lives won’t be uprooted by anxious thoughts because there is no room for them. When I start to get anxious about things, I have to remember to quit comparing things against my abilities and letting them feed on fear. Instead, I feed myself on God’s Word and compare those same problems to God. I then realize He is greater than whatever I’m facing. When we focus our thoughts on the truth (Philippians 4:8), we cut off the food supply to our anxious thoughts.

Photo by saira ahmed on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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March 3, 2020 · 6:01 AM

Changing Our Thoughts And Words

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

I was recently speaking with one of the pastors at my church about our church’s core values. Then the conversation switched to personal core values. He said, “One of the things I want for my life is have worship come out of my mouth if I was to suddenly be in a crisis.” I couldn’t help but think of the internal process we go through before we speak. When a crisis, or any other situation comes up, the first thing our brain does is to interpret it and then begin speaking to us. Those thoughts immediately produce how we feel about the situation, and those feelings then turn into words and actions. Most of us try to have a filter to protect what words and actions come out, but in a crisis, our brain usually bypasses it. What we think about is usually what comes out.

I don’t know if King David knew about this process or not, but he understood the importance of our thoughts. Psalm 19:14 says, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (NLT). He was concerned about the process and the output as well. Like my pastor, he was telling a God that he wanted his thoughts and his actions to line up with the faith he professed. Since our words start out as a thought, it’s important to guard what you think about. It’s not just our words that are important to God, it’s our thoughts as well. We need to make sure we’re thinking about things that are true, respectful, just, pure, lovely, admirable and praiseworthy so that our conversation will reflect those things (Philippians 4:8).

Jesus said in Matthew 12:34, “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.” If we’re going to change the words that come out of our mouth, we have to change what’s in our heart. We must change the thoughts we think. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to bring every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. The way we start is by meditating on (thinking about) God’s Word. What does it say? Why does it say it? How can I apply it? Going through this process will change how you think, how you act and ultimately how you speak. It helps us to hide God’s Word in our heart and mind so that we won’t sin against Him (Psalm 119:11). If all of our behaviors start with a thought, then let’s pray what David prayed in Psalm 19 about our words and thoughts.

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August 23, 2019 · 5:51 AM

Protecting Your Mind

When I think of the Armor of God, I don’t think it was an accident that the piece of armor given to us when we’re saved is the Helmet. God knows we need to protect our mind from both outside and inside influences. Our minds are so powerful that if we don’t learn to control the outside influences and our internal thoughts, we can lose sleep, stress out, get sick, get stuck in a rut and invite all kinds of negativity into our lives. Our thoughts determine who we are and how we act. Without that helmet, there’s no protection for our minds. Without understanding the power of our thoughts, we may let our minds run free to jump to all kinds of conclusions. It’s imperative that we guard our thoughts and bring them captive to the obedience of Christ.

How do we do that though? The biggest thing we have to do is recognize when we’re following a chain of thoughts that are leading us down a rabbit hole. We must then disrupt the thoughts and challenge them. Are these thoughts true? Do they line up with what God says? If not, then replace them with the truth of God’s Word. When we change those thought patterns with God’s truth, we will begin to become renewed inwardly and that will reflect in our outwardly life. When we receive salvation, God transforms who we are. We become a new creation from the inside out, and it starts with how we think and see ourselves. Don’t fall back into your old way of thinking. Put a stop to the enemy by putting on the Helmet of Salvation and letting God finish the work He began in you.

Here are some Bible verses on protecting our mind.

1. Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect.

Romans 12:2 GNT

2. Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Philippians 4:8-9 MSG

3. You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character], Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

ISAIAH 26:3 AMP

4. Since a great price was paid for your redemption, stop having the mind-set of a slave.

1 Corinthians 7:23 TPT

5. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.

Ephesians 4:23-24 GNT

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

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July 21, 2017 · 4:38 AM

Think About Your Thoughts


When I was a kid, and was wrong about something, I would start off my sentence with, “But I thought…” My dad would always be quick to say. “That’s what you get for thinking!” He was being humorous of course, because thinking is all we do. Sometimes we over think things, and other times we don’t put much thought into what we are doing. Either way, thinking is not just what we do, it creates who we become. 

The way we think is so powerful that few of us grasp it. I love how Henry Ford described the power of thought. He said, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” Our thoughts control our belief system, and our belief system controls our actions. That’s why I would always start my sentence with, “But I thought…” It’s so important that you and I control what we think about, and thereby control what we believe. How we live and who we are is a result of the sum of our thoughts. 

The Bible has a lot to say about our thoughts. Here are a few verses. 

1. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 GNT

2. Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
PHILIPPIANS 4:8 AMP

3. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
Romans 8:5 NLT

4. Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.
Proverbs 4:23 GNT

5. Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value].
COLOSSIANS 3:1-2 AMP

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