The Plumbline

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. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. (Romans 8:5-7) There are philosophies out there that propose 'positive thinking' is all we need to overcome even the worst of things going on around or within us. The truth of the matter is that humans can 'think positively' all they want, but as long as the mind hasn't been surrendered to Christ, negative thoughts will continue to emerge, as will negative actions. It is more than a 'mind game' that we play - it is a difference in who is in control of our minds! Let the Spirit of God control your mind and you will soon begin to understand the power of God's presence in y...

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. (Philippians 4:8) Have you ever taken notice of how easy it is to get your mind working in the wrong direction? It doesn't take much effort to drift down that bunny-trail without a care in the world, until all of a sudden you see how 'deep' it is! God tells us to 'fix' our thoughts - not like fixing your car, but to 'consider attentively'. When our minds go down the bunny-trail, there isn't a whole lot of 'attention' being paid to where we are headed. In fact, we are a bit aimless in those thoughts. We allow them to dictate the journey rather than us determining the journey. We are to give our minds 'attentively' (on purpose, with determination) to think about who Jesus is and what he has done. What did he do while he was here on ...