What's on Your Mind Today?

It is not the event that impacts my life, it is the meaning I put on the event that impacts my life.

Have you ever sat down for a few minutes to think about what you are thinking about? We have been told that the average person thinks anywhere from 12,000 to 50,000 thoughts a day. I think that is some pretty heavy duty thinking! Psychologists also tell us that most of our thoughts are turned into “self-talk,” which means that we are telling ourselves a lot of stuff every day! The question is, is it the truth?

Most of our thoughts are triggered by today’s media, which should give us a clue that perhaps some of what we are telling ourselves is not the truth.

Proverbs 23:7 says “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” This is not just another metaphor. Scientists have discovered that the physical heart that faithfully pumps blood through our bodies actually has a part in our thinking process. In fact, there is a new science called Neurocardiology which is the study of how the heart and the brain work together.

Here’s the reason why our thoughts are so powerful: What we think will always determine our behavior. We think a thought, the thought triggers certain emotions, and our emotions push our behavior either negatively or positively.
For example, When I sit across the table from a spiritual icon- a man of great faith, I might entertain this thought- “I am inferior compared to this guy.” If I think that thought long enough, pretty soon I will begin to feel inferior. And when I feel inferior, I will soon begin to act inferior, which will reinforce the thought that I am inferior.

So I have to remind myself often, It is not the event that impacts my life, it is the meaning I put on the event that impacts my life.

A lady who attended the church where a friend of mine was the pastor got upset about something in the church. She promptly marched into the pastor’s office to give the pastor a ‘piece of her mind.’ She proceeded to rip him up one side and down the other, then shouted, “you are nothing but a Beelzebub!” She then walked out of the office slamming the door behind her.
Needless to say, my friend drove home from the office that day feeling wounded in his spirit and somewhat depressed. He expressed how this lady’s words and actions caused him to think he was a failure as a pastor.

He was almost home when a thought hit him: “I’m just like Jesus! He too was rejected and despised (Isaiah 53:3) and even accused of drawing his healing power from Beelzebub, the prince of devils! (Matthew 12:24) My friend pulled the car over to the curb, raised his hands in worship, thanking the Lord that he had so much in common with Christ. And when he arrived home, the depression was gone.

Proverbs 4:23 tells us to “keep and guard our heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life (Amp).

Here’s a question: Do you allow negative thought patterns to get you down, or do you recognize the lies for what they are and put a different meaning on the event?