23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (NIV)
Proverbs 4:23
ESV - 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
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Here are some more examples of thinking that impacts our lives. John 5:39 "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." We can study the scriptures but not actually come to Jesus to receive the abundant life he promised. Romans 1:28 "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done." As Christians, if we don't retain our knowledge of God, we can also develop depraved thinking that leads us into sin. Romans 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." We clothe ourselves with Jesus when will fill our minds (think about) and feed our faith with the Word of God (the bible). 1 Corinthians 1:26 "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth". When we think about what our lives were like before we came to faith in Christ, we realise the transformation that God has brought about and we humble ourselves. We boast about what God has done, not what we have done. 1 Corinthians 10:12 "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!" Our self-confidence, instead of God-confidence, will always provide an open door for the sinful desires of our flesh and the temptations of the evil one. 1 Corinthians 14:20 "Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults." When we grow up in our faith to become mature and complete, we know the will of God [what pleases Him] and we choose to complete it everyday, doing the good works he has prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 4:17-24 "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." As Christians, when our thoughts are consumed with the WAYS and CULTURE of this WORLD, our hearts become "hardened" and we "lose all sensitivity". We stop taking off our old self, we revert back to the old attitudes of our mind, and we stop putting on the new self, the new creation that was made to be like God.
2 Chronicles 12:14 “And he [Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah] did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.” THE DEEDS OF REHOBOAM -- Rehoboam's reign is reviewed and declared evil. Rehoboam dies. 2 Chronicles 12:13-16 13King Rehoboam established himself firmly in Jerusalem and continued as king. He was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the LORD had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel in which to put his Name. His mother's name was Naamah; she was an Ammonite. 14He did evil because he had not set his heart on seeking the LORD. 15As for the events of Rehoboam's reign, from beginning to end, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer that deal with genealogies? There was continual warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 16Rehoboam rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Abijah his son succeeded him as king. ________________________________________ New International Version This king had bad thoughts. It is commanded of us all to seek the Lord. He disobeyed, and we do, too. Thus, we all die (Eze 18:4; Romans 6:23). He was Solomon’s son. Solomon should have taught his son how to think good impactful thoughts, and we should do the same kind of teaching of our children. Like “… Ezra [who] had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10). 1. If you are not seeking the Lord in your life, then what are you seeking? 2. As fallen human beings, seeking God is not something we do naturally. What are the ways you can prepare your heart to seek the Lord today? Think of 3 ways today. Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (KJV) 1. Are you intentional about what your mind is set on, or do you allow it to wander too freely? 2. Thoughts are powerful things. When a carnal thought comes into your mind, what is a specific way you can counteract it? The NET Bible says, “For the outlook 1 of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace,” NET © Notes 1 tn Or “mindset,” “way of thinking” (twice in this verse and once in v. 7--“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Ro 8:7 KJV). The Greek term φρόνημα does not refer to one’s mind, but to one’s outlook or mindset.
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