Devotionals

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Okay forgive me for my excitement. My articles come from God. I know that full well. Sometimes at the last minute I get a subject or scripture that He wants me to share. I have done this for so long I worry about repeating myself, but this morning God gave me scripture and I knew I was to share this. I am positive since I am to share this someone is having this problem. So, this is for you from God.
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When things don’t go my way I can be negative, when I am not feeling as great as I should sometimes negative words come out of my mouth (and you thought I was perfect ha!) I have gotten better at not saying some things that pop into my head, but the negative thoughts are still there and my actions reflect them.
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A few weeks back after coming off of vacation I knew what was headed. Our budget had not allowed for us to buy two extra tires on vacation. Money was going to be tight this month and unfortunately our bills still come in. You’d think one or two weeks out of the year they’d give us a vacation, but they don’t. So I knew I was going to have to deal with some negative thoughts. How would I do this?
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I decided and told God my plan was to start training my brain. My action to do this was: as soon as I realized a negative thought came into my head I would replace it with a positive thought. As soon as a worry thought came into my head I would replace it with a blessing God has given me. I know you are saying, “It’s easier said than done.” I must agree with you, but if you want something really bad you can accomplish it. A marathon runner doesn’t plan to run a marathon without training. Someone who wants to be Bank President doesn’t start out being Bank President it takes training and lots of work. I have been on a marathon practice run and I am in the training process now.
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The scripture God gave me this morning was this one, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”(2 Corinthians 10:5) I had to go to pretense to find the meaning of the word pretension. Pretense means charade, sham and deception. So what it means to me is that we demolish those arguments and those deceptions that oppose the knowledge of God. What really God my attention those next few words, “and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Wow! That’s what God was telling me to do. Every time a negative thought comes into my mind I need to capture it and make it obedient to Christ. In others (this is what I get from that scripture), I take those thoughts that come into my mind and turn them into a positive.
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I know it’s not easy. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks now. Tuesday where I volunteer I was challenged with this scripture. I had a client that was not being completely honest, but being a Christian and being in training I had to capture those negative thoughts and turn them into positives. A marathon runner practices even when he is not running a race. He has to stay training for the big race. 1 Corinthians 924-27 says this, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Running such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.7 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” Did you read the part that says everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training? If I am going to compete in this game life and come out a winner I must train myself. Right now God is calling me to train my mind and to rid my mind of negative thoughts.
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The best thing about this is I have prayed God would help me with this. I have noticed I am more aware of my negative thoughts and I am, with the Holy Spirit’s help able to get rid of them. There will be times I will lose it, but I know God already knows about those times and He will just pick me up and we will continue on with our training.
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The last thought I want to leave with you is this: I have noticed the less negative thoughts the better the day goes. I am more at peace and a happier person.
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