Tuesday June 28, 2011

Read  Philippians 4:8-9; Ephesians 2:8-10

I’ve heard world class athletes and sportsmen/women say that being number 1 is as much about mental preparation as it is about physical work.  They know what we need to know - distractions are a bad thing and cause us to wander off track.  Staying focused is what counts.

Satan wants nothing more than to have you distracted from the Christian work that God has prepared in advance for you to do. He wants to fill your mind with non Christian songs, lusts and fantasies, to do lists, day dreams, worries and ANYTHING else that will stop you from linking to God and getting involved in His work and plans.  Just think for a moment. How often do you sit quietly and think deeply about God and His Word? How often do you sit alone with God and ask about His plans for your life? How often do you make time to dig deep into the Word to really understand the plan of God for your life? I can almost bet that the answer is ‘Not very often, if at all’.  I’ve been there and answered that for my own life as well!

If satan clouds your mind and drowns out the voice of the Holy Spirit he has won the battle. These clouds and drowning noises will stop you from being involved in God’s work. These things will lead you into sin and temptation because you are not in God’s work. The void left by neglecting God’s things will be filled with self - self pleasure, self gratification, self promotion and so on.

Here’s the low down! As a believer in Jesus Christ, a follower of Jesus, you are Spirit filled. God, through His Holy Spirit, dwells in you. You have the God given power  to take every thought captive, to push out negative thoughts and to focus on Christ Jesus. You can be victorious in your thought life and that victory will flow out to the rest of your life!

When you have a negative or sinful thought, immediately say something like ‘Away from me satan. I will meditate only upon the things of Jesus Christ’. Immediately start reciting a scripture verse to yourself. Pretty soon you’ll be thinking wholesome and godly thoughts day in, day out.

Prayer:

V Please pray that we will each, in our own unique way, take up the call to “make disciples” and  further the movement of Jesus.

V That God will guide Student Life leaders in their strategic planning.

V Pray for the national office team as it is relocated to Brisbane – pray for new office, new homes, school, churches and friendships.

Developing Godly Habits #1

To capture your thoughts and to make them obedient to Christ, you need to start listening to what’s going on inside your mind/thoughts. As soon as you find an ungodly thought (lust, coveting, selfishness, unforgiveness etc) you need to remove that thought and replace it with something godly.

A great godly thought to have constantly in your head is to remember Scripture either as a verse or as a song. There are many artists in the world who put bible verses to music. Learn some and sing them to yourself constantly throughout the day.

What will happen? Rather than thinking about lusts, covetings, revenge etc you will be focussing on Christ. Victory will be coming your way more often.