Jesus did that in the wilderness in His temptation with the Devil. Most likely the Devil tempted Jesus as he usually tempts us, with thoughts. Jesus did not think the Scripture to combat the Devil’s arrows, He spoke the Scripture.
Don’t speak what you feel all the time, otherwise your mind can’t change. Learn to speak God’s word instead.
Resist negative thoughts, assist positive thoughts. Positive thoughts are not going to stay, they need to be assisted. Negative thoughts are not going to leave, they need to be resisted.We must assist the Word of God by making room for it in our hearts, and resist the evil thoughts of the enemy by taking them captive and bringing them into submission to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5).
Also, it is worthy to note that God never compared the messy process of creation to the beautiful heaven where He resides. The Devil will try to mess up the process of your mind renewal by making you compare your progress with someone else.
You are complete in God. You do not need to compare yourself to others. Comparing leads to complaining. Complaining can lead to breaking the 10th commandment of coveting. Coveting kills the creative process of God in renewing your mind. If your neighbor’s lawn looks greener than yours, start watering your own lawn. Be the best version of you the world has ever seen. Remember, what God started, He is faithful to finish (see Philippians 1:6). He is not done with you yet.
Expect miracles. Jesus parted the Red Sea. He makes a way when there’s literally NO WAY! YAHWEH! 😇 Expecting something good to happen is a choice. It is an act of our faith. A person with a renewed mind has positive expectations in the forefront of their mind. Do not let your imagination create an image in which things will go bad for you, such as sickness worsening, relationships breaking, business failing, etc. Replace those negative imaginations with promises from God’s Word.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Did you know that your mind is a vacuum? It is. It is a vacuum that you can fill with whatever you want to fill it with. You can fill it with the right things or the wrong things, with bad thoughts or with good thoughts, with gross thoughts or with godly thoughts. The choice is up to you.
If you brought me an empty glass with nothing in it but air and said to me, “Can you tell me how to get the air out of this glass?” That would be an easy answer – fill the glass with water! The way to remove the wrong thing from your mind is to fill your mind with the right things. And what are the right things? To quote the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:8, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy are the right things with which to fill your mind. Whatever you look at and focus on will eventually take root in your mind. That is why focusing on the Bible, reading the Bible, filling your mind with the Word of God is so important. When you do that, you are taking the “dirty air” out of your mind.
When a woman paints her nails, the first thing she does is remove the old fingernail polish. Then she puts on the new polish. When you refinish furniture, the first thing you do is take off the old finish before putting on the new. When you want to repaint an old car, the first thing you have to do is remove the old paint and sand it down. Only then can the new paint be put on. The same thing is true with your mind. You’ve got to literally take off the old and put on the new. As with anything else, this will take time, determination, and hard work, but with the power of God it can be done.
Jesus Christ died on the cross and He came back from the dead. He didn’t just win victory over death; He won victory over life. He didn’t just die for your heart so you can live right. He didn’t just die for your body so you can act right. He died for your mind so you can think right.
Dear God, I want nothing more than to fill my mind with things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Help me to focus on things that will allow me to do that and help me to stay away from anything that is the opposite. In Jesus' name, amen.
God said, "I will impart My laws into their mind" (Heb. 8:10). We need to read the Scripture more and memorize the Scripture more so that we do not have to search the Bible in times of urgent need. If we read the Scripture, God will fill our every thought with His law. When we need light for our walk, we will remember a word in the Scripture immediately. Many believers do not like to read the Bible with their mind; they just like to flip through the Bible arbitrarily after praying and take whatever they find as being from God. They do not realize that this is very unreliable. If our mind is filled with the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will enlighten our mind in an instant through the intuition and cause us to recall an appropriate verse which will show us what to do. We do not need any man to tell us not to steal because we know that this is in the Word of God. This word is already in our mind. If we can be one with the Bible in this way in other matters, we will know God’s will in all things.
A CALL FOR A PURIFIED MIND
Believers should continually ask God to purify their mind and keep it fresh. We should ask God to wash out all our bad thoughts and vain imaginations toward God so that what we believe will be fully in accordance with the eternal will of God. We should ask God not only to make us think about Him, but also to make us think about Him in the right way. We should ask God not to let any thought issue from our evil nature. If there is any such thought, we should ask that God’s light shine upon it and terminate it immediately. We should ask God to keep us from coming up with any special doctrines according to our old concepts, which would divide the church of God. We also should ask God to keep us from accepting, through the mind, any special teachings that would separate us from the other children of God. We should ask God to cause us to have the same mind as others, waiting patiently in any matter that we have not arrived at a oneness of mind with others. We should ask God to keep us from using the new life to sustain a wrong thought or teachings that proceed from such thoughts. We should ask God to help us die not only to our evil nature, but also to our evil thoughts. We should ask God not to allow our thoughts to be the cause of division in the Body of Christ. We should ask God to keep us from being deceived again. We should ask God to cause all of His children to live by Him so that they will no longer be scattered, damaging one another and wandering about, and so that they will all have the same mind as well as the same life.
It leads to joy.
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart. (v. 2)
The NLT translates the word blessed as joyful. The word can also be translated happy. Knowing and seeking God through His Word is a joy-filling activity, and who among us doesn’t need some joy?
2. It can keep us from sinning.
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By guarding it according to your word. (v. 9)
God’s Word is like a trained guard put in place to keep the peace. When we use it accordingly, it can keep us from straying, but when we ignore it we have little hope of not wandering.
3. It offers free counseling.
Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors. (v. 24)
How many times have I needed advice? Lots. How many times have I needed perspective? Too many to count. God’s Word is the best kind of counselor.
4. It guards against the trap of self-seeking.
Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain! (v. 36)
Why is this so important? Because self-seeking is a trap. It does not lead to the fulfillment it promises, but to a pervasive emptiness. Yet to pursue God above our own interests is to find the gratification we’re really looking for.
5. It gives us hope.
And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth,
for my hope is in your rules. (v. 43)
We have hope in God’s rules not because they are restrictive, but because they are redemptive. Where God commands He also promises. Where God gives little room for wavering He makes great space for blessing.
6. It grants us freedom.
And I shall walk in a wide place,
for I have sought your precepts. (v. 45)
True freedom is not found in living however I want. True freedom is found through living in right relation to God. God’s commandments provide the boundaries for doing so.
7. It brings comfort in affliction.
This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life. (v. 50)
No matter the circumstances the Word of God offers relief when nothing else can. His promises are true and stand firm through every situation.
8. It gives us something to sing about.
Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourning. (v. 54)
When is it that we tend to sing? When we’re happy, right? As we make our way through life, the assurance of God’s Word and His faithfulness to it fills us with joy. This gives us much cause to sing.
9. It’s an anchor of truth amid a sea of lies.
The insolent smear me with lies,
but with my whole heart I keep your precepts. (v. 69)
The psalmist goes on to say, “The sum of your word is truth” (v. 160). No matter what, God’s Word is always true and able to keep us from falling for the vast and persuasive lies of the devil.
10. It allows us to be an example to others.
Let those who fear you turn to me,
that they may know your testimonies. (v. 79)
How many of us feel confident in our ability to lead others? Maybe some. When we live according to God’s Word we can be sure of our ability to lead rightly—especially when teaching our children.
11. It offers us hope while we wait.
My soul longs for your salvation;
I hope in your word. (v. 81)
Waiting is equal partners with faith and an inevitable part of life. But while we wait, it’s God’s Word that offers us hope.
12. It sustains us during hard seasons.
If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction. (v. 92)
Have you ever felt so down and out you didn’t think you could go on? So did the psalmist, yet the Word of God sustained him even in the hardest of moments.
13. It is life-giving.
I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life. (v. 93)
I once was lost, but now I’m found. I once was dead, but now I’m alive. How? The Word of God and the Spirit of God working powerfully in me.
14. It gives wisdom and understanding.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation. (v. 99)
There is no wisdom apart from God. In Christ “are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). To know the Word is to know Christ, and to know Christ is to know God, and to know God is to know wisdom.
15. It lights the path we should take.
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. (v. 105)
Are you unsure about which way to go? The Word is a light to the right path. This path will always lead to God and not away; it will lead toward righteousness and not toward sin.
16. It keeps us from falling into the enemy’s traps.
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
but I do not stray from your precepts. (v. 110)
Navigating difficult people can be, well, difficult. But God’s Word lends us the proper course to keep us upright.
17. It acts as a shield around us.
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word. (v. 114)
God’s Word is our defense, for it will never fail us. God’s Word is a refuge, for it will never leave us. There is one place we can always hide when the enemy comes calling: God’s faithfulness to His Word.
18. It helps us know the character of God.
Righteous are you, O LORD,
and right are your rules. (v. 137)
The Word reveals who God is and what He has done. Apart from the Word we’d never know Him and His righteousness.
19. It’s how we experience the faithfulness of God.
Your promise is well tried,
and your servant loves it. (v. 140)
If we don’t know what God says, how will we know that He’s faithful? And if we don’t trust Him to fulfill His Word, how will we ever notice His providence? Knowing and trusting in God’s Word is experiencing His peace-filled, steadfast, constant deliverance.
20. It gives us peace.
Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble. (v. 165)
God made our souls to live in accordance with Him and His Word. So when we don’t, something feels off. But when we make God’s Word our priority, we find a refuge of peace.
Precious friend, we have no reason not to sink ourselves deep into the Word of God and every reason to do it right now. Don’t wait. Let the Word of God be the daily mediation of your heart so that you too can know the life-giving, life-sustaining, joy-filling, peace-providing abundance of God’s Word.
“Forsake the foolish, and live; And go in the way of understanding. He that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame: And he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”
Proverbs 9:6-9 KJV
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