May 22, 2005 I realize my posting is sporadic, at best. I would like to post every day or at least every week, but life is busy and updating my site does not seem to be on the top 10 list of things to do. I trust that when I can post it will be timely for you and what is going on in your life also. My current reflections remind me that God is a God of deliverance. He has delivered me out of some awful circumstances and some terrible strongholds (things that have had an extreme hold on my life). As I reflect back on those things that He has delivered me from I note that sometimes He has just supernaturally, unexpectedly, instantaneously delivered me. However, more often than not, He has chosen to walk me through a situation instead of "delivering" me. I also can note that I have learned far more from those things He has walked me through rather than those things He has miraculously taken away. One thing I am learning, or should I say re-learning, is that we MUST be people of meditation. What are we supposed to meditate (think) on? Those things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, praiseworthy, etc. You can find these things listed in Philippians 4:8. If we allow other thoughts to come in, they can slowly and subtly begin to take over and control our behavior. We can CHOOSE what we think on. In fact scripture tells us that we are what we think in Prov. 23:7 "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he". Lately, I have been walking through some tough circumstances. Occasionally, I have found my "thinking" resorting to old thinking patterns about myself. Thoughts of being inadequate, unlovely, unworthy, etc. I manage to get a hold of myself by setting my mind on truth. However, one thing consistently stands out to me. When I am thinking "stinky" thoughts about life or myself, the devil knows it! In fact, he will use life circumstances and/or people around me that will reinforce what I am thinking. For instance, if I am having thoughts about myself being inadequate, unlovely, sure enough, the checker at the grocery store will ACT like what I am thinking about myself is true in the way she treats me. This works because at the same time I am entertaining those thoughts, the checker is dealing with thoughts of her own. The thoughts served up to me then are thoughts that tell me what the checker is thinking of me. (When in reality, the checker is thinking her own inadequate or whatever thoughts) It is all a game that the devil plays to get us into thinking wrong thoughts. This cycle is only broken when we apply truth to the situation and think on things that we are supposed to think on. When I first began learning this, I put up a little sign on my bathroom mirror (I have lots of reminder signs) that said, "Lie=the devil tries to tell me what other people are thinking about me." You see if I am buying into negative thoughts about myself and the devil can reinforce that by how people treat me and by the thoughts he gives me, then he wins the game. NO, we must choose what we think and we must base those thoughts on what scripture says about us. Then we will be the victors. Just when I had this lesson down, the Lord had to show it to me again. Hope it helps you too! Remember, we can control what we think about!!
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