Small Things, Big Impact Part 2 – Thoughts

Our thoughts matter so much, because our THOUGHTS influence our WORDS, which influence our ACTIONS, which influence our HABITS, and our HABITS create our DESTINY. Solomon said this in Proverbs 23:7a, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he (NKJV).”  Your life will always move in the direction of your THOUGHTS.

Our life always moves in the direction of our thoughts.  As a person thinks in his heart, so he becomes.  And if you’re consumed with worldly thoughts and worried thoughts and negative thoughts, then that means you’re moving in that direction. If, on the other hand, you’re consumed with peaceful thoughts and positive thoughts and eternal thoughts, that means you’re moving in that direction.  But let’s be honest. And that’s one of the reasons I believe that God inspired the Apostle Paul to write this, recorded in Romans 12:2.  He said, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (NLT).”

Capture DESTRUCTIVE thoughts.

 If we’re consumed with worried thoughts, negative thoughts, earthly or worldly thoughts, we’re going to capture those destructive thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – “3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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 CHRIST (NIV).

The weapons that we use to fight are not the weapons of the world.  We’ve got supernatural weapons available to us.  We have God’s power to demolish strongholds

The Greek word, translated as POWER, is the word “DUNAMIS.”  We get the word dynamite from this word.  It’s got the explosive Power of God to demolish, do away with, strongholds. The Greek word, translated as STRONGHOLDS, is the word “OCHUROMA.”  And it means, very literally, it means a prisoner locked by deception. Think about this.  What is our spiritual enemy’s greatest weapon?  Satan, he’s called the father of what?  He’s called the father of lies.  And so what he tries to do is tries to convince us of things that are not true, in our thought processes, so that we can build a life on a lie, rather than on the truth.  Because when you know the truth, Jesus said, “The truth will set you free.”

So when we think about the wrong things, “I can’t make a difference,” “I’m no good,” “I’m a screw up,” “I’m never going to amount to anything,” no, no, no, no, no.  We take those thoughts captive and we’re going to make them obedient to Christ.

Fix our thoughts on SPIRITUAL things

We focus on the eternal.  We see the good, we focus on spiritual things. Paul was in prison when he wrote this:  Philippians

4:8-9 – “8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. FIX YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT IS TRUE, AND HONORABLE, AND RIGHT, AND PURE, AND LOVELY, AND ADMIRABLE. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you (NLT).”  So we capture the lies and we focus our thoughts on that which is true, on spiritual things.

Some of you, you are just one thought away from having your life totally changed if you’ll stop believing the lies of the evil and embracing the truth of our God.  Because, when you know the truth, the truth will set you free.  You fix your mind on spiritual things.

You look for spiritual things, and you will see them everywhere. How do you do that?  Let me tell you how to do it. It’s simple.  When you wake up in the morning, set the tone of your day with something spiritual.  Everyday, instead of immediately picking up your phone and going to Facebook, Instagram – “Did I get a LIKE?” Instead, open up the You Version Bible App or your Bible and let God’s word be the first thing you do in the morning.  And just read a chapter, and let your mind start to drift toward spiritual things.  And then say a prayer, first thing in the morning.

 Pray and seek God

You want to change the way you LIVE, change the way you THINK.

Ask God for one thought that could result in a bigger change than you could ever imagine.  Because, it’s often the small things that no one sees that result in the big things that everyone wants.  Ask God for one thought that you have to renew.  Ask God to remove the deceptions of the devil in your mind. Ask God to renew your mind.  Then, meditate on God’s promises in the Bible.