
KEY SCRIPTURE Psalm 139:17-18
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
APPLICATION
Too often, we are not happy with ourselves. We forget how precious the Lord's thoughts are towards us. For whatever reason, whether it's what others have said, what we think about ourselves when we are down, or whether we rehearse our multitude of failures, Satan plants the seeds, and we water them. But there is no increase. All those thoughts work against the Lord's desires.
Romans 12:2 calls us to renovate our minds "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind," (Greek. A complete change for the better)
As we unpack what conforming to this world looks like and understand the purposefully-planted confusion, we see why the professions of psychology and psychiatry have grown exponentially. When Bible principles are our bedrock, as they have been from time to time, they reduce society's bewilderment.
If, upon Salvation, our minds are already changing from poisoned to renewed, refreshed and optimistic, why do we remain pessimistic, down and defeated? Who is playing games with our minds?
2 Corinthians 4:4 enlightens us on the puppetry behind the negative thoughts we should have left behind at Baptism. "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. "
Satan cunningly sows two thoughts that can never work together or produce worthy mental improvement. He plants negative thoughts coupled with the idea that we should come first. Nobody can rise permanently to any heights while feeding on the black dog of the mind. Their foundation is shifting sands. We see many movie and music stars and others collapse under the pressure of that twisted disunion.
Christians are no longer those who believe not, but Satan wants to keep our minds on his side of the fence.
The gospel IS glorious or full of the glory of Jesus Christ. Upon our Salvation and renewal, the image of God should be shining upon our minds as sunlight would upon a field of good seeds. As those seeds sprout, they raise towards the sun as if glorifying it. Similarly, God seeks our minds to praise Him.
However, we get lazy and unprotective, allowing Satan to continue planting his thought-seeds. We have gone to sleep while on guard duty. "But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way." Matthew 13:25
They are Satan's seeds because when we let some of those thoughts run free, they always seem to run to darkness. The light of our successes gets further away until we cannot think of anything we have done that was worthwhile. Our utter uselessness blinks above us like a neon sign on a dark night, and even that is only hanging by one hinge.
Psalm 139 tells the story of how wonderfully individual God made us. But Satan wants us to dispute that we are unique and important in God's eyes.
There is an interesting phrase in the book, The Soviet Art of Brainwashing (about psychopolitics), directly from Satan's handbook. "Basically, Man is an animal. He is an animal which has been given a civilised veneer."
This comment underpins much of our education system and the flow of the intellectual world since the 60s. Yet, God doesn't agree. Every one of us is of a separate design, like a handbuilt car with the unique stamp of the maker. In the case of cars, it is the chief builder's signature. With us, it is those features unique to us alone. If we promoted more of this thought, a far greater sense of love and belonging would bloom within us.
God showed me how individual I am after my kidney transplant. I need to take immuno-suppressants for life because my body will reject the other person's kidney, as he/she was also unique.
Like a doting parent, God's thoughts towards us are supreme and many. We should dwell on the power of this scripture often, as it is the truth, and the truth set's us free.
PRAYER
Dear Lord, thank you again for your love and the proof of my individuality under you. I apologise for veering from good thoughts, as I always get confused. Thank you that your way is freedom.
Photo by Rod Long
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