Isaiah 55:3 says, “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live.” Incline means to listen favorably. John 14:6 says of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” All that we need is to be found through our intimate communion with Him.

In John 5:39-40 Jesus addressed the Jews. It says, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you  are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.”

John 10:10 says, “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” I love Ephesians 3:20. It says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

Inclining our ear is a posture of faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “…for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

Do you pay attention to what your thoughts are? Our thoughts are formed from what we believe in our hearts. When we emotionally dwell on negative things from our past, we have not believed a vital truth.

We need to lay the brick-foundation of 2 Corinthians 5:17 in our heart. It says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” All means everything without exception. Five minutes ago is our past.

I have learned how necessary it is to speak to myself when I start to rehearse something negative. “Marilyn, that was yesterday. It has passed. Let it go.” What our thoughts dwell on shape our lives. 

Let’s use God’s hidden word to stop our fleshly reactions in their tracks. In that moment of recall, we can course correct. Jeremiah did. Lamentations 3:1-20 recorded his anguish. Verse 21 was the turning point. It says, “This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.” Verses 22-24 were his declaration of God’s faithfulness. Verse 24 says, “…therefore, I hope in Him!”

In Matthew 14:28-31 we read the account of Peter walking on water. When Jesus bade him to come, he stepped out in faith. He walked on water to go to Jesus. Then he took his eyes off Jesus and onto what the wind was doing. In verse 31 Jesus asked him, “…why did you doubt?”

In 2 Timothy 1:7 Paul instructed his son in the faith that fear is a spirit. He declared, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” A sound mind has disciplined thought patterns.

In Matthew 6:34 Jesus commanded, “…do not worry about your life…” The Greek meaning is to be distracted, and a preoccupation with things causing anxiety, stress, and pressure.

What do you do when contrary thoughts assail your mind? Do you have a plan in place to counteract the thought? That is the power of memorizing. When God’s word is hidden in our heart, the Holy Spirit brings it to the surface ~ the exact truth we need to quench the lie.

What happens when we dialogue with thoughts of doubt, fear, or worry? We set off a cascade of thoughts that do not serve us well. They multiply rapidly and it is hard to shut them off. I remember way back putting my hands on my head and saying “Stop!” I had no clue what was happening.

In 1993 I found out that not all my thoughts were of my own origin. That was a golden life skill that I immediately adopted. Think about our creation. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”

We are created to live throughout eternity. Everyone. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “…He has put eternity in their hearts…” Jeremiah 1:5 says that He knew us before He formed us in the womb. Amazing.

Thoughts of doubts, fears, and worries that come into our minds are fiery darts programmed to attack our faith. Dialoguing with them allows penetration. They fall onto the ground of our hearts and begin to take root. From there the enemy sets up an internal stronghold.

James 4:7 is our mandate. It says, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith…”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

One of satan’s strategic weapons is to plant doubts. Why? They bring instability. James 1:5 says that when we need wisdom we can ask the Lord. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind.”

The Greek word for doubting means a conflict within oneself, in the sense of hesitating, having misgivings, being divided in decision making, or wavering between hope and fear. When doubts come into your mind ~ rehearse truth. Read Psalm 77. Asaph doubted. Then he recalled truths about the Lord.

We are the only ones who control our thought processes. No one makes us think the way we do. That is why we have to stay attentive. Not every thought we have is of our origin.

The devil tempted Jesus over and over in the wilderness. Luke 4:13 says, “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.”

We need to heed Peter’s warning. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” The devil is a liar. John 8:44 says that he is the father of it.

Therefore our recourse is in hiding God’s words of truth in our hearts. Memorizing those truths lays a foundation of checkpoints or barriers. God’s word in our hearts will not return void. Isaiah 55:11. It will instruct, guide, and direct us when satan sets traps to lure us. His agenda is always to destroy our faith. God’s hidden word is the shield for our faith. Memorizing is another form of spiritual warfare.

What do you do when doubts come into your mind? Dialoguing with them leads to disaster. Think of Eve in the garden. The first thing the serpent did was put doubt into her mind. Genesis 3:1 says, “…Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

What happened to Judas? John 13:2 says, “And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him.” Verse 27 says, “Now after the piece of bread, satan entered him…”

Ephesians 4:17 says, “Nor give place to the devil.” Giving a place creates an opportunity, leaving a door open, or giving up ground in our heart. The devil is always looking for an opportunity to penetrate our minds with a fiery dart lie.

Let us be like Jesus. John 14:30 says, “…for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.” No hold. No hook. No power.  No entry point. 

The next time you have a negative thought ~ cancel it with your next thought being one of gratitude.

Does your mind ever wander? In 1 Chronicles 28:9 David was speaking to his son Solomon.  The Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts…”

I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit who checks me when my mind wanders, or I have thoughts that will not serve me well. I have prayed this every day for years. “Put a protective hedge and shield around my mind, so that no thought of the enemy can penetrate.” Why?

If you will remember, the Lord took away His hedge around Job. When all the calamity first struck Job, what was his response? Job 1:21-22 says, “…The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

Later on in his trial he began to question God with why’s. Yet in the end, he made a statement that I cherish. Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”

I began memorizing Ephesians 6:12. It says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Let’s remember Who created these invisible entities. Colossians 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

The Lord left certain nations so that He could test the children of Israel. Judges 3:2 says, “(This was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it).”

Our trials are spiritual warfare. They test our faith to expose any hidden dross. 1 Peter 1:7. We must battle rogue thoughts, feelings, and emotions. We do this through proclaiming truth, standing in righteousness, living out the gospel, renewing our faith, and rehearsing the promises of our salvation. Our steadfast stance is on display. Ephesians 3:10.

There is an interesting verse that helps illustrate coming in the opposite spirit. 1 Peter 3:9 says, “No returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”

If you have a difficult person in your life, think about how you could bless them. First we respond to them always in an opposite spirit. That will ensure that we don’t fall into judging them. Here is my ‘beware’ verse when I am around folks who have a critical spirit.

Matthew 7:1 says, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” Romans 2:1 says, “…whatever you judge another in…you who judge practice the same things.” Pause and think about that. Judging others becomes a circular sin. We sin in judging them in their sin, and the judgment comes back on us.

Romans 12:9-21 is like a Christian Magna Carta. We have rights, but we yield them for the sake of others. Verse 14 says, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”