I was thinking about the phrase “food for thought” today. From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary it means “something that should be thought about or considered carefully”.
You and I have control over what we feed our thoughts. We can decide what to think about, what to consider and what to reject.
There is a great temptation to think about everything that is wrong in our world, our nation, other people, and even in ourselves. Why does it seem easier sometimes to identify the problem over the solution? In fact, it comes so easy that we don’t even realize we are being inspired to think the subtle thoughts of the enemy. It breeds discontentment, a bad attitude, finger pointing and complaining. Our world is spinning in negativity.
Here are some scriptures that show us the positive and negative results of our meditation.
Proverbs 14:30 (AMPC) A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.
(NIV) A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
(MSG) A sound mind makes for a robust body, but runaway emotions corrode the bones.
Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression.
In the Websters 1828 Dictionary, anxiety is defined as “concern or solicitude respecting some event, future or uncertain, which disturbs the mind, and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness.” Think about depression as a pressing down, or pressure.
If you replace the words anxiety and depression with their definitions, we could read Proverbs 12:25 this way. Concern which disturbs the mind and keeps it in a state of painful uneasiness in the heart of man causes pressure or a pressing down.
Telling, isn’t it?
Scripture shows us what happens when the wrong things are ruling our minds. I believe this happens to many people almost with no notice. It does not happen overnight, but over time we develop unhealthy thought patterns, and it eventually shows up outwardly. We were not designed to carry around all the negativity in the world. I will go farther and say we were not designed to know about all the negativity in the world. In our day and age, we have access to so much information, instantly. Have you noticed it is easier to find news about tragedies rather than news about miracles?
We can’t consume negativity all day and expect peace of mind and heart. We have a responsibility to guard our minds and hearts.
Have you ever considered what it means to have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)? I believe there are some different applications of this verse, but a close friend of mine shared this with me a few years ago. She said having the mind of Christ means you can think like He thought. For instance, He was victory minded. He wasn’t a worrier. He wasn’t a “woe is me” thinker. He didn’t live with defeat on His mind. We don’t have record of Jesus being overcome with depression or always talking about the bad news of the day. He was focused on His Father and on His Father’s will for His life.
The content of our minds (which is the door to our hearts) will show up in our lives. This information might not be news to you. Although, I think what we miss sometimes is that our meditation affects more than we realize. Our meditation affects our bodies, our mood, our peace, our joy, our strength, our motivation, our imagination, our preparation, our words, and our outcome in situations. Our meditation affects the people around us. It is a chain reaction. That’s why we are instructed to guard our hearts with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). It is in our thought life that we set boundaries, put up walls, barriers, and limitations.
There is a reason the word of God is referred to as living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12) and there is a reason we are instructed to set our mind on things above and not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2).
One of my favorites is Psalm 119:50b, For Your word has given me life.
That verse is my testimony! Many years ago, I was seeking the Lord to get to know Him better. I was studying the Bible, by my choice, not by pressure from anyone else. I was simply doing life with Him. During that time, I also had some physical ailments. I had daily body aches, pains, and headaches. It was nothing major and I wasn’t worried about it. In fact, I didn’t pay much attention to it because I thought is was probably normal for most people. In the mornings I would wake up and pop an over-the-counter pain reliever either in defense of the pain that I woke up with, or to prevent the pain I was expecting to feel later that day. I also found it hard to sleep at night, so I developed a habit of taking medicine to help me fall asleep. I was not seeking to be healed – I don’t think I really knew that was a thing at the time. I never asked anyone to pray for me and I probably read right over the verses in the Bible where Jesus healed EVERYONE that came to Him for healing.
Healing was not my focus at the time, but knowing the Lord was my focus.
One day, it dawned on me that I didn’t have pain anymore. I realized that somewhere along the line I stopped hurting so I stopped taking the medicine. After that I made a conscious decision to stop taking drugs to help me sleep at night. I was able to sleep again, naturally. I examined some other things I had been doing, and I realized I was making better decisions for my life, and I was enjoying my life for the first time in a long time. It was a stark contrast to where I was when I began digging in with the Lord and in His word.
What I discovered is that walking with the Lord, feeding on His word, letting it uproot wrong thinking, produced a physical change in my body. It produced a mind change. It was transforming me (Romans 12:2), without much effort of my own. I was simply reading it and letting it get in me. I suppose I was doing the word also – I wasn’t just ignoring His instruction – but it wasn’t a work. What I mean is that it came naturally. The intake of His life-giving word healed my body.
I consider this one of the most subtle but powerful miracles I have experienced.
It reminds me of something my Pastor teaches. He illustrates this point by telling us to imagine you are holding a glass of water in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. When you pour the glass of water into the glass of milk, at first it is a mixture of both, but keep pouring in the water and it will displace all the milk. In the end the milk has spilled out and you are left with only water. That’s what happens when we pour the word of God into our minds. Over time, it changes the contents of our mind and heart, which changes our experience and outcome.
What is on your mind today? Is it life-giving? Is it encouraging? Is it productive? Is it helpful to your well-being? Is it from above?
I encourage you to consider the patterns of your thought life and the outcome it is producing. If you can identify some things you want to change, you can choose to replace them, consistently, with God’s life-giving thoughts. Consistency is key.
Philippians 4:6-8 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things (emphasis mine).
All God’s best to you!