Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   2 Samuel 5:6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.     But he did! The very next verse says Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David . 2 Samuel

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   December 3 2 Samuel 4:10 When one told me, saying, Behold, Saul is dead, thinking to have brought good tidings, I took hold of him, and slew him in Ziklag, who thought  that I would have given him a reward for his tidings :   It’s always astonishing to find out that your thinking was wrong. Two brothers thought that they would win favor if they killed the King’s enemy. They were w

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   December 2 James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your  hands,  ye  sinners; and purify your  hearts, ye double minded .   It is one thing to be double minded concerning who is going to win the Super Bowl this year. It is one thing to be double minded concerning the best stock in which to invest, or the part of town to live, or the best vehicle to drive.

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life James 1:8 A double minded man  is unstable in all his ways .                                        I like to fish and go as often as I can. However, I haven’t been on the water in quite a while. I think I hear the fish calling my name; they want me to come out and play. I’ve been fortunate to fish all over Texas, but my favorite place to fish is on Lake Texoma. For many years now,

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Titus 2:6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded .   Strongs Concordance defines the term “ sober minded ” as:   1) To be of sound mind             1a) to be in one’s right mind             1b) to exercise self-control                         1b1) to put a moderate estimate upon one’s self, think of one’s self soberly                         1b2) to curb one’s pass

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.   What does “ Thus minded ” mean? The verse before today’s verse says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The verse following today’s verse states Nevertheless, whereto we have alrea

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Philippians 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.   Reading the Bible is the best antidote for being “ otherwise minded ” concerning the things of God. “The Bible is not a book that men read; it is a book that reads men.”  No one knows who said that originally, but it sure is a g

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   Galatians 5:10  I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be .   “ Otherwise minded ,”  this is the battleground for many. When tempted to become “ Otherwise minded ” remember the squirrel that tried to cross the road.   In our neighborhood there are numerous trees. The streets

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   2 Corinthians 1:17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea yea, and nay nay?   The Apostle Paul is writing to the church at Corinth about his mindedness to visit them again. The second part of this verse describes conflict that arises in the minds of many. On a singul

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   2 Corinthians 1:15  And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before, that ye might have a second benefit ;   Monday is my day off. A few weeks ago on Monday I was very tired, and I decided to stay at home all day. In the morning after my personal devotion time I turned on the television and decided to watch The Price is Right . It so happened that it was “dream car” we

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded  is life and peace.   Want life and peace? Become spiritually minded. How? The one person of whom it could be said that they had a spiritual mind without any fear of contradiction is Jesus Christ. Concerning His mind the Apostle Paul wrote: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, bei

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded  is life and peace. Every coin has two sides. This verse gives us both sides of this coin in one sentence. The subject is “minded” which means “what one has in the mind, the thoughts and purposes.”  According to this one simple verse that which “one has in the mind” is death or it is life and peace. Notice

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   Acts 27:39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship .   They were wrong. The Apostle Paul is being transported to Rome on a trading ship. This trip was as troubled as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. The wind was contrary; the strong

Minding Your Thoughts A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life   Matthew 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man , and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily .   But he didn’t. The angel of the Lord appeared to him giving instructions about what to do, Joseph obeyed the angel. So it goes. Many times that which we are minded to do is not that which we should do.   King David was minded to build a hou

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Ezra 7:13 I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and of his priests and Levites, in my realm, which are minded of their own freewill to go up to Jerusalem, go with thee.   Minded of their own freewill … volumes could be written about these five words.  This phrase is a powder keg. It contains truth that if harnessed properly brings forth blessing, and if mishandle

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life II Chronicles 24:4 And it came to pass after this, that  Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD .   So he did.  The house of the Lord was repaired in 830 BC under the direction of Joash King of Judah.  He performed that which he was minded to do.  Such is the case with each of us; we usually find a way to perform that which we are minded to do.    In football I primarily

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Ruth 1:18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.   Ruth was stedfastly minded  about something.   She was a widow; her deceased husband’s mother was Naomi.  Naomi was about to return to her homeland; Ruth pledged to go with her.  Ruth clave unto her mother in law and would not be dissuaded.  Once Naomi realized that Ruth was …

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Romans 2:3  And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?   In order to understand the full meaning of this verse there is an underlying truth that must be remembered. An underlying truth is one that permeates every aspect of an idea. For example, if a wife loves her husband yet becomes irrita

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Acts 28:22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against .   The Apostle Paul is in Rome where he meets with the chief of the Jews. During this meeting these Jewish rulers asked him the above question in relation to those who believe in Jesus as the Christ. In today’s vernacular they said to him, “We wa

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Luke 10:36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?   The priest, the Levite, or the Samaritan? Of course it was the Samaritan; we commonly call him the Good Samaritan. He was the one that was the neighbour to the man left on the street stripped, wounded and half dead. The answer was clear, neither of the other two lifted a finge

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Matthew 26:53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?   Do you think that the Lord can do that which the Word of God says He can?  Really! Sometimes I am too much like the father of the child in Mark 9:24 who had to confess: … Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief .  How about you? May the Lord Bless

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Matthew 22:17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?   So many times, we think that we know, but we don’t. As a teenager I worked at a scout camp. The camp had an F dock on the lake. An F dock is one that goes out into the water then has two arms that extend perpendicular to the main dock therefore making an F shape. Between the tw

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Matthew 17:25   He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?   “What do you think?”  He just sat there and shrugged his shoulders. “What do you think?”  She said, “I dunno, what do you think?”  They just sit there and look

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Job 35:2 Thinkest thou this to be right, that thou saidst, My righteousness is more than God’s?   It was 1974: I was backpacking through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico. The land for Philmont Scout Ranch was given to the Boy Scouts by one of the Phillips Petroleum brothers. My crew had eight people in it, seven teenagers and one adult. We were warned. “There

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life I Chronicles 19:3 But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?   The princes of the Ammonites were asking their king a question. Paraphrased it could read, “King, do you think that David se

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life II Samuel 10:3   And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather  sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?   All I wanted to do was to know about them! I was a new pastor and the church supported many mi

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life II Peter 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:   Once upon a time I was an adjunct professor at a Bible college in our area. As such I was given the task to teach certain subjects as the administration deemed necessary. My least favorite part of teaching those classe

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Hebrews 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country  from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned .   The good old days were not always so good. Sometimes however, God’s people begin to think about their life without Christ. How easy it was then, no church obligation, no pushing yourself to read your Bible or pray, no preacher encouragi

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life Hebrews 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?   God is said to be mindful of man, and that He would visit him. This is the essence of religion. James 1:27 states: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, an

Minding Your Thoughts   A Biblical Overview of Obtaining and Maintaining a Biblical Thought Life 2 Timothy 1:4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;   Paul is mindful of Timothy’s tears. He does not elaborate concerning the reason for the tears, they are just mentioned in passing. But to Timothy this is not just a passing statement; he would certainly recall that which Paul is referencing. Paul and Timothy were co-laborers, m