Manage your mind…

People don't just fall into immorality.  They are not moral and upright one day and the next day they have an affair.  It doesn't work that way although it looks that way sometimes.  There's always been a series of events that proceeded that fall.

Affairs develop first of all by accepting sinful thoughts in my mind. The battle in any temptation begins and ends in my mind. 

James 1:14-15 (LB), "Temptation is the pull of a person's own evil thoughts and wishes.  These evil thoughts lead to evil actions, and afterwards to death." 

The problem is that most CHRISTians don't think it's a big deal about the mind.  If your mind wasn't such a big deal Madison Avenue wouldn't spend billions of dollars every year to try to influence what you think.  They know what you think influences what you feel and how you feel is eventually going to influence how you act.  The battle for any temptation anything you're struggling with starts with accepting sinful things into your mind and then letting them go round and round.

I read the other day that all of us have garbage disposals in our kitchens and garbage dispensers in our living rooms – TVs.  We all have a way to get rid of garbage in our homes but on the other hand we're taking it in by the hour-full every day. 

II Timothy 2:22 (Ph), "Turn your back on lustful desires and give your positive attention to goodness, integrity, love, and peace." 

Romans 16:19 (NIV), "I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil."  That's the exact opposite state of America today.  America is wise about evil and innocent about good.  This is not the way it is to be. 

The Bible says we are to be wise about what is good and innocent of evil.

Just a thought from the front porch…