How many times a day do we say things like, "What do you
think?", "What were you
thinking?", "Do you really think so?" or when we're asked a
question we answer with, "let me think about it", or "I think
so, I thought so, or I'm thinking"?
In my natural smart-aleck conversational style I often answer
when someone asks me what I think about a certain thing, "Oh, thinking's
not my strong suit!"
I would venture to say that "thinking" has gotten
more people into more trouble than anything else.
Let me explain:
When we have a strong opinion or preference about something
we naturally "think" we are right.
We often misunderstand someone and even get offended because
we "thought" they said or intended something they may not have
intended or even said.
Sometimes there doesn't even need to be a word spoken, we can
jump to a conclusion and "think" someone is saying, signaling,
meaning, or trying to say something we find offensive.
Have you ever thought about that?
A couple of weeks ago I met a man on the youth mission trip
down in Monticello. His name is Lavon Cope. Lavon and I talked about a lot of
things over those 3 long days but most of our conversations hinged around
something the Lord had put on his mind that He's been contemplating. Lavon said
the Lord put in his mind during a time of discouragement, "Just who is
helping you think?" and he's been thinking about that ever since, and the
Lord has been bringing me back to that question for the last couple of weeks.
"Just who is it that's helping you think?"
[Matthew
9:4 NKJV] Jesus had healed a man who had been paralyzed but a group of scribes that
were there accused him of blasphemy, but Jesus knowing their thoughts, said,
"Why do you think evil in your
hearts?" Jesus knew that these thoughts hadn't come to them from a
close relationship with God. God,
through the leadership of His Holy Spirit leads us to think good thoughts,
positive thoughts that edify and bring strength and grace. The ruler of this
present world, Lucifer, and his demons are roaming around like roaring lions,
trying to steal, kill and destroy everything that is good. That certainly
includes trying to get you to think
wrongly.
I. Consider
Lucifer's undoing in Isaiah 14
[Isa 14:12-15 NKJV] 12 "How you are
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to
the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart:
'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I
will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the
north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the
Most High.' 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of
the Pit.
He (Lucifer) thought he was equal to God and further, he
thought he could take, or at least share, God's glory and God's throne.
II. Then there's
Adam & Eve, they
"thought" that maybe God hadn't told the truth when He told them
about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Where'd they get such an idea?
[Gen 3:4-7 NKJV] 4 Then the serpent said to the woman,
"You will not surely die. 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of
it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, that it
[was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make [one] wise, she took
of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked;
Then in verse 11, God asked them why they were hiding and
they answered that they were naked. I
can just hear God saying, "Who told you that you were naked" or in
other words, "Who's helping you think?"
III. Then Abraham
in Genesis 20 "thought" that Abimelech would kill him to get to his
wife Sarah, he "thought" if they told him Sara was his sister rather
than his wife things would work out better for them.
IV. King Saul did
a lot of thinking and most of it got him in trouble. At one point he didn't get
the answer he was looking for from the lord so he went looking for a medium,
well the ole boy ended up with a XL helping of trouble.
V. the Disciples
[Mar 6:48-49 ESV] 48 And he saw that they were making headway
painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the
night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but
when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried
out,
VI. People who "thought" they were
saved
[Mat 7:21-24 NKJV] 21 "Not everyone who says to Me,
'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My
Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have
we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many
wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew
you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever
hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who
built his house on the rock:
So...
[Philippians 2:5 NKJV]
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
[Philippians 4:8 ESV] 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything
worthy of praise, think about these things.
