Stinkin Thinkin is when thoughts come into our mind that discourage us, fill us with guilt, confusion, fear, self-pity, or other thoughts from the devil that distract us from a simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ.
Every minute of every day you have
thoughts in your head. These thoughts are like songs playing in your head. The songs
play words that sometimes affect
how we feel and how we feel affects how we live. The song may say good things like, "I think I will do well on the
spelling quiz" or "My friend thinks I am sweet." Sometimes, we may hear negative
things, like: "Everyone hates me" or "I will never pass Math." The type of song you hear depends on what you have heard from others. Remember, the song you hear in your head is NOT
always right!
Learning about what you hear in your
head may be very important for how you feel about yourself. Many people hear negative things
over and over again in their head. These things are called Stinkin' Thinkin' and
can keep a person from being successful in their life. The thoughts can
keep people stuck! Like a pig stuck in the mud.
There are many different types of
stinkin' thinkin'. To
stop the negative thinking, you need to correct the thoughts as you
think them. Just like
recordable CDs, you have the power to re-record what you hear on your CD in you
head. This takes time and practice.
God wants us to set our minds on Jesus Christ. (Set your mind means to make your mind up to do or think what is right.) The devil wants us to think on anything that will take us away from living the pure and wonderful life with our minds filled with thoughts from Jesus. The devil can attack our mind first thing in the morning when we wake up. He can attack us during the day, and he can fill our mind with negative thoughts while we are trying to go to sleep at night.
The more we think about something, the tighter it grips us and determines what we become. If our mind dwells long enough on any specific idea, that idea will affect our behavior.
The bible tell us:
"So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God. Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death."
Romans 8:6
We have two minds. The mind of our flesh will lead us to misery. The mind of Christ or the mind of the Spirit is full of life and peace. The great news is that we have the right to choose what is in our thoughts. We can replace our negative thoughts with Godly thoughts. Knowing the scriptures from the bible will fill us with peace and good life. Feed your mind with good thoughts then the devil can not use it as a garbage dump. The devil will try to poison your life with bad thoughts. But you can say "NO! I AM NOT GOING TO THINK THAT!" Your thoughts are very important. You need to discipline your mind daily.
The bible says:
" But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) and make no provision for (indulging) the flesh (put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature) to (gratify its) desires (lusts).
"
Romans 13:14 (Amplified Bible)
This tells us to put on Christ. Stop making a way for the flesh to rule you by thinking about all of its evil cravings. When you do that you open the door for the flesh to be gratified.
When you think about how a person has mistreated you, and you continue to dwell on it you can not treat that person right when you are around them. You can not walk in love if you do not have loving thoughts. Bad thoughts are demons sucking the life out of you. Replacing those bad thoughts with Godly thoughts is putting Holy Spirit fire on those demons to burn them away.
We need to recognize our inner thoughts because the devil is trying to build a stronghold of cold love in our hearts. A stronghold is an area that is dominated by the enemy.
The bible says:
"Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better. Yes, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature."
Ephesians 4: 23-24
We need to slow down to discern and check our thoughts. Take a moment to check with your heart and ask yourself "IS THIS WHAT JESUS WOULD DO?" Choose to line your thoughts, words and behavior to the Word of God. This is what Jesus meant in Luke 9:23 when He said we must "Die to Self" or "Deny Ourself".
The bible says:
"...Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about."
Philippians 4: 8
Learn to exercise your mind everyday by thinking thoughts that are good, noble, worthy, and virtuous.
List some negative thoughts that have been attacking your mind lately.
Now list some positive thoughts that you should think about.
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