Grasping GratitudeSample

Desperate Thoughts

Our thoughts can get in the way of much. Sometimes, thoughts are all-consuming. If you are an overthinker, like I've historically been, your thoughts can consume most of your day if you're not careful.

The devil wants us to be distracted at every turn. It’s one of his most potent tools of destruction. If he can distract our thoughts onto things that are not truly important, then he can get us to betray what is essential and send us spiraling downward into discontentment and disarray.

Have you ever heard, “An idle mind is the devil’s playground?” This is also how the enemy gets in…by laziness. If you are not intentionally digging into the Word of God and studying to show yourself approved, you are idle and have no weapons for the warfare ahead of you. (2 Timothy 2:15)

Philippians 4:8 tells us what we are to think about. Clarity.

I will never forget a dear friend of mine telling me this, and I try to continually let it scroll over my brain before I speak, “If it’s not TRUE, if it’s not KIND if it’s not NECESSARY, then it should not come out of your mouth. It must meet all these criteria.” It is an excellent filter to harness my thoughts and then my mouth.

We are to take captive every thought! (2 Cor. 10:5) What does this mean? Examine yourself. Your intentions. Your thought processes. Your ideas and imaginations. Harness those thoughts and rein them in before you speak or act. Ask forgiveness when the thoughts contradict what God’s Word says to be accurate and turn away from those ideas.

When we zone in on a particular thought/s that is not beneficial and can’t move on to the truth of God’s Word, we create a future with God thrown to the side. (Proverbs 23:7)

Gratitude in our thoughts is an intentional process that we must focus on and practice. Sometimes, it’s daily; sometimes, it is in the seconds that we are currently in. Grasp it by the power of the Holy Spirit! You can’t do it alone but can take steps to get there.

Ask God today to help you harness your thoughts and bring them in line with what His Word says to be true. Speak aloud His promises over your heart, mind, and spirit!