NO PARKING
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:5
I landed my first outside sales job in 1986, working in the Commercial Division of Waste Management, Inc. It was a fun job filled with tons of prospective customers because, after all, every business generates trash.
One of my prospects was The Summit in Houston. In those days, The Summit was the home of the Houston Rockets basketball team (now it is the home of Lakewood Church and the Rockets play in the Toyota Center). The Summit was a lucrative prospect due to the fact they generated tons of trash.
I became friends with the Operations Manager, Henry Thomas—The Big Hen as the players called him. He was a super guy. Although he never awarded me the contract, he did bless me in other ways.
One day he called me up and said he had tickets for me. I said, “Are they good seats?” He was a little offended. The Big Hen ONLY had good seats. Turns out they were great seats, midcourt floor level, one row in front of the general manager of the team. As a big time Rockets fan, I was in basketball heaven.
One of the perks that came along with The Big Hen’s tickets was a parking pass. He worked it out for me to park in the players’ parking area in the garage underneath the arena. As I pulled up to the entrance, a security guard stopped my car. He had a clipboard with approved names. I had to give him my name … and it had to be on the list before he would allow me to park in that primo spot. If my name were not on the list, I would have been turned away immediately.
BAD THOUGHTS CAN’T PARK HERE!
Did you know that God wants us to put a security guard at the entrance of our mind? He wants us to take “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” Every Thought!
The clipboard of acceptable thoughts God approves to park in the mind is found in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”
What is parked in your mind today? Do your thoughts match up with Philippians 4:8? Could it be that you have been lax in taking every thought captive? Could it be that some lies have been allowed to park in your mind—I’m no good … I can’t be forgiven … God doesn’t love me … I can’t overcome this addiction … my family would be better off without me … my circumstances aren’t going to improve … my marriage is never going to get better … what’s the use of trying … what’s the use of praying? Do any of those “unapproved” thoughts sound familiar?
Make no mistake: you are what you think. If you fill your mind with the devil’s negative, rotten, depressing thoughts, you will become negative, rotten, and depressed.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?
1. Start right now towing out those negative thoughts that came straight from the pit of hell and fill your mind with the truth of God’s Word.
Speak the truth in love to yourself: I am loved by God with an unfathomable love (John 17:23) … I am forgiven and washed clean by the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7) … God has a good plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11) … God does hear my prayer and will answer at the right time (1 John 5:14-15) … I am NOT a victim, I’m a victor in Jesus’ name (Romans 8:37).
2. Reinstate the security guard with his clipboard intact.
From this day forward, do not let negative, rotten thoughts park in your mind. Tell them to “hit the road, Jack.” Your mind belongs to Jesus. Hellish thoughts are not on the approved list and are not allowed access.
Rest assured, if you will start putting God’s Word into practice in your life, you will start seeing wonderful changes take place. God’s Word is not only true, but it is also powerful to transform your life. Do what God says, and start today!
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve
From His Heart Ministries
P.S. I'd love to hear your thoughts. Email me at pastorjeff@fromhisheart.org.
Jeff Schreve founded From His Heart Ministries, www.fromhisheart.org, in 2005 with the vision to reach as many people as possible with the good news of God's love. Jeff believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a great plan just for you. He broadcast on radio, TV and in the internet around the world from his pulpit ministry as Pastor of First Baptist in Texarkana, Texas. This ministry is completely listener/viewer supported. It continues only through the faithful and generous gifts of people like you. Pastor Jeff takes no income from this ministry. All gifts go to further the broadcast.
DESCRIPTION: For your gift of $25 or more by December 31, we’d like to say thanks by sending you two new 52-week daily devotions. One co-written by Jeff called My Daily Devotional: The Gift of Jesus and the other for children co-written by Debbie Schreve called My Bible Adventure through God's Word. These are high quality daily devotions for the entire family.
