When you think God’s thoughts, He keeps you in PERFECT PEACE! You can even overcome fear and anxiety!
Did you know this? You and I can think God’s Thoughts!
Just look at that verse: when your thoughts line up with God’s thoughts; when you have not just memorized His Word but internalized it by allowing God to work it into your heart, God gives you His peace. PERFECT peace!
Jesus said:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)
The world may gives you peace — maybe — when your circumstances are flying high. But when you’ve surrendered your life to Jesus, He gives you “peace that surpasses all understanding”.
Here’s an example from the Book of Acts of what a totally trusting and surrendered life looks like:
Paul and Silas did something good, but rather that being thanked, they were severely punished and put into prison. Notice how they responded. The lesson for us today is that we, too, should respond as they did.
Acts 16:16-40 English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
Acts 16:16-40 English Standard Version (ESV)
After casting a demon out of a woman who was harassing them, Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. They had every reason to believe they would be executed the next day.
So, what were they doing that night. Were they freaking out?
NO WAY! They were singing to the Lord!
They set a powerful example for the other prisoners and the jailer — and for us.
That’s how I want to be able to respond to adversity!! Anyone who has been troubled longs for perfect peace.
And where does peace come from? Paul says in Galatians 5:22 that the fruit of my relationship with God is: “…love, joy, peace,…” there it is! So peace is a fruit of — a result of — closeness with Him.
But again, the offer is conditional. God offers perfect peace to those “whose mind is stayed on [focused on or fixed on] Him.”.
How To Apply The Principle:
Here are several things I’ve found to be very beneficial. I urge you to do the same:
- Choose to keep God near the forefront of your mind throughout each day. To say it another way: “think God’s thoughts”. When you do this, it quickly becomes a habit.
- Choose to begin the practice of praise. Praise God for your life; praise Him for the food in your kitchen; praise Him for your car; praise Him for the money in your bank account; praise him for your health, etc. (That’s just a “starter list”. Add your own praises throughout the day.)
- Choose to make God your top priority. One way I do this is by going to bed early so I can get up early and spend time doing my own Scripture memory. One might say I’m “tithing” my time, giving God the “first-fruits” of each day.
- Choose to preach His Word to yourself regularly throughout the day. It’s amazing how, once you’ve done even a small amount of Scripture memory, God will bring to your mind passages He wants you to apply in a particular situation.
- Choose to read through Scripture memory verses out loud. Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes by hearing… the Word of God.”
- Choose to respond to life’s situations with praise to God at all times. Again, it amazes me how, when I do that, the “weight” of my problem gets smaller and smaller.
- Choose to trust God by going to the Truth of Scripture every time you hear a “what if” question or a lie from Satan. God does not deal in “what-if’s” in our lives. He knows exactly what’s going to happen. Therefore…
- Choose to believe that God is trustworthy, that He is good, and that He can handle whatever comes up. Personally, I’ve found that trusting in myself has not given me much peace.
- What to do: memorize Isaiah 26:3, John 14:27, Psalm 119:11, and Psalm 34:4. I’ve made it super-easy for you. Click / Tap Here to open a PDF file in a separate window containing a printable page with these 4 verses on it.
Every verse in the Bible began in eternity past as a thought in the Mind of God.
So, when you put His thoughts into your mind, you are literally thinking God’s thoughts! Then, when the devil tries to push his lies into your mind, the superior power of God’s thoughts helps you to overcome those wicked lies!
When you saturate your mind with Bible verses; when you think God’s thoughts; the devil cannot get a word in edgewise!
I don’t know what the future holds…
But I know Who holds the future!
- Jan
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I feel like everything is happening to me I LOVE YOU FATHER MY SAVIOR MY INTERNAL LIFE AND KING OF LOVE AND COMPASSION
I was bless..I intend to have more of such word daily.. thanks and God continued to bless you all
I just wrote on here awhile ago. have been dealing with intrusive thoughts too ugh for 3 years. now i deal with images sometimes. i want to think positive images but evil try to switch ughh its torture i love Jesus. We all deal with this guys. We are in this together. Lets bind the enmy away from all of our minds in Jesus name. The end times are here the ebenies roaring but Jesus has our souls. Please pray for me. Im praying for you. Trust me i know how you feel we can do this. Jesus i cannot do this but you can. Jesus take these thoughts against you there not me. You told me to trust you so I trustt you you told me to not be fearful so i wont be fearful. You said we are free and forgiveness by Jesus sacrafice so i am free and forgiven. Dont be scared of the thoughts it gives them more power, guys why be scared, of thoughts God can control and destroyed on the Cross. Believe you are heale in Jesus name 2000 years ago. I plead the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ over my mind, heart, soul, images only pure good trustworthy thoughts. You guys can do this with Jesus everythings possible with Jesus. I learned i get them if im mad, unforgiving, jeslousy, fearful, worried, overthinking, not close to Jesus. Praise Jesus He brings us back to Him by allowing this to happen. He wants our attention. Praise Him in and out of the storm. I have a website. http://jesussaves777.doodlekit.com/ felt God wanted me to make it. You guys should make a journal on this to encourage others or your other testimonies. Give Jesus glory in everything. I love you all. Praying for you all.
hi thank you so much i deal with ocd blasphmy thoughts ugh its tormenting so i have to go back and say no thats a lie or use words of my own to fight it and it doesnt work vert well i use scripture ajd than i get hit with that ugh its a constant battle. i love the list you gave. i just want to believe Gods Word and not reason with the thoughts i get ugh what do i do. the devil loves to changecJesus name to his i hate that with a passion and he brings felings with his name thats is not fun. i know the thoughts are lies but it wont go away why wont they 🙁
Brittany, all I know is that Jesus defeated the devil (See Matthew 4:1-12) by quoting Scripture. Keep doing that.
In a reply to Brittany I know exactly what that mental torture is like. Would you believe that the actual reason you are experiencing this is not your OCD but rather the spiritual gifts you possess. The enemy wants to keep you down so that you don’t get a glimpse of what God has in store for you. I started playing the Word while I slept and it wasn’t long at all before I was no longer dealing with mental torture and at great peace. I would suggest Psalms as I have noticed it greatly prepares for spiritual warfare. I will pray for you as well and I know that not only will you be free very soon, but get ready to start experiencing the supernatural Power of God. You will be greatly blessed!
Hey shaun thank you so much yes God is awesome His faithfulness He always gets me through it always. Did God put that on your heart I needed that. I deal with it off and on.
I am 15 & i have been having anxiety everyday since the beginning of my summer vacation because of those thoughts that they been putting in my mind , I read almost everything In this website , I thank you because you made me get closer to God & like now I want to dedicate my life to him & of course I want to help people get closer to him too & believe. God bless you jan , you helped me so much ?
Mia, you made my day! You are 15? And you know enough to track down and read and study the topics here? I am impressed.
And I’m excited for you! I pray that the people around you will encourage you in the ways you are going. Don’t let the devil talk you out of your desire to help people get closer to God. God bless you, too!
I stumbled on your site and I am grateful for the words i found on it. I was getting lost in the fog of deception and your site helped clear the hazy breath of the enemy from my mind. Thank you for serving Jesus. You effort does make a difference…it did for me today!
Hi, George, and thanks for “stumbling in”. Actually, I believe (especially after reading your music bio) that your arrival at Word Blessings was no accident. I’m humbled and grateful that I was able to help you today.
In your music bio you said, “The amazing gift of creating music is a place God gave me where I can explore my life and faith…and where possible, express it with melodies”. What a great attitude! That’s just how I approach my writing. We’re on the road together, are we not? ~ Jan
Thanks Jan! And thank you for taking the time to visit my music website! I totally agree…we are on the same journey…moving toward Christ. My Pastor once asked me what I thought was going on in Heaven right now. I told him that I believed Heaven was operating like a command and control center. Christians, like you and I, are on this Earth carrying out a search and rescue mission. We are here to try and usher as many to the Truth as we can. To that end, we are definitely on the same team. Our skills are different, but we both want everyone to know, what we too did not know at one point in our lives. Jesus is real, He is alive, and He saves! There is nothing more important that I can imagine spending the balance of my life doing than loving people, loving God!
Sir,
You are God’s sent to our generation. I was so spiritually down until i read some of your articles. And now i must confess that i am spiritually fired up to live and work for God. And again you have given me a reason and eagerness to start publishing my own write ups under the name MOTIVATION ARENA. Sir, i will inform you as soon as i hit the publishing stand.
May God continue to increase you in wisdom and spirituality. Amen.
Felix, I’m so glad that some of the things I’ve written are helping you. God is so good. I urge you to stay connected to God by learning and applying His Word. You can live a joy-filled life. You really can. ~ Jan
It helps…Thank you…In spiritual warfare now as always.
Tamara, you’re very wise to realize that you are in a spiritual battle. Many people (I think it’s safe to say MOST PEOPLE) do not realize that their trials, fears, anxieties etc. are the result of demons trying to wear them down. I hope you’ve read some of the “how-to” things I’ve written here regarding how to defeat the devil — namely by turning the issue over to God. ~ Jan
I found your blog and it is so good thank you so much for such revelations, I signed up yesterday for your blog, I have posted a lot of your words on my blog but I have linked it and told the people it is not my work and quoted where I got it from.
You are helping a lot of people, Praise God.
🙂
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