Where is your Treasure? Think Before you Speak Part 2

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Matthew 6:19-21 NIV "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


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I have a vivid imagination and it zings from one idea to another at incredible speeds. Pictures forming and morphing into something else before I even grasp what I saw. I am very sensitive to the Spirit world. Things that are of God my heart bursts with excitement and things that are of Satan I will feel all the pulls of anger, hate, envy and so on. I have a very active thought life which is good and bad at the same time, for it is very easy for me to get lost in God's Spirit, praising, worshiping, dancing and to give all over to Him, but it is also very easy for Satan to get at me and he loves to do this through insecurity, self consciousness and such as these.

                     How do we control our thoughts and deflect temptation?

God, Satan and self feed our thoughts and we have the choice who to listen to, for God made us with free will. John 8:44 NIV "...the devil...He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." The devil cannot possess or have authority over a Spirit filled Christian but he can control your thoughts if you allow him access. God does not judge our thoughts, which is temptation, but He does judge you on your motive and actions or if you ponder on a bad thought. Satan tempts your thinking and emotions and skulks his way into your decisions and actions. Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Ephesians 6:11 NIV Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. God has given us Spiritual armour to wear in defense of the attacks of Satan. The Greek word for devil in this passage is diablos (dee-ab'-ol-os) this comes from "dia" and "bolos". "Bolos" means to throw at or to hurl accusation at. The word ball comes from this. To throw bad words and negative thoughts at. "Dia" means to put a hole through or penetrate. When these two words are put together we get: to penetrate and to throw at; Satan's nature is to throw accusations at you until he penetrates your mind. Once he penetrates the bomb is released! Satan has no other way to defeat a believer but through our thoughts and our amazing God has given us armour to wear that deflects the fiery darts of Satan.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We cannot change our life by trying to change our behavior, we need to go deeper into the root cause of our behavior; we need to change how we think. Proverbs 23:7 NKJV For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. We need to line up our thinking with God's then Satan is blocked out. How? Put on the armour of God and walk in the Spirit.

So many things influence our thinking and media is huge! The motto in our house is if it is not good for a child to watch, read or participate in then neither should we. Matthew 18:2-4 NIV He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And He said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." When you have a precious baby around you want to protect them from all harm. Such care is taken to make sure they eat well, dress well and we are also so careful with what they watch or read and who they play with. My mom use to say, "Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil". I have carried that on into my family and as our children have grown I have kept that rule. (Not that it is always followed but I do try!)

                                                 Where should our thoughts linger?

Since we are citizens of heaven we need to think on heaven and not things of this world. Philippians 3:19-21 NIV Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

You might be saying to yourself right about this point, "But how do we do this? How, when we live in such a materialistic world, do we think on things that are not of here?" This is a choice that you need to make, you are what you think on.You need to decide for yourself if you want a mind like Christ. You have the control and you enforce it by what you put into your mind. Just like when a new baby comes into the home you prepare your home for safety, same thing here. Your mind is the home of God and you want to fill that home with good things. Do you want your prayers answered? I know I do!! Wrong thoughts will keep God from answering our prayers. Psalm 66:18 NIV If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. Romans 8:5-8 NASB For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. This is pretty serious stuff!!! If we are in the flesh we cannot please God! I don't know about you but these verses alone would convince me to change my thinking pattern to one that pleases God.

James 1:14-15 NIV but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Impure thoughts are not sin; they become sin when we entertain them. Satan tempts and leads us into sin but we are in control of weather we sin or not. Satan wants to make us doubt the goodness of God, this was his tactic for Adam and Eve and this is his weapon that is used on us today.

If your treasure is in heaven then you will be focusing and thinking on these things and filling your mind with such to add into your treasure box because they are important to you. Where your treasure is there you will find your heart and what lies in your heart you will think and ponder on and that will come out in your speech.

The times we are living in are rough and as the years go by it is difficult to pull away from the things of this world but we have Jesus and He knows what we are going through for He suffered temptation too! He is our ultimate intercessor and if we go to Him and ask for help He will provide it.                                                                                                                    Google Image