Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, August 5, 2022

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."¹

In his article, "Today I Will Make a Difference," Max Lucado wrote, "Today I will make a difference. I will begin by controlling my thoughts. A person is the product of his thoughts. I want to be happy and hopeful. Therefore, I will have thoughts that are happy and hopeful. I refuse to be victimized by my circumstances. I will not let petty inconveniences such as stoplights, long lines, and traffic jams be my masters. I will avoid negativism and gossip. Optimism will be my companion, and victory will be my hallmark. Today I will make a difference."²

The reality is that we eventually become what we constantly think about for "what the mind dwells on the body acts on."

Admittedly, controlling our thoughts can be much easier said than done. To succeed, it not only needs consistent practice and mental discipline, but also the resolution of things that "bug" us. For instance, if we have any major unresolved personal conflicts with accompanying super-charged negative emotions, these can have a major effect on our thinking. They can be compared to having a throbbing toothache that literally controls our thinking. Because of the pain, it's just about impossible to think about anything else until we get to the dentist and have the aching tooth taken care of.

To live a peaceful life, it is imperative that we learn to control and consistently think positive thoughts. And to control our thoughts, it is imperative that we resolve any and all personal conflicts. In other words, if we want to live peacefully we need to get all our "emotional-tooth-aches" resolved.

Suggested prayer, "Dear God, thank you that your Word teaches the importance of positive thinking 'about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.' Please help me to live in harmony with your will, be rid of all guilt by confessing my sins, and resolving all personal conflicts so that I will be able to fix my 'thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer, gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."

1. Philippians 4:8 (NLT).
2. Max Lucado, http://www.maxlucado.com/.

Today's Encounter was written by: Dick Innes.

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