THINKING BETTER 3

Yesterday after men’s prayer, I was thanking Sam for lining up our chairs in the sanctuary. They have a way of shifting with the bumps of the crowd, the construction on the lights, the ceiling, or the elevated projectors. It takes a good eye and a lot of work to get them all in place. I was about to leave and go to breakfast with the guys, but I noticed something that most people would have missed. For some reason we have to pay the JEA light bill, the insurance cost on 10 million dollars’ worth of property and buildings, the mortgage payment, and the missionaries we support every month. The tithes and the offerings cover a few of the things I mentioned, but what Sam missed in the placement of the chairs is that they have communication cards and tithing envelopes on the back of them. Several rows had NO envelopes for peoples giving. Peoples giving does make a difference in the way this ministry touches lives. I had another perspective that he had overlooked.

Sometimes we have another perspective based on the bumps and bruises of life or just keeping up on the maintenance of our lives. A lot of our thinking comes from the roots of our upbringing, experiences of hurts, setbacks, betrayals, or our cultural generations and the environment we were raised in. Is this the accurate way to develop the ruts that get embedded in our heads? Stinking thinking doesn’t just happen! Many times it happens from the stink that we deal with in life. We all know that manure stinks, but it’s what makes plants grow and blossom, Well, God wants to do the same thing in us.

I have beautiful plants in my front yard that have blossomed BECAUSE OF THE STINK that was used to make them grow. In this series, “BETTER”, choose to get Better and not Bitter. It all starts with what’s between the ears, in your head.

So what is shaping, influencing and molding the ruts of your thinking? Is it your momma, daddy, work, friends, culture, environment or the bumps and bruises you’ve experienced? To a degree it certainly is! But there’s a BETTER way of shaping your thoughts. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. His WORD is the best way to shape your thinking and your thought life.

I heard about a mother who was cooking a big ham for their family reunion. As she was cutting the end of the ham off and then throwing it into the trash, her daughter asked; “Momma, why are you cutting the end of the ham off?” “Because that’s the way you do it!” “But why?” “Because that’s the way my momma always did it! Let’s go ask her, she’s in the living room.” She said, “Because my Grandma taught me to do it that way.” Great grandma said, “That’s the biggest pan we had in the house.” The Word of God is what we should be using to shape, mold and straighten out the stinking thinking in our lives.

So much of winning is what’s in the head. Winning in tennis, golf, football, baseball and basketball is such a mental game. When you get behind in your head, you start losing points. Stay up, stand up, and get up in your head and you’ll rise to the top of Gods plan and purpose in your life. Choose today to Rise higher, BETTER in your thinking and watch God’s blessings increase in your life.