June 19, 2023 • 15 mins
It's no secret that when life gets tough, the thoughts we think can get wild. The wilderness is a vulnerable place and vulnerable places often call for more vigilance, discipline, and intention. In challenges, discomfort, the unknown, and the unforeseen, it is vital that we cultivate and maintain a disciplined thought life. Every thought we think is not our own and is definitely not always beneficial. So today's episode is about resetting the foundation for what thoughts are allowed to stay and which ones must go. Tune in, and learn how to set boundaries, overcome the enemy's power of suggestion and develop a healthy, abundant thought life, even in the midst of the wilderness.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gilon (00:10):
Hey y'all, I'm Gilon Marts.
This is The Walking Wellpodcast.
Thank you so much for tuning inand for listening, for watching
however you're getting thepodcast.
We're in season seven, andseason seven is all about
wilderness places, difficult,dry, uncomfortable spaces that
we can find ourselves in asbelievers, as a nation, as a
world.
Things have just been superweird lately and lately is the
(00:32):
past three years for some of usbut this podcast season is all
about what it takes to make itthrough that, the skills, the
tools, the things that God hasgiven me, as I find myself in
places where things are changing, the landscape is unfamiliar
and I'm not really sure what'sgoing on.
So today we are talking aboutthe necessity of having a
disciplined and controlledthought life.
The big thing about being- oneof the big things about being in
(00:55):
the wilderness is that you'revulnerable.
You're in a place where youmight be tired, you might be
weary, you might be disappointed, you might be grieving, you
might just be in a realunfamiliar space, and that is
all a vulnerable place for you,for your heart, for your mind,
for your soul.
And I think sometimes, when wefind ourselves out here where
things are changing, wherethings don't look like we
expected or anticipated.
(01:16):
It's really easy to start tolet your mind wander, to
consider things, to entertainthings, to engage things that,
in a healthier season, you maynot really have been open to.
And, man, i think it's alsoreally important to know that
the enemy uses the power ofsuggestion at will, like that's
just his MO.
He's never going to hit youwith a full frontal unless it's
(01:37):
like a kill shot and you'realready down.
But the enemy uses the power ofsuggestion and our minds are
like massive computers, and soit can get really tempting to be
lazy in this area and to notstay tightened up, to not stay
armed up to the teeth, but westill have an enemy that goes
(01:59):
about like a roaring lionseeking whom we may devour.
You are in a vulnerable place,and I think about every
situation where someone foundthemselves in a desert place.
They were vulnerable, whetherit was the children of Israel,
whether it was Joseph and thepit hello, hagar taking off from
Abraham and Sarah, jesus afterfasting.
Like these are vulnerable,vulnerable spaces.
(02:19):
Our thought life is central,still, is still important.
I think you know when you're inan abundant season, a season of
abundance where things aregoing well, they look like they
should.
You know, like, oh yeah, i'msupposed to guard my heart, oh
yeah, i think on these things.
But when you find yourself where, like things are upside down,
something about that space makesyou go like, wait a second, and
(02:39):
you take some of the guardrailsoff and are willing to, like,
entertain and engage in behaviorand poor mental health hygiene
really and not stay disciplinedabout your thoughts and where
your thoughts go.
And so the first thing to knowis that the wilderness, the
desert, is a vulnerable placeAnd in vulnerable places you
(03:03):
don't abandon the things thatyou know to do.
It's even more important thatyou stay hydrated, that you
protect your skin, that you dothings, and then that you know,
like, if you run a physicalwilderness right, like you don't
stop drinking water becauseyou're in the desert and you've
never been here before.
It's even more important tomake sure that you do the things
that you know to do, and thesame goes for your spirit, the
same goes for your soul.
You don't abandon the ABCs.
(03:24):
Instead, you really kind ofsometimes need to double down on
those, be extra particular,extra sensitive to making sure
that you're doing the things youknow to do for good, spiritual,
mental, emotional, soul health,right.
And so the desert place istricky, it can get really tricky
, i know.
For me, i have to be mindfulthat I can't weigh all the
(03:44):
potential outcomes andpossibilities, because I was, i
had the tendency to spiral, andlike just spiraling is like
making yourself sick, right,because you're, you're worrying,
you're anxious, you're tired,you're not sleeping well, you
might not be eating, or yourbrain is just running, running,
running, running, running, andthat is no way to live Like.
You can't live an abundant lifewhen your mind is running and
(04:06):
when it's engaging in all thepotential possibilities and what
if and what if and what if andwhat if you can't, you cannot be
healthy.
There's no way to be healthyliving life that way.
And so instead we have to beintentional, even more
intentional than you would be.
You know, i think sometimesabundance seasons make us a
little lazy and a little looseand a little lax And you can get
caught slipping.
(04:27):
But when you find yourself herein a space where you're in the
unknown, you're in theunfamiliar, in the uncomfortable
, it's not the time to fall offof your disciplines.
In fact, it's the time to goback to what you know, to
revisit those things to putyourself in remembrance.
And so having a disciplinedthought life is a core tenet of
a believer's life, is a coretenet of any healthy person's
life, And you have to be mindfulof what you're thinking, what
(04:51):
you're thinking on right.
I told you guys in an earlierepisode, proverbs 15, 15 says
all the days.
Well, it basically says yourdays can be made evil by
desponding, by anxiousforeboding thoughts.
And it's not that your days areevil, it's that your days are
made evil by evil forebodingsand anxious thoughts.
(05:12):
And so you can have a perfectlygood day but, by the way that
you're moving about in your ownhead, in your own mind, can
create a reality for you that'snot necessarily the reality.
Right, like everybody else ishaving a great time, and you
could just be biting yourfingernails like, oh, my god,
what's gonna happen?
And what about this?
And what if they say this?
And what if this doesn't happen?
What if this happens?
How am I gonna handle that?
And you're 15 years in thefuture, a potential future,
(05:36):
something that may not evenhappen.
And so my encouragement is tobe disciplined, be intentional
about your thought life.
You know, proverbs 4,philippians 4, 6 through 8
really does list how we shouldmove and maneuver and navigate
our thoughts.
Think on things that are lovely,just pure, honest, worthy of
praise, excellent, of a goodreport, weigh on, meditate,
(05:57):
consider these things, takethese things into account,
because meditation is like it'snot.
I mean, i feel like it's alittle bit like magnification,
but meditation, thinking onsomething, is like digging deep,
burrowing into that thing.
And so sometimes we burrow, butwe're spiraling, as opposed to
burrowing and digging into, likea well of water, right, a
source of water.
(06:17):
And so when you meditate, ifyou're meditating on things that
are lovely, just pure, you'redigging into a wellspring to get
something that's gonna benourishing.
When you're meditating andweighing on things that are
negative, that are things youhope to not happen, things that
are fearful or cause anxiety,you're just spiraling.
It's like a downward, just intonothingness.
And that's the thing aboutanxiousness, anxiety and anxious
(06:38):
thoughts.
You could be thinking, thinking,thinking, thinking, thinking
and you are blowing through yourday.
You are blowing through theselike number days that you have
as opposed to being present andliving fully in the moment,
because God gives us daily bread, each day, he gives us what we
need and every day that Godcreates is a good day.
But if we are spending ourenergy and our time on thinking
(07:02):
about what may or may not happen, we are sapping literally the
vitality out of our day and outof ourselves.
And so being intentional isjust basically training your
brain, your brain, treated likea muscle, right?
Be intentional about the thingsthat you feed on, that you
nourish with your mind.
Your mind is a field, it is yourplot of land that you are
(07:23):
responsible for.
You are the steward of yourmind, we are the stewards of our
minds.
And so if weeds are growingthere, that's on us, right.
If it's barren and nothingreally growing, that's on us too
.
If it's flourishing andthriving, we've tended to it
well and partnered with God inthe thing.
And so, just looking at thefield of our minds, like, okay,
what's growing here?
Because I am, you know, i'mseeding it.
(07:45):
I'm seeding my soil, and soildoes not discriminate, it's
going to grow whatever you putin it.
Whether you put a seed of cornor you put a marijuana seed is
not going to be like, oh, can Igrow that here?
It's going to grow it becausethat's what soil does.
And so your heart, your mindjust produced their soil.
And it's on us to beintentional with what we're
seeding.
(08:06):
So one of the things that Iteach my clients in the therapy
space is the connection betweenfeelings, thoughts and actions.
We call it a little triangle,and so essentially, when we have
a feeling, oftentimes we reactto that feeling with the thought
right, and it could be anegative or positive thought,
but we go.
I have this feeling, i have athought in response to that
feeling, whether that thought istrue or not.
And if we meditate on thatthought long enough, it then
(08:28):
becomes an action, and so thatour thoughts are literally
creating our reality.
And one of the things I teachmy clients, young and older, is
reframing.
You can take, you can have anykind of feeling in the world.
You get to decide what thoughtis going to stay and is going to
be meditated on and wateredright in that space.
And so if my thought, if I havea feeling of being, you know,
(08:49):
like I don't know what's goingon, this is, i have no idea
what's happening My feelingcould be like I'm uncertain.
My thought could be oh my gosh,it's been so long of being
uncertain, things are nevergoing to change.
I'm always going to be in thisplace, and then my action might
be, i don't choose to not evenchoose to, then my posture in
(09:10):
life, my position is defeated.
It's like I'm never going to beable to get through this space
right.
I may not try things, i may notask God for things.
I'm not going to be in hope,i'm not going to be in faith,
i'm not going to be inexpectation.
I'm not going to have aconfession that this is the day
the Lord has made.
I'm going to rejoice in it.
Today is going to be a good day,god.
I'm expecting to see you andsee the goodness of the Lord in
(09:30):
the land of the living.
I'm not going to do that if mythought is I'm defeated, i'm
behind, i'm below, i'm beneath.
I'm not going to engage in lifein that way.
But if I start with the feelingof man, i don't know what's
going on, my next thought theone that I choose to water and
to choose to meditate could be.
but God does, and God isfaithful.
I don't know what's happening,but this isn't a surprise to God
.
God knows exactly what's goingon.
(09:52):
This isn't the first time I'vebeen in a place where I don't
know what's happening.
God, i'm looking to you.
You may not be speaking to me,but maybe now, in this season, i
need to trust that you order mysteps, whether I know that
you're doing that actively ornot.
My steps are being ordered ofyou.
You enlarge the path beneath myfeet.
There are no mistakes in God.
That's what I'm going tobelieve about my day And I'm
going to declare that, and I'mgoing to move in life that way.
I'm not defeated.
(10:13):
I'm above and above.
Only That's who I am.
That may be how I show up.
If that's the thought, the typesof thoughts that I nurture and
I meditate on, and so yourthoughts really are the
difference between how you gothrough life and even thinking
on the birds of the field, thelilies of the air Matthew 6,
like, hey, god takes care ofthem.
That's like consider this,meditate on, look at this.
(10:36):
Hey, you see these lilies, yousee these wildflowers on the
side of the interstate.
Nobody planted those.
Look how pretty they are.
Oh, my gosh, they're decoratedmore beautifully than the
richest king that ever lived.
Aren't you worth more than they?
This is my meditation, theseare the bounds of my thought
life.
Right, This is the discipline,this is the training.
I run my thoughts through Anathlete.
Hey you go to.
You know, when we playbasketball, we were always in
(10:58):
the sun conditioning at thebeginning of the season because
we knew there was a game, youknow, a whole full season we had
to play later.
And so some of us, our minds,are out of conditioning, they're
out of shape, really, they justkind of float and flop wherever
.
And I'm just challenging us tobe more disciplined, i'm
challenging us to be morerigorous in what we allow and
(11:20):
don't allow, what we filter outwhen it comes to our thought
life, because our thought lifeis running things.
The thoughts that we entertain,that we engage, that we sit
with, that we nourish, that wewater like plants, those are the
things that are going to growand ultimately frame our reality
and frame our view of ourselvesand our view of God.
(11:40):
And so, you know, reframing,like what I just talked about
with our thoughts, is somethingthat you can do to help get your
mind into shape Practicinggratitude.
There's a guy on Instagram, drAmin, who talks about, really
like, how he sets up himselfhimself, how he sets himself up
(12:03):
to sleep well, and he talksabout going through his day like
a treasure hunt and thinkingabout and trying to pick out the
parts of the day that Went well, right, and I think you know
the world is really on agratitude tip, but the Lord has
definitely already told us likeit, you know, it's important for
you to Wage on the good, thinkon the good, consider what God
is doing over there, think aboutwhat God is doing over here,
(12:24):
remember that time when the Lordcame through for you.
That's all gratitude, startingwith God.
I thank you and everything thatJesus said.
He started with giving thanks,lord.
Thank you for God.
I thank you for this bread thatwe're about to receive.
Lord, bless this bread.
Thank you that we, like Jesus,started with thanks and
thanksgiving, with Thanksgiving.
Offer up your prayers andthoughts to God.
You know your request, makeyour question own to God, and so
(12:45):
thanksgiving, gratitude, takingthought, for this is what's
going well, this is what's goingright, this is a God moment,
this was a God wink.
Lord, i know this thing is onmy mind and I saw you Ministered
that that request I had.
Taking thought of all of thatnourishes your soul, it builds
you up.
It's like feeding on somethingthat's actually going to Make
(13:07):
you stand up taller on theinside, because the desert gets
hard, the wilderness isuncomfortable, but it's even
worse when we're not disciplinedin our thought life.
So that's my encouragement toyou guys this week to be
disciplined in your thoughts.
I have a friend.
She and I were talking kind ofabout this very thing and she
was saying that the Lord wassent to her, like how you need
to narrow your thoughts and Youknow, i really like the way that
(13:31):
that the Lord put that for herThis idea of maybe you're
considering all of these things,maybe you're picking, you know,
dipping your cup in all thesedifferent pools of thought, and
it might be a good idea to justkind of Bring it in, come back
to center and go wait.
What are the boundary lines formy thought life?
because I can't, i can't justnot have boundaries.
No, we know, and at least bynow, the importance of
(13:55):
boundaries from social media,pop psychology and all of that.
Boundaries are good, they'reimportant, they're helpful for
us and for others.
They let us know what's able tostay in and what's able to stay
out.
You know and it makes me thinkof the scripture God is not came
to spirit of fear, but of love,power and a sound mind, a sober
mind, a Disciplined mind, andso you are empowered to have a
(14:16):
disciplined thought life, butit's definitely on you and it's
on me to make sure that we putthose boundary lines in place
for what goes and what stays out, because self-control is a
fruit of the spirit.
So it's not just that we'resupposed to be thinking on all
the things we are supposed to beregulating and Be intentional
about the thoughts, the seed weallow to be planted in our
(14:36):
hearts and in our minds.
So that's my encouragement Setup some boundaries, set up some
guidelines.
Even if you make a list of tenthings these are my rules for my
thought life and post itsomewhere You can see it.
You know, i don't think on, idon't think on, i do meditate on
, i do think of, i do takeweight of.
I start my day waking up withgratitude.
I end my day going to bedsaying you know, lord, thank you
for this, this and this.
(14:56):
Set some rules up for yourthought Life, some really
tangible one, so that when athought flies through as you're
training your mind, you know ohwait, that's breaking rule
number two We don't, we don'tthink on negative outcomes,
right?
So that's my encouragement toyou guys this week, if you
haven't subscribed to ourYouTube channel.
Go over there and subscribe.
You're not subscribed.
Wherever you get your podcast,do that.
If you've not left a rating onApple podcasts, you can also do
(15:19):
that and comment.
I love to like, reflect andtalk back with y'all in the
spaces where comments areallowed.
So thanks again.
I'll talk to you guys next week.
Make it a great one.
Bye.
Hey y'all, I'm Gilon Marts.
This is The Walking Wellpodcast.
Thank you so much for tuning inand for listening, for watching
however you're getting thepodcast.
We're in season seven, andseason seven is all about
wilderness places, difficult,dry, uncomfortable spaces that
we can find ourselves in asbelievers, as a nation, as a
world.
Things have just been superweird lately and lately is the
(00:32):
past three years for some of usbut this podcast season is all
about what it takes to make itthrough that, the skills, the
tools, the things that God hasgiven me, as I find myself in
places where things are changing, the landscape is unfamiliar
and I'm not really sure what'sgoing on.
So today we are talking aboutthe necessity of having a
disciplined and controlledthought life.
The big thing about being- oneof the big things about being in
(00:55):
the wilderness is that you'revulnerable.
You're in a place where youmight be tired, you might be
weary, you might be disappointed, you might be grieving, you
might just be in a realunfamiliar space, and that is
all a vulnerable place for you,for your heart, for your mind,
for your soul.
And I think sometimes, when wefind ourselves out here where
things are changing, wherethings don't look like we
expected or anticipated.
(01:16):
It's really easy to start tolet your mind wander, to
consider things, to entertainthings, to engage things that,
in a healthier season, you maynot really have been open to.
And, man, i think it's alsoreally important to know that
the enemy uses the power ofsuggestion at will, like that's
just his MO.
He's never going to hit youwith a full frontal unless it's
(01:37):
like a kill shot and you'realready down.
But the enemy uses the power ofsuggestion and our minds are
like massive computers, and soit can get really tempting to be
lazy in this area and to notstay tightened up, to not stay
armed up to the teeth, but westill have an enemy that goes
(01:59):
about like a roaring lionseeking whom we may devour.
You are in a vulnerable place,and I think about every
situation where someone foundthemselves in a desert place.
They were vulnerable, whetherit was the children of Israel,
whether it was Joseph and thepit hello, hagar taking off from
Abraham and Sarah, jesus afterfasting.
Like these are vulnerable,vulnerable spaces.
(02:19):
Our thought life is central,still, is still important.
I think you know when you're inan abundant season, a season of
abundance where things aregoing well, they look like they
should.
You know, like, oh yeah, i'msupposed to guard my heart, oh
yeah, i think on these things.
But when you find yourself where, like things are upside down,
something about that space makesyou go like, wait a second, and
(02:39):
you take some of the guardrailsoff and are willing to, like,
entertain and engage in behaviorand poor mental health hygiene
really and not stay disciplinedabout your thoughts and where
your thoughts go.
And so the first thing to knowis that the wilderness, the
desert, is a vulnerable placeAnd in vulnerable places you
(03:03):
don't abandon the things thatyou know to do.
It's even more important thatyou stay hydrated, that you
protect your skin, that you dothings, and then that you know,
like, if you run a physicalwilderness right, like you don't
stop drinking water becauseyou're in the desert and you've
never been here before.
It's even more important tomake sure that you do the things
that you know to do, and thesame goes for your spirit, the
same goes for your soul.
You don't abandon the ABCs.
(03:24):
Instead, you really kind ofsometimes need to double down on
those, be extra particular,extra sensitive to making sure
that you're doing the things youknow to do for good, spiritual,
mental, emotional, soul health,right.
And so the desert place istricky, it can get really tricky
, i know.
For me, i have to be mindfulthat I can't weigh all the
(03:44):
potential outcomes andpossibilities, because I was, i
had the tendency to spiral, andlike just spiraling is like
making yourself sick, right,because you're, you're worrying,
you're anxious, you're tired,you're not sleeping well, you
might not be eating, or yourbrain is just running, running,
running, running, running, andthat is no way to live Like.
You can't live an abundant lifewhen your mind is running and
(04:06):
when it's engaging in all thepotential possibilities and what
if and what if and what if andwhat if you can't, you cannot be
healthy.
There's no way to be healthyliving life that way.
And so instead we have to beintentional, even more
intentional than you would be.
You know, i think sometimesabundance seasons make us a
little lazy and a little looseand a little lax And you can get
caught slipping.
(04:27):
But when you find yourself herein a space where you're in the
unknown, you're in theunfamiliar, in the uncomfortable
, it's not the time to fall offof your disciplines.
In fact, it's the time to goback to what you know, to
revisit those things to putyourself in remembrance.
And so having a disciplinedthought life is a core tenet of
a believer's life, is a coretenet of any healthy person's
life, And you have to be mindfulof what you're thinking, what
(04:51):
you're thinking on right.
I told you guys in an earlierepisode, proverbs 15, 15 says
all the days.
Well, it basically says yourdays can be made evil by
desponding, by anxiousforeboding thoughts.
And it's not that your days areevil, it's that your days are
made evil by evil forebodingsand anxious thoughts.
(05:12):
And so you can have a perfectlygood day but, by the way that
you're moving about in your ownhead, in your own mind, can
create a reality for you that'snot necessarily the reality.
Right, like everybody else ishaving a great time, and you
could just be biting yourfingernails like, oh, my god,
what's gonna happen?
And what about this?
And what if they say this?
And what if this doesn't happen?
What if this happens?
How am I gonna handle that?
And you're 15 years in thefuture, a potential future,
(05:36):
something that may not evenhappen.
And so my encouragement is tobe disciplined, be intentional
about your thought life.
You know, proverbs 4,philippians 4, 6 through 8
really does list how we shouldmove and maneuver and navigate
our thoughts.
Think on things that are lovely,just pure, honest, worthy of
praise, excellent, of a goodreport, weigh on, meditate,
(05:57):
consider these things, takethese things into account,
because meditation is like it'snot.
I mean, i feel like it's alittle bit like magnification,
but meditation, thinking onsomething, is like digging deep,
burrowing into that thing.
And so sometimes we burrow, butwe're spiraling, as opposed to
burrowing and digging into, likea well of water, right, a
source of water.
(06:17):
And so when you meditate, ifyou're meditating on things that
are lovely, just pure, you'redigging into a wellspring to get
something that's gonna benourishing.
When you're meditating andweighing on things that are
negative, that are things youhope to not happen, things that
are fearful or cause anxiety,you're just spiraling.
It's like a downward, just intonothingness.
And that's the thing aboutanxiousness, anxiety and anxious
(06:38):
thoughts.
You could be thinking, thinking,thinking, thinking, thinking
and you are blowing through yourday.
You are blowing through theselike number days that you have
as opposed to being present andliving fully in the moment,
because God gives us daily bread, each day, he gives us what we
need and every day that Godcreates is a good day.
But if we are spending ourenergy and our time on thinking
(07:02):
about what may or may not happen, we are sapping literally the
vitality out of our day and outof ourselves.
And so being intentional isjust basically training your
brain, your brain, treated likea muscle, right?
Be intentional about the thingsthat you feed on, that you
nourish with your mind.
Your mind is a field, it is yourplot of land that you are
(07:23):
responsible for.
You are the steward of yourmind, we are the stewards of our
minds.
And so if weeds are growingthere, that's on us, right.
If it's barren and nothingreally growing, that's on us too
.
If it's flourishing andthriving, we've tended to it
well and partnered with God inthe thing.
And so, just looking at thefield of our minds, like, okay,
what's growing here?
Because I am, you know, i'mseeding it.
(07:45):
I'm seeding my soil, and soildoes not discriminate, it's
going to grow whatever you putin it.
Whether you put a seed of cornor you put a marijuana seed is
not going to be like, oh, can Igrow that here?
It's going to grow it becausethat's what soil does.
And so your heart, your mindjust produced their soil.
And it's on us to beintentional with what we're
seeding.
(08:06):
So one of the things that Iteach my clients in the therapy
space is the connection betweenfeelings, thoughts and actions.
We call it a little triangle,and so essentially, when we have
a feeling, oftentimes we reactto that feeling with the thought
right, and it could be anegative or positive thought,
but we go.
I have this feeling, i have athought in response to that
feeling, whether that thought istrue or not.
And if we meditate on thatthought long enough, it then
(08:28):
becomes an action, and so thatour thoughts are literally
creating our reality.
And one of the things I teachmy clients, young and older, is
reframing.
You can take, you can have anykind of feeling in the world.
You get to decide what thoughtis going to stay and is going to
be meditated on and wateredright in that space.
And so if my thought, if I havea feeling of being, you know,
(08:49):
like I don't know what's goingon, this is, i have no idea
what's happening My feelingcould be like I'm uncertain.
My thought could be oh my gosh,it's been so long of being
uncertain, things are nevergoing to change.
I'm always going to be in thisplace, and then my action might
be, i don't choose to not evenchoose to, then my posture in
(09:10):
life, my position is defeated.
It's like I'm never going to beable to get through this space
right.
I may not try things, i may notask God for things.
I'm not going to be in hope,i'm not going to be in faith,
i'm not going to be inexpectation.
I'm not going to have aconfession that this is the day
the Lord has made.
I'm going to rejoice in it.
Today is going to be a good day,god.
I'm expecting to see you andsee the goodness of the Lord in
(09:30):
the land of the living.
I'm not going to do that if mythought is I'm defeated, i'm
behind, i'm below, i'm beneath.
I'm not going to engage in lifein that way.
But if I start with the feelingof man, i don't know what's
going on, my next thought theone that I choose to water and
to choose to meditate could be.
but God does, and God isfaithful.
I don't know what's happening,but this isn't a surprise to God
.
God knows exactly what's goingon.
(09:52):
This isn't the first time I'vebeen in a place where I don't
know what's happening.
God, i'm looking to you.
You may not be speaking to me,but maybe now, in this season, i
need to trust that you order mysteps, whether I know that
you're doing that actively ornot.
My steps are being ordered ofyou.
You enlarge the path beneath myfeet.
There are no mistakes in God.
That's what I'm going tobelieve about my day And I'm
going to declare that, and I'mgoing to move in life that way.
I'm not defeated.
(10:13):
I'm above and above.
Only That's who I am.
That may be how I show up.
If that's the thought, the typesof thoughts that I nurture and
I meditate on, and so yourthoughts really are the
difference between how you gothrough life and even thinking
on the birds of the field, thelilies of the air Matthew 6,
like, hey, god takes care ofthem.
That's like consider this,meditate on, look at this.
(10:36):
Hey, you see these lilies, yousee these wildflowers on the
side of the interstate.
Nobody planted those.
Look how pretty they are.
Oh, my gosh, they're decoratedmore beautifully than the
richest king that ever lived.
Aren't you worth more than they?
This is my meditation, theseare the bounds of my thought
life.
Right, This is the discipline,this is the training.
I run my thoughts through Anathlete.
Hey you go to.
You know, when we playbasketball, we were always in
(10:58):
the sun conditioning at thebeginning of the season because
we knew there was a game, youknow, a whole full season we had
to play later.
And so some of us, our minds,are out of conditioning, they're
out of shape, really, they justkind of float and flop wherever
.
And I'm just challenging us tobe more disciplined, i'm
challenging us to be morerigorous in what we allow and
(11:20):
don't allow, what we filter outwhen it comes to our thought
life, because our thought lifeis running things.
The thoughts that we entertain,that we engage, that we sit
with, that we nourish, that wewater like plants, those are the
things that are going to growand ultimately frame our reality
and frame our view of ourselvesand our view of God.
(11:40):
And so, you know, reframing,like what I just talked about
with our thoughts, is somethingthat you can do to help get your
mind into shape Practicinggratitude.
There's a guy on Instagram, drAmin, who talks about, really
like, how he sets up himselfhimself, how he sets himself up
(12:03):
to sleep well, and he talksabout going through his day like
a treasure hunt and thinkingabout and trying to pick out the
parts of the day that Went well, right, and I think you know
the world is really on agratitude tip, but the Lord has
definitely already told us likeit, you know, it's important for
you to Wage on the good, thinkon the good, consider what God
is doing over there, think aboutwhat God is doing over here,
(12:24):
remember that time when the Lordcame through for you.
That's all gratitude, startingwith God.
I thank you and everything thatJesus said.
He started with giving thanks,lord.
Thank you for God.
I thank you for this bread thatwe're about to receive.
Lord, bless this bread.
Thank you that we, like Jesus,started with thanks and
thanksgiving, with Thanksgiving.
Offer up your prayers andthoughts to God.
You know your request, makeyour question own to God, and so
(12:45):
thanksgiving, gratitude, takingthought, for this is what's
going well, this is what's goingright, this is a God moment,
this was a God wink.
Lord, i know this thing is onmy mind and I saw you Ministered
that that request I had.
Taking thought of all of thatnourishes your soul, it builds
you up.
It's like feeding on somethingthat's actually going to Make
(13:07):
you stand up taller on theinside, because the desert gets
hard, the wilderness isuncomfortable, but it's even
worse when we're not disciplinedin our thought life.
So that's my encouragement toyou guys this week to be
disciplined in your thoughts.
I have a friend.
She and I were talking kind ofabout this very thing and she
was saying that the Lord wassent to her, like how you need
to narrow your thoughts and Youknow, i really like the way that
(13:31):
that the Lord put that for herThis idea of maybe you're
considering all of these things,maybe you're picking, you know,
dipping your cup in all thesedifferent pools of thought, and
it might be a good idea to justkind of Bring it in, come back
to center and go wait.
What are the boundary lines formy thought life?
because I can't, i can't justnot have boundaries.
No, we know, and at least bynow, the importance of
(13:55):
boundaries from social media,pop psychology and all of that.
Boundaries are good, they'reimportant, they're helpful for
us and for others.
They let us know what's able tostay in and what's able to stay
out.
You know and it makes me thinkof the scripture God is not came
to spirit of fear, but of love,power and a sound mind, a sober
mind, a Disciplined mind, andso you are empowered to have a
(14:16):
disciplined thought life, butit's definitely on you and it's
on me to make sure that we putthose boundary lines in place
for what goes and what stays out, because self-control is a
fruit of the spirit.
So it's not just that we'resupposed to be thinking on all
the things we are supposed to beregulating and Be intentional
about the thoughts, the seed weallow to be planted in our
(14:36):
hearts and in our minds.
So that's my encouragement Setup some boundaries, set up some
guidelines.
Even if you make a list of tenthings these are my rules for my
thought life and post itsomewhere You can see it.
You know, i don't think on, idon't think on, i do meditate on
, i do think of, i do takeweight of.
I start my day waking up withgratitude.
I end my day going to bedsaying you know, lord, thank you
for this, this and this.
(14:56):
Set some rules up for yourthought Life, some really
tangible one, so that when athought flies through as you're
training your mind, you know ohwait, that's breaking rule
number two We don't, we don'tthink on negative outcomes,
right?
So that's my encouragement toyou guys this week, if you
haven't subscribed to ourYouTube channel.
Go over there and subscribe.
You're not subscribed.
Wherever you get your podcast,do that.
If you've not left a rating onApple podcasts, you can also do
(15:19):
that and comment.
I love to like, reflect andtalk back with y'all in the
spaces where comments areallowed.
So thanks again.
I'll talk to you guys next week.
Make it a great one.
Bye.
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