Download Podcast What a bargain! You can listen to this podcast in iTunes. When we saw the price on the beautiful two-storied brick house, we knew we had to see it. But, when the realtor unlocked the door, we covered our nose and held our breathe—it stunk…really stunk…bad. The tall walls, elaborately crowned with carved molding, wore the tattered strips of what had been wallpaper. The big old house had numerous amenities that hinted it had once been beautiful, but time and it’s most recent and unusual residents had almost destroyed it. The owners had wintered their unruly kids, KIDS as in goats, in the house. And believe me when I tell you, it was a terrible…horrible…no good…really bad idea! As bad as a skunk! What were the owners thinking? Their crazy idea gives new meaning to Zig Ziglar’s term “stinkin’ thinkin'!” Allowing the goats to live in their house turned it into a stinking mess. And your stinking thinking will do the same thing to your mind, heart, emotions and choices! Stinking thinking affects you physically, spiritually and emotionally!!! Stinking thinking can turn a molehill into a mountain. It can twist perceptions and turn a family gathering upside down. Suspicious or fearful thoughts can turn a wedding into a tragedy. Jealous or angry thoughts that fester and boil can lead to criminal and deadly choices. Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. What is your stinking thinking doing to you? God has a better plan for you. Please read these verses from Ephesians slowly. They are so important. Ephesians 4:17-24 NLT 17So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. (their opinion, their human reasoning) 18They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. 20That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. You can control your thinking. And you better control them because they will either poison you or position you for God’s best. How? If you are like me, maybe you are asking, “But how?” Basically, it’s a lot like farming. Weeds, like stinking thinking, are automatic, but the good things that we want to grow in our lives must be planted and nurtured. Fertilized. Watered. Weeded. We don’t want weeds. We want the seeds of good things to grow in our lives. So what are you planting? Even the youngest child understands If you want corn to grow, then you plant corn. They know if they plant birdseed they’ll grow birds…ha! Just teasing! Stinkin’ thinkin robs us, makes us feel yucky and afraid, which often causes us to make wrong choices. And we KNOW if we sow bad actions, we reap bad consequences! Right? But did you realize that it works in the positive too? An ordinary question that grabbed me A pastor answered my generic “How are things going?” with “Great. I’ve sowed good things and I’m reaping good things.” His reply was so much more than an empty mantra. It was an honest, unemotional reply to my question. That one sentence has hounded me! I’ve used that verse like a goad to encourage and sometimes manipulate my children into doing what they need to do! But why couldn’t I see that the verse works in the positive equally as well. Why haven’t I believed God that when I plant good things that I will reap good things? I want to get better at planting good stuff. Sometimes I am better at it than other times. I’ve noticed everywhere I go I see smiling faces. One day I realized that people are simply responding to my smile. That’s reaping what you planted at it’s simplest level. That is God’s law working in the positive! I plant kindness and thoughtfulness and I look for it in other people. And the wonderful thing is…I find exactly what I am looking for…almost every time! You’ve probably seen it work with something as simple as a smile, but can God’s Word change our stinking thinking? Powerful enough? I wouldn’t say this if I didn’t know it personally, but yes, God’s Word is powerful enough to change not only what you think, but also what you believe. His Word is pregnant with hope. It will birth hope in your heart. God’s words are like buckets full of cool water on a sizzling hot day, like buckets full of...
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