Words from Unleavened Bread Bible Study with David Eells

Policing Our Thoughts

I want to share with you about our thinking in our minds.
For as he thinketh within himself, so is he. (Prov 23:7) How you think is
how you are. We are talking manifestly here. We are not talking about faith. The
Bible sometimes speaks about faith and it sometime speaks manifestly to teach us
and help us understand. The scriptures say that we should walk, talk, and think by
faith which is confessing that we have the mind of Christ. You have the mind of
Christ and that is a confession of faith that we know is going to come to pass because
of Gods great faithfulness. But, lets study this so that we can understand what we
should be doing.
Some translations say as one thinketh in is heart or thinketh in himself, but here
is the point. What you are is how you think. This is not the man, the real man. This
is passing away. You are what you think. You are your mind. Your mind is you. If
you have, and you are continuously thinking, lustful thoughts, then you are a lustful
person. And, if youre thinking angry thoughts, then youre an angry person.
Whatever you think on is who you are manifestly. The scripture says, For as he
thinketh within himself, so is he. (Prov 23:7)
What makes a sinner a sinner? Is it just their actions or what is inside of them?
Among whom we also all once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, (some versions say thoughts) and were
by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. (Eph 2:3) So what makes a
sinner a sinner is how they think; it is their thoughts. What makes us what we are is
what we think. We are seeking transformation here. We want to be transformed
from the way we used to think to the way that Christ thinks.
One of our problems is that we want God to do this for us, but sometimes we ignore
Gods methods. He has given us methods to bring this to pass in the scriptures. We
might ignore the method and say, God transform me. Well, this will not work.
That is why He has given the scriptures to us. And be not fashioned according
to this world: (be not conformed to this world) but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and
acceptable and perfect will of God. (Rom 12:2)
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. God has given us an order that He
wants us to police our thoughts. He wants us to decide what thoughts are legal to
have and what thoughts are not legal to have. He has given us a way to be
transformed. If your mind is transformed, it is because your thoughts have been
changed. He is telling us that the only way you are going to be transformed is to
change your thoughts, to renew your mind and to think the way that God wants you
to think. He wants us to police our thoughts. Many people do not give much
attention to their thoughts; they give a lot more attention to outward things than
inward thoughts.

If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on
the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth. (Col
3:1, 2) Set your mind on the things that are above. Thats where Christ is seated.
Above, there is no evil thought. They couldnt live with one another in the kingdom
of heaven if there were evil thoughts because everybody hears thoughts there. The
way people communicate with one another is with thought. They do not have to
speak. It is only in a holy place, with holy people, that you could get along with
people who spoke with their thoughts.
What if your thoughts were out loud? How would we get along? There would be
trouble around here. That is why it is holy up there. He wants your thoughts focused
on what Christ has given you in heavenly places; we pray thy kingdom come thy Will
be done on Earth as it is in heaven. Gods Will, His perfect Will, is done in heaven.
There is peace in the kingdom of heaven. Gods Will is done there. What He wants
us to set our mind on are the things that we have there, not the things we have here.
Too many times peoples minds are so cluttered.
The Bible says, Lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Heb
12:1) These things that we have our minds on down here, including our situation
and our circumstances, weigh our minds down and keep us from running the race.
God wants us to get our mind on what we have in heavenly places. What we have up
there is a pure, holy mind. We have all of our needs supplied there. There is no sin
there. And we are supposed to be, by our prayers, bringing Gods kingdom here so
that Gods Will will be done here like it is there. He wants us to be continually
setting our mind; He commands you to set your mind, this is an order given to us.
Set your mind on the things of heaven, not on the things of the Earth.
God is continually telling us that He wants us to police our mind. What you take into
your mind is what you are. If what your mind thinks is who you are, which is the
word we read in Proverbs 23, then you are what you think. You are what you eat,
spiritually speaking, because your mind takes input from your senses which causes
you to think. And, of course, the devil has his input, too. What you are going to
notice in several of these verses that I am going to share with you, is that you are
what you eat.
For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they
that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. (Rom 8:5) Let me try to
bring that into our language a little better than my Bible translation and see if you
agree with me that this is what it says. They that are after the flesh-those that are
desiring after the fleshly things or fleshly appetites, etc.-they mind the things of the
flesh and think thoughts of the flesh. People who are after fleshly things, or fleshly
appetites, or fleshly lusts think the thoughts of the flesh.
The second part of that says that they who are after the spirit-those that are after
spiritual things and spiritual understanding-they think thoughts of the spirit. If
youre after the flesh, you are going to think thoughts of the flesh. If you are after the
spirit, you are going to think thoughts of the spirit. He calls it the mind of the flesh
and the mind of the spirit; some translations say carnally minded. For the mind

of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace. (Rom
8:6)
If you think thoughts that are fleshly, then all you are going to have in you is death,
and all you are going to be able to share with others is death. But the mind, ( or
the thoughts) of the Spirit is life and peace. If you think thoughts that are
spiritual, then you are going to have within you life for yourself and life for others, as
well as peace for yourself and peace for people around you. You will be like Jesus;
The words I speak unto you are spirit and they are life.
You are going to be what you eat. Your mind is like a computer; what you want out of
it is what you need to sow into it. What kind of seed you want to grow up is what you
best sow into it. Be not ye therefore partakers with them; (talking about the
sons of disobedience) for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the
Lord: walk as children of light. (Eph 5:7, 8)
What did Jesus say about being children of the light? He said if your eye is single,
your whole body will be full of light. Meaning what? He was talking about the things
of the spirit. If your eye is not double, it is not on both the world and on the
kingdom. You would just be lukewarm if that happens.
(for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord; and have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even reprove them. (Eph
5:9-11) What does the word fellowship mean here? It is sugkoinoneo, and it
means a unity of having things in common. We have things in common here. We
share the Word with one another. We have fellowship over the Word and this is a
unity of having things in common.
As I read this, I felt like the Lord spoke to me that one of the biggest unities of having
things in common is the television set. People all around the world sit in unison
watching, and feeding themselves, on what comes over their television sets. Theyre
actually putting into their computer, (their mind), what is coming over their
television. And that kind of fellowship is something that, most of the time, is poison.
He says, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather even reprove them.
What Christians watch on their television they might not watch if another Christian
was in the room. Though what they are viewing would not be allowed in their own
living room, physically speaking, they are, nonetheless, watching it on their
television. And, they do not recognize that this is poison and that they are what they
eat. These things are actually going into their minds.
Have you ever had a thought, or saw something in your past, that tormented your
mind for, sometimes, years after and it just wouldnt go away? It is something that
the devil uses against you to bring things back into your remembrance, which
torments your mind to try to draw you aside, or to try to put lust or jealousy in you.
He uses it to make you jealous, lustful, etc. It is something that you put in there that
he can forever use.

On the other hand, you can take the Word of God and put it into your heart and the
Lord can forever use that word in your heart to bless you. You can put something
just the opposite, something negative, in there and the devil can use that forever on
you. It is best if you do not ever have that kind of a fellowship.
And it is not just the television; it can be the radio, or romance books, or whatever. I
have seen Christians that were hung up on romance books. Some Christians just
have an excitement addiction. Somehow, life is just not exciting enough so they
watch television to get their excitement and they get addicted to that excitement. It
is as if they do not feel there is enough excitement in their lives and they have to do
that.
The television programs are put on by worldly people and they are doing it for the
express purpose of programming you to think the way they think. You can watch the
news media and see it there, also. Every Christian can see this. The liberal news
media is behind a lot of the programming also. And they want to program you, ever
so gradually, to accept their way of thinking through their programming. Well, that
is having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness through your mind. What
goes into your mind is what you are and what you are going to be.
For the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to
speak of. (Eph 5:12) When you watch television, it is like you are right in
someones living room, or their bedroom, watching what is going on. But all
things when they are reproved are made manifest by the light. (Eph
5:13-14) If you cant do something in the light, in front of other Christians or Jesus,
then it is obviously something that you would be reproved for or, at least, think you
would be reproved for.
For everything that is made manifest is light. Wherefore he saith,
Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
shine upon thee. What we are talking about is being resurrected from the dead.
All of the old way of thinking, and doing, is death. And resurrection from the dead is
changing your mind. It is coming out of that; it is being separate; it is being holy
unto the Lord. The old way of thinking is a subtle trap that causes you to become
interested only in the things that go on outside of your inner man, and not in what
goes on inside of your inner man.
There is a lot of mockery going on in Christianity. What is mockery? Its
pantomiming or making fun of what someone else is doing, but not really meaning it
on the inside. You know people that mock someone? They are putting on a show,
but, on the inside, that is not where their heart really is. Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal
6:7) There is a lot of Christian mockery going on. You know why? Because they
know how to put on the show on the outside but, inside, they are full of dead mans
bones.
It is easy to put on the Christian show; you know how to talk, you know how to walk,
you know what Christians want to hear and you know what is acceptable. We all
want to be accepted by our brethren. And you know what is acceptable, so you say
what is acceptable and you act what is acceptable before Christians. But, here is the
problem; how are you, really, on the inside? If you are different on the inside, and

you are doing other things just to be accepted, then youre mocking God. Thats
mockery. He said, Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap eternal life. (Gal 6:7, 8)
How many of you have ever heard of the black dog and white dog scenario? You take
a black dog and a white dog and you pen them up in two cages. You feed the white
dog and starve the black dog. You turn them loose and they fight. And the white dog
always wins. If you turn that around, and feed the black dog, while starving the white
dog; when you turn them loose, the black dog wins. Well, thats the way it is in our
life. If you are going to feed your spiritual man, he is going to win the battle, which
Galatians says is always going on between your flesh and your spirit. There is enmity
between your flesh and your spirit. There is a war going on. And the one that is
going to win is the one you feed. If you are always feeding your spirit junk food such
as the television, false thoughts, or hanging around with people that say things that
are contrary to God, be not deceived; evil companionships corrupt good morals, the
Bible says.
You can have an evil companionship by what comes across the TV, by a book that you
are reading, or through the radio. Evil companionships corrupt good morals. What
the Lord is saying here is, basically, the black dog/white dog situation. If you sow
unto your flesh, you are going to reap corruption; but, if you sow unto the spirit, you
are going to reap eternal life.
By the way, there probably is a big S there on spirit in all of your Bibles, but I dont
think there should be. I think that is a little s. In the original manuscripts they had
no big and little s. It was strictly a translators idea to put a capital s there. I believe
he is talking about your spirit.
You do not sow any seed into the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has it; he is the one
with the seed to sow. What you are sowing the seed into is your spirit. The thing that
needs to grow, that needs to be vital and that needs to be healthy and strong, in order
to conquer your flesh, is your spirit. Your spirit uses the power of the Holy Spirit,
thats true. But, your spirit is the one that needs the seed. It is the one that needs the
education. The one that needs the Word of God is your spirit. And of the spirit you
will reap eternal life. Eternal life comes from the Holy Spirit through your spirit to
you and death comes exactly opposite. It comes from the world and the devil
through your flesh to you. So, your spirit is the one who gives you eternal life. If you
obey your spirit, which is in obedience to the Holy Spirit, your Holy of holies that is
consumed by the Spirit of God within, you will have eternal life. But, what you feed
upon is what you are going to be.
The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God
to the casting down of strongholds. (2 Cor 10:4) What does this scripture
say about the weapons of our warfare? For instance, in Ephesians 6, it describes the
weapon of our warfare. He said it is the sword of the spirit and he said it is the Word
of God. The only weapon given as the spiritual armor of God, in Ephesians 6, is the
sword of the spirit. And, it is with a capital s there again. But, I am convinced that is
not right either. Because it says the sword of the spirit, you are supposed to give the
sword to the spirit in Ephesians 6. But, the Holy Spirit already knows the Word of

God backwards and forwards; He wrote it. It is your spirit that needs a weapon to be
able to fight against your flesh and against the devil. You are supposed to give the
sword of the Holy Spirit to your spirit. It says take that sword of the spirit. It is not
the sword of the flesh. It is not your sword. It is the sword of the spirit. It is not a
sword that you have a right to wield. Did you know that? You have no right to use
the Word of God. It is the spirit man that has the right to use the Word of God.
Have you ever heard people misuse the Word of God? I did it as a religious person.
I used it to convert people to my religion, and found that I wasnt slinging the sword
of the spirit; rather, it was my flesh. The Holy Spirit, through your spirit, uses the
Word of God. The sword of the spirit, the Word of God, is the weapon that you give
to your spirit that enables him to conquer your enemies. If you dont give him the
sword, he is not able to conquer. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, that is true;
but, He commanded you take the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God. The
Holy Spirit does not need a weapon. He needs your spirit to have the knowledge of
the Word of God in order to conquer your enemies, your flesh and the devil.
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against
the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ. (2 Cor 10:5) Knowledge that is contrary to God is exalted
against the knowledge of God. The thinking that we have in our mind that is
contrary to what the Word says is going to get in your way. It is going to keep you
from being transformed. You are going to be transformed by renewing your mind, by
changing your mind. The Bible calls it repent. Anything that is contrary to the
Word of God is going to get in your way of this transformation process.
We have been talking about speaking, speech, and what we shouldnt be saying. Why
does the Bible emphasize speaking so much? Watch what you speak. Speak
according to the Word. Confess your salvation. Again, why does it emphasize
speaking so much? What do you do when the Bible warns you to do that? The first
thing you should do is to think about what you are going to say and make sure that
what you are going to say is in agreement with the Word of God. You do this
automatically. When the Word warns you about what to say, and how to confess the
Word of God, you change your thinking. So, one of the main reasons God gave us
this idea of changing the way we speak is because you are automatically going to
change the way you think. Again, youre made by that to police your thoughts. To
say, this thought is not legal and I will throw it out, or this thought is legal and I
am going to keep it. You are caused to police your thoughts.
What if you were saying what you were privately thinking? Think about everybody
being able to hear what you privately thought. Would it be acceptable? A lot of
times, it would not be acceptable. That gives you an idea of how far we might be off
track in our thinking. If it is not acceptable to Christian brothers and sisters, then it
surely is not acceptable to the Lord. Mainly, I want you to realize how far astray you
can be in your thinking. Because, if it was automatically heard, like in the kingdom
of heaven when they just think and the thought is relayed, you restrain from saying
things because you know it would not be acceptable, but you still think them. And
thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him
with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all
hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. (1
Chron 28:9)

The Bible says, Thou understandeth my thoughts afar off. (Ps 139:2) He
understands all of your thoughts and all of your imaginations and He knows exactly
what you are thinking. If you dont say things because you know it will not be
acceptable to men, but yet you go ahead and think them, be aware that God already
hears it when youre thinking it. You are saying, I am not going to say this because it
is not acceptable to men, but you are saying it to God. Do you realize you are doing
that; that you are saying it to God?
So, what you end up being is somebody who is more interested in the glory of men
than in the glory of God, if you are going to think a thought, yet you will not speak
that thought. You dont want to offend people; rather you want to be acceptable
among people. So, you think a thought, but you will not speak that thought. Well,
God hears that thought. Understand that I am talking about thoughts that you
accept. I am not talking about the little fiery darts that the devil throws in there and
you flip them out the other side, saying I dont accept that. Thats not you and that
is not sin. But, you are those thoughts that you do accept and God hears those
thoughts. He hears them just as when we speak to one another. We are being careful
about what we say to one another because we know what is acceptable. However,
sometimes we are not careful about what we are saying to God. God hears it all.
And, not only does He hear it all, He said there is nothing covered that will not be
revealed. And, there is nothing hidden that will not be brought out into the light.
Has it ever happened to you that you sometimes think an unacceptable thought for a
while and, finally, God drags it out right in front of you? It has happened. Think of
all the ministries that have been wrecked because that happened. The people were in
lust, thinking lustful thoughts, and they thought that they could keep them hidden.
But, the Bible says that you cant keep it hidden. For instance, it says in (Prov
10:9), But he that perverteth his ways shall be known. That is the Word of
God. We have found this true, have we not? These people that have thought
perverted thoughts for years and, all of a sudden, it comes out into the light. This is
so because Gods Word must be fulfilled. God will drag it out into the light. Jesus
said, in (Matt 10:26), for there is nothing covered, that shall not be
revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
Recall the verse we read earlier in (2 Cor 10:4-5), how we are to take our weapons of
our warfare and go conquer those that are in the high places and to cast down the
imagination and the strongholds that are in this mind of ours. Think about that as
you read (Num 32:20) And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing,
if ye will arm yourselves to go before the Lord to the war. So, arm yourself
with the Word of the Lord or with the helmet of salvation. And every armed
man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he hath
driven out his enemies from before him. (Num 32:21) And that is what we
are talking about. And the land is subdued before the Lord; then
afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless towards the Lord, and towards
Israel; and this land shall be unto you for a possession before the Lord.
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be
sure your sin will find you out. (Num 32:22, 23) If you will not drive out
those enemies, those unacceptable thoughts; if you just keep on thinking those
thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God, He said, be sure your sin will
find you out.

There isnt anything hidden that will not be revealed. God has a reason. He is after
what you are, not just what you do. If He can change what you are, then He will
change what you do. And, in order for Him to change what you are, according to
Proverbs 23, He must change your thoughts. God sees the thoughts you have, those
that are wrong and which you accept, as sin. For instance, see (Prov 24:9), The
thought of foolishness is sin; And the scoffer is an abomination to men.
You have to deal with your thoughts just the way you have to deal with your actions.
If you think thoughts that are wrong, you need to confess them to the Lord and ask
His forgiveness. Look at (Acts 8:22). Peter was talking to Simon the Sorcerer.
Simon wanted to buy from Peter the power to lay hands on people so that, when he
did, they would receive the Holy Spirit. Repent therefore of this thy
wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall
be forgiven thee. (Acts 8:22) Sins of thought need to be confessed and forsaken
just like any other sin of action and we need to ask Gods forgiveness. He told him to
pray that his thought would be forgiven.
Many times we start on the wrong end of the stick and we only worry about the
external things. But, we need to start where everything starts and that is in the
thoughts. Even confession is there so that you start with thought, because if you are
meditating on what you are going to confess, the first thing you are going to do is
change your thought. You are going to say, No, I cant say that or I shouldnt say
that; I should say this. You change your thought. Jesus said, Ye have heard
that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that
every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed
adultery with her already in his heart. (Matt 5:27, 28)
Some of you will have no problem with that; but then you consider, if true, you might
as well go ahead and do it because you have already sinned. Have you ever had the
thought that, if it is sin to merely have a thought, then it is too late to avoid sinning?
The answer is no. When do you sin against people; when you think it or when you
say it? You sin against people when it turns into action. When do you sin against
God? You sin against God when you think it. So, when you think a sin and say it, you
have sinned three ways; against God, against man, and you have sinned against
yourself. Jesus did not say that you have sinned in your flesh and body because you
have sinned in your heart. What does He say? If thou hast done foolishly in
lifting up thyself, Or if thou hast thought evil, Lay thy hand upon thy
mouth. (Prov 30:32) He says if you have thought evil, lay your hand on your
mouth and do not let it come out. So, it is not ok to engage in a sin because you have
already thought that sin.
Thought can bring salvation. We read in (Jer 4:14), Oh Jerusalem, wash thy
heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thine
evil thoughts lodge within thee? So, evil thoughts are damnation and good
thoughts are salvation. We are talking, again, about manifestation here. So, your
thoughts can save you and your thoughts can kill you; and they do.
Your thoughts can bring judgment upon you. Here, O earth: behold, I will
bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they
have not hearkened unto my words; and, as for my law, they have

rejected it. (Jer 6:19) If you hearken unto the Lords words, then you are not
going to think the thoughts that you normally would, youre going to think His
thoughts. God can bring the fruit of your thoughts upon you as judgment. In fact,
He has already done that in a really fantastic way. and the Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the
Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
(Gen 6:5, 6) God brought the flood because mans thoughts were evil continually.
God judged men with the flood because of their thoughts.
But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the
heart; and they defile the man. (Matt 15:18) The thoughts that you think can,
and do, defile you. Many times the Bible uses the word heart, e.g. as a man
thinketh in his heart, to illustrate that your mind is included in your heart. The
Bible also says if your heart condemn you not to illustrate that your conscience
must be in your heart. There are scriptures that seem to imply that your emotions
are involved your heart. Your heart is you, your inner man; your mind, your
emotions and your conscience; all of these are involved your heart. Your heart is you,
the inner man; not the one that is seen on the outside, but, the inner man. He says,
The things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart;
and they defile the man.
So you have a judgment there that is a natural judgment. Not just the judgment that
God brings upon you because of evil thoughts, but a natural judgment because of
thinking wrong thoughts. These thoughts bring a curse and they bring death as
stated in Romans 8.
We need to let the Word teach us. You must spend time in the Word for the Word to
teach you how to think. For the word of God is living, and active, and
sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of
soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the
thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12) The Word of God is given to us
for the very purpose of discerning our thoughts. If you do not become familiar with
the Word of God, you will not be able to discern which thoughts are right and which
thoughts are wrong. The Word is the sword of the spirit; it is the power that has been
given to your spirit to cut out of your life every imagination that has exalted itself
against the Word of God.
Too many people spend too much time in front of the TV, and not enough time in
front of the Bible. Because you are going to be what you eat, you need to spend time
with the Word. You cannot devote time to the Word just during bible study nights;
rather, you must devote time to the Word every day. Studying the Word every day
should be the most important thing in your life.
The thoughts you have that are derived from the Word are going to bring forth fruit
for the kingdom of heaven. Any carnal thoughts you have are not going to bring
forth any fruit for the kingdom of heaven and they are not going to come to pass.
Any carnal desires you have are not going to come to pass. The Lord bringeth
the counsel of the nations to naught; He maketh the thoughts of the
peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth fast for ever,
The thoughts of his heart to all generations. (Ps 33:10, 11)

If you want thoughts that will bring forth fruit, thoughts that will bring action and
change circumstances around you, then you must have Gods thoughts. Gods
thoughts are the only ones that count. All other thoughts are going to be brought to
naught; nothing, useless and vain. In fact, the scriptures call them vain thoughts.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the
Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind. (Eph 4:17) Vain thoughts
are powerless, useless and futile.
Your carnal mans thoughts have no power to do what you want done. God says your
carnal mans thoughts are going to come to no avail, no effect and with no power in
them. The only power is in the Word of God. There is power in the Word of God
because His Word will not come back void. It will accomplish the thing that He
sends it to do as the Bible says. If you put His Word in your mind, and let it come out
of your mouth, you are going to see powerful things happen. But, if you have a vain
mind, and you think the thoughts that you have been conditioned to think by the
television and people around you, then you are being darkened in their
understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart. (Eph 4:18)
The life of God is going to come into you when you think Gods thoughts. It is not
going to come into you if you think worldly thoughts. And that ye be renewed in
the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath
been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. (Eph 4:23, 24)
Putting on the new man is to change your mind, (being renewed in the spirit of your
mind). Gods thoughts will make you powerful. You must put enough of Gods Word
into yourself in order to overcome everything that the world puts into you and to
avoid having a vain mind.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt
meditate thereon day and night, that thou mayest observe to do
according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way
prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Josh 1:8) This is not
a request, it is a command. It is important for you to get up before work and study
the Word of God and give Him the best part of your day. But his delight is in the
law of the Lord; And on his law doth he meditate day and night. And he
shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth
its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also doth not wither; And whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. (Ps 1:2, 3)
We can do all things through Christ. God has given us grace to do this. The world
cannot do this. But, we can because we have Christ. Put on therefore, as God's
elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness,
meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each
other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave
you, so also do ye. (Col 3:12, 13) We have been given the power to do this
through the Lord as Gods elect. The world does not have this power.
If you rely upon your own ability, you will fail because you will struggle to spend time
in the Word. Everything else will be dragging you aside. You must put God first.
You must put your faith in Him. For it is God who worketh in you both to
will and to work, for his good pleasure. (Phil 2:13) Anyone desiring to

meditate on the Word, day and night, knows that they must, first, have the will to do
so. If you do not have the will, you will fail and revert to your old ways. You must
rely on the ability of the Lord.
God wants us to pray to Him and to ask Him for any kind of ability to do things. The
Lord wants us to ask Him to give us the desire, the hunger, to get in His Word, and
He will do so. You cannot do this yourself, but, God can give you the desire through
His grace, His unmerited favor. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, And
not to covetousness. (Ps 119:36) Why covetousness? Because, when peoples
hearts are focused on the things of this world and they become distracted, these are
the weights that prevent them from running the race. Let my heart be perfect in
thy statutes, that I be not put to shame. (Ps 119:80) The reliance here was
on the Lord to give him the ability to do what God wanted him to do; he was not
relying on himself. Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practice deeds
of wickedness with men that work iniquity: And let me not eat of their
dainties. (Ps 141:4) Here again, he is relying on the power of the Lord.
When I was teaching a bible study once, I challenged those I was teaching to try the
Lord to see if He wanted them to wake up an hour earlier to study His Word, and put
Him first. I asked them not to set their alarm and ask the Lord to wake them up an
hour earlier. Almost all of them told me when they woke up and turned to look at
their alarm clock it was exactly one hour earlier than they normally got up. The Lord
showed them He wanted them to do this. He gave them the ability and caused them
to wake up, wide-eyed, one hour earlier without depriving them of their sleep. God
can awaken you an hour earlier than usual and you will not miss that hour of sleep.
The Lord has kept me up for weeks on three hours of sleep and I did not feel that I
had missed a bit of sleep because the Lord was in it. The Lord can empower you. We
think too natural. God is over and above this old flesh in which we live, and He
empowers us to be over and above this old flesh.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be
acceptable in thy sight. (Ps 19:14) We should rely upon the power of the Lord
to give us the power to say, and think, those things that are acceptable to Him. The
concern here is that we not think about our own lack of ability, rather, to rely on the
Lords ability. I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me. (Phil
4:13) Go to the Lord and confess to Him your need of His ability, and your reliance
upon Him, and He is pleased with that. People who do not pray believe they can do
these things themselves, and they fail. Prayer is an admission of your need of Gods
help. God wants this because it is by grace that you have been saved, that you have
unmerited favor. God wants you to know that you got there because HE gave you the
ability, not because you, yourself, have the ability.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt (emotions) as a child, I
thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish
things. (1 Cor 13:11) Becoming mature is putting away the childish things: our
old way of speaking, feeling and thinking. For now we see in a mirror, darkly;
but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even
as also I was fully known. (1 Cor 13:12) When you mature, you are going to
see Christ face-to-face; you will speak as He spoke, you will feel as He felt and you
will think as He thought. But when that which is perfect is come, that

which is in part shall be done away. (1 Cor 13:10) That which is in part, in
many ways, is the way you once thought.
But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as
from the Lord the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:18) We are to accept that we speak as He
spoke, that we feel as He felt and that we think as He thought. We are to accept this
now. We have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor 2:16) It may not sound quite right,
but it is a word of faith to confess that we have the mind of Christ. Being mature is
changing and overcoming your thoughts, your speech, and your feelings or your
emotions. And, you have to accept maturity before you see it. When you look in a
mirror and you see Christ, thats faith. And, when you look in that mirror and see
Christ by faith the Lord says you are going to be transformed into that same image.
You must confess your reliance upon God to bring it to pass. Do not think that you
can bring this to pass by relying upon yourself. If you are worried about not being
able to be transformed, by renewing your mind and by policing your thoughts, it is
because you are trusting in yourself. You cant worry about it and trust God.
David had a New Testament relationship with the Lord, Im convinced, because he
understood it was by grace, and he understood that, if you need power to be what
God wants you to be, you must go to God to get it. And God tells us how to get it;
through prayer. All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them. (Mk 11:24) You must ask God for the
power to speak as He spoke, feel as He felt and think as He thought, and you must
believe that you have received it. Confess your reliance upon God; confess your
sins of the way you have been thinking to God; ask His forgiveness as we saw in Acts
8; believe Hes answered and forgiven you; ask Him to give you the power to police
your thoughts; and believe that you have received it, and He will give you the power
to do this. If you need a desire or a hunger for the Word, ask God and He will give it
to you. He does this for me all the time. In my business, I must hunger and thirst
after the Word or I am not going to be able to do my job. That gift does not stay with
me at all times. I feel times when it starts waning, starts leaving, and I must go to
God and confess my need for the hunger and thirst for His Word. And, when I do
this, God restores my hunger and thirst for his Word.