Mindgames

I've been dealing with thoughts that are clearly not of the Lord lately (well, lately being the last decade or so), and I've come to the point where I've had enough. For real.

The Bible says we are "set free from sin", yet I accepted that my thought-life is just something that happens. Certainly, because as Jesus was tempted yet never sinned (Hebrews 4:15) I have found comfort in the fact that although the temptation to lust, covet, etc. may come, I am able to call upon Jesus to help me in my temptation (Hebrews 2:18). But I have had these tempting thoughts and never given a second thought as to why they may be entering my thought life. Yes, I do have the human flesh that will tempt me in many ways, but why does my mind still drift to these things that are not at all of the Lord?

One of the things that has impacted me most in my strive for holiness in the last year came via my boy Heiden Ratner of the JMU Men's Basketball team. He and I are both on FCA Leadership here at James Madison and one night before FCA we were talking about something and when I said "yeah, I'm gonna try to do better in the future" he challenged me by saying (paraphrased) "why not now? When you learn that you're doing something wrong, don't wait in changing, start changing now!" The way I have been impacted is that when the Holy Spirit convicts me of something wrong in my life, instead of waiting around to see how bad it really is or how much in my life I need to change, I now just start changing.

Clarification: of course I'm not perfect in this by any means- whatever good I am doing is Jesus Christ in me. But it's a whole different mindset from how I had been thinking previously. Don't just talk about changing- do it. Back to the thought-life...

In my pure disgust of how my mind has been filled "lately", I began to think of why it has become this way. Yes, the fall of Adam and Eve had something to do with it, but on a more present-day, practical level, why am I thinking the way I am? Does it have anything to do with what I put into my mind?

Luke 11 talks about the eye being the "lamp of the body", and if your eyes are good your body will be good. But if your eyes are bad, your body will be bad, as well. So question #1 I asked myself: how beneficial are those "funny" videos I find on the internet? And the movies and TV shows I watch (in the little bit of free time I have)? How do they affect my thought life?

Question #2: yeah, it's a "grand" time when all my friends and I are making those jokes that I KNOW don't fall in line with Ephesians 5:3-4 (no sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking), but how are they affecting my thought life?

Have you ever stepped back and thought to yourself "why are the top rated comedies these days filled with obscenities, sexual immorality, and coarse (dirty) joking?" Well I have. We've been on a downward slope especially over the last few centuries and will just continue to go in that direction unless WE, the body of Christ, dig in our heels and cry out "I choose eternal life over temporary enjoyment", for Ephesians 5:5 says "No immoral, impure, or greedy person- such a man is an idolator- has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God".

So enough is enough. I'm through with these crude, immature, immoral thoughts and, in the Lord's strength, am seeking to cut them out. Would Jesus enjoy those top rated movies or "funny" videos on youtube? As the Psalmist said:

"Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:21-24)

The Lord has seen the offensive way in me, and now I'm learning the way everlasting. It's a narrow gate, but a glorious one, for sure. So this, friends and family, is an encouragement to check your own thought life and, if you find "any offensive way", to repent without delay and "learn to do right". But even moreso, it's a call to hold me accountable- if you hear "unwholesome talk" (Eph 4:29) come out of my mouth, you'll know I haven't been thinking about "whatever is true... noble... right... pure... lovely... admirable... excellent... praiseworthy" (Philippians 4:8). Please immediately pull me aside and call me out. I desire to hate what Jesus hates, but I cannot fight this battle alone. With the body of Christ at my side and Jesus Christ as my Lord, I know "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers... Amen." (Galatians 6:18)