Selective Hearing

"I'm exhausted." "Where am I going to get the money for that?" "This will never work out." "Who does she think she is, talking to me that way!" "I can't believe how fat I am." "Things just never go right for me." "I can't take it any more!"

Thoughts are constantly floating through our minds, whether we are aware of them or not. We also may not realize the origin of many of those thoughts. Every critical, negative word ever spoken to you is filed away in your computer-like brain. The devil won't miss an opportunity to whisper destructive, negative, hurtful thoughts into your ear every minute of the day -IF you allow him to. After twenty-four solid hours of those destructive thoughts bombarding your mind and spirit, no wonder you're exhausted, discouraged and defeated. They chip away at your strength, self-esteem and hope, which is exactly what the devil intends. If we absorb enough of these trashy, miserable thoughts, they can erode our confidence to step out, paralyze us with fear of the unknown and utterly destroy our faith. If we allow him free access to our thoughts, he can eventually fulfill his mission according to John 10:10 which is to steal our joy, kill our vision and destroy our lives.

The good news is we have a choice. We can choose to sift the thoughts we constantly have offered to us. It is called selective hearing. That's an expression usually used to describe how a husband can hear every detail of a ball game, yet totally tune out his wife's request to take out the trash! It's quite an effective tool (as many a husband will testify), and it is at our disposal as believers to use against these rogue thoughts.

In order to do this, though, you have to begin with a simple, basic, elementary truth: God is good and the devil is bad. I realize that's 'Faith 101,' but if you measure each thought according to that yardstick of truth, you will be able to tell what the origin of the thought was and whether to receive it or reject it.

Next, you have to purposely become aware of the thoughts constantly fighting to gain entrance into your mind throughout the course of each day. When you decide to pay attention, consciously, to what percolates through your thoughts, new understanding will begin to flood your being. If you've been exhausted and dragging around in defeat lately, you may be surprised to realize how many fearful, discouraging lies you've been assimilating over each 24-hour period.

Once you gain this awareness, you can be selective about what you allow to saturate your thinking. For instance, you're driving to work and seemingly out of nowhere you think, "I hope I don't get laid off."

Sift it. What feeling floods you when you really acknowledge that thought? Fear? Uncertainty? Confusion? Despair? Definitely not good. That thought originates with the father of lies. Right then and there you have the choice as to whether to receive it as truth or reject it as a lie. Once you choose to reject that lie, you must replace it with the truth. For instance, something like, "God blessed me with this job and He can and will keep me here or find me a better one."

You may find yourself doing this exercise a hundred times a day at first. That's OK. Don't get discouraged. As you practice 'taking these thoughts captive' as we're instructed to do in 2 Corinthians 10:5, you will find it becoming less and less necessary. Why? The reason is simple. As you continually capture, sift and examine your thoughts, measuring them against the ruler of God's Word, basically what you are doing is submitting yourself to God and resisting the devil. James 4:7 says if you do that, the devil will have no choice but to flee from you! He'll get the message pretty quick that his lies are not having their desired effect and look for an easier target.

Just as you are caeful about what kind of food you put into your body, the thoughts you allow to gain entrance into your spirit through your mind can have a devastating effect on your life and physical health.

The choice is yours. Be selective and sift your thoughts.

Say It and Create It

Numbers 14:28 NKJV 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you...'
Mark 11:23 NKVJ For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Words form thoughts. Thoughts become actions. We know that. Words are things. The Hebrew word "devar" actually means both word and thing or substance. When God tells us in His Word that we will have whatever we say and whatever He hears us speak, He will do, we must take that very seriously. I believe we allow too many careless words out of our mouths and allow our too many undisciplined thoughts to inhabit our minds and then wonder why we find ourselves in the mess we are in. According to an article I read by Dr. Caroline Leaf, our thoughts possess an actual physical structure which cause chemical reactions in our bodies.

You know it is true. If you continually think about a frightening occurrence, you will begin to feel all the physical manifestations of that experience. That thought, according to Dr. Leaf, produces biochemicals which carry the emotion and a "photocopy of the thought" throughout your entire body! Those thoughts begin with words, which are things or substance. They can actually change our physical system and cause specific chemicals to flow through our bodies. We have the ability and privilege of choosing which words and thoughts we allow. We literally control the production and creation of those things/substances. We can create health and wholeness or disease and brokenness.

Hebrews 11:3 clearly tells us that the things which are here on the earth and we are able to actually see were created of "things" (devar!) which do not appear. The words became actual things and substance we can see. That hasn't changed.

There are only two types of words and thoughts, so it's relatively simple (although not necessarily easy!). We either focus on faith-filled, positive words and thoughts or fear-filled, negative words and thoughts. Renewing your mind with the Word of God (Ephesians 4:23) and only speaking the desired result are critical if we are to create the life we truly desire. We are to get in agreement with God and speak His Word after Him.

Dr. Leaf says if your thought life is not dealt with and brought in line with God's Word, it can result in disruption of proper flow and balance of the chemicals in your body and brain which will, with certainty, affect your emotional, spiritual and physical health.

Fear, depression and anxiety are destructive to your mental and physical well-being. Panic, fear and anxiety are running rampant in these times of economic crisis and uncertainty. More and more people are turning to anti-depressants and drugs for relief. They are not the answer. The battle begins in your mind and since we are told in Scripture that we have the mind of Christ, we have the ability to take negative thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

This is not a one-time thing. We must decide to control the words that come out of our mouths and the thoughts we allow to take residence in our minds. The power to do so is ours. We must choose to do it - daily, consistently, over and over, until. Until when? Until those words and thoughts agree with God's and we create what we desire.

Father really does know best - when we do it His way, there are no dangerous, alarming side-effects - only peace, blessing and success. Isn't that what we all want anyway?

What You Speak Has a Profound Impact on Your Health!

Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

If you've been a Christian for very long you have heard numerous teachings on the power of your words. Sometimes I think we tend to over-spiritualize verses like these. The temptation is to relegate them solely to the spiritual realm and make them ethereal and impractical rather than apply them to our physical lives in a real way. The research of Dr. Masaru Emoto dramatically illustrates the literal truth of this verse and so many others relating to the power of speech. Before I even share the research let me say this - one website that ran this post had a complaint from a Christian lady saying that they should not include it because Dr. Emoto is not Christian. I just want to clarify that I am sharing his research because it excites me when science finally catches up to scripture. I make it a point in whatever I read to take what is valuable and leave the rest. Kenneth Hagin put it this way - eat the hay and spit out the sticks. So to clarify, I am not promoting the man, just sharing the research.

Dr. Emoto did scientific research on how water responds to words - spoken or written. He chose to study water because it is the most abundant substance on earth and in our bodies as well. He found that words of love, blessing and gratitude created perfect, beautiful, ordered ice crystals - whether spoken over the water or written on the container! Words of anger, hatred and cursing created ugly, distorted crystals. The dramatic photographs of his results are startling. You can see these amazing pictures in his books, such as "The Hidden Messages in Water," which are available from http://www.amazon.com/.

Without a doubt his research confirms the truth of God's Word. The Bible says pleasant words are health to our bones (Proverbs 16:24); a wholesome tongue is a tree of life (Proverbs 15:4) and by guarding our mouths we preserve our lives (Proverbs 13:3). It gives new meaning to the power of prayer to sanctify our food (1 Timothy 4:5)! Our words are vibrations and every emotion and thought expressed has a particular vibrational energy. In fact, we are "electrical" beings who are constantly transmitting vibrations with out thoughts and words, affecting not just ourselves, but those around us as well. You could say we are continally broadcasting! Just think about how an angry person affects the atmosphere in a room. Is it any wonder our words can change things on a molecular level? Research shows the electromagnetic frequencies of our bodies controls every chemical reaction.

Scientists have proven that the energy of our thoughts, feelings and emotions can positively or negatively effect our DNA structure - our very genes!! We've all heard about how someone taking a placebo is healed simply because they believe the medication (which actually has no medicinal value) will heal them. Worry and stress changes the pH of your body from alkaline to acidic very quickly. Even our food has energy - natural, whole food the way God created it does - and that energy is vital to health.

While all words are powerful, God's Word is especially power-packed (Hebrews 4:12). Speak and think words of life, health and blessing to yourself and others - we truly do have the power of death and life in our mouths.