Have you ever wondered why it is you think the way that you do? Who influences your thoughts? What influences your thoughts? Are you swayed easily?

Our minds are very powerful and they can create havoc in our lives.

I recall when I was a little girl…I had a great fear of the devil appearing to me somewhere in the night. There was one particular night that I awoke in the middle of the night and on our window sill I could see a cat that just sat there looking at me…I was terrified. I could not move, I could not go back to sleep and I literally laid in my bed the rest of the night terrified. I was convinced it was the devil appearing as a cat. I was probably 7 or 8 years old at the time. I must have finally, out of pure exhaustion, fallen asleep and when I awoke I immediately looked to the window sill and there laid a towel bunched up….that, was my devilish cat. To this day I HATE CATS!

That’s how our mind works….something that is wrong or deceitful enters our mind and we are convinced of its existence. We twist it in our mind and give it life. We dwell on it back and forth and we become paralyzed with the idea that it is the Truth!

Have you ever had a conversation with a person that slowly begins to influence you in a negative way? I have…and looking back on it I am still shocked.

On the other hand, under the right circumstances, the influence of others on our lives can be beneficial. There are people who positively affect our thinking and expand our understanding and knowledge. But not all who you listen to is beneficial to you. In general, irrational thinking and irrational ideas foster irrational behavior. Show me a person that goes back and forth consistently, or is extremely happy one day and then extremely sad the next and I will show you an individual who is heavily influenced by several sources in a negative way.

Who influences you? Television is the most powerful medium…they set the social standard of what is acceptable in our society. That’s why these days, before you can blink, so many people say and now encourage “the so-called alternative lifestyles.” A new lingo for our new society!

Husbands influence Wives, Wives influence Husbands….Mothers influence Children, Friends influence Friends, Brothers influence Sisters, Sisters influence Brothers etc….

So if your spouse tells you something you believe him/her right? Well what if his/her thought process is distorted? What if your thought process is distorted? Well... then your influence to others will be distorted also right? Yep, you better believe it…

God wants us to have a clear mind…a truthful one.

God cares how you think….yet our way of thinking is not like His. Isaiah 55:8-9 says: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” says the Lord “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” He is telling us that because of all our negative influences…WE DO NOT THINK LIKE HIM!

How do you think and learn to think clearly? Phillipians 4:8 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things”.

1. When you get a negative thought rebuke it out of your head and fill your mouth
with praise!
2. Wholesome thinking comes to you via honesty and truth.
3. Clear wholesome thinking puts concern for others as a priority. If it’s always
about how you feel, or how you are doing and never about anyone else’s needs then
that’s a problem.

I recall sitting in a room listening to one person’s negative talk and before you knew it everyone else was agreeing and taking ownership of those same feelings. Feelings that had nothing to do with the other people present yet… they were influenced and took on that same thought process. An infiltration was subtly taking place….be careful.

Believe me, I know what I’m talking about…it has happened to me. About 10 years ago, I got a call….was told something….went in and tried to fix it….it was not my battle and it exploded in my face…what happened? I took ownership of the thought process, got suckered into doing the right thing and all in the name of justice and it was not my battle to take care of in the first place. Subtle influences….

The bible also talks to us about casting down all imagination. Why? Because God in His infinite wisdom knew we would deal with this in our minds in a huge way! Seek Him for the truth…even if you have to eat crow in the end! Ask yourself…..Who is influencing You? Alot of times you will realize that the problem is only in your mind....you have tossed it so much back and forth in your head and have convinced yourself of all kinds of lies.

Ruth