“Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment.”
Proverbs 4:7 NLT
The wisdom of God can always be found in anyone, who is living by faith in God (Romans 1:17). And that’s important because, there is absolutely no way that a righteous man can be able to stand, if he is not developing good judgment with God’s wisdom that’s on the inside of him. The enemy is always ready to bring him down, but wisdom and the exercise of good judgement by faith will always lift him up.
We must however remember that as Christians, we do often face some of the challenges in life, which confronts the unbelievers also.
Jesus never said that we will never have troubles in life. In fact if a Christian is not facing challenges to his faith; it is most likely that such a believer has already compromised in his lifestyle of faith. Something is definitely not right if you are not facing challenges in life. The Devil loves the Christians who are not growing in faith. They are not the type of believers that do trouble him.
But Jesus said to the believer who is in trouble:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33 NIV
And David who had often struggled with many troubles and afflictions in life said:
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.”
Psalms 34:19-20 NKJV
No sweat in troubles. It will not break one of your bones. So rejoice in troubles, because God is giving you an opportunity to grow up into maturity with them. You will become so wise and strong in faith, that God will make the world around you to marvel at the His works in your life.
A lifestyle of faith will give you wisdom in overcoming the troubles of this world. You were created to glorify God here on earth, as you use your faith in overcoming the enemy. The unsaved world needs to see the difference, in the way that you are handling trouble. They need to see the difference between how you are reacting to trouble, and their own ways of handling it.
You are unique and different from the world
You were created to be different from them. There needs to be no means of comparing your lifestyle with theirs. You were created to glorify God with your spirit, soul and body; and not the Devil or his world. Your thoughts and words needs to always glory God. That means you have to be always God inside minded.
Paul told the Corinthians:
“And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.”
II Corinthians 6:16 NKJV
Can you notice what Paul is saying here? God lives and dwells inside you. You are never alone. God walks with you in the midst of your troubles. You are never to be afraid. You belong to God and God belongs to you. With God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit living inside of you and walking with you, as you live by your faith before Him, you can and will always overcome.
By renewing your mind daily with His word, you are opening up your heart to hear His voice in leading you out of trouble. Your thoughts and your mind are God’s. They belong to God. So stop struggling to release them to Him. You can handle anything that comes your way in life. That’s how you know that you are coming out of the situation – God living inside of you is bigger than all the troubles of this world put together. You are strong. You are bold, because the Lion of the tribe of Judah lives inside of you.
Some people will rather depend on the world’s system in overcoming troubles. That’s why they are always frustrated, depressed and often feel rejected of God. They are the ones who always will quit on God. But remember that God will never quit on you. God is in you to help you in overcoming always. He is greater than all your problems. And the good news is that He is in you. He lives in you. That’s the gospel’s truth.
Whenever the enemy comes up against you, God will always rise up on the inside of you. He will help you in this way to resist and fight the good fight of faith.
The Prophet Isaiah said:
“So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”
Isaiah 59:19 NKJV
When you are facing troubles like a flood, God’s Spirit who lives in you, will always lift up God’s strategies for you in overcoming the enemy. Remember what the Prophet is saying here. Troubles do often come like a flood.
If you have ever seen what a flood of water looks like, then you can understand what many troubles can do. The flood may destroy your home and everything that you do have, just like the troubles of life may make you go wary. But do not worry, because God is on your side. You are coming out far better than when the troubles started. If you can remember the life of Job, and his positive attitude in his troubles; then you need to be dancing and rejoicing in your troubles. That’s the attitude that the Devil hates; but it is the attitude of a winner. And I believe you are a winner.
The wisdom of God will continuously flow through your heart in defeating the enemy. You are winning every battle as you learn to release your faith, to walk in the wisdom of God that flows from your heart. You can’t afford to quit fighting the good fight of faith at this time, because you know that the Greater One lives inside of you.
Faith was in Adam
A lifestyle of faith is what all believers in Christ Jesus have been called into. You can never be successful in your life as a Christian, if you are not living by your faith in God. Without faith no one can ever please God (Hebrews 11:6).
God created all things by faith, and Adam learnt to use his faith as he became a co-partner with God in creation. God by His Spirit opened up Adam’s heart to receive words from God. Adam believed every word spoken to him by God, until the serpent crept into the garden to spoil his reign on earth. Adam was operating on the same level of faith with the God of creation. He had authority and dominion over all of God’s creations.
The scriptures says:
“God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.”
Genesis 1:28-30 NIV
Adam was in charge of the garden of Eden, before the temptation by the serpent. God brought each creatures to Adam, in order for him to give them names (Genesis 2:19-20). God Almighty in doing this taught Adam, how to use his faith in taking care of the world, which was created for him to rule and dominate.
God can stimulate your thoughts to believe the impossible
You see God’s Spirit on the inside of you, as a child of God does has the ability to stimulate the thoughts of your renewed mind. If you are continually renewing your mind with God’s word, God’s Spirit will begin stimulating your thoughts to fall in line with God’s will for your life. You will then begin to function here on earth in accordance with His perfect will for your life. Are you in a situation right now, which makes you confused about the will of God? Then it’s time to get yourself engulfed in God’s word. You are on the ride of your life to discover His perfect will for you (Romans 12:1-2). God will start stimulating your thoughts as you begin to do this, as you move into that perfect will.
That was exactly how Adam was able to give names to every creatures of God. God’s Spirit stimulated the thoughts in Adam, to act by faith in naming each of those creatures, to fit into the purposes of God in creating them.
In the same manner you do have the Holy Spirit in you, who stimulates your thoughts always. But faith is the key that enables you to follow through with those thoughts in putting them into actions. Your ability to create things makes you fruitful in this manner. God’s creativity power begins to work in you in this way.
Your thoughts are not instincts
Animals and other creatures do have instincts from God, in leading them to live in the manner that they do live. They don’t have the ability to create just like you do. You were created to be the highest form of God’s creations – in the image of God. You don’t live by instincts, but by your faith in God; because your life in the spirit as a child of God is accessible into the spirit world of God. Faith is your key therefore into that world, as you release your spirit man by praying in the spirit.
In the same manner, when you are living by faith, the thoughts of your renewed mind can be stimulated by the Spirit of God who lives inside you. He does this at all times, so as to bring His purposes for your life to come to pass.
This is however subject to your ability to continually renew your mind with the word of God. The thoughts of your renewed mind are never accidental. Don’t be ignoring them. Those thoughts becomes the abundance of your heart, as you continually meditate on them. Your thoughts has the ability to strengthen your faith. And as Jesus said; “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45). Thoughts are the words in your meditations which forms the foundation of what you say with your mouth. But until you begin to declare those thoughts of God with your mouth, you won’t be able to fix those issues that are troubling you.
When you therefore begin to open your mouth in declaring the counsels and purposes of God for your life, you are in fact bringing the things, which exists in the spiritual realm into physical manifestation.
The Bible says:
“The thoughts of the wicked are shamefully vile and exceedingly offensive to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasing words to Him.”
Proverbs 15:26 AMPC
Your thoughts are words that comes out of your mouth. When they are righteous and pure before God, nothing shall be impossible for you. The thoughts of your renewed mind are pleasing to God. But He really wants you to vocalize those good thoughts of your heart with your mouth.
But God despises the thoughts of the wicked. Bad things do happen to people, when their thoughts are not in line with God’s moves in their thoughts. And that’s why it is important to always renew your mind with the thoughts of God, that are available to you through His written word.
Guard your thoughts to guard your heart
I remember a young lady who was once in depression, because of the negative thoughts that she had allowed to consume her soul. She had indeed divorced her husband, who had continued to take care of her and the children; in spite of what she had done to him during the divorce. The man had remained faithful in taking care of the children, and had kept doing what he was used to doing in providing for this lady even after the divorce.
A few months later after the divorce the man suddenly became sick, and instead of believing God for his healing; this lady began blaming herself for his illness. She thought that the divorce was beginning to have a bad effect on his health. The devil started putting thoughts into her head, that she was going to be homeless and eventually loose all her four children.
Without realizing what she was doing to herself, she began speaking those thoughts out of her mouth. What she was saying eventually became manifested in her life. She got what she was saying. She became homeless and was about to loose custody of the four children. By the time she realized that it was her own mouth, which was giving her problems, she had really gone deeper into depression.
But one day while roaming about on the streets with her children, she heard me preaching about the power of the tongue. That was what removed the heavy weight from off her heart. The light of Christ shined through into her heart, and her confessions changed almost immediately. She got herself attached with our Church, and started learning how to renew her mind, with God’s promises for her life.
Her renewed mind affected her confession in just a short time, as it started paying off. The husband was healed and finally reunited with her again. They both remarried in their new found home Church among God’s people. But now she has become a completely transformed lady with the mind of Christ. And today she is doing great things with her faith in God.
Thoughts are very powerful. The moment you begin to entertain evil thoughts, you are opening up your life to the enemy for destruction. That’s why you need to be very careful about what you are watching on the television. Many of those shows and movies do have a way of creating negative thoughts in you. And before you realize it your mouth will start confessing those negative thoughts unconsciously.
Apostle Paul said:
“We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient.”
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 NLT
The “strongholds of human reasoning” are evil thoughts. The “false arguments” are in the form of thoughts or spoken words. Prayers are in the form of spoken words. Your spoken words in prayer may be in your learned language, or in your heavenly language directly to God. But your words are more powerful than those unspoken thoughts in you. That’s why it is easier to change your thoughts, than changing your words.
Isaac could not change his words in blessing Jacob
A very good example of this can be found in the scriptures, when Jacob deceived Isaac to get Esau’s blessing. After Jacob had been blessed, Esau showed up to receive what Isaac had already released, with spoken words of blessing into the life of Jacob.
The scriptures says:
“Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!” But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.”…
…Isaac answered Esau, “I have made him lord over you and have made all his relatives his servants, and I have sustained him with grain and new wine. So what can I possibly do for you, my son?””
Genesis 27:33-35, 37 NIV
Why was Isaac unable to bless Esau? Because he had released the blessing into the life of Jacob. He could not take his words back in the blessing. With words people are cursed, and with words they are blessed. Be very careful about how you use your words. It may very well determine your destiny in life.
Thoughts can easily be changed as we renew our minds. We need to note here that Isaac told Esau that, he had sustained Jacob with grain and new wine. How did he do this? By speaking the blessing in words over Jacob’s life.
The scriptures says that Esau sought the blessing with tears and loud cries (Hebrews 12:17). Esau couldn’t use faith, because he never had it anyway; even though everything that Isaac had belonged to him. His brother had to use words to trick him out of his birthright and the blessing.
That’s why the scriptures says:
“I have loved you,” says the Lord. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
Malachi 1:2-3 NIV
Why was Esau hated? He was hated because he couldn’t use his words to lay hold on what belonged to him. His thoughts were not right. He thought that the basis of his relationship with his father (Isaac), was enough for him to get the blessing.
And there are many Christians who are like Esau in our world today. They believe that they are blessed based on their relationship with God and people. But they are wrong. Why?
Every blessing of the Lord is like a promise. We have to use our faith to get it. Being blessed is your birthright as a child of God, but your faith is your key to make it a reality in your life.
Change your thoughts to change your words
It is the responsibility of the person with the negative thoughts and words, to do something about changing both the thoughts and the words.
Jesus declared that:
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:45 NKJV
King Solomon also said:
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Proverbs 18:21 NIV
Your thoughts may be hidden from the people around you. But your words are not. What you say will always reveal your thoughts. You can’t hide them. It will eventually come out of your mouth. But it is what you continually say out of your mouth, that will give you life or death. And it is what you continually say with the mouth, that always comes to pass in your life. The angels can only bring to pass what you are saying:
“From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things, and the work of their hands brings them reward.”
Proverbs 12:14 NIV
That’s why James said:
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,”
James 1:19 NIV
So as to change your spoken words, your mind will have to be renewed. The renewal of your mind changes the thoughts of your life into the thoughts of God towards you. And irrespective of what your thoughts may be right now; it can never change the thoughts of God towards you (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).
The Bible says:
“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”
Hebrews 4:12 NLT
God’s word always cuts between the thoughts of your born again heart, and that of your mind which is continually being renewed. It exposes the thoughts and the real desires of your heart to you. God’s word will expose yourself to you, so that you will have to take the necessary actions, towards those thoughts and desires with your spoken words.
The plans of your heart are in your thoughts. If they are evil they will give you troubles, because eventually you will start saying them, until they will come to pass. But if they are good, they will bring good things into your life.
Adam learnt how to speak good words from God; until the serpent introduced him and Eve to the tree of good and evil. Before the entrance of the serpent, Adam was learning from God always. He was calling things into existence by naming the creatures; but he taught his mouth to say only what his thoughts were occupied with about each creature.
But after the serpent had tempted him, he became really confused with his thought patterns. He realized that he had sinned against God. He struggled with the knowledge of good and evil. Adam knew only good before the temptation and not evil. The Bible says that everything that God created was good; and that’s all Adam knew before evil came.
Even though Adam failed, you can turn his failure into victory for your life. That’s why Jesus was manifested (1 John 3:8). Begin today by renewing the thoughts of your heart to fit into the thoughts of God. And very soon you will be rejoicing in victory, as your words will begin to transform your world for you. Your faith confessions will guarantee you the victory.
