When you think of excess, do you think of an overflow of stuff? Excess seems to be something we battle in all areas of our lives. In our hearts, in our thoughts, in our homes, in our jobs, in our to-do lists, and on and on and on.
So how do we cleanse ourselves of all the excess?
By starting in one of the most important areas. Our thought life.
If we fill our thoughts with the lies of Satan, and the world over and over again, it goes in, takes root within our hearts and begins to sprout and overflow into our daily lives, in our homes, in our relationships, in our jobs etc.
"It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God." Mark 7:20-23
Our thoughts are powerful. They have an enormous effect on our lives. It only takes one thought to fill us with an excess of many other thoughts.
Let's look at some examples.
One of the most common thoughts we all have, is a negative thought.
Let's look at an example of what happens when we take that thought in and digest it.
Do you see how it begins to sprout? Now imagine your heart filled with this plus more.
Do you see why we need to clean out the excess of stinky thinking? It spreads like a wildfire.
So how do we cleanse, purge, renew, prune and purify our thought life.
1. We ask God to make us aware of every displeasing thought.
2. We take every thought captive and place it under the obedience of God's Word.
3. We then acknowledge and confess it.
4. Then once we remove it, we have to replace it with God's truth.
This will take time, and is not something that can be done in one day. Therefore, we will spend a little more time cleaning up this area before we move on.
I believe, before we can do anything, before we can even begin to clean up any other area in our life, we have to clean up our thought-life. And we have to be intentional about doing it.
We never want to begin a project only to quit or turn around and see that it has filled right back up more junk, clutter, and chaos.
So, today, focus on your thoughts. Ask the Lord to reveal to you what kind of thought-life you have. As He does, I recommend you write them down, so at the end of the day, you can go back and see what you are filling your heart up with.
This will make it easier to know what needs to be purged, kept, and placed in a particular area.
I promise at the end of this, it will be one of the most rewarding things you have ever done.
