“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Proverbs 23:7

We know that in the Garden of Eden there were two trees: one of life and the other one was of death. It was the will of man that would decide which fruit he chose to eat. Those two trees remain in our daily lives; – not physically, but in a spiritual sense. Those trees are a picture of our thought life. We choose which tree we eat from inby the way we choose to think. Let’s take a few examples from the Bible to understand this:

• Adam and Eve thought they would be like God, and they lost it all.

• Abraham left everything, leaned on God and came to be a father of nations.

• The Israelites thought that God had let them down, they murmured against Him and they perished in the desert. But Joshua and Caleb said, “We can overcome them, because God is on our side,” and they conquered the promise land.

• Orpah thought that there was no future for her with her mother-in-law Naomi, so, she returned to idolatry. In contrast, Ruth believed that her mother-in-law carried the key to her future. Now, her name is written among the great women of the Bible.

• Saul thought that God had forgotten about him, and in desperation, he offered God sacrifices that only the priests were allowed to make; this disqualified him and God departed from him. On the other hand, David placed all of his trust in God and then God exalted him as king of Israel.

• Satan offered Jesus the kingdoms of the earth if He bowed and worshiped. Jesus’ answer was, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matthew 4:10).

Paul said, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).

Let us fill our minds with the Word of God. Faith comes through hearing and hearing the Word of God. Every day we must read and hear His Word. We should not face problems by thinking about them all the time because worry pulls us away from faith. Let’s deposit all of our burdens into His hands. The Bible says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). Man’s life is a result of his thoughts that are expressed through his words. This is why Jesus said that our mouths speak out the overflow of our hearts (Mathew 12:34b).

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
Dr. Derek Prince once spoke at a conference in London around Easter-time. He said that he had experienced a very vivid dream, in which he saw a man preaching on the streets in the same way that he did. The man’s sermons were good and a good number of people where standing around him. But the man had a deformed foot that caused him to limp and made him hunch over. Derek Prince thought to himself, “I would like to know who that is.” Two weeks went by and he had the same dream. He then understood that God was trying to tell him something. Once again he asked himself who that person was. His messages were very good, but just as in the previous dream he could see that not everything was right with him. As he continued to ask God what this meant, the Lord said the same words to him that the prophet Nathan had said to David, “… you are that man…” (2 Samuel 12:7). Although God had already freed him from the old self, He was now showing him that the old man was still there in the background, even though he was saved and was in ministry. This led him to study the scriptures and he saw that the remedy for that twisted nature was the crucifixion.

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“What I used to be was left at the Cross of Christ; what I am now is the expression of God’s love.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Three.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 34-36; Psalms 150
• New Testament: Luke 12:49-59; 2 Thessalonians 3:14-18