by Mary A. LaClair
Ever notice the Ten Commandments deal most entirely with actions, until the end when it deals with thoughts? “Thou shalt not covet”? To covet is a thought –
In this life on earth, actions primarily define a person, while thoughts may be the primary defining element in the after-life. Perhaps this is why the devil likes to put bad thoughts in our minds, he tries to contaminate our spirits, that part of us which lives on.
As a child, I can remember hearing my Grand-Mother uttering the words: “Lord, perish the thought”.
God can be, and is, quite displeased with the thoughts we allow to stay in our minds…which we allow to stay in our minds…which we allow to stay in our minds.
Ezek 8:12
“Then the Lord said to me: “Son of dust, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in their minds? For they say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has gone away!'” TLB
Ezek 8:12
“And he said unto me, Hast thou seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every one in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Jehovah seeth us not; Jehovah hath forsaken the land.” Darby
Ezekiel 8:12 (my paraphrase) ‘Mortal man, have you seen what the church leaders (..and church members using My Name..) are doing in their minds?’
…. For it is to the CHURCH God says … turn from your wicked ways,…and He will heal our land.
Rev. 2:23 “…and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.”
In heaven. Our physical bodies will be gone but our spirits will live on – we will communicate using our thoughts. Other people, including Jesus, will hear our thoughts. So if this is true we should do our best to clean up our thoughts while here on earth, with the additional side effect of healing our land. Let us ALL do our part and see for ourselves how important our thoughts are to God, either pleasing or displeasing:
In the NIV, there may be found 57 references to the word THOUGHTS and 37 references to the word MIND.
So that the Lord may work with each reader individually, the partial lists may be found here. “search me O God, and see if there be any wicked way in me”
Ps 139:23-24
“Examine me, O God, and know my mind; test me, and discover my thoughts. Find out if there is any evil in me and guide me in the everlasting way. ” GNT (Good News Translation)
…is a good prayer to say before reviewing this list. It may be different for everyone. Good luck and may The Lord open the heart and mind of God to each of us.
“IF my people who are called by My Name….will turn from their wicked ways…I will heal their land.”
The healing of our land, the land allotted to the righteous, depends upon God’s people being righteous and turning from the ways which God considers wicked, and it begins with our thoughts.
Let’s see what He says:
57 references to ‘thoughts’ :
Genesis 6:5
5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. NIV
1 Chronicles 28:9
9 “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. 10 Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work.” NIV
Psalms 10:4 In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. NIV
Psalms 13:2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me NIV
Psalms 55:2 hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
Psalms 92:5 How great are your works, O Lord, how profound your thoughts!
Psalms 94:11 1 The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.
Psalms 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psalms 139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Ask God to give you His thoughts)
Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. NIV
Proverbs 1:23 If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. NIV
Proverbs 15:26 The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him. NIV
Ecclesiastes 10:20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.
Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 59:7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. NIV
Jeremiah 4:14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts? NIV
Now, let’s see what Jesus and the New Testament say about our thoughts. Are our thoughts really all that important? Let’s see for ourselves if the New Testament confirms the Old Testament on this issue:
Matthew 9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
Matthew 12:25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
Matthew 15:19 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean‘; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.'”
Mark 7:21 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.'”
Luke 1:51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts
Luke 2:35 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
Luke 9:47 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all — he is the greatest.”
Luke 11:17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
Comment: Jesus knows our thoughts in this life; how much more in the afterlife…!
Romans 2:15 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
1 Corinthians 2:11 The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.c 14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
1 Corinthians 3:20 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;a 20 and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
Ephesians 2:3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Some select Scriptures sorted by using the word MIND.
Deuteronomy 11:18 Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. 17 Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. 18 Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19 Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. NIV
Psalms 7:9 O righteous God,who searches minds and hearts,bring to an end the violence of the wicked and make the righteous secure. NIV
Comment: Let us pray this Psalm 7:9 for our Nation. Search hearts and minds, O Lord, and put and end to the violence and thoughts of the wicked and make the righteous secure. Thank you Lord, because with clean hearts and minds, we pray this according to Your will, as stated in the Scriptures.
Psalms 73:7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits. NIV
Proverbs 12:8 A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised. NIV
Isaiah 44:18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. NIV
Jeremiah 14:14 Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatriesa and the delusions of their own minds…. I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve. NIV
Jeremiah 31:33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. NIV
Luke 24:38 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” NIV
Luke 24:45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” NIV
Comment: Oh, Lord, we ask that you open the minds of your readers here, to understand the Scriptures…. Thank you, Holy Spirit
Acts 14:2 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
Comment: Oh, Lord, don’t let our minds be poisoned…
Romans 8:5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful mane is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. NIV
Romans 16:18 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. NIV
2 Corinthians 3:14 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. NIV
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Comment: Protect our minds, O Lord, that we not be led astray.
Ephesians 4:23 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. NIV
Philippians 4:7 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NIV
Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. RSV
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” NIV
Revelation 2:23 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come. NIV
–end–
P.S. Dr. Tony Evans has an excellent sermon on ordering our thinking. This is a sermon which is Part 2 of Overcoming Emotional Strongholds.
If you like Part 2, you may find Part 1 and other messages from Dr. Evans by googling his name: also on Alexa by saying: “play Dr. Tony Evans The Alternative from One Place”
May you, dear readers, conquer the negative and become an over-comer through Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit…to become your best you.
Happy Listening, Dear Reader !
The Proverbs 1:20 Column 