What are your thoughts filled with?

I was listening to a podcast this morning and it really has me thinking. The pastor (Jeremy Foster) said we think about 70,000 thoughts any given day. I was like…what? So I did my research…I googled it. He was right! Blew my mind but it makes sense. Here’s the link for the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hope-city/id978272484#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fhopecity.com%2F%3Fp%3D4978

So if we have around 70,000 thoughts a day…what are we thinking about? Take inventory of your thoughts today. Think about what consumed you. Ok, now think about your attitude for today. Is there a contrast? Does it correlate? If you were stressing it is probably based on how you perceive your problem to be and even what the outcome COULD BE (emphasis on the “could be”).

I know some of my happiest moments have been leading youth services. Taking the “stage” and speaking gets me amped and excited. I love it and I get peace interacting with the crowd. I love researching the topic God places on my heart, delivering it, and then watching their eyes. Afterwards I will have two trains of thought rushing through my head: They got it or They didn’t. If it connected I’m thinking of the next lesson on the way home, blasting old DCTalk or Elevation Worship and ready to take on the world. But if I felt they didn’t, I’m thinking how I missed the mark and begin to blast old Pearl Jam on the way home and wonder what I could have said differently. It all goes to back to what I’m telling myself, right or wrong, at that moment.

What does Jesus say about your thoughts? I bet you are thinking about it now!

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.”

Philippians 4:6-9 MSG

Take a moment to rewind your thoughts. If you are in slump, I urge you to change the way you are speaking to yourself. Focus on God instead of yourself. Worry is not going to change anything but a fresh perspective on it will! Speak life to yourself and make it a point to do it.