2015-05-01

26 – As a Man Thinks


To help overcome the fear that results from an inferior feeling due to sin and to develop a positive, godly mental attitude, study this lesson every day until it becomes part of your daily thinking. It will motivate a change in your attitude from fear to faith. In order to apply these principles to yourself, personally, the following is written in the first person: God said, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
• Therefore, today I will think like a dynamic servant of God because I am what I think.
• I am not always what I think I am; I am what I think.
• I am not what I eat; I am what I think.
• Clothes do not make the man; thinking makes the man.
• Therefore, I will keep my thought, processes alive an open to the voice of God.
• God did not call me to a life of failure, but to a life of success.
• This being so, I cannot fail as long as I do His will, allowing Him to work in and through me, motivating my every thought.
• Because my God is a great God, I will think with confidence, knowing my thoughts can never be greater than my God. Today I will think like the apostle Paul, when he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

26-1 Think Like a Dynamic Servant of God
(Proverbs 23:7)
A dynamic servant of God thinks by faith, not by fear. Fear says, “God can’t,” but faith says, “God can.” Fear doubts God’s Word, but faith believes every word of God. Fear leads to certain defeat, but faith leads to sure victory. Faith believes God’s promise: “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” so that we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5, 6; Deuteronomy 31:1-8). Believers do not think as unbelievers think. Believers are justified by faith; therefore they live and walk by faith, because, as dynamic servants of God, they think by faith. They know that if they draw back from this life of faith, the Lord will be displeased (Hebrews 10:38, 39). For “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).
1) A dynamic servant of God thinks by faith and is thus victorious over this world system (1 John 5:5), because he is not in love with the things of this world (1 John 2:15-17).
2) A dynamic servant of God thinks by faith and can sing with David, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1-5).
3) A dynamic servant of God thinks by faith and boldly evangelizes without fear of man (Philippians 1:12-14).
4) A dynamic servant of God thinks in terms of God’s power, and not of his own weakness (Acts 1:8).
5) A dynamic servant of God thinks thoughts of forgiveness, not of guilt (Ephesians 1:7).
6) A dynamic servant of God thinks thoughts of love, not of hate (1 John 4:7-11).
7) A dynamic servant of God thinks, “I can,” not “I can’t.” He thinks like the apostle Paul, who said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
8) A dynamic servant of God is unafraid of natural weakness, because God says, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

26-2 You Are What You Think
(Romans 12:3)
You are not always what you think you are, you are what you think. As a child of God you must not think too lowly of your self because you are a “new creation” in Christ, an ambassador for Christ. You have become “the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). Don’t you know that you belong to the aristocracy of heaven? So think like the spiritual aristocrat that you are. You are a part of God’s nobility (1 John 3:2).
However, you have an old sinful nature. Therefore, Paul tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think (v. 3). He also said, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells” (Romans 7:18). Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6). In other word, the New Birth in itself does not change or perfect the flesh. The flesh is carnal and there is no escaping it until death (Psalm 51:5), or until the rapture of the church, when we shall be changed “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52). Therefore, if you are to be an effective child of God in this sin-cursed world, you must keep the fleshly nature under control and bring it into subjection to the will of God, or else be disqualified as Christ’s ambassador (1 Corinthians 9:27).
One of the most important things you do is think. Your thinking can be profitable or futile. You are the master of your thoughts; you think by choice. You can think good or you can think evil—the choice is yours. You cannot think both good and evil simultaneously anymore than you can travel east and west at the same time. Every thought must be brought into subjection to the mind of Christ. Studying God’s Word with the Spirit’s illumination forms the mind of Christ in you.
How do you choose to think? You can think the following kind of thoughts (Philippians 4:8):
1) Righteous or unrighteous
2) Clean or unclean
3) Moral or immoral
4) Honest or dishonest
5) Pure or impure
6) True or untrue
7) Noble or ignoble
8) Just or unjust
9) Lovely or ugly
10) Good or bad
11) Virtuous or corrupt
12) Praise worthy or unworthy

26-3 Thinking Makes the Person
(Isaiah 55:7-9)
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts” (v. 7). There are only two ways to think: the righteous way or the unrighteous way. Tell me what you think and I will tell you what you are, because you are what you think. You cannot live a righteous life and think unrighteous thoughts. Jesus said, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” (Matthew 7:18-20). A person who thinks good thoughts cannot live a bad life. James said, “Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh” (James 3:11, 12). No one can live a righteous and unrighteous life at the same time. You can, however, forsake your unrighteous thoughts and return to the Lord, and “He will abundantly pardon” (v. 7). A thief is a thief because he thinks like a thief. A liar is a liar because he thinks like a liar. An adulterer is an adulterer because he thinks like an adulterer (Matthew 5:28). “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
Someone once said, “You are what you eat,” but this is not entirely so. You are also what you think. Man is “spirit, soul, and body” (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Your body is affected by what you eat, but your body is not all of you. It is only the temporary house in which you live. “The things which are seen [such as your body] are temporary, but the things which are not seen [such as your spirit and soul] are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).
At the resurrection, we will have bodies of flesh and bone, but without sin, like the glorified body of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (Luke 24:39; 1 John 3:2). Until the Lord releases us from these houses of clay, we are to present our bodies as “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is [our] reasonable service.” This cannot be accomplished apart from “the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1, 2). To renew your mind means to forsake unrighteous thoughts, and become righteous in all of your thinking. By applying our hearts and minds to the Scriptures with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our hearts and minds become renewed, and begin to think God’s thoughts, and to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). If you have been saved by grace, through faith (Ephesians 2:8), the Holy Spirit indwells you (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). Therefore, let the Word of God and the indwelling Holy Spirit motivate your every thought. Remember, thinking makes the person!

26-4 Keep Your Thought Processes Active and Open to the Voice of God
(Hebrews 3:7)
“Today, if you will hear His voice” (v. 7). God continues to speak to man. Are you listening? If you will keep your thought processes active and open to the voice of God, you will grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible is filled with evidence that God does speak to man. He spoke to:
1) Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:8-19)
2) Cain (Genesis 4:9-15)
3) Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)
4) Hagar (Genesis 16:7-13)
5) Moses (Exodus 3:1-14)
6) Joshua (Joshua 1:1-9)
7) Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-7)
There are many more to whom the Lord spoke in both the Old and New Testaments. Sometimes He speaks to man:
1) Face to face; not in His essence, but by manifestation (Judges 13:1-23);
2) Through His creation (Psalm 19:1-6);
3) Through His written Word (Psalm 19:7-14).
He is speaking today to the whole world through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3), as revealed in the Scriptures.
Now when you think unhealthy or unrighteous thoughts, you need to repent and forsake your wicked thoughts, and return to the Lord. How should you do this?
1) Repent (Isaiah 55:7), and “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” This is a positive act.
2) “And do not be conformed to this world.” This is a negative act.
3) “But be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This is a positive act.
It takes both the positive and negative to produce positive results. The positive results are “that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2). Heed the voice of God when He speaks to you through His Spirit, using His Word. Are your thought processes active and open to the voice of God? He is speaking; are you listening?

26-5 Think Great Thoughts, Because You Serve a Great God
(Ephesians 3:20)
Our God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power [of the Holy Spirit] that works in us” (v. 20). Because God is a great God, think great thoughts with confidence, knowing that your thoughts can never be greater than God. As we study the Bible and read of His mighty Acts, we marvel at His greatness and claim to believe that He can do anything. But when it comes to a spiritual crisis, some believers (by thinking small thoughts) reduce Him in dignity and power and act as though God is no longer all-powerful. We forget that He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), that He created everything in this universe (Genesis 1:1), and sustains all things in His universe (Hebrews 1:3). We forget that He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). His universal authority and power have not diminished. Therefore, think great thoughts, because you serve a great God who does great things. He is immutable; i.e., He does not change (Malachi 3:6); He is infallible (James 1:13).
How great is your God in your:
1) Thinking? Tell me what you think about your God and I will tell you how great He is in your thinking.
2) Vision? (Proverbs 29:18).
3) Faith? No faith, no God. Small faith, a small God. Great faith, a great God.
4) Service? Can you do all things through Christ? (Philippians 4:13).
How great is your God? Is He greater than:
1) Your personal problems? If He is, why do you worry? (Philippians 1:12-14).
2) All your enemies? If He is, why live in fear? (Isaiah 54:17).
3) All the obstacles of your life? If He is, why give up? (1 John 4:4).
Don’t be an unbelieving believer.
1) Israel made their God look small at Kadesh Barnea, because they believed the evil report brought back by ten of the twelve spies. Only Joshua and Caleb believed their God was more powerful than the giants of Canaan. The people chose to follow the unbelieving spies, and God sent them back into the wilderness for thirty-eight additional years. Their unbelief made God look small. They said, “We saw the giants… and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:33). Grasshopper Christians always make their God look small in the eyes of the world (Numbers 13 and 14; cf. Deuteronomy 1:1-46; cf. Hebrews 3:7-12).
2) Israel’s God was great in their eyes when they crossed Jordan thirty-eight years later; God caused the water to pile up and Israel crossed over on dry ground (Joshua 3:1-17). Their God was a great God to them at Jericho where, by faith, the walls came tumbling down (Joshua 6:1-20).
Pray that God will motivate a change in your attitude from fear to unlimited faith. Remember, our God is a great God; so think great thoughts with confidence to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 1:31; cf. Jeremiah 9:23, 24).

Master Outline 26 – As A Man Thinks
Opening: To help overcome the fear that results from an inferior feeling due to sin and to develop a positive, godly mental attitude, study this lesson every day until it becomes part of your daily thinking. It will motivate a change in your attitude from fear to faith. In order to apply these principles to yourself, personally, the following is written in the first person: God said, “As he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7)
Therefore, today I will think like a dynamic servant of God because I am what I think.
I am not always what I think I am; I am what I think.
I am not what I eat; I am what I think.
Clothes do not make the man; thinking makes the man.
Therefore, I will keep my thought processes active and open to the voice of God.
God did not call me to a life of failure, but to a life of success.
This being so, I cannot fail as long as I do His will, allowing Him to work in and through me, motivating my every thought.
Because my God is a great God, I will think with confidence, knowing my thoughts can never be greater than my God. Today I will think like the apostle Paul, when he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13)
[1] What does Proverbs 23:7 say makes the man?
[2] A dynamic servant of God thinks by ____________________ not __________________.
[3] Fear says, “God ______________________,” but faith says, “God ___________________.”
[4] Fear doubts God _____________________ but faith believes every ___________________
of ______________________.
[5] Fear leads to certain ______________________, but faith leads to sure
_____________________.
[6] What eight (8) things does a dynamic servant of God do?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
[7] You are not always what you ______________ you are, you are what you ______________.
[8] We are __________________ ___________________ in Christ, however we have an old
_____________________ Nature.
[9] If you are going to be an effective child of God in this sin-cursed world, you must what?
[10] You are the ____________________ of your thoughts; you think by _________________.
[11] Studying __________________ _____________________ with the __________________
illumination forms the _________________ of ___________________ in you.
[12] What are twelve (12) different kinds of thoughts you can think?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
[13] How do you think with the Lord?
[14] You always ___________________ in thought before you ___________________ in word or deed.
[15] Name the only two (2) ways to think.
1.
2.
[16] Can you live a righteous life and think unrighteous thoughts? YES or NO. Explain.
[17] Can a person who thinks good thought live a bad life? YES or NO. Explain.
[18] Is the saying, “You are what you eat” entirely true?
[19] What kind of bodies will we have at resurrection?
[20] Explain what renewing your mind means?
[21] If you have been saved by grace through faith, which indwells you?
[22] Does God still speak to man today? YES or NO. Explain.
[23] What three (3) ways does God speak to man?
1.
2.
3.
[24] Are your thought processes active and open to the voice of God? YES or NO. Explain.
[25] Why can we think great thoughts?
[26] What do we do when we think small thoughts with respect to God?
[27] The greatness of God is seen in what four (4) areas?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[28] Is God greater than your personal problems, all your enemies and the obstacles of your life? YES or NO. Explain.
[29] What consequences did God pass on to the children of Adam?
Pray that God will motivate a change in your attitude from FEAR to UNLIMITED FAITH!!!!!!

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