Introduction

Table of Contents

Introduction.......................................................5

Part I: The Problem of Right Thinking 1 The Secret Battlefield.............................11 2 The Origin of Your Thinking..................19 3 Brain Power Gone Bad...........................27 4 The Age of Unreason and Emotion .......33

Part II: Preparation for Right Thinking 5 It All Starts with God..............................43 6 Knowing God Is the Key........................51 7 Know Jesus, Know God.........................59 8 Double-Minded.......................................67

Part III: The Process of Right Thinking 9 Deprogram and Catharsis.......................73 10 Vivid Illustrations...................................81 11 Heal Bad Memories................................87 12 Reprogram Your Mind............................97 13 Guard Your Mind..................................103

Part IV: The Practice of Right Thinking—Christian Meditation 14 Defining Christian Meditation.............. 111 15 Principles of Meditation.......................119

16 Meditation Prepping.............................125 17 Time to Practice....................................131 18 The Wrong Kind of Meditation............139

Part V: The Product of Right Thinking 19 Sound Mind and Self-Acceptance........147 20 Self-Control through Spirit Control......155 21 Resisting Temptation............................161 22 Transformation .....................................169 23 Other Benefits of Right Thinking.........175

Conclusion...............................................................181

Introduction

What kind of thinking would cause a man who is a professing Christian, a leader in his church and community, to walk out on his wife and small children? How could he rationalize such blatant unbiblical behavior? How could he become so self-absorbed that he grows numb to the emotional devastation his actions will leave his children to struggle with for the rest of their lives?

How could he then justify his selfish and immature abandonment of his family with a verbal veneer of spirituality? He might say things like, “I have prayed about this . . . I have peace about my decision . . . God told me . . . The children will get along just fine . . . I think God wants me to be happy!”

It is the relational ashes of such immature and irrational behavior that my wife and I have had to deal with all too often in marriage counseling. It is always heartbreaking to watch relationships severed, marriage vows violated, children’s trust destroyed, church integrity blemished, and Christian witness blown—all in the name of personal happiness and fulfillment. And all the while, they play the blame game and make everything somebody else’s fault!

Where does such unspiritual behavior come from? What causes people professing to be Christians to act so directly contrary to the revealed Word of God?

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Two words: wrong thinking. If the truth were known, somewhere in that person’s past a fleeting, disobedient thought was not brought into obedience to Jesus Christ. When entertained over a period of time, that fleeting thought became a focused thought that ultimately became a mindset. As a result, a biblical mindset was slowly but surely replaced by a worldly one.

Once the mind is convinced, all that is left is for the will to give its consent, which it soon does, especially if it is wooed along by inflamed emotions. Since thinking provokes feelings and feelings provoke action, the will soon gives in. So, once the will and emotions concede to wrong thinking, wrong action will soon follow. And in the process, lives and relationships are devastated.

In this book, we are going to be dealing with the matter of thinking. This content has arisen from scores of hours of counseling with people. I have observed that the Holy Spirit has always made the breakthrough in people’s understanding when they change their thinking about a particular area. When their thinking changes, then everything else will begin to change.

This book can be divided into five parts. First, we’re going to look at the problem of wrong thinking. Then, we’re going to look at preparations for right thinking. In other words, how do we change our wrong thinking into right thinking? Third, we will deal specifically with the process and get down to the nitty-gritty of right thinking. Fourth, we will turn to the practice of right

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thinking by examining the often-neglected subject of Christian meditation. Lastly, we will look at the fruit, or the product, of right thinking. Once we get our thinking right, then it will begin to have certain external manifestations.

Before we get started, let me give you a scriptural springboard for our study: “For the inward thought and the heart of a person are deep” (Psalm 64:6 nasb). We’re going to be talking about the mind and trying to look at it biblically, so that we might understand our minds from God’s vantage point.

Read the words of Matthew 22:37–38: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”

In Philippians chapter 4, Paul gives the great antidote, the great spiritual tranquilizer for an anxiety-ridden age when he says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (verses 4–6). And here’s the key verse, verse seven: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Lastly, let’s read Colossians 3:1–2: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

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Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Now, let’s start down the path to a life of right thinking.

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