Here is another life lesson from my Charles Stanley study Bible. I would encourage you that if you don’t have a Bible, this is one you should consider to purchase. It is full of little nuggets of truth that expand and expound on your Bible learning.

We have been so busy with our calving season amongst other things, that I have not had a lot of extra time to sit, meditate and write. Lord willing, I will soon. For now here is a very important life lesson that will help you to switch your thoughts into a different direction. Anxiety can be fueled by our thoughts so we need to make the choice to turn that around.

How can we effectively guard against temptation? 2 Samuel 11:2-4

The mind is subject to the will. We each control what we choose to think about. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that they should bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5). We have the ability to screen, select, admit, and cultivate what goes into our minds. We can keep our minds from wandering into evil thoughts by choosing to focus instead upon what is good. (Phil. 4:8).

We also have the ability to choose how we will think about what we perceive with our senses. While we have no control over some things that come into our field of vision or within our range of hearing, we do control how we will think about what we perceive or sense, and how we will act on that information.

For example, David saw Bathsheba. He wasn’t looking for her. One night he was out walking on his balcony, and while surveying the city below, he saw a beautiful woman bathing. That could have been the end of the story. David could have turned and walked back into his palace and thought nothing more about what he had seen.

Instead, David began to think about what he saw. He turned over in his mind the beautiful feminine form he had just glimpsed. Soon he “sent and inquired about the woman” (2 Samuel 11:3). He did some research and began to dwell on what it would be like to be with her and what it might be like to be with her physically. Eventually he sent for her, sinned with her, and suffered serious consequences for that sin.

When things come into our range of sensation or perception, we must immediately evaluate them through the “filter” of God’s Word. If we find ourselves dwelling on a thought, we must ask ourselves, “Why am I thinking this? What is at the root of my thought? What will happen if I continue to think this way? Is that really the direction I want my life to go?”

We do not need to act out of ungodly impulses, desires, and lusts. We can govern what we choose to think and then what we choose to do. And in so doing, we can “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.

Cilla 💕