Thursday, August 21, 2008

Something Profound I've Learned!

Ok so I should have learned this many years ago but.....I guess I'm never too old to learn something! This one's long so grab a cup of coffee and park yourself for a while.

This study/devotion is based upon a subject(s) that affects me and everyone in this world greatly. This particular subject can either encourage or destroy. It all depends on how each of us use it. This study came about because it is something that I am struggling with greatly over the past couple months and I want to get it under God’s control. What is so amazing to me about this subject is that when I decided to speak on it, I noticed that seemingly, every sermon I’ve listened to, whether by Pastor, my husband, or anyone else, has had something about this subject in it.

What am I talking about?

The tongue; heart; mind; our thoughts.

All definitions taken from Webster's 1828 Dictionary
Heart

7. The seat of the will; hence, secret purposes, intentions or designs. There are many devices in a man's heart. The heart of kings is unsearchable. The Lord tries and searches the heart. David had it in his heart to build a house of rest for the ark.

8. Person; character; used with respect to courage or kindness.

10. Secret thoughts; recesses of the mind.

11. Disposition of mind.

12. Secret meaning; real intention.

13. Conscience, or sense of good or ill.

Mind

1. Intention; purpose; design.

2. Inclination; will; desire; a sense much used, but expressing less than settled purpose; as in the common phrases, "I wish to know your mind;" "let me know your mind;" "he had a mind to go;" "he has a partner to his mind."

3. Opinion; as, to express one's mind. We are of one mind.

5. The intellectual or intelligent power in man; the understanding; the power that conceives, judges or reasons.

Thought

1. Properly, that which the mind thinks. Thought is either the act or operation of the mind, when attending to a particular subject or thing or it is the idea consequent on that operation.

2. Idea; conception. I wish to convey my thoughts to another person. I employ words that express my thoughts, so that he may have the same ideas; in this case, our thoughts will be alike.

3. Fancy; conceit; something framed by the imagination.

4. Reflection; particular consideration.

5. Opinion; judgment.

6. Meditation; serious consideration.

7. Design; purpose.

8. Silent contemplation.

9. Solicitude; care; concern.

10. Inward reasoning; the workings of conscience.


I looked up each word in the Bible and here’s what I found. (I may have missed some of the relevant verses) I encourage you to do your own study!

* Tongue is found in 126 verses and used 129 times. - 74 verses are relevant

Of the relevant verses to this study-
40 times it is in reference to how we use our tongue in our flesh
34 times it is in reference to how God would have us to use our tongue

* Mind is found in 92 verses and is used 95 times. - 56 verses are relevant

Of the relevant verses to this study-
21 times it is in reference to what is in our mind in the flesh
35 times it is in reference to what God would have us to have in our mind

* Heart is found in 765 verses and is used 833 times. - 387 verses are relevant

Of the relevant verses to this study-
182 times it is in reference to our fleshly heart
205 times it is in reference to the heart God wants us to have

* Thought is found in 80 verses and is used 81 times. - 35 verses are relevant

Of the relevant verses to this study-
24 times it is in reference to our thoughts in the flesh
10 times it is in reference to what thoughts God would have us to have

Wow! I was blown away! When God says something once, it’s important. But to use it over and over again makes it incredibly important!

As I was looking for the relevant verses for this study I discovered that God uses the words “mind, heart, and thought” together sometimes. I found 12 verses where at least 2 of these words are used together in the same verse.

Deu 15:9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

1Sa 1:13 Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.

1Ch 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

Est 6:6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

Psa 64:6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

Eze 38:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:

Dan 5:20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

Luk 9:47 And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,

Luk 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

Act 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

Our heart, mind and thoughts seem to be the same thing.

Some example verses are:

1Ch 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

Eze 11:5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

2Ki 5:11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.

Deu 4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

Like it or not, our tongue is tied to our heart, mind and thoughts.

Verses include:

Psalm 39:3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,

Proverbs 16:1 The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

Proverbs 10:20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.

Proverbs 17:20 He that hath a forward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

“Judgment” here is the same as the word “thought.” - Webster's 1828 Dictionary

Jeremiah 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

“Devise” here means: (taken from Webster’s 1828 dictionary)

1. To invent; to contrive; to form in the mind by new combinations of ideas, new applications of principles, or new arrangement of parts; to excogitate; to strike out by thought; to plan; to scheme; to project; as, to devise an engine or machine; to devise a new mode of writing; to devise a plan of defense; to devise arguments.

James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.


It’s our choice how we use our tongue; what we allow to permiate our mind, our thoughts, and our heart. We can either allow good or evil to control these areas.

I find that I am, by nature, a pessimist. If I see a glass that is half full - I would say it’s half empty. I can ask my kids to get me a drink and most of the time it’s filled only half way. And this makes me unhappy - I know, ridiculous!

My husband always tells me that I go from something that is the size of an ant hill to Mt. Everest in less than 1 minute in lots of discussions/arguments we have. He says, “Why do you always go to the extreme? Why can’t you see the good?” My answer - “You’re right. I know. I know. I need to think differently.”

Because of my tendencies, I know it’s me that has caused so many of the arguments we’ve had over the years. I have “let the party out of my head” so to speak. But even if it’s in my head (heart, mind, thoughts), it’s wrong.

I tend to be a critical person. Though I may not speak the words to anyone, it’s sin. The Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Even if I have critical thoughts, I’m wrong.

Being critical or judgmental causes a wedge between us and God, not to mention between us and the person we are talking about/being critical or judgmental of.

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Think of Job’s “so called” friends. Job had done nothing wrong yet his “friends” accused him wrongly of living in sin. Instead of encouraging Job, they crushed him with their words to the point that he cursed the day he was born! God forbid I should ever do this to someone! Actually, I have in the past and, let me tell you, I felt awful afterward. The Lord smote my heart. I apologized but the damage had already been done. Please don’t follow in my footsteps.

Judges 12:1-4 (read)
Jephthah needed help from Ephraim. They wouldn’t help him so he and the Gileadites fought and won their battle by themselves against Ammon. Then Ephraim murmured and complained about it. “Why didn’t you tell us?” This is another example of not allowing the right thoughts in our minds and hearts. And eventually, those thoughts come out of our mouths and we reveal our true inner self.

I also find that I am envious and even covetous of other people and because of that it brings about those critical or judgmental thoughts. “She got another dress? What does she need that for?” “How come she got a gift and I didn’t?” “I just know she doesn’t like me. She didn’t talk to me at church last week.” “Did you see the way she looked at me? What’s her problem?” It becomes even worse when we air our thoughts to someone else. We end up spreading poison that we don’t see as poison until after the damage has been done to someone. I’m telling you we can destroy someone with our VERY WORDS! And it’s not hard to do!

Very recently, I thought I had offended somebody because this person seemed different with me. My flesh concocted a whole story in my mind and I ended up being offended at this person and they hadn’t even done anything to me! That’s how evil our thoughts can be! I went to the person and found out that I had done nothing wrong. But until I went to this person my mind went crazy - because I allowed it to fester in my mind. And when we hide these thoughts in our heart and mind and thoughts they build until we have alienated ourselves from our friends or family and especially God. You can be sure that Satan is laughing “all the way to the bank” when we allow these kinds of things into our lives. And, truth be told, we are so miserable. We no longer have the joy of the Lord in our lives. We no longer want to serve the Lord. We end up finding ourselves somewhere we never intended to go in the first place. We are in a far place away from God.

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

The Bible is full of verses talking about how we are in our flesh. It exposes our fleshly side and to be completely honest, it’s not pretty. Our flesh is ugly - spiritually speaking. What we speak reveals our true self. We must remember that!

To the other end, though, the Bible is also full of verses about how God would have us to be (in our heart, mind, thoughts and using our tongue).

A few verses are:

II Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

Job 27:4 My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
Psalm 34:13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Psalm 35:28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

Proverbs 21:23 whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

Luke 1:64 And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

If we will fill our hearts, mind and thoughts with righteousness, then when we “let the party out” of our head, it will be pleasing and edifying and uplifting.

I heard a preacher say recently, “The only devil we need to worry about is our tongues.” I believe he is 100% correct!

Another thought is “EVERY SIN IS AN ATTEMPT TO REPLACE GOD IN OUR LIVES.”

Psa 86:11 Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

This verse tells me that my heart is divided because of my flesh. I don’t want my heart to be divided. I want my heart unified to serve the Lord wholly.

When we mess up (and we will because we're all sinners), go to the Lord and ask Him to forgive you and go to the person(s) and ask them to forgive you. Then go to your Bible and get encouragement.

I Samuel 30:6 "...but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God."

Psalm 91:15 "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him."

Psalm 92:10b "...I shall be anointed with fresh oil."

Psalm 94:14 "For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance."

Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

I choose to think Godly thoughts. I don’t want to go down the path that leads to misery and destruction, not only of myself, but of others if I’m not careful to keep my walk with the Lord close.

I have compiled the verses I believe to be relevant to this study. I compiled them according to how we are in the flesh and how God wants us to be.

Verses on the Tongue

These following verses give us a glimpse of how we use our tongue in our flesh.

Job 15:5, 20:12; Psalm 5:9, 10:7, 12:3-4, 50:19, 52:2, 52:4, 57:4, 64:3, 64:8, 73:9, 109:2; Proverbs 6:17, 12:18-19, 15:2, 15:4, 17:4, 17:20, 18:21, 21:6, 25:23, 26:28; Isaiah 3:8, 54:17, 57:4, 59:3; Jeremiah 9:5, 9:8, 18:18; Ezekiel 3:26; Hosea 7:16; Micah 6:12; Habakkuk 1:13; James 1:26, 3:5-6, 3:8

These following verses show us how God wants us to use our tongue.

Exodus 11:7; Joshua 10:21; II Samuel 23:2; Job 5:21, 6:24, 6:30, 27:4; Psalm 15:3, 34:13, 35:28, 37:30, 39:1, 45:1, 51:14, 71:24, 119:172, 120:2-3, 126:2; Proverbs 10:20, 10:31, 12:18-19, 15:2, 15:4, 16:1, 21:23, 31:26, Song of Solomon 4:11; Isaiah 50:4; Zephaniah 3:13; Luke 1:64; Philippians 2:11; I Peter 3:10

Verses on the Mind

These following verses give us a glimpse of what we allow into our mind in our flesh.

Job 23:13; Proverbs 21:27, 29:11; Jeremiah 19:5, 32:35; Ezekiel 11:5, 20:32, 23:17-18, 38:10; Daniel 2:29, 5:20; Mark 14:72; Romans 1:28, 7:23, 8:7; Ephesians 2:3; Philippians 3:19; Colossians 1:21, 2:18; Titus 1:15

These following verses show us what God would have us to put into our mind.

Numbers 16:28, 24:13; I Samuel 2:35; I Chronicles 28:9; Isaiah 26:3; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; Acts 17:11, 20:19; Romans 7:25, 8:27, 11:34, 12:2, 12:16, 15:6; I Corinthians 1:10, 2:16; II Corinthians 8:12, 13:11; Ephesians 4:17, 4:23; Philippians 1:27, 2:2-3, 5, 4:2; Colossians 3:12; II Thessalonians 2:2, II Timothy 1:7; Hebrews 8:10; I Peter 1:13, 3:8, 4:1, 5:2

Verses on Thoughts

These following verses give us a glimpse of our thoughts in the flesh.

Genesis 20:11, 50:20; Judges 15:2; I Samuel 18:25; II Samuel 4:10; II Kings 5:11; II Chronicles 32:1; Nehemiah 6:2; Esther 3:6, 6:6; Job 12:5; Psalm 49:11, 64:6, 73:16, 139:2; Proverbs 24:9, 30:32; Ecclesiastes 10:20; Ezekiel 38:10; Luke 9:47, 12:17, 19:11; Acts 26:9; I Corinthians 13:11

These following verses show us what thoughts God would have us to have.

Deuteronomy 15:9; I Samuel 1:13; Job 42:2; Psalm 48:9, 119:59; Daniel 4:2; Malachi 3:16; Matthew 1:20; Acts 8:22; II Corinthians 10:5

Verses on the Heart

These following verses give us a glimpse of our heart in the flesh.

Genesis 6:5, 8:21, 17:17, 27:41; Deuteronomy 8:17, 9:4-5, 29:18-19, 30:17-18; Judges 5:15; I Samuel 17:28; II Samuel 6:16; I Kings 2:44, 8:38-39, 15:3; II Kings 10:30-31, 14:10; I Chronicles 15:29; II Chronicles 12:14, 25:2, 25:19, 26:16, 32:25; Nehemiah 6:8; Esther 6:6; Job 15:12-13, 34:14-15, 41:24; Psalms 10:3-7, 10:11, 10:13, 12:2, 13:2, 14:1, 36:1, 38:8, 39:3, 41:6, 53:1, 55:21, 58:2, 78:8, 101:5, 140:2; Proverbs 6:14, 6:19, 10:20, 11:20, 12:20, 14:10, 16:5, 16:9, 17:20, 19:21, 21:4, 23:7, 23:17, 24:2, 24:12, 26:23, 26:25, 27:19, 28:25-26; Ecclesiastes 2:15, 3:17-18, 7:22; Isaiah 14:12-15, 29:13, 47:8-10, 57:17, 59:13; Jeremiah 4:18, 5:24, 7:24, 9:8, 9:14, 11:8, 13:10, 13:22, 14:14, 16:12, 17:9, 18:12, 22:17, 23:16-17, 23:26, 48:29, 49:16, 51:46; Lamentations 1:20; Ezekiel 6:9, 11:21, 13:17, 13:22, 14:3-5, 14:7, 16:30, 20:16, 25:6, 25:15, 28:2, 28:17, 31:10-11, 33:31, 36:5; Daniel 2:30, 5:20, 8:25; Hosea 4:8, 4:11, 7:6, 7:11, 7:14, 10:2, 13:6 Obadiah 1:3; Zephaniah 1:12, 2:15; Zechariah 7:10-12; Malachi 2:2; Matthew 5:28, 12:34-37, 13:15, 13:19, 15:8, 15:18-20, 24:48; Mark 6:52, 7:6, 7:18-23, 8:17, 16:14; Luke 6:45, 12:45; John 12:40, 13:2; Acts 5:3-4, 5:33, 8:21-22, 28:27; Romans 1:21, 2:5-6; Hebrews 3:10, 3:12; James 1:26; II Peter 2:14; Revelation 18:7

These following verses show us what kind of heart God would have us to have.

Leviticus 19:17; Numbers 15:39; Deuteronomy 4:29, 4:39, 5:29, 6:5-6, 8:2, 8:5, 10:12, 11:13, 11:16, 11:18, 13:3, 15:9-10, 17:17, 17:20, 26:16, 30:2, 30:6, 30:10, 30:14; Joshua 22:5, 24:23; I Samuel 10:9, 12:20, 12:24, 13:14, 16:7; II Samuel 7:3, 7:21, 7:27; I Kings 8:23, 8:48, 8:61, 9:4, 10:24, 15:14, 18:37; II Kings 20:3, 23:3; I Chronicles 12:38, 16:10, 17:2, 22:19, 28:9, 29:9, 29:17-19; II Chronicles 1:11, 9:23, 15:12, 15:15, 15:17, 16:9, 19:3, 19:9, 22:9, 29:10, 30:12, 30:18-19, 31:21, 32:26, 34:27, 34:31; Ezra 6:22, 7:10; Nehemiah 9:7-8; Job 7:17, 9:4, 22:22, 23:16, 27:6, 38:36; Psalms 4:4, 4:7, 9:1, 15:2, 17:3, 19:8, 19:14, 24:3-4, 26:2, 32:11, 34:18, 37:31, 40:8, 44:18, 45:1, 49:3, 51:10, 51:17, 57:7, 62:8, 66:18, 73:1, 73:26, 77:6, 84:2, 86:11-12, 101:2, 101:4, 108:1, 112:7-8, 119:2, 119:10-11, 119:34, 119:36, 119:58, 119:69, 119:80, 119:111-112, 139:23, 141:4; Proverbs 2:2, 2:10, 3:1, 3:3, 4:4, 4:20-21, 4:23, 6:20-21, 7:2-3, 14:30, 15:14, 15:28, 16:21, 16:23, 23:12, 23:15, 23:19, 23:26; Ecclesiastes 1:16, 3:17, 5:2, 7:25-26; Isaiah 38:2-3, 51:7, 57:15; Jeremiah 3:15, 4:14, 15:16, 17:10, 24:7, 29:13, 31:21, 32:38-40; Lamentations 2:18-19, 3:41; Ezekiel 3:10, 11:19-20, 18:31, 36:26, 40:4; Daniel 1:8, 10:12; Joel 2:12-13; Zechariah 10:7, 12:5; Matthew 5:8, 22:37; Mark 12:30, 12:32-33; Luke 6;45, 8:15, 10:27, 24:32; Acts 2:46, 4:32, 8:22, 11:23; Romans 10:6, 10:8; I Corinthians 14:25; Ephesians 5:19, 6:5-6; Colossians 3:22; II Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 4:12, 10:22; I Peter 1:22, 3:4; I John 3:20-21

2 comments:

Sergio and Valerie said...

That's so funny that you posted this because my church just preached on our imaginations Wednesday night. It's making me extra careful of the thoughts I let flow through my mind.

Mishel said...

Wow! What an EXCELLENT post Rhonda! I'm going to come back and read it again...

Thank you for all the time you put into this with all the scripture references and your thoughts as well. Great post!

Blessings!