Thoughts Become Actions…

One of my all-time favorite men of God is Bill Johnson from Bethel Church in Redding, California. If I see a YouTube video that is pretty old featuring him, I’ll still watch it. His message is always relevant and always propels me into an enhanced revelatory stance or reflective space.

A few years ago I traveled to HRock Church in Pasadena for a summer conference when Bill was speaking. These conferences are jam-packed with faith-filled folk, prophetic utterances and words of knowledge. After pages and pages of notes and many mind-blown moments, the most usable and elevating statement I left the conference with was basic common sense.

Bill Johnson stated, “If we watch what we think about; we won’t have to watch what we talk about.”

This alone was worth the price of admission. I have experienced a challenge or two in my 40+ years with saying the wrong thing to the wrong people. I know it’s just me and no one else suffers from the foot-in-mouth disease. But this Word punched me right in my gut and immediately rocked my comfort zone.

In my ever-evolving existence, I’m intentionally becoming a better version of myself. Let me tell you, this takes work. We must do the work when we want better. Self-analysis is key. What do we feast our minds upon? Is it edifying? Does it make us feel good? Does it uplift our day? If not, why are we thinking it? Someone may believe that we cannot control thoughts. I beg to differ. Yes, we can. What are we saying to people?  What are we saying to self? Are we supportive, kind and affirming? Or demeaning, abrupt and unkind. Some may believe that we cannot control our words. Again, I beg to differ. Yes, indeed we can.

When we spend lots of time thinking about something, this is akin to meditating. If we are watching a show about murderous flesh-eating zombies and we chase it with music that highlights violence and sexual sin, this diet of worldly vices will eventually impact our thought life. Don’t think so? You may even say, “It’s just entertainment!”

We have ‘gates’ that guard our heart and soul. Ear gates, eye gates, and mouth gates can help us to sink or swim, hurt or heal, perish or prosper in this life. Guard what we listen to because our hearing impacts our thoughts. If we hear something enough, we begin to believe it. We often attempt to live out that belief-whether positive or negative. Guard what we see because our sight is connected to our vision and our vision is connected to our life choices. Guard what we say because our words directly alter the trajectory and outcome of our lives.

Now that you’ve completed that brief self-analysis, reflect. Do you need a direction change in life? Shift. Monitor the gates. Change your thought life. Stop rehearsing past mistakes or failures. It’s in the past. Move beyond it. If you need to repent-do that-and keep it moving. Focus on positive thoughts and identify and take the needed action steps to get you to the next level towards greatness. 😉