KEEP IT GOING

Things don’t just happen.  Nothing worthwhile comes without an investment of some sort. 

So it is with transformation. 

While a miraculous intervention may spark change, maintaining it is a different story.  For example, a person who receives healing must constantly remember it to subdue thoughts of a relapse.

A single thought can spark transformation.  If that single thought is not supported by additional thoughts, then the thoughts that were displaced can easily return.  Perhaps that’s why these words are so astute: 

Don’t eat at the table of a stingy person or be greedy for the fine food he serves. “Come on and have some more,” he says, but he doesn’t mean it. What he thinks is what he really is (Proverbs 23:6 – 7, GNT). 

In other words, anyone can be something for a moment.  Eventually, however, that person’s consistent thoughts will show up in his or her behavior.   

In the last episode of the SHIFT podcast, I shared that 2024 is the year to think like you’re already a blessing.  This revelation, however, isn’t a one-and-done strategy.  To be a blessing, you’ll have to keep thinking you are a blessing. 

How do you do that?  Let’s unpack some wisdom from Proverbs 23:6 – 7 below. 

  1. Don’t … receive from people who don’t think like you want to.  That’s the figurative meaning of eating at the table of a stingy person.  Where you receive frequently impacts what you think consistently. 
  1. Do … feed your mind with things that align with what you want to think.  Consistently.  Eventually, you will become what you constantly think. 

One of my favorite passages in the Bible shares this same pattern: 

Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity] (Psalm 1:1 – 3, AMPC). 

Now, let’s get practical with the pattern: 

  1. Don’t … What are the outlets you need to avoid?  Where does the negativity, related to the transformation you want to experience, abound?  What is your strategy for disconnecting from the outlets that foster negativity? 
  1. Do … What Scriptures convey the thoughts you want to think?  What does God say about the transformation you want to experience?  What is your strategy for habitually meditating on what God said? 

Now, you have some thoughts to change.  Ready?  Set?  Grow! 

If you need further guidance on using this pattern, I’d love to connect with you.  Reach out to me at info@induranceministries.com, and let’s dive deeper into the thoughts you need to exchange or embrace to experience the transformation God can provide. 

Scripture quotations in this publication are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation.  Used by permission. lockman.org. 

Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.