I Think, I Become | Crosstraining 9.4.15

Read Proverbs 4:23 Have you ever noticed that the more you’re around negative people, the more negative you become? The reverse works as well. The more you’re around positive people, the more positive you’ll likely become. The influences we have around us have a great impact on our attitudes and actions in our life. This is especially true when it comes to the influence of the positive and negative things we spend our lives thinking about. In this short proverb, the author points at guarding your heart as the most important thing a person can do. He tells us to do that above all other things. It should be our top priority. Why? It’s because that everything flows from our heart. In ancient times, they didn’t view the heart as just our lovey-dovey emotional center. When the ancients talked about the heart, they meant their emotions, too, but they also meant their thoughts and their will. To them, the heart was the center of a person’s being. So, when the proverb says to guard your heart, that included not only their emotions, but their thoughts as well. The way we think affects all of who we are. If we think negative thoughts, we will become a negative person. If we think fearful thoughts, we will be consumed with fear. If we think discontented thoughts, we will be a constant complainer. If we think critical thoughts, we will be a critical person. However, if we think like God, we will become like Christ. It’s important to guard our thoughts by identifying, rejecting, and replacing overwhelming thoughts because what we think determines who we become. REFLECT: Do you think like the person you want to become? What thoughts do you need to change in order to start thinking your way to God’s dream for your life? PRAY: Talk to God about who you want to become. Ask Him for guidance on who He wants you to be in the future. Ask God to help your thoughts line up with that vision. // TWO-A-DAYS // GO A LITTLE FARTHER WITH YOUR DAILY DEVOTIONS // Go through these questions with your spouse, kids, or friend, or you can even journal about the answers to these questions:

1. What was the best part of your day?
2. What was the toughest part of your day?
3. Where did you mess up today?
4. Where did you see God today?