Faith and positive thinking have two entirely different ultimate objectives…
Life is about our learning to walk by faith, and our learning to trust in God with all of our heart, mind and strength!
We’re told in the Bible that once we are born-again that we have the mind of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:13-16
Expanded Bible
13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit.
And so we explain spiritual truths ·to spiritual people [or to those who have the Spirit; or with the Spirit’s words].
14 A ·person who does not have the Spirit [or natural person] does not accept the ·truths [things] that come from the Spirit of God.
That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be ·judged to be true [discerned; assessed] by the Spirit.
15 The ·spiritual person [or person with the Spirit] is able to ·judge [discern; assess] all things, but no one can ·judge [discern; assess] him. ·The Scripture says [For]:
16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to ·teach [advise; counsel] him [Is. 40:13]?”
But we have the mind of Christ [the Holy Spirit reveals God and his ways to us; Rom. 11:34].
____
Positive thinking and faith may be similar, but they are different.
Positive thinking is limited by the abilities of the individual.
Faith has no limits because God has no limits.
Mark 11:22
“Jesus told His disciples: Have faith in God!”
Positive thinking attempts to use your own power or an ambiguous “higher power” to fulfill your own personal agenda.
Faith relies on God’s power!
Positive thinking is all about your agenda and you manipulating your environment.
Faith is all about God’s agenda and allowing God to fulfill His will and purpose for your life.
Positive thinking is all about yourself and what you can get.
Faith is all about God and what He can do through you.
Positive thinking is filled with pride due to personal manipulation of the spiritual realm.
Faith is filled with humility due to the recognition that your power comes from God.
Positive thinking is all about the creation; faith is all about the Creator.
Positive thinking is about satisfying self; faith is about glorifying God.
The process whereby we put on the mind of Christ is called repentance (Grk: metánoia), which literally means to change the way you think.
Through our meditation and studying of God’s Word, and our praying in the Holy Spirit (what Romans 8:26 calls allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us in the perfect will of God), is the process whereby we are putting on the mind of Christ.
Romans 8:26
Expanded Bible
26 ·Also [or In the same way], the Spirit helps us ·with [or in] our weakness.
We do not know ·how to pray as we should [or what we ought to pray for].
But the Spirit himself ·speaks to God for us [intercedes] with ·deep feelings [groanings] ·that words cannot explain [or that are inexpressible; or that are unspoken; or too deep for words].
1 Corinthians 2:6-13
Expanded Bible
God’s Wisdom
6 However, we speak wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this ·world [age] or from the rulers of this ·world [age], who ·are losing their power [will soon disappear; are passing away].
7 We speak God’s ·secret wisdom [or wisdom in a mystery; 2:1], which he has kept hidden.
Before the ·world began [ages], God ·planned [decreed; destined] this wisdom for our glory.
8 None of the rulers of this ·world [age] understood it.
If they had, they would not have crucified the ·Lord of glory [glorious Lord].
9 But as it is written in the Scriptures:
“No ·one [eye] has ever seen this,
and no ·one [ear] has ever heard about it.
No ·one [human heart] has ever imagined
what God has prepared for those who love him [Is. 64:4].”
10 But God has ·shown [revealed to] us these things through the Spirit.
[For] The Spirit ·searches out [examines; scrutinizes] all things, even the ·deep secrets [deep things; depths] of God.
11 Who knows the thoughts that another person has?
Only a person’s spirit that lives within him knows his thoughts.
It is the same with God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we did not receive the spirit of the world, but we received the Spirit that is from God so that we can know all that God has [freely] given us.
13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom but with words taught us by the Spirit.
And so we explain spiritual truths ·to spiritual people [or to those who have the Spirit; or with the Spirit’s words].
____
It is through this process of our studying and meditating in God’s Word and pray in the Holy Spirit that we are allowing the Holy Spirit to rewrite the code, in other words to correct the negative programming we all have received from the world, and to replace it with God the Father’s mind and His will, which is that we be conformed into the image of His Son.
Romans 8:29-30
Expanded Bible
29 ·God knew them (each of us) before he made the world [For those whom he foreknew…], ·and he chose them […he also predestined/chose beforehand] to be ·like [molded to the pattern of; conformed to the image of] his Son so that Jesus would be the firstborn [the preeminent one, but also indicating others will follow] of many brothers and sisters [Jesus’ resurrection confirms that his followers will also share in God’s glory].
30 And those God ·chose to be like his Son [predestined; chose beforehand], he also called; and those he called, he also ·made right with him [declared righteous; justified]; and those he ·made right [declared righteous; justified], he also glorified [both a past act in Christ, and a future transformation].
____
Paul tells us in Philippians that we are to let the same mind that was in Christ be in us, in other words we are to put on the mind of Christ each and every day.
Philippians 2:5-11
Expanded Bible
Be Unselfish like Christ
5 In your lives you must ·think and act like [have the same attitude as] Christ Jesus. [What follows may be from an early Christian hymn.]
6 ·Christ himself was like God in everything [Who, being in the form of God].
But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be ·used for his own benefit [or grasped; seized; held on to].
7 But he ·gave up his place with God and made himself nothing [emptied himself].
He ·became like [took the form of] a ·servant [slave; bondservant]
and was born ·as a man [in the likeness of humanity/men].
8 And ·when he was living [being found in appearance/likeness] as a ·man [human being],
he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God,
even ·when that caused his [to the point of] death—death on a cross.
9 So God ·raised [exalted] him to the highest place.
God ·made his name [or gave him the name] ·greater than [far above] every other name
10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus—
everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
11 And ·everyone [every tongue] will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
and bring glory to God the Father.
___
The objective of the world is to take your God given gifts and talents in order that you may consume it upon yourself and to fulfill your ambitions in life, without considering God’s destiny and purpose for your life.
And it’s that attitude, by itself, that is the nature of what sin is.
This is what God’s will is for each one of us, and that is that if we are a follower of Christ that we must learn to walk as Jesus walked.
1 John 2:6
Expanded Bible
Whoever says that he ·lives [abides; remains] in God must ·live [walk] as ·Jesus lived [he walked].
____
And in so doing, we offer ourselves each day as a living sacrifice.
Romans 12:1-2
J.B. Phillips New Testament
We have seen God’s mercy and wisdom: how shall we respond?
1-2 With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.
Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.
SELAH (let us pause and calmly think on these things)
Come join the Adventure!
Skip 🕊️
SB SALT AND LIGHT MINISTRIES 