NO STINKING THINKING! (pt. 2)

By Tammy Phillips
May 1, 2020

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…Ephesians 6:17

Again, I am not sure where I first heard, “NO STINKING THINKING!” So, I would again give credit to the Holy Spirit, John Hagee, Joyce Meyer, Rick Renner, Kenneth Copeland, and my pastor, Mike Burnette, for the content of this devotion.

God has more to say about our thought life.

We are accountable for our own thoughts.
No one else can think for us.  However, the media wants to tell us what to believe.  “They know all.  They know best.”  The Government wants to tell us what to do and to believe.  Advertisements want to tell us what we should, eat, drink, wear, where to shop, where to go, and how we should live.

• We are accountable for what we put into our mind.
• We are accountable for what we watch on TV, on podcasts, on online video games and in person.
• We are accountable for what we read.
• We are accountable for what we allow our ears to hear.
• We are accountable for what we eat.

We must think the way God thinks when it comes to problems. (Below is an example of how my son and a fellow minor leaguer dealt with the same problem.)

Problem:  2020 Minor League baseball season is temporarily suspended.

 Stinking thinking:

1. Unpacks suitcase.
2. Believes season is done.
3. Loses focus.
4. Quits working out.
5. Quits baseball.

No stinking thinking, God thoughts:

1. Keeps suitcase packed and ready to go.  (1 Peter 1:13 -Gird up the loins of your mind)
2. Believes the season will start tomorrow.  (Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have…plans to give you a hope and a future)
3. Stays focused.  (Proverbs 4:25 – Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee)
4. Works out almost every day.  (1 Timothy 4:8 – For bodily exercise profits  little: but godliness is profitable unto all things)
5. Prepared and ready as soon as call comes to start again. (2 Timothy 4:7 – I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith; Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.)

We must stop stinking thinking and start believing like God.

• Stop thinking, I can’t.  Start believing, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• Stop thinking, this is impossible.  Start believing, all things are possible to him who believes.
• Stop thinking, I am sick.  Start believing I am healed, whole and complete.
• Stop thinking, I am defeated.  Start believing I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.
• Stop stinking thinking.  Start believing, I have the mind of Christ.
• Stop thinking about what the enemy throws at you.  Start believing what God freely gives us.
• Stop thinking about the lies of the devil.  Start believing the truth of God’s word.
• Stop thinking about the past.  Start believing in the future.

Paraphrasing my LifePoint pastor, Mike Burnette:

“Our past is behind us.  We can’t live it again.  It is gone.  The present is now.  This second is now and then it is immediately the past.  We cannot live in this present.  We live in the future.  We step each second, each minute, each day into our future.  So, forget the past, you cannot change it.  Live in the future.”

We are to be careful.

• Be careful because our thoughts become our words.
• Be careful because our words become our actions.
• Be careful because our actions become our habits.
• Be careful because our habits become our character.
• Be careful because our character determines our eternal destiny.   -John Hagee

I encourage you to put on the whole armor of God, including your helmet of salvation and stop the stinking thinking. Extinguish those fiery darts with the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, God promises. “Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusts in thee. (Isaiah 26:3)