Think What to Do; Do What You Think

My thought life is attached to the rest of my life. Whatever it is that you think on is what you will eventually do, so that good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit, and guess what? You're the gardener.

You're the one doing the planting. And we've noticed that the book of Philippians is a book about joy, but this is all part of it. If you're going to have a joyful life, you're going to need a joyful thought life. That's where it all ends. It's been said that a Christian life is a battleground, and the battle begins in the mind.

Your thoughts inevitably influence your actions. Today we continue our countdown of Skip's top 40 messages on the Connect with Skip Heitzig YouTube channel. In the number 22 spot is his message, Think What to Do, Do What You Think, where Skip shares practical insight to help you manage your thoughts carefully and according to God's truth.

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I wanted to show a connection between the battle for outer space and the quest to conquer inner space and how the cross, like the Saturn V launch vehicle, is the only thing that can bridge that gap. And as our secular society is realizing, there are downsides to turning from God, turning away from church. You know, you see people leaving the church in droves in and out.

What do you have in tandem with it? Higher anxiety, higher suicide rates. You have even a lowering of emotional intelligence. We're not in church. We're not in the Bible, but we are on screens.

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That's connectwithskipp.com or call 800-922-1888. Okay, we're in Philippians Chapter 4 as Skip Heitzig studs today's study. When I was in grade school, my teachers used a phrase, and I bet yours did too, and that is your thinking cap. You ever say that? You ever say, okay, kids, put your thinking caps on, and I remember when my teacher said that, she meant, or he meant, I need your attention, class. I really want you to process through what I'm about to tell you. But you know, that's a figure of speech, but I remember thinking, wouldn't it be great if there was such a thing as an actual thinking cap so that when like you lose your way or you need wisdom, you just put the cap on and you're good to go.

Of course, it doesn't really work that way. Henry Ford said, thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably why so few engage in it. Now the human mind is amazing. You're capable of logical thought, you're capable of abstract reasoning, deductive analysis, your mind can emote, you can have emotions from joy to sorrow, from confidence to fear, and every emotion in between. Back in the 1600s, a philosopher named Rene Descartes gave a little philosophical postulate that he spoke in Latin, a very common language at the time, and when I say it, you'll recognize it, many of you, cognito ergo sum, which means I think, therefore I am. Cognito ergo sum, I think, therefore I am. The point of that little saying is that we validate our own existence by the very fact that we can produce thoughts. So if you're ever in doubt, am I real?

Is this real? I'm thinking. I think, therefore I am. Now Paul wouldn't disagree with that, but Paul wouldn't stop there either.

Paul the Apostle would have said, okay, but I think, therefore I do. That is, my thought life is attached to the rest of my life. Whatever it is that you think on is what you will eventually do, so that good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit, and guess what? You're the gardener.

You're the one doing the planting. And we've noticed that the book of Philippians is a book about joy, but this is all part of it. If you're going to have a joyful life, you're going to need a joyful thought life.

That's where it all begins. So a few years back, 15 college professors were given a challenge, and the challenge was simply this. If you could take all the books on the art of moving people into action, if they were condensed into one brief statement, what would that statement be? So they took the challenge. They thought of all the famous books on getting people motivated, moving them into action, and coming up with just a short statement.

This is what they said. What the mind attends to, it considers. What the mind does not attend to, it dismisses. What the mind attends to continually, it believes. And what the mind believes, it eventually does.

So they knew that if you can get a group of people or a person to think long enough about something to where they actually believe in that something, then you can motivate them to do something. With that as a background, we look at verse 8 and verse 9 of Philippians 4. Finally, brethren, some of us are so happy to see that word finally, because it means Paul is almost done with this letter. It finally means the rest or the things that remain.

He's tying up some loose ends, some extra thoughts that sum up what he has been saying in this book. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. Now there's a definite structure to these two verses.

Linguistically, and I know most people aren't excited about linguistic analysis, but let me just point something out. What you have in these two verses are two different lists of things attached to a main clause. A single verb drives each verse. The verb in verse 8 is the verb meditate or think, ponder, think on these things. That's the first important verb. Followed by verse 9, the main verb is do.

These do. So meditate first or think first and then do second. Isn't it amazing how consistent the Bible is in describing how that our thoughts produce actions, that what we think drives what we do?

So here's an example. Jesus taught often on humility to his disciples, but then one night at the Last Supper, he got up, washed their feet. They were all a little bit dumbfounded by this. And then he said to them, if you know these things, happy are you if you do them. Knowing is one thing, taking the knowledge into action is quite another. If you know these things, happy are you if you do them.

Here's another example. When Paul writes, his writing style typically is to give knowledge first, application second. Think on this, now do this. Best example, Romans, the book of Romans. He spends 11 chapters telling us what we should know, how we should think about God, about sin, about the world, about us. Then finally in chapter 12 verse 1 he writes, I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

So you've thought about this, now do that. He also follows that in the book of Ephesians chapters 1 through 3. Paul writes about what we have, all the wealth we have in Christ, who we are in him. Then in chapter 4, therefore I beseech you walk worthy of the calling you have received. So you see there's always this relationship between knowing and doing, between doctrine and duty, between living and learning.

We learn and then we live it out. So what I want to do in these two verses is show you three simple things, three ways that we ought to think. We ought to think carefully, we ought to think righteously, we ought to think actively.

Let's say all those. We should think carefully, we should think righteously and we should think actively. So we've engaged the mind, we're all on the same page.

Now let's explore. I want to draw your attention again in verse 8 to that main clause I told you about. It's at the end of verse 8 in my translation. It says, meditate on these things.

Here's the deal. Our minds can go in a million different directions, therefore we have to be very careful about what we are going to let it ponder, concentrate on. Now look at the word meditate. Some translations just say think on these or ponder these things.

Now the word meditate, I'm going to tell you the word in Greek and you're going to listen to it and you're going to tell me what it sounds like in English. Logizomai sounds like logic. That is where we get our word logic. Logizomai means to think logically or to concentrate logically.

The idea is to reason logically so that your actions are based on carefully thought out principles. Do you know according to Scripture, thinking is paramount? Solomon, the writer of Proverbs in Proverbs 23, 7 says, for as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. For years people have noted that we are what we think and I agree with that. What you think about you, what you think about God, what you think about the world around you, what you think about sex, what you think about homosexuality, what you think about politics, all the things that you can think about in the end really define who you are.

That is what you are. You are the sum of your thoughts. People's lives are the product of people's thoughts. You remember when Jesus said in Mark 7, for what comes out of a man, that defiles him. Listen to a little more of that.

I'll read a little more of what he said. This is in the New Living Translation, Jesus speaking. It is the thought life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these vile things come from within. They are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God.

Now that's the negative. The positive, the reverse is also true. Point being, people's doings are just the result of people's thinkings. We do what we think. Now, in the Bible, God actually commands us to think. Isaiah chapter 1 verse 18, come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. I've always thought that Christians ought to be great thinkers.

And I admire when I find one who is. Unfortunately, for some of us, our brain cells are seriously under-exercised. And partially that's because some people's view of spirituality is not intellectual, it's just mystical. It's not if you know the truth. In fact, if you know the truth, you're sort of placed on the second or third shelf. Oh, it's more than just head knowledge. It's more than just, it's one thing to know something, and it's true, but for so many people, it's all about the mystical experience, the deeper life. Well you might know things, but have you experienced the deeper life? I'm all about the deeper life, but some people who are after the deeper life have gone off the deeper end.

A.W. Tozer put it this way, aimless activity is beneath the worth and dignity of a human being. The great weight of exhortation these days is in the direction of zeal and activity. Let's get going is the favorite watchword for gospel workers, with the result that everyone feels ashamed to sit down and think. Jesus said to the lawyer, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Jesus also said, learn of me. Peter wrote and said, grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hosea the prophet cried out, my people perish for lack of knowledge, not lack of zeal, lack of knowledge. All of that to say this, it's okay to think as a Christian.

We don't put a sign out in the foyer that says, check brains here, before entering. No, we want your mind fully engaged, where you wrestle with, turn things around, question, ponder, resolve, all of that. I remember when I first came to faith, my college professors and my medical professors, very few of them, if any, really had a relationship or interest in the things of God. And so I was challenged quite a bit daily. And I had a struggle in my faith. I had a crisis of faith.

And I really didn't know what to do or where to go. I found a book that changed my life called Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell. It just got reprinted last month, new edition. Evidence that Demands a Verdict was all about the evidences that substantiate the Christian faith. And I read this book, I internalized this book, I memorized sections of that book. But one of the first things that I found in the book when I opened it up said this, the heart cannot rejoice in what the mind cannot accept.

And I thought, I found gold. This is a book encouraging me to think actively and to reason logically with these truths. And by the way, if you were to look back at the major revivals in past history, you will find that knowledge is at the center of those revivals.

One of the key factors that is in common with every great revival of the past is there's an emphasis on biblical doctrine and theology and exposition of the Scripture. So, there's a battle for your mind today, which means you and I, we ought to think carefully, logically, meditate on these things. That's one. That's the first way to think. Second, not just think carefully, but think righteously. Paul didn't just say, think, therefore you are. He says, let me tell you what to think about. Here's the parameters of godly thinking, and he lists six things.

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, or good repute, some translations say, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. All of that to say, think righteously. Hey, guess how many thoughts you have every day? You might say, well, not many.

Truth is, you have many. Neuroscientists say the average person thinks 70, that's 7,000, 70,000 thoughts every single day. 70,000. You think 70,000 thoughts, which means in a year's time, you will have produced 25.5 million thoughts.

So, that's a lot of options, right? We're bombarded with a lot of thoughts. So we need to not just think, but harness those thoughts. As the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10, we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Or listen to what Paul said in Romans 8, Those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh.

Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Now, notice the list in verse 8. Whatever things are pure, whatever things are noble, etc.

He lists six things, all of which basically say the same thing. All of those words describe righteous thinking. In other words, true things are noble. Noble things are just. Just things are pure.

Pure things are lovely. It's all sort of a one-off describing the same thing, thinking righteously. Here's the point. Don't you think that we need to be vigilant about what input we allow into our minds in terms of what we see and what we hear? Now, some will say, well, as I see it, I can just put whatever, because he says whatever six times. He says whatever things are pure, whatever things are noble.

And some people have gotten hung up on that word whatever. Like Paul isn't considering this source. He's being very indiscriminate as to what you allow yourself to think on. But I would debate that and say, when Paul says whatever things, he just says, If you look at the gamut of all the possible thoughts that can come into your head, find whatever thoughts fit these categories. Moreover, in verse 9, you will notice that he says, these are the qualities he taught and he lived by himself. These things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. So all of the things that he mentions in the eighth verse as parameters of thinking, all of these are found in the scriptures. And it could be that Paul is saying, let the Bible govern righteous thinking. And the reason I say that is because I'm going to read to you a little portion of Psalm 19 and listen how close one sounds to the other.

Psalm 19, I'm beginning in verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are just or right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. It sounds very similar to the description of Paul in Philippians. He's saying, think righteously.

So look at a few of these things. Whatever things are true. Now wouldn't you agree that one of the great commodities of God is truth? He is the God of all truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

When Jesus prayed in the garden, He said, sanctify them, Father, by your truth. Your word is truth. So God specializes in truth. So think about what is true and you'll find that in His word.

And I'll tell you why this is important. You and I live in a world where people say there's no such thing as empirical truth. There's no such thing as absolute truth. Truth is relative. Your truth may not be my truth.

Right? So we're exposed to that sort of thinking. That's why we need a constant exposure and injection of God's truth.

So that we're able to discern what is right and what is wrong. And it's even more important these days because a generation has arisen where honestly truth isn't all that important. Feelings trump truth. To a whole new generation, it's not about is this true or not true, it's how does that make you feel? See, if it makes you feel good, that's your truth. If it doesn't make you feel good, then it's not your truth.

And have you heard this? Well, what should I do? Well, just follow your heart. Just follow your heart. Now that little bit of pop psychology might sound really noble, but that is like the worst piece of advice ever in history. Follow your heart and here's why. The Bible says, the heart is deceitful above everything else and desperately wicked.

Who can know it? So if you're driven by your emotional feelings at the time, it might feel good temporarily, but eventually you might go off the deep end. So meditate on righteous truth. This is what ever things are noble. I love this word. It's worthy of respect, dignified, worthy of awe.

It's the opposite of common, mundane. These are lofty thoughts. Whatever things are just, that's a word that means right or righteous. The scripture shows you how to walk the righteous path. If you ever wonder what is right, what is wrong, the Bible will tell you the principles for righteous living. Psalm 119, David said, Your word is a lamp to my feet, it's a light unto my path. That's Skip Heitzig's number 22 message on our Top 40 Messages countdown.

It's from the series Technicolor Joy. Find the full message and more of Skip's teachings, including his latest sermons and current teaching series at YouTube.com slash Calvary ABQ. Now, we want to let you know about an amazing opportunity you have to visit the sites where the prophets and kings in the Bible heard from God. Take a trip to experience Israel, not just the historic landscapes and delicious food, but the spiritual significance. In 2022, you have the opportunity to join Skip and his wife, Lenya, to worship and study God's word in the very places Jesus taught, preached, and healed.

Find out more at inspirationcruises.com slash C-A-V-Q. Come back tomorrow as Skip shares another Top 40 message about how you can cultivate a deeper and more satisfying relationship with Jesus. Because he gives them a command to let not your heart be troubled, it shows us that we are in control of our emotions.

Some people say, I can't help, I'm stressed out, man, I can't help it. Stop it. Jesus would never give you a command that was impossible for you to keep. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on his word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Hyton is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times.