Hi, thank you for joining me today!  I’m Debbie Wallace, and this is Girl Church.  

Have you ever felt like life was just unfair?  Ever felt like that?  Have you ever struggled with injustice and felt like, there’s just too much injustice in life?  Well, I’m right there with ya.  I can relate to both of those things.  And for a very long time I struggled with the injustices of life.  

What happens is, when you can’t resolve an issue, you have to decide what you’re gonna do about it.  Okay, you have a choice to make… Am I going to get over it and say, This is what happened, and pick up the pieces and make wise decisions about your future…. or are you going to get angry and bitter and resentful?  And I’m ashamed to tell you today, ladies, that’s exactly what I did.  I spent a period of time when I was so frustrated and exasperated because I couldn’t make my life work out the way I had wanted it to, so I got angry.  I found myself actually dwelling on thoughts of anger and revenge.  And this is what I want to talk to you about today.  What do you do with those thoughts that try to take command of your mind?

Now with me, it was anger and revenge and bitterness and what you would call resentment.  So many women deal with depression.  Whatever it is that you’re dealing with, if you can’t control it and it’s controlling you, there’s a problem with that.  I found myself living in this place so often, there was a place in my mind where the anger inhabited my mind, almost to the place of violence.  The funny thing is, you couldn’t tell it by looking at me.  I wasn’t violent on the outside.  I was kind and sweet and normal, on the outside.  But you didn’t know what was going on in my head.  I was so angry!

The point I want to make is, it’s easy to get so used to living and thinking in a certain way, that you don’t even realize that you’re doing it.  You can form a habit of thinking a certain way that you do not realize what you’re doing.  So I want to share with you today how to stop the negative thought processes.  How to stop thinking in a negative pattern — because that’s what it is.  It’s a pattern of thinking that actually becomes a habit.  I had developed that habit, because I did it so often, and I got in the habit of doing it so often, and I stayed in that place so long… I was angry all the time.  I’m telling you, I was in a slow burn all the time.  I was mad, and it was hard for me to get un-mad.  And the funny thing is, I’m not angry by nature.  I’m not an angry person.  I’ve heard people say, “Yeah, I was angry when I was born.”  Well, I wasn’t.  So I was surprised.  Where was all this anger coming from?  I didn’t know what to do with it.  I stayed in it too long — so long that I didn’t have to think about anything, but my mind defaulted to that.  It was a pattern of thinking that kinda stuck.  It was a habit.  I formed a habit.

So I want to share with you today how to stop negative thought processes and habits that maybe you have formed in your mind.  One reason you should stop it is because…

1. It isn’t beneficial.  It isn’t healthy.  It doesn’t accomplish anything except to create more feelings.  Whatever you’re feeling when you’re thinking these thoughts, you’re going to continue to get more of it.  When you think thoughts of depression, guess what you’re gonna feel… depressed.  If you think thoughts of anger — like I did — it’s just gonna make you angrier.  If you think thoughts of fear, you’re gonna be afraid.  Whatever it is that you’re concentrating on is what your body is going to feel.  And there’s no peace in that.

2)   It will keep you stuck in the muck of despair.  You will never be able to leave that situation.      You’re gonna keep living it over and over and over again.  Listen.  I’m gonna tell you, ladies, I have lived through some desperate times in my life.  Living through it one time was enough.  I don’t really want to re-live it.  But everytime you think about it, you’re re-living it again.  And the funny thing is, did you know that when you think about negative thoughts, your brain thinks it’s real?  Did you know that?  Think about it.  When you dwell on those negative thoughts, your brain thinks it’s real and your body responds.  So if you have thoughts of anxiety and fear and depression and anger, your body is gonna respond in anxiety.  

3)  It isn’t God’s way.  This is not what God wants you to do.  6:00 This is not pleasing God when you live with your mind focused on the negativities of life.  There’s too many good things to be thinking about.  God has been gracious.  He has blessed us with so many wonderful things in life.  But as long as you’re concentrating on just those negative thoughts, that is all you will see.  Because that’s all you have before you.  This is not what God wants for you.   And I want to say this too… if you’re thinking “Well I just want to hold onto this until I get some answers.”  Let me tell you now, some things have no answers.  Some things, you have to let go of them and just trust God, because there’s not always an answer to everything.  At least, not in this life.  Cause I can tell you, I’ve been there and done that, and I wanted answers more than I wanted the air I was breathing, and I didn’t get them.  Because some things don’t have any answers.  And some things do have answers.  But if you’re not getting answers, don’t stay in this wicked, dark place just because you don’t understand why other people did what they did, or why life has to be so hard.  Don’t get life and God mixed up.  Let go, trust God, and move on.

I’m gonna give you a scripture today…

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NKJV)— casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ

Now ladies, we can unpack this verse right here, because it really preaches into what we’re talking about today.  First, it says to cast down “arguments.”  What are arguments?… Something that’s going to defy, something that’s going to argue with what God has to say.  “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.”  So what is it that you’re thinking that is not in compliance with what God has to say about you?  See, whatever it is, if it’s not what God would say…if it’s not what God would say about your life…if it’s not what the Lord would say about you, it’s an argument to His Word.  And then it says that we should bring those thoughts into “captivity.”  We’ve got to capture them.  Bring every thought into captivity “to the obedience of Christ.”  

You know, the battlefield is in the mind.  You’ve heard that before.  Trust me, it is.  That’s where the battlefield is.  And you have to capture the thoughts that are in your mind, and you have to make your mind be in obedience to God’s Word.  That’s what this scripture says, every thought to be brought “into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”  I can promise you that your mind’s not gonna do it unless you make it do it.  You have to get in there and say, This is what’s gonna happen…I’m gonna do this, and I’m not gonna do that.  And I’m gonna take control.

So let’s talk about how you do wage the battle of the mind.  How do you win that battle?  What do you do to get control of the thoughts of your mind?  I’m gonna give you five things today — real short, real quick, that will help you in your battle with negativity.

1. IDENTIFY THE THOUGHT.  That’s the first thing you do.  Recognize when you’re doing it.  And the funny thing is, you’ll be thinking that you’re waging the battle, and you’re doing good, and all of a sudden you’ll realize that you’re over in the cesspool again.  You’ll do it without even realizing it.  I can’t you how many times, when I was going through this process of trying to control my mind and get the negativity under control, and capture the thoughts and bring them into the obedience of Christ, I was quoting scriptures and praying about it and working on it… I’d be going through my day, and all of a sudden I’d realize I was thinking about it again.  I was thinking about those negative thoughts.  So as soon as you realize, Oh I’m doing it…
2. STOP.  You have to stop.  How do you stop?…Well, when I thought about it, I realized that I became angry only when I dwelt on those thoughts of anger.  So to stop the anger, I simply committed to stop dwelling on the thoughts.  So when I caught myself thinking about it, I would make myself stop thinking about that thing, right then.  That moment.  That leads us to…
3. THINK ABOUT SOMETHING POSITIVE.  You have to replace that thought with something else.  Did you know that you can only think about one thing at a time?  Did you know that?  Just as a test… I want you to think about a beach ball.  In your mind, think about a beachball.  What color is it?  Is it floating on the water?  How big is it?  Is it on the sand?  What does it look like?  Is it being bounced around?… Now that you have your beach ball in your mind, I want you to think about a big juicy apple.  Mmmm…. What color is it?  Red?  Green?  Yellow?  Does it have a big bite out of it?  Okay, now that you have the apple in your mind, what happened to the beachball?  See, you can only concentrate on one thought at a time.  You can’t concentrate on two things at once.  I know that we ladies like to think that we’re multitaskers, but we’re not that good, okay… We’re not that good.  You can only think about one thing at a time.  So when you 1) identify the thought, 2) stop thinking about it, and 3) replace it with something else, it doesn’t have to be anything spiritual.  Now, scripture is always great.  I do suggest you find a favorite scripture to address this situation with — but even besides scripture, you can replace the negative thoughts with anything good or happy.  If you like to design clothes, start thinking about the next outfit you’re gonna put together.  If you like to read, think about your favorite book or what you’re gonna read next.  If you are building a house, start thinking about your floor plan.  Just think about something that makes you happy and something that’s good.
4. REPEAT THE PROCESS.  You’re gonna have to repeat this.  You know why?  You’re gonna have to start back at #1 again — identify the thought — because it’s gonna happen again.  You know, the devil doesn’t give up that quick.  He doesn’t give up quick at all.  The battle of the mind is an ongoing process, and I still have to do this today.  I have to do this all the time.  I’ve been at this for a very long time.  It will never stop.  The battle is in the mind, and that’s why it’s so important that you get control of your thinking now.  So don’t sweat it, don’t worry about it too much.  Just jump in and start doing it. It’s gonna take some persistence on your part until you get control of it, but like I said, it’ll continue.  As you go through life you’ll always have some thoughts that don’t belong there, and you’re gonna have to kick them out.
5. DON’T OWN EVERY THOUGHT.  Remember that you don’t have to own every thought that passes between your ears.  They don’t all belong to you.  In this lesson I’m talking about things that you’re dwelling on.  Things that have taken residence between your ears and you are captive to those thoughts.  That’s what I’m talking about.

Ladies, thank you for joining me today.  I just want to encourage you.  You know, God loves you.  Did you know that?  God loves you more than you could ever imagine.  He does!  You know the reason God wants us to get this stuff, it’s for us.  He loves us.  He gives us instruction in His Word because He loves us.  Because He wants to be in relationship with us.  He wants to be in relationship with you.  And I’m gonna tell ya, you don’t have to be perfect to be in relationship with God.  Your life could be a complete and total mess, God loves you.  He says, Just bring the baggage.  You know, you’re not able to carry the burdens and the baggage in your life, anyway.  You really aren’t.  I had a lot of baggage in my life, I gave it to the Lord, and I don’t want it back.  You know why?  Because it’s too much for me.  It’s too much for you.  So just let God have it.  Let God have it.  

And as you begin to fight this battle of the mind, and you say, I’ve gotta get out of this way of thinking, it’s pulling me down, it’s keeping me angry, it’s keeping me depressed, it’s keeping me sad… Just pray about.  Ask God to help you.  Just say,“Father God, I give this to you, and I ask that you will help me, Lord, to take captive the thoughts that are in my mind.  I dedicate my efforts to You, and I pray that You’ll help me.”  Ask God to show you every time that you start jumping off into this pool of negativity.  

He’ll help you.  God is faithful.  Ladies, thank you for joining me today!  I look forward to seeing you next time.