What voice is sponsoring Your Thinking?

There are lots of voices out there telling us a variety of information. 

All these voices influence our thinking which in turn influences our speech and our actions. So today I want to address this important topic especially in this time we are facing. My voice is just another one, so you will have to decide for yourself if this will be beneficial to you or not. But I think it will.

If you tell people, "I hear voices",  you might be labeled as a crazy person and sent to an asylum. But the fact is we all hear voices. Many of us just don't take the time or energy to distinguish the voices coming into our minds.

For me its thoughts in my mind, not so much audible voices. I used to think that every thought I had was from me or my own imaginations. I believe some are from me, and some from other sources. So, let's look at this. 

One of my mentors, Graham Cooke says this: "Every thought has a sponsor. Who or what is sponsoring your thinking?"

Think about our bodies as a computer. We have input devices such as our eyes, ears, nose, mouth (as well as output), and touch. All these influence our thinking which in turn affects our output in what we say and how we act.

I want to focus just on our eyes and ears for now. 

When we read and listen to all that the news media is putting out there, all social media is putting out there, our government, the CDC, the church, neighbors, friends, etc. it can be very confusing and cause us to act in certain ways. It is our responsibility to monitor and guard our thinking. 

I love this verse from 2 Corinthians 10:5:

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

When we look at every thought that comes in our minds we are instructed to take it captive. When we do this, we keep our thinking and our emotions in check. But we must be intentional in this and it takes time and practice.

I want to share with you what I heard this week and let this be an opportunity for you to practice this. These words came into my mind as I was taking a shower. I have discovered, God likes to speak to me often here. LOL. 

God is Speaking always! He is not quiet. Are you hearing His voice to you? Not through another, not through social media, not through the news. What is He saying to you? He doesn’t say one thing then contradict Himself. He has been waiting for an opportunity for you to adjust your antenna.  The voice of fear is not of God. It’s the voice of the enemy. God speaks in a quiet still small voice. He speaks to our eyes, to our mind, to our ears, to our soul, through our own spirit. This is the method of communication from Heaven to Earth. 

He wants each of us to hear Him independent of all other voices. 

Here is the positive of this Pandemic. There is only One Voice we are to listen to! The only Voice that will give you the True answers is the Voice of God! Although He is not behind this Pandemic virus spreading, He will win through it. This is how: 

He wants every single one of us to hear his voice for ourselves. He has been waiting for an opportunity such as this. He is a talker! He is always speaking even more so than all these other voices around us. If you are not hearing the voice of God, the problem is NOT with the voice of God. So that must mean it is with us listening and hearing. 

Let this time of isolation and quarantine be only for the loud business, the bustle of our lives. Let instead this be a time to relax and press into hearing the gentle, quiet loving voice of our Father, the promises of Jesus and the comforting voice of the Holy Spirit.

He has been desiring this for us all for so long that we, independently, outside the church, not from the voice of a pastor, not from our friends, not from leaders, not from the government, not from the systems of the world, listen to Him. We can no longer say, "I don't have time." We have time now! How will you use it? How will you fill it? What voice will you join with?

I read and saw some things in the media this week and caught myself thinking fearfully. I took those thoughts captive and kicked them out. The voice of fear from the news, the media, our government, etc. trying to penetrate my mind. I came home and put some music on and one worship song changed everything. The atmosphere changed in an instant. Beloved this is the time to listen to the One True Voice. Ask and take the time to listen for yourself. It might not be the same answer as for someone else. But it will be relational. This is what God wants at a deeper level:  to speak to you personally. Listen carefully. Be quiet, relax. That’s a given with Him! 

Be open to how He will speak to you through your eyes, your ears, your thoughts, your dreams, your visions. As Graham Cooke says and I practice all the time: Who does God want to be for you NOW, in this time, this situation, that He can't be otherwise? I know you will be transformed during this opportune time!

Lastly, I have been awakened many times at 3:33 AM. I couldn't figure out why until I looked up Jeremiah 33:3: "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Yes, He speaks through clocks too. Get excited!

So, let's put down our phones, game controllers, laptops, and iPads. Put social media on hold! Ask, then Listen. How will He get your attention? Let this opportunity matter and let us not just do busy stuff or catch up on things that need to "get done." God has something He wants to get done and He is going to tell you. I think a side effect will be closer relationships with our families and neighbors too.

I look forward to you sharing what God speaks to you during this time.