Think About What You Think About

Steven W. Ingram

Description

Steven W. Ingram explores the perils of rejecting God, why Christians must avoid darkness, and the refreshing power of being mindful of your thoughts.

The goal of Christian living is to be in the world but not of the world. We all wish to live in the yacht, separated from turmoil.



Steven W. Ingram, who has spent forty-six years in ministry, emphasizes that to enjoy such a life, we must understand our thoughts are powerful, prioritize them, keep them positive, and let God tell us what positive is. Finally, we must control our thoughts and be obedient to Jesus.



The author seeks to answer questions such as:

· How can our thoughts drive and direct us?

· Why does God allow sin to be an option?

· How is Christianity like a new frontier?



He also explores the destructive power of rejecting God, why we must avoid darkness as much as we can, the refreshing power of right thinking, and how the definition of the truth has changed over time.



Join the author as he explores what it means to be a better Christian in Think About What You Think About.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Possibilities
• More

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 20 juin 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781664261716
• Langue: English

Extrait

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT
 
A Higher Calling to Life
 
 
 
 
 
 
STEVEN W. INGRAM
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright © 2023 Steven W. Ingram.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
 
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-6170-9 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-6172-3 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-6171-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022905708
 
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 05/26/2023
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
 
Chapter 1       Thinking
 
Part 1 :    Think about what you think about
Chapter 2       The Devastating Power of Futile Thinking
Chapter 3       The Incredible Power of Free Will
Chapter 4       The Destrctive Power of Continued Rejection of God
Chapter 5       The Refreshing Power of Right Thinking
Chapter 6       A Song That Says it All
 
Part 2 :    Think about making your thoughts your priority
Chapter 7       The Awesome Task of Thought Control
Chapter 8       A Southern Gospel Song that Tells Us the First Step
 
Part 3 :    Think about becoming a ‘positive’ person
Chapter 9       The Incredible Power of Positive Thinking
Chapter 10     A love song
 
Part 4 :    Think about the POSSIBILITIES
Chapter 11     Imagine the Possibilities
Chapter 12     Because
 
Conclusion
Chapter 13     Higher Ground
Acknowledgements
Grateful to God and praise Him from whom all blessings flow!
Thanks also to Jerry and Jeanne for helping in advising and proof reading, my work needs a bunch of it.
Carla, my wife, and her patience with my time on projects like this.
Many people have encouraged me to write, it is a humbling pleasure when people are encouraged by my words.
Preface
I am convinced the Bible is power for living. It is not simply to be read but understood and applied to our lives. This writing is an attempt to help us do just that- apply it to our lives! I am getting old and running out of energy. So, from my den, computer and my soft and easy chair I write with this in mind.
Perhaps the greatest sin in the world is to read the Bible and not understand what you have read. So, I write with simplicity. Some think that is because I am a simple man, they are probably right.
It has been said that we are all in the same boat and it is sinking. Well, let me adjust that phrase a bit. We are not in the same boat, but different boats. We are in the same storm, the storm of life. Some go through life and its’ storms in a yacht, some in a canoe and some are on their own, treading water and swimming, just doing everything to keep their heads above water.
Of course, we all prefer the yacht, the storm could even be fun from a yacht. The canoe requires skill to navigate in troubled waters. While all by yourself on the waters in a storm, well that seems impossible.
Using this illustration as an example of Christian living, I see three types of Christians. We all live in the same world but navigating our lives from three different vantage points. This is about our Christian lives.
The three boats are different levels of Christian understanding and application of God’s word to our lives. The waters with varying storms are where we all live, but we have three different ways to navigate the storm. You may think that we are in the same boat, but because we individually differ in how we appropriate God’s power for living, we are not experiencing the same outcome. It is the same storm, but our response to the storm is different.
The goal of Christian living is to be in the world but not of the world. We all know that is easier said than done. We all wish to live in the yacht, separated from the waters (world) and above waves and turmoil.
The canoe has separation from the water, but not much. From the canoe one must deal directly with the waves with nothing but an oar and a thin piece of wood or some type of material that separates us the world. It is likely a person will get wet in the canoe. That is, the world will get all over you in a canoe.
So, pity the poor guy who has no separation from the world (waters). He is covered with the world. Most likely not a dry spot on him. He is saturated with the world. His chances of survival seem unlikely.
Living in the world and not of the world seems impossible unless you are in the yacht. The Bible is our instruction to live in the yacht. For those who read it but never understand it or apply it to their lives, at best will spend your days in the spiritual canoe. If the world has anything to say about it, you won’t even have the benefit of a canoe. It will be just you and the water. You know you need help, help is available, but you don’t understand it or apply it.
This book is my attempt to help us common folk, understand and put into action a plan to get us above the fracas of this world. If we can learn to ‘think about what we think about’ you are on your way to the yacht! I have taken four passages of scripture that focus on our thoughts. I want to give you directions for your thoughts to lead to the better place in life (yacht).
Here is a summary of the book. We must understand that our thoughts are powerful ! Then, our thoughts need to be prioritized . Next our thoughts are to turn positive . Let God tell you what positive is. Finally, we realize the possibility of ‘yacht’ living, as we have our thoughts being obedient to Jesus. This is being ‘in control’ of your thoughts.
One more thing. At the end of each chapter, I have a joke or funny story for you. I do this for two reasons, sometimes we need a break, and a chuckle can energize us to keep going. Second, humor is a good teacher. To me at least the story I tell has a connection to the teaching point of the chapter. I give application points, hopefully to apply to the teaching. You may see the connection too.
Also, if you should try to share some of this, humor may help you connect with people. Most of us are willing to listen to a funny story, if not to hard truth about living God’s way in the storms of life!
Chapter One
Thinking
THINKING: I heard this story a long time ago about a baseball coach who went to the mound to talk to his pitcher. It was an important game, maybe game seven of the World Series. His team was ahead by a single run, there were two outs in the ninth inning and the bases were loaded. It seemed like the pitcher had lost his courage. The game was on the line, and he was getting nervous. The manager did a strange thing. He said to his pitcher, “Whatever you do don’t think about ‘pink elephants.” He turned to walk away, then returned to his pitcher and said, “do you understand what I said?” “Yeah” replied the confused pitcher, “Don’t think about pink elephants.” The manager smiled, “trust me on this and don’t think about pink elephants.” So, the pitcher threw one more pitch, striking out the batter and winning the big game.
All he had to do was get his mind off the imposing situation and focus on something else… all he could think about was ‘pink elephants.’
I’ve noticed something about my thoughts. I’ve noticed that when I try not to think about something, that’s all I can think about. For those of us trying to control our thoughts, it’s important to focus on something else. We must ‘think about what we think about.’ Say that a few times and it will make sense eventually.
I remember once when I was coaching my son’s little league team. We were facing the best pitcher in our league. My boys were afraid to face this little fast baller. They convinced themselves that he was too good of a thrower for them. After three innings, we were shut out and shut down. We didn’t have one hit, only strike outs.
I remembered that elephant story. I didn’t think that story verbatim would work, so I thought up a different story hoping for the same impact. As the fourth inning started, I called my boys together. I said “I want you to pretend something, see that pitcher, (his name was Chris) I want you to pretend he forgot to wear his uniform, see him, he is standing there in his underwear! See him, isn’t that funny?” The boys, 3 rd and 4 th graders began to giggle. I can’t say we won the game or even got any hits off him, but my boys sure had more fun after that. Even striking out, they giggled at the funny kid