Mind your thoughts

Our thoughts are very powerful. The healing of the woman with the issue of blood began with a thought. What she thought in her mind, she said to herself ‘If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.’ (Matthew 9:21)

As she thought it and said it, so it happened. After twelve years of physical and emotional pain, after twelve years of moving from one doctor to the other, after twelve years of spending huge amounts of money on medical bills and treatments to get well all to no avail, this woman had a thought in her head that put an end to her pain and affliction and changed her story (Luke 8:43-48).

If you, your spouse or children are going to be healed, if your marriage is going to stand the test of time, if you are going to succeed in life, you have to think it in your head, believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth.

When we find ourselves fretting, anxious and confused, it is because in our minds we are gathering, analysing and thinking of a whole lot of things that make us fret, anxious and confused. In the same vain, when there’s a calmness all around us even though things happening around us aren’t calm, it is because we are thinking and focusing on things that give us hope, assurance and confidence that all will be well, we will come out of this problem, God will handle and sort out this situation.

What we think about can give us peace or fill us with fear. If you just watched a horror movie and you go to sleep with flashbacks of scenes from that movie, you will definitely find yourself afraid and unable to sleep peacefully. If you just received a heart-breaking, nerve-racking report from your doctor and you keep reading the report over and over again, it’s just a matter of a few minutes that the fear of death will grip your heart.

Philippians 4:8 tells us that ‘Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.’ This verse exhorts us to be very careful about the things we think about, it tells us to pay special attention to what we allow reside in the corners and back of our minds.

In spite of the pain and disappointment the woman with the issue of blood had faced, she was very intentional about what she allowed into her mind. If this woman thought of and dwelled on the number of times she had made attempts to get well and nothing had come out of it, she wouldn’t have stepped out of her house to go to Jesus. If she thought of the embarrassment the issue of blood used to cause her anytime she was around people, she wouldn’t have bothered to go in search of Jesus. If she thought of the huge crowd that was with Jesus and how she didn’t stand a chance of getting His attention, she wouldn’t have made any effort whatsoever to get to Jesus.

She thought about possibilities in the midst of impossibilities. She thought about a solution when it appeared there was no solution in sight. She didn’t allow any negative thinking into her mind when there was nothing to be positive about. It was what she thought and believed would bring her healing, that brought about her healing. She thought in her mind that miracles still happen and they still happen to people like her. She thought about an encounter with the miracle working power of God and she encountered the miracle working power of God.

Like the woman with the issue of blood, you have an issue today. Your own issue could be with your marriage, with a child of yours or not being married, not having a child could be your own issue. You could have an issue that needs to be sorted out at work or you may lose your job. Or there could be this issue that makes you soak your pillow with tears nobody knows about. There will always be problems. The question is not whether we have a problem. The question is what do we think about when there are problems?

For some people, when they have an issue whether it is a health, financial, marital, family, career, spiritual or ministry issue, they have unkind and mean thoughts. Some others, have selfish thoughts, revenge-driven thoughts, lustful thoughts, rebellious and stubborn thoughts. Then there are those who have self-defeating thoughts, strange and unusual thoughts, fearful thoughts and anxiety thoughts.

Issues of life make some people develop jealous thoughts, angry thoughts, suicidal thoughts, proud and arrogant thoughts. In the midst of the issues some people are going through, all they think about are vain, empty, useless and profitless thoughts that takes them nowhere and doesn’t do a thing to improve their lives.

The woman with the issue of blood was careful about what she thought about. She must have reasoned it out and told herself, for years I have thought in this way and none of these thoughts have been able to help me or change my situation. I’m not going to waste another minute thinking this way. I want an end to this pain, I want to get out of this mess, I am tired of living like this, so all I am going to allow myself think about and dwell on is what will turn my mourning to dancing, what will replace the sadness with gladness. And as she thought it, so it happened. As she thought about no more issue of blood, there was no more issue of blood!

I don’t know what your own issue is today, but I encourage you to THINK it, BELIEVE it and SAY it:

‘No more financial issues, no more marital issues, no more issues of weakness and sickness in my body, no more mental issues, no more of all these issues that keep me from enjoying the peace and joy Jesus died to give me. Jesus is bigger than all my issues. I believe in Jesus, I believe in the miracle working power of God. I believe I can be saved, healed, delivered and restored. I reach out to Jesus today in faith. I reach out to Jesus today with my mind free of all the questions, arguments, doubts and fears that have clogged my mind. Today is a memorable day in my life, today is the day that at the helm of Jesus, at the feet of Jesus, all the issues that have weighed me down and slowed me down are taken away from my life, in Jesus mighty name. Amen!’

By Tesh Njokanma

Tesh Njokanma is a lawyer by training whose heart is in writing. She is a prolific writer with over 15 years experience as a magazine editor. Tesh is a pastor in The Redeemed Christian Church of God, with a teaching and prayer ministry. She is married to Chude Njokanma and blessed with children. Tesh and her family are based in Lagos, Nigeria. More of her amazing writing is here: http://www.teshnwritings.com/