Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.26). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is a good question. Norman says, “For the answer, we can look at Scripture. “We can have great intentions to follow this directive: ‘ Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth’ (Col. 3:2 AMP). But even when we’re trying to do that, we have those other not-so-good, not-so-healthy, not-so-Christian thoughts that flash on the screens of our minds. We didn’t want them. We didn’t invite them. They just showed up. “In most cases, we can’t stop specific thoughts from coming to mind. Our task is to manage them once they arrive. “It’s like the different individuals who come to your door. Some might walk right in without being invited. Do you invite them to stay? I doubt it. You evict t

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.22). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Right before this thought Norman said, “Some people say they feel they’re responsible to their mind. The problem with that is we’ve given control to whatever is raging. When we give our mind control, we think we have to go along with whatever upset, worry, anxiety, or depressive thought might be occurring. Being responsible to it means going along with whatever’s occurring.” He then says, “You can learn to be responsible for your mind. And that’s essentially what Scripture instructs us to do. We can learn to direct our mind to reflect God’s will. And because experiencing emotions based on thinking this way is a biochemical event, following scriptural principles creates a different biochemical solution, the kind that God desires for us. Clearly, it’s a better way

A thought by H. Norman Wright DMin. from his book, A Better Way to Think: Using Positive Thoughts to Change Your Life (p.16). Baker Publishing Group (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) So, what does he mean by that? Norman says, “Self-talk is simply the thoughts you tell yourself. For example, Melanie may step out of the house, notice it’s raining, and think, ‘Great, the yard needed some water.’ On the other hand, her friend Rhonda, who feeds herself a steady diet of negative self-talk, would probably think, ‘Oh, rats! Now I’ll get my hair and shoes wet. And it will be rough driving into work. And I’ll probably catch a cold. And...’ You get the picture.” Norman goes on, “Thoughts follow specific pathways in the brain. When a thought occurs, the part of the brain called the thalamus goes to work making sense of the information and running it through the part of the brain that stores memories, the amygdala. In her book, Dr. Leaf notes: Remembe