As A Woman Thinketh
Shalom Sisterhood,
Let us continuously praise the Qadosh Name, YAHWAH, for His mercies endure forever!!!
Sisters, with this topic we will attempt to discuss our "thought life." We need to begin to watch our thoughts very very carefully. Satan attacks all of us in many ways, but perhaps his most vigorous assault is brought to bear upon the thought life. Satan knows that what we think, eventually over time may lead to actions. The greatest arena of sin in our life is not usually in the area of actions, but in the arena of the thought life. Pride, for example, is a sin of the mind; so are lust, jealousy, suspicion and discouragement. All of us have trouble with undesirable thoughts popping into our heads. These thoughts can be surprising, confusion, embarrassing and even condemning. Most of us would not want the thoughts that go through our minds to be flashed on a screen for all to see.
The secret thoughts, however, that pop into our head are not always an accurate barometer of our spiritual condition. It is what a person continues to think about and meditate upon---that reveals his character and relationship with YAHWAH and Yahoshua. While we cannot completely get rid of the sin-nature we can under the leadership of Ruakh Ha Qadosh take our thoughts captive. The mind is like a garden that can be cultivated and worked to produce beautiful flowers or it can be a garden that produces thorns, thistles and weeds, please hear me this morning sisterhood!!!
Discipline begins in the mind by conscious thought exercise. The mind, like the body and spirit, must be exercised to think good and wholesome things. This is what Scripture calls "renewing the mind". Yahoshua taught that what we believe comes from what is in our heart (mind). "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45. Good thoughts produce good fruit, while bad thoughts produce evil fruit. Whatever we think and meditate upon will eventually be exposed for others to see.
Thinking right is actual spiritual warfare. The mind is the battlefield on which Satan tries to defeat us. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we read: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Elohym, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Messiah;" Taking our thoughts captive means once a wrong thought presents itself to us, we must refuse to receive them and stop meditating upon them. We are not to give negative and wrong thoughts strength by 'chewing' on them, did ya hear me? In order to be pure in our actions (what we speak with our mouths and what we do in our bodies) we must get to the root of what we allow to occupy our mind. We need to plant pure seeds (thoughts) and uproot and destroy bad seeds that may eventually lead produce a harvest of sinful acts.
"Rejoice in YAHWAH always; and again, I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. YAHWAH is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto Elohym. And the peace of Elohym, which passes all understand, shall keep your hearts and minds through Messiah Yahoshua. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the Elohym of peace shall be with you." Phil 4:5-9
Discipline begins in the mind by conscious thought exercise. The mind, like the body and spirit, must be exercised to think good and wholesome things. This is what Scripture calls "renewing the mind". Yahoshua taught that what we believe comes from what is in our heart (mind). "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Luke 6:45. Good thoughts produce good fruit, while bad thoughts produce evil fruit. Whatever we think and meditate upon will eventually be exposed for others to see.
Thinking right is actual spiritual warfare. The mind is the battlefield on which Satan tries to defeat us. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, we read: "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of Elohym, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Messiah;" Taking our thoughts captive means once a wrong thought presents itself to us, we must refuse to receive them and stop meditating upon them. We are not to give negative and wrong thoughts strength by 'chewing' on them, did ya hear me? In order to be pure in our actions (what we speak with our mouths and what we do in our bodies) we must get to the root of what we allow to occupy our mind. We need to plant pure seeds (thoughts) and uproot and destroy bad seeds that may eventually lead produce a harvest of sinful acts.
"Rejoice in YAHWAH always; and again, I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. YAHWAH is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto Elohym. And the peace of Elohym, which passes all understand, shall keep your hearts and minds through Messiah Yahoshua. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the Elohym of peace shall be with you." Phil 4:5-9
Receive The Wisdom and Bring Forth Good Fruit! 
You Can't Afford The Luxury of a Negative Thought
PART ONE--THE DISEASE
Or Why Are We Doing This to Ourselves?
Why do we use the power of our mind to create a negative reality? If our mind can generate health, wealth, and happiness as easily as illness, poverty, and despair, why aren't we healthy, wealthy, and happy all the time?
The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them. P. D. OUSPENSKY
If a genie appeared and offered you a choice--health, wealth, and happiness or illness, poverty, and despair--which would you choose? If the former is the obvious choice, why do we sometimes choose the negative? There must be something else--something deeper--generating the impulse to think negatively.
Although you may have another word to describe the phenomenon, allow me to call this spring of negative thinking unworthiness. It's more than just a feeling or a passing thought; it's a ground of being, a deep-seated belief that "I'm just not good enough." Other words for it are insecurity, undeservingness, and low self-esteem.
Unworthiness undermines all our positive ideas and validates all our negative thoughts.
When we think something good about ourselves, unworthiness pops up and says, "No, you're not." When we desire something positive for ourselves, unworthiness says, "You don't deserve it." When something good happens to us, unworthiness says (often with our own lips), "This is too good to be true!"
You have no idea what a poor opinion I have of myself-- and how little I deserve it. W. S. GILBERT
When we think something bad about ourselves, unworthiness agrees, "Yes, that's true, and furthermore . . . . " When we tell ourselves we can't have or do something we want, unworthiness says, "Now you're being realistic." When something bad happens to us, unworthiness is the first to point out, "See? I told you so."
Jack Canfield describes unworthiness as a vulture sitting on your shoulder, squawking in your ear an endless stream of "You can't do it!" "You're not good enough!" "Don't even try!" "Who do you think you are?" "You'll never make it!" "Settle down!" "You don't deserve it!" "Somebody better than you should have it!"
Some people cover their unworthiness with a self-confidence and bravado bordering on arrogance. me. Their cover-up encompasses a self-indulgence and self-absorption that are, well, selfish. These people (it appears on the surface) could use a healthy dose of unworthiness. But, in fact, they are merely lost in a desperate attempt to hide--from themselves as much as from anyone else--the fact that they just don't feel worth it. They think the unworthiness is real, not just an illusion, and they respond by concealing it rather than laughing at it. (Did you ever try to conceal a vulture? It can be pretty funny to everyone but the person trying to conceal it.)
If unworthiness is so fundamental, does this mean we're born with it? I believe humans were born to have joy and to have it more abundantly; that the birthright of everyone is loving, caring, sharing, and abundance. All the negative stuff has just been layered on top of our essential core of goodness. (Not that there isn't strong genetic predispositioning--but that's another book.)
The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day. JOHN MILTON
Where does unworthiness come from? A look at how children are raised might offer a clue.
Imagine a child--two, three, or four years old--playing alone in a room. An adult, usually a parent, is nearby. What for? To praise the child every five minutes? No. For "supervision." (Did your parents have super-vision? Mine did.) The adult is on hand "in case there's any trouble."
The child is playing and having a wonderful time. Two hours go by. The child is "behaving" wonderfully. The interaction with the adult world is minimal.
Suddenly, the child knocks a lamp off a table. CRASH! What happens next? Lots of interaction with the adult, almost all of it negative. Yelling, screaming ("This was my favorite lamp," "How many times have I told you?" "Bad, bad, bad") and probably some form of physical punishment (spanking, no more playing, "go to your room"). Almost the only interaction in two hours from the adult community was: "You are bad. Shame on you."
As an infant, we get unconditional, almost never-ending praise. Goo-goo ga-ga. Once we grow a little and begin exploring our world, much of our interaction with adults--the symbols of power, love, authority, and life itself--consists of being corrected. Don't do this. Don't do that.
If we draw a picture, we get praise. If we draw the same picture again, we get less praise. If we draw the same picture five times in a row, we are told to try something new.
If we pour jam on the cat, we are scolded. If we pour jam on the cat a second time, we are scolded more severely. If we pour jam on the cat five times, we may begin wishing that, like the cat, we had nine lives.
The more we do something good, the less praise we get for it. The more we do something bad, the more punishment we receive. Some children learn to do negative things just to get attention because they figure (using child-logic) that negative attention is better than no attention at all. To a child, being ignored can seem like abandonment.
Few parents nowadays pay any regard to what their children say to them. The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out. OSCAR WILDE
Inside, a part of us begins to add up all the times we're called "wonderful" and all the times we're called "bad." The bad seems to outnumber the wonderful.
We may begin to believe we are bad; that unless we do something new and remarkable and tremendous, we're not going to be thought of as good; that we must strive, work hard, and never disobey if we hope to get even a little appreciation; that our goodness must be earned because we are, after all, essentially bad.
Bad, unlovable, not good enough, undeserving, unworthy.
From this fertile ground spring our negative thoughts. Sure, we have a lot of positive thoughts, but we tend to believe the negative ones more. A positive thought, checked against this belief of unworthiness, is labeled "False." A negative thought feels at home. The unworthiness proclaims it true, accurate, right.
Another reason we don't feel quite as magnificent as we might is technology--the mass communication of sounds and images is a relatively new phenomenon.
A hundred years ago or so, if you played a musical instrument or sang with any degree of competence, you would be among the best any of your acquaintances had ever heard. (The phonograph wasn't invented until 1877.) If you danced, juggled, or "play acted," you were in demand for socials and other gatherings. (The first motion pictures weren't shown publicly until 1894.) If you read books or could write more than your name, you were considered a local scholar and called upon to read or write for those who could not--which was the majority of the population, by the way. (In 1880, only 2.5 percent of high-school aged children went to high school.)
Today, all our achievements are compared with the best of the best. We have become accustomed to the highest form of excellence as our standard to judge everything from intelligence ("Did you read about that three-year-old who memorized the entire Encyclopedia Britannica?") to brute force ("So you can lift car. Big deal. I saw this guy on TV who could pull a jumbo jet--with his teeth!") to absurdity ("You think that's big? I heard about a girl who could blow a bubble bigger than her whole body!")
You mean you can actually spend $70,000 at Woolworth's? BOB KRASNOWAfter seeing Ike and Tina Turner's house
One wonders, for example, if Beethoven would have been encouraged to follow his musical bent if,as a child, he had been constantly compared toMozart (who was twenty-six at the time of Beethoven's birth). Mozart made a living composing and performing at age five. Beethoven didn't become a professional musician until the ripe old age of eleven. If Mozart's childhood performances had been shown again and again on TV, one can imagine a seven-year-old Beethoven, struggling with a composition, being told, "Mozart did better than this when he was four!"
With the best-of-the-best as the standard, it's little wonder that our initial inklings of uniqueness, brilliance, and perhaps even genius can be trampled under the crushing hooves of "You think that's good? Well, I saw on TV . . . . "
In fact, we don't even need the critical "help" of others. We make our own comparisons (in which we lose) long before we dare to share our accomplishments or desires with others. With larger-than-life achievements and achievers on all media fronts, it's little wonder we might think our meager initial offerings--and, perhaps, we ourselves--don't make the grade.
No matter how good we may be, we just aren't good enough.
Focusing on the Positive
In any given moment, there is ample evidence to prove that life is a bed of thorns or a garden of roses. How we feel about life depends on where we place our attention, that is, what we focus upon.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet One perfect limousine, do you suppose? Ah no, it's always just my luck to get One perfect rose. DOROTHY PARKER
Did you ever notice that every time you are given a rose, the stem is covered with thorns? (If you take the thorns off, the flower wilts more quickly. Florists know this, which is why they leave the thorns on.) Do you say, "Why are you giving me this stick with thorns on it?" Of course not. You admire the beauty of the rose. Even if you prick yourself in your enthusiasm, it never seems to hurt--you are too engrossed in appreciating the rose and the person who gave it to you.
Right now, in this moment, without moving from where you are, you can find ample evidence to prove your life is a miserable, depressing, terrible burden, or you can find evidence to prove your life is an abundant, joyful, exciting adventure.
Let's start with the negative. Look at all the imperfections around you. No matter how good anything is, it could be better, couldn't it? Look for dirt, disorder, and dust. See all the things that need cleaning, repairing, and replacing? An endless array of clutter, chaos, and catastrophe assaulting your senses. And all those damn alliterations in this paragraph. Dis-gusting.
Now, explore the same environment with an attitude of gratitude and appreciation.
Look around the same area you just surveyed and find the good. You can start with whatever you're sitting or lying on. It's probably softer than aconcrete floor. Look at all the other objects you use but take for granted--glasses (both seeing and drinking), tables, windows, the walls and ceiling sheltering you from the elements. Consider the wonder of the electric light. A hundred years ago, you would have to have been very rich or very lucky to have had even one. And you probably have more than one--and a TV and a radio and many other electronic marvels.
What around you do you find aesthetically pleasing? A painting you haven't really looked at in years? The detail work on the clothes you're wearing? A flower? A vase? Wallpaper? Carpet? When was the last time you took a moment to appreciate colors?
One should sympathize with the joy, the beauty, the color of life-- the less said about life's sores the better. OSCAR WILDE
Did you notice that you tended to feel better when you focused on the positive things in your surroundings? The process of focusing on the positive to produce more positive feelings works the same with things even more intimate than your surroundings--your body, for example.
If you look for all the things wrong with the body, boy, are you going to find them. Pains here, bumps there, rough spots here, too much fat there--the list goes on and on (and, as we get older, goes on and on and on and on).
But take a look at all that's right with your body. Even if you have a pain in your left foot, you can be thankful there's not one in your right. How about all those processes we take for granted? Digestion, circulation, respiration, assimilation, thinking-- yes, we think without having to even think about it. And let's not forget the five senses. Some people take them so much for granted they can't name all five without thinking, "Let's see, what's the fifth one?"
It's as though there were two attorneys in your mind, one gathering evidence for "Life is Awful" and the other gathering evidence for "Life is Wonderful." You're the judge and can rule out any evidence you choose. Your decision is final. Which judicial ruling do you suppose would lead to more joy, happiness, peace, ease, and health?
Try thinking of love or something. CHRISTOPHER FRY
To focus on the positive is not to disregard certain warning signals of a negative nature that, if ignored, eventually lead to inconveniences at best and disaster at worst. (If we use these "negative" signals to avoid disaster, then they're not so negative after all. Some even call them guardian angels.)
Let's say you're driving down the freeway and the little light goes on, telling you you're running out of gas. I do not suggest ignoring that bit of "negativity" and focusing on how wonderful it is that none of the other warning lights is on. I suggest you get some gas.
Here, by the way, is where negative thinking comes in. The negative reality is that you're low on gas. Negative thinking begins the litany, "I wonder if I'm going to run out of gas before I reach the next station. What will I do if that happens? I'm in the middle of nowhere. What if some highway robbers get me? If I do get to a gas station, will it be the kind I have credit cards for? I bet it will be more expensive than in town. I bet it will be self-service and the pump will be dirty and my hands will smell funny after. I knew I should have filled up in town. Why am I so lazy and stupid?" Etc., etc., etc.
During this inner tirade (which, for accomplished negative thinkers, takes place in under five seconds) the driver, in his or her anxiety, usually speeds up, which only wastes gas.
We are wide-eyed in contemplating the possibility that life may exist elsewhere in the universe, but we wear blinders when contemplating the possibilities of life on earth. NORMAN COUSINS
What I suggest is this: take note of the negative information, decide what to do about it (whatever corrective action seems to be in order) and return to focusing on the positive (in this case the music, the scenery, the passengers) while working on eliminating the negative.
With medical conditions, it's good to keep track of symptoms, but it does no good to dwell on them. The positive thinker might deny the early symptoms of a disease, making a cure more difficult. The negative thinker might turn every mosquito bite into a killer bee sting.
Positive focusers take a middle road. They note symptoms accurately so they can be reported to their health-care provider. They make an appointment. Beyond that, there's no point in dwelling on the symptoms, so they turn their attention to things more positive.
While we're considering the idea that there is sufficient evidence in any given moment to prove that life is wonderful or that life is terrible, let's take a look at how this works even closer to home: in our memories of the past and our anticipation of the future.
Here, too, we can muddle in the negative: "Tommy wouldn't play with me when I was six." "I have to go to the dentist next week, and I hate the dentist."
Or, we can do positive thinking: "I'm winning the Oscar this year," when we've never been in a movie. "I'm going hiking and camping next week," when we've just had major surgery. "I have so many wonderful friends," when the phone hasn't rung in two weeks.
Or, we could try focusing on the good memories that actually happened and on realistic plans we look forward to with pleasure. "That movie on TV last night was so good." "Helen's coming to visit tomorrow; that will be nice." "The book I ordered should be arriving any day."
Yes, it's good to "live in the moment," but who does that all the time? As long as you're living in memories of the past and projections of the future, you might as well make them happy memories and joyful projections.
I will be giving some techniques later in which you can let your imagination run positively wild. There can be great value in this. What I'm talking about here is day-to-day, ordinary thinking. In my view, negative thinkers need to get their minds out of the sewer and positive thinkers need to get their heads out of the clouds.
Have I made a clear distinction between positive thinking and focusing on the positive? It's a subtle but important difference. Positive thinking imagines any wonderful thing at all, no matter how unrelated it is to the actual events of one's life. Focusing on the positive starts with what's real, what's actually taking place, and moves from there in a joyful direction.
If you spend all your time in a positive future, when will you appreciate the present? The present is the future you dreamed of long ago. Enjoy it.
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