Page 28 - March15-Catalyst

hoW overComers think
these words: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.”
An overcoming life embraces the disci- pline of Philippians 4:8, “ Finally, breth- ren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – medi- tate on these things.”
the uPWard thoughts of an over- Comer: a delight in love
An overcomer also looks upward to the risen Christ and experiences a delight in His unfailing love. He constantly rejoices in the source of an overcoming life – the victorious love of the Lord Je- sus.
In Romans 8:35-39 Paul expressed this in such a powerful way:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaugh- ter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that nei- ther death nor life, nor angels nor prin- cipalities nor powers, nor things pres- ent nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
While in college I memorized a
said:
poem by Walter D. Wintle that
If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you’d like to win but you think you can’t,
It’s almost a certain you won’t.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins, Is the one who thinks he can.
While this poem may just sound like a dose of “Positive Mental Attitude,” we know Proverbs 23:7 reminds us that “as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” I find that those who live a victorious Chris- tian life have certain patterns of thought that make the difference.
the inWard thoughts of an over- Comer: a disCiPline toWard Praise Last week’s devotional focused on the topic of biblical self-talk. With this concept in mind, I am reminded that an overcomer disciplines his internal conversation toward praise. Discipline involves regulating your thinking and conduct by principle – not emotion, im- pulse, or circumstances.
We’ve observed the mental discipline David employed when he wrote, “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance” (Psalm 42:5,11 & 43:5). Again in Psalm 103:1 & 2 he disciplined his thinking with
28 CityLight.org
March 2015