The excerpt I’m sharing with you today from Bill Bright’s Promises caused me to do some soul searching…or maybe “mind” searching would be more accurate. What consumes my thoughts? Not what do I want to fill my mind, but what am I pouring in, mulling over and tucking away?
I grew up learning about the power of positive thinking. I know it can work, but I’ve also become painfully aware of its shortcomings. Positive thinking can only take you so far. I wonder if the reason the church is overflowing with frustrated, disappointed, disillusioned Christians is because they are trying to “positive think” their way to the abundant (full and meaningful) life God promises. I hope you’ll read this to the end. The last sentence is the key and most of us miss it.
Promises: As a man thinketh… by Bill Bright copyright 1993
“Every day in every way I am becoming better and better,” declared the French philosopher Emile Coué. But it is said that he committed suicide.
Positive thinking by a nonbeliever without a biblical basis is often an exercise in futility. Though I agree with the basic concept of positive thinking, so long as it is related to the Word of God, there is a difference between positive thinking and supernatural thinking. We do not think positively so that we can know Christ better; we come to know Christ better, which results in supernatural thinking. The basis of our thinking is God’s Word; supernatural thinking is based upon the attributes of God.
When a man says, “I am going to be enthusiastic, by faith, as an act of the will,” or “I am going to rejoice, by faith, as an act of the will,” he is simply drawing upon his rights as a child of God, according to the promises of God.
In supernatural thinking, we apply the promises of God, knowing with certainty that if we ask anything according to His will, He will hear and answer us.
Some well-known Christian leaders emphasize “positive thinking” and “possibility thinking.” They are men whom I admire and with whom I agree basically in this regard because the Christian life is a positive life. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” Proverbs 23:7
But I prefer to use what I believe to be the more scriptural definition of the Christian life—supernatural thinking, which includes—but goes far beyond—both positive thinking and possibility thinking.
Final thought from me…
Your view of God: It always comes down to our view of God. I’ve been a Christian for a long time and yet I can still allow my mind to be consumed with the wrong things, weighed down with problems and overwhelmed with trying to “fix” everything. I’m learning to fix my eyes on who God is and think on Him first. I’m seeing His promises become reality and problems become opportunities to see Him work…supernatural thinking!