.
The following excerpt is from this link:
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ASK...
QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR SEXUAL IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOR, AND GOD'S WORD
How do you shut off your negative thoughts when nothing else will work?
How do you shut off your negative thoughts when nothing else will work?
Lambert: Pray! Hand them over to God. Augustine said, "You can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair." Jesus said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of the heart are the issues of life." What we read, the images we watch, the words we hear go into memory storage in the brain for later recall. Storing the Word of God in one's heart is the best strategy known to man. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."
Penny: The more you know Christ, the more you will love Him if you are His. So the first step is to totally commit your life into His keeping and be born again in the Spirit. Please read Romans 8:1-39 regarding the inability of the sinful man to please God. After you have been put to death in Christ and raised new in Him with your new life, crowd in close to Him. We truly are like sheep and sheep are the stupidest of all herd animals. We desperately need our Shepherd. Read His word, the Bible, and pray constantly. Short prayers like "Jesus, help," are not ignored at all. Perhaps the most important point here is not to seek "experiential Christianity," which depends on emotional highs with the Lord, or what are known as "mountaintop experiences." They will come, but they are gifts from Him. Stay self-controlled, stay alert, stay focused. He is your Lord; He is your Shepherd. Let Him constantly come into your mind to renew and refresh it. Be willing to acknowledge sins of thought, knowing He is faithful to forgive and He will renew a right spirit within you.
The question is, do you want that? Or do you prefer those negative thoughts for one reason or another? They can be very comfortable simply because they are so familiar. Do you want to be close to Christ (which is unfamiliar territory, heaven or not), or do you prefer your own natural way? His way is NOT easy; but He will always be there with you to give you the strength and guidance for it.
.
The following excerpt is from this link:
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ASK...
QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR SEXUAL IDENTITY AND BEHAVIOR, AND GOD'S WORD
How do you shut off your negative thoughts when nothing else will work?
How do you shut off your negative thoughts when nothing else will work?
Lambert: Pray! Hand them over to God. Augustine said, "You can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from nesting in your hair." Jesus said, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of the heart are the issues of life." What we read, the images we watch, the words we hear go into memory storage in the brain for later recall. Storing the Word of God in one's heart is the best strategy known to man. Psalm 119:11 says, "I have laid up thy word in my heart, that I might not sin against thee."
Penny: The more you know Christ, the more you will love Him if you are His. So the first step is to totally commit your life into His keeping and be born again in the Spirit. Please read Romans 8:1-39 regarding the inability of the sinful man to please God. After you have been put to death in Christ and raised new in Him with your new life, crowd in close to Him. We truly are like sheep and sheep are the stupidest of all herd animals. We desperately need our Shepherd. Read His word, the Bible, and pray constantly. Short prayers like "Jesus, help," are not ignored at all. Perhaps the most important point here is not to seek "experiential Christianity," which depends on emotional highs with the Lord, or what are known as "mountaintop experiences." They will come, but they are gifts from Him. Stay self-controlled, stay alert, stay focused. He is your Lord; He is your Shepherd. Let Him constantly come into your mind to renew and refresh it. Be willing to acknowledge sins of thought, knowing He is faithful to forgive and He will renew a right spirit within you.
The question is, do you want that? Or do you prefer those negative thoughts for one reason or another? They can be very comfortable simply because they are so familiar. Do you want to be close to Christ (which is unfamiliar territory, heaven or not), or do you prefer your own natural way? His way is NOT easy; but He will always be there with you to give you the strength and guidance for it.
.