"We must thoughtfully take that Word in, dwell upon it, ponder its meaning, explore its implications—especially as it relates to our own lives. We must thoughtfully set it into practice. In doing so, we will be assisted by God’s grace in ways far beyond anything we can understand on our own"(Dallas Willard, A thinking Faith).
This quote from Dallas Willard on thinking and the role it plays in the Christian life was part of a message I shared with Abba Church recently.
We all know our thoughts have great power in our lives. Our thoughts can hold us captive to ideas and habits that are not in line with scripture or they can draw us closer into fellowship with Jesus. If you are like me you have probably even asked yourself if it’s even possible to change the way we think?
The answer is a resounding Yes! God truly wants to be a part of our thought life. God in all his wisdom has given us direction on how to bring His kingdom into our thought life.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing
the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s
will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
(Romans 12:2NLT)
Paul challenges us to evaluate the ways the world around us shapes our thoughts and actions. He then invites us to allow God to transform the very ways in which we think, knowing that this has the power to transform us. But how do we do it?
One way I have learned to do this over the years is to ask myself these three simple questions when I read scripture. These questions help me to engage with what God is saying in the same way Dallas describes.
Those simple questions are:
What does this tell/show me about God?
What does this tell me about myself?
How can I put this into practice in my life?
Often, after reading scripture, I will think through these questions as I write down my thoughts. I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me. He might give me a little prayer to pray or other insight that I didn’t have before. This practice has been transformative in my life. It helps me to carry what I have read all day long.
I encourage you to try this little experiment today. Set aside a few minutes to read Ephesians 1:1-12. After you have read it, take time to ask yourself these three questions and write down what God shows you. Spend some time thinking about how you can put it into practice in your life. Then begin to thoughtfully put it into practice.
These simple questions are part of my personal devotions. I have adapted them from a bible study method called a 3-Thirds group or Discover Bible Study. It is one of the tools we learned at Jonathan training through Team Expansion and is one of the strategies being used here in Thailand and around the world.
-Jason