Browsing Tag

thoughts & thinking

Daily Devotion and Bible Verse – Phil 4:8

 

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Phil 4:8 (NLT)

I always loved playing tennis in school. I wasn’t the best athlete on my team, but I was able to be a decent player by changing how I thought about the game. The defining moment for me was in a match where I had lost five games in a row. For some reason I just couldn’t seem to score points on my opponent.

My coach pulled me aside between games and challenged me to just keep thinking positive and believe that I was going to beat my opponent. With those words ringing in my head, I stepped back on the court. During the rest of that match, my opponent hardly scored another point. I came back from behind to win.

That’s a lot like what today’s Bible verse is talking about. This verse tells us to fix our thoughts on good things. Whether it’s a sporting event, a math test, or a relationship, what you think about it matters. If you think thoughts of failure and defeat, that is how you will see yourself and how you will act.

Today’s Truth: What you choose to think about matters. Choose to think good thoughts!

Choose to do what this Bible verse says and think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. As you do, you’ll find that you have more success and more fun in life!

 

What you think about matters

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – Philippians 4:8

Daily Bible Verse for Teens
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” – Philippians 4:8

It can be really easy to fall into the trap of thinking about the wrong things. We all do it at times, and before long, if you leave your negative thoughts unchecked, they can lead you to become upset or discouraged.

In the Bible we are encouraged to think on good things. This shows us that there’s power in what you think about. Your thoughts can lead to a change in your actions and direction. The thoughts you think can determine where you go in life.

So choose to redirect your thoughts when you begin to get down on yourself. Replace those negative thoughts with things that are positive, things that God would say about you or the situation you’re facing. By choosing good thoughts, you’re setting yourself up for success in the future!

3 Things Your Phone Teaches About the Power of Thoughts

Teen and Youth Devotion on The Power of Your Thoughts

If you’re like most teenagers, you love taking pictures with your iPod, camera, or phone. Each picture you take shows a piece of your life. And some of these are so great, you have to share them on social media or Snapchat so all your friends can see.

I want you to imagine that every thought you have in a day is like a picture stored on your phone. Some you look at and decide “that wasn’t too great- I look stupid” and hit delete.

Did you know that your thoughts are similar to photos? They contain an image. Some thoughts you should choose to keep and others you choose delete. Every day you can scroll through your thoughts and ask yourself “is this thought worth keeping?” So with that in mind, here’s some tips to help you develop good mental pictures:

1 – Bad Thoughts Can Be Deleted

If you have a thought that is a negative image, one that doesn’t make you smile, then delete it from your thinking.

Many times, we don’t take any time to think about what we think about. Getting into the habit of deleting bad thoughts is important because our self-image is based upon how we think about ourselves.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Phil 4:8 (NLT)

The Bible talks about fixing your thoughts on what is true, honorable, right, pure and admirable. If you’re continually thinking thoughts that aren’t good according to this verse’s standard, you should be deleting them. Don’t spend tons of time thinking about things that aren’t good. Instead delete those thoughts and replace them with good thoughts.

2 – Thoughts Can Be Shared.

Each time you take a picture on your phone you have the choice to share it or not. If you really like how you look, most likely, you’ll choose to share it on some social media platform. You want others to see what you’re up to and interact with what you shared.

As you know, everything you post on social media sites reflects you. It’s like a billboard that tells everybody what you are thinking and doing. So ask yourself, what image are you portraying? Are you posting your fears, your emotions, your hang-ups?

The things you post and speak reflect your thoughts. If you’re constantly speaking negative things and posting negative things, it’s a reflection what you’re thinking about. If you wonder how people see you, just check out what you’re sharing with others.

There’s nothing wrong with sharing your thoughts, but what you say and share often affects your attitude. If you’re always speaking and sharing negative things, often your attitude and outlook will follow. Your attitude is determined by what you think about. Spend time thinking good things and your outlook and attitude will follow.

There’s power in sharing positive things and avoiding spending too much time talking and sharing things that are negative.

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Tip #3 – Thoughts = Success

The images you look at daily determine your success online and in life. If you always look at the images where you don’t look good, you’ll begin to believe that you’re ugly or don’t measure up. What you look at on your phone matters.

In the same way, your thoughts are linked to what you look at and listen to. Take some time to examine what you’re letting your eyes and ears feast on. If you’re having a hard time keeping your thoughts positive, pay attention to what you’re looking at and listening to.

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If you want to propel your life forward, begin to examine what you’re thinking about. If you have a thought isn’t a good one don’t hesitate…delete it from your thinking. Thinking good thoughts will help you achieve success.

“We take every thought captive and make it obey Christ. ” – 2 Corinthians 10:5 (TEV)

Pray: Father, help me listen to my thoughts more and delete those that I don’t want developed in me. Help me not always say what I feel, but instead say what I want in my life and what will help other people. Help me to come to You with my hurts and feelings in prayer. Then what others hear from me will encourage them.

Read: Battlefield of the Mind for Teens: Winning the Battle in Your Mind by Joyce Meyer

If you’re leading a group for students, check out these discussion questions. They go along with this devotion and will help reinforce what this devotion is all about!

Help! My Parents Are Getting A Divorce – Part 2

parents-divorce-teen-advice-lesson

Dealing with your parents’ divorce is not a cake walk. Perhaps one of the main things bothering you emotionally is unforgiveness. Its easy when divorce happens to want to place blame on someone or even on yourself. You may think that if you had done something different, your parents wouldn’t be divorcing. Or perhaps you might place the blame on your mom because you think if she had just been more understanding to your dad, your family might not be falling apart.

In these situations, its easy to place blame and point fingers. You might want to hold a grudge to one parent or maybe even both. You find yourself being upset at them and wishing that things were different. So how do you begin working through these feelings of unforgiveness?

The first thing to do is forgive yourself. Your parent’s decision to divorce most likely had nothing to do with you. You’ve got to realize that you are not to blame. You have to let go of those thoughts that come and make you think that the divorce was all your fault. That is simply not true. You have got to choose to line your thoughts up with God’s word and choose to think on the truth. The truth in this situation is that your parents are divorcing because of reasons outside of you and your control. It is not your fault, so don’t listen to the lies that say it is.

Secondly, you’ve got to let go of any unforgiveness that you’re holding against others. You might blame your mom, or your dad for the divorce. And while it may be one of their faults, you’ve got to look past that. You’ve got to choose to forgive your parents for getting a divorce. You’ve got to choose to not dwell on their shortcomings but rather love them with God’s love.

The Bible talks about forgiveness in Matthew 18. There it tells us that we are to forgive and keep forgiving time and time again.

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. – Matthew 18:21-22

 

We are to forgive and keep forgiving. No matter what happens. No matter how much your parents don’t deserve it, we are told to keep forgiving.

One of the most important steps to overcoming after divorce is learning to forgive. Forgiveness will keep your heart right and keep you from getting bitter toward others. Choose to follow what God’s word says and forgive others and yourself.

 

Check out this book: Abba: Finding Comfort in the Father After Your Parents’ Divorce it deals with a lot of the emotions that you have to work through after a divorce and offers good advice and ways to allow God to help you heal after the pain of your parent’s divorce.

 

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What To Do When You Have a Bad Day

Youth Devotion - Bad Day

Bad days are the worst! Sometimes its just the smallest thing that can bring a bad day on. Maybe you showed up late for work and got in trouble by your boss. Perhaps, you forgot your homework. No matter what the situation is, sometimes bad days just happen. Here are a few ways you can combat the bad day blues.

  1. Realize bad days happen for everyone.  Bad days happen for every person. So don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad day. Realize that tomorrow will be a new day and you can get new perspective on the situation.
  2. Realize that you are not facing these things alone. It can be easy to feel like you’re all alone or that no one really cares about you and your situation. The truth is God is always there for you to lean on and talk to. He gets it and understands what you’re going through.
  3. Think on what is true. It can be really easy to focus on the bad, and the negative about your bad day. Realize though that this might not be 100% reality. The situation might seem worse to you than it really is. Don’t feel too bad about it, but rather choose to think on good things.
    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” – Philippians 4:8

Bad days happen to everyone. Its important when bad days come to take time to focus on getting God’s perspective and God’s help on the situation. Many times, a situation seems worse than it actually is. By keeping God in the mix, it helps you not focus on the wrong things and draw on God’s strength and ability when facing a bad day!

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The Truth About David and Goliath

Youth Devotion on David and Goliath

Remember the story of David and Goliath? David was a young man who had learned how to conquer scary things like lions and bears and giants. He wasn’t a body builder or skilled soldier. What he knew was God and His Word and how to conquer his own fears. How did he do it?

He may have felt “Wow, Goliath, you are so big and strong, I could never kill you. Everybody is afraid of you and so am I.”  But he didn’t allow those thoughts to stay in his mind and he definitely didn’t speak them out. Instead:
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]
1Sa 17:45  And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1Sa 17:46  Jehovah will deliver you into my hand today, and I will strike you and take your head from you and give the bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air today, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 1Sa 17:47  And all this multitude shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah’s, and He will give you into our hands.”[/quote]

The first thing we can see from this is that David had a relationship with God and trusted what God said He would do for him. Then he looked at the situation from the perspective that he represented God’s kingdom and all that kingdom had was at his disposal. Then he activated that kingdom by speaking what he wanted to have happen. That gave him the courage to step out and conquer.

What do you need to conquer today? Do you see that  “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world”? Do you realize you have been given the name of Jesus and His blood and Word as spiritual weapons that you activate with your mouth? Then take the next step- say what you want to see happen- that is faith!

If you will say “it is written……and that’s the way it’s going to be” that’s the way the outcome will be

Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you gave me spiritual weapons. I believe and say It’s going to be a great day. I say that I am a blessing. I say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I say I am more than a conqueror.

Courage can be developed. David developed his courage by encouraging himself in the Lord. That means he didn’t wait for somebody else to encourage him- he talked to himself the right way and just did the right thing afraid. In spite of some thoughts that may have come, he didn’t allow those thoughts to stop his progress.

How Reading Your Bible Is Like A Garden

Devotion for Teens on Reading The BIbleAs a kid I would help Mom weed the garden. I loved the fresh produce from the garden, but didn’t really realize that if we didn’t weed we wouldn’t eat the good stuff. Have you ever thought about your devotional time being like tending a garden?

Mar 4:18  And these are those being sown among thorns; such as hear the Word,
Mar 4:19  and the cares of this world, and the deceit of riches, and the lust about other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Everyday there are weeds- thorns- coming up in your mind. What are these weeds? They are distracting thoughts, they are worried thoughts, they are thoughts that deceive us about who we are and what we want, lusting after things rather than God

These thoughts choke the Word in our hearts and cause there not to be fruit or results from our time in the Word with God. It’s not the mere act of planting God’s Word in our mind – it’s concentrating on it like we would a garden ensuring the weeds don’t choke out the good seed. It’s pulling out by the roots those thoughts that don’t line up with God’s truth. It’s a daily thing to do and when done will allow the good seed to grow in our lives. So daily sow the Word of God and also pull out the weed-thoughts of doubt, distraction, worry, lust and deception and watch the garden grow!

Pray: Father, today I plant the good seed of Your Word in my heart. I also pay attention to thoughts that would distract, worry me, deceive me or take me from You and pull these out so they die. Your Word is producing fruit in me.

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What Pinball Can Teach You About What You Think

Unfortunately,  I’ve always been slightly addicted to the game of pinball. There’s something exciting about the flashing lights, the music, and most of all, trying to keep that ball in play by hitting it with the flippers.

Pinball is a little difficult in the sense that the crazy little ball never wants to stay in play. It always is trying to get to the bottom. Each time it nears the drain at the bottom, I remember trying with all my might to hit those flippers hard enough to keep that ball in play.

Pinball reminds me a lot of what the Bible says about our thoughts. The Bible encourages us to get rid of thoughts that aren’t good and fill our mind with those that are good. [quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. – Philippians 4:8 (God’s Word)[/quote]

To me, this verse is telling us that when a thought comes that isn’t of God, we are to flip it away from our thinking. Just like in Pinball, when the ball comes near the drain at the bottom, we are to flip it away from us, when thoughts come to us that aren’t of God we are to flip those out of our thinking.

So when thoughts come to you and you begin to think that no one understands or cares about you, choose to flip those thoughts from your thinking. Don’t grab a hold of that thought or even entertain it. Kick it out of your thinking and you’ll see that you’ll quickly begin seeing results in the way you think.

 

Your Bad Day Checklist

Teen Devotion with a Checklist for having a bad dayBad days happen to all of us. Unfortunately, life isn’t perfect and sometimes it just doesn’t go as you wanted it to. With that in mind, we’ve put together an awesome checklist to help you beat the bad day blues.

[list type=”check”]

  • Don’t blame God – Bad things are bound to happen to you. This doesn’t mean that God is trying to teach you a lesson or is punishing you. So when hard times come, don’t place the blame on God. God is a good God and He wants the best for your life. James 1:17
  • You Are in Control of Your Attitude – You might not be able to control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude in tough times. You can choose to stay positive and have a good attitude when a bad day happens. Philippians 4:8
  • Do something for yourself – Sometimes when having a bad day, it helps to do something special for yourself. It might be something simple like buying yourself a candy bar or taking a long walk. Whatever it is, find something that you can do for yourself to help you unwind.
  • Recognize that tomorrow is coming – Your day might be bad today, but tomorrow is on its way. Sometimes, things seem better in a day or two. Time really does help in lots of different situations. Philippians 3:13

[/list]
Unfortunately, bad days happen to everyone. When you’re having a bad day choose to put things into perspective and realize that your life isn’t over. You may have had a bad day, but the good news is that you’ve got God on your side. God will help see you through when you’re having a bad day.

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