HOW DO YOU MANAGE YOUR HEART / YOUR THOUGHTS ~ by tonton Christian

The skill with which you manage your thoughts must determine your fellowship with the Lord and with those around you. This is why we must feed our thoughts with what is pure, true, and honorable (Philippians 4:8). The life we lead is the result of what we have allowed the Holy Spirit or the enemy to dominate in our thoughts.

King Solomon insists that we guard our heart above all else (Proverbs 4:23). So when a person does something that does not glorify God, it is because the enemy has taken their thoughts hostage (Matthew 15:19). This means that before an act is committed, the seed had already first been sown in the person's heart. These are spiritual dictators that oppress people's lives.

In 1 John 5:4 it says that "this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." This "faith comes from the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). In other words, the very ability that produces faith in us overcomes the world. What feeds our thoughts, and therefore our faith?

Samson is the example of a man of God whose thoughts were infiltrated and dominated by the dark powers known as 'the prince of the power of the air' (Judges 16:16). This strong man, chosen to deliver God's people, was defeated by the words he kept listening to from a woman who pressured him relentlessly.

The Lord asks us to meditate on His Word day and night, because HE knows that the enemy's main mission is to snatch away the Word that has been sown in us (Matthew 13:19). What is shown to us through the five senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing) corrupts our thoughts. Some people, blinded by the riches of this world, fall into discouragement because the enemy comes to corner them psychologically. They blame themselves, lose their enthusiasm, their perseverance, and their capacity for zeal and faith in God. As a result, they fall into a spiritual sleep, a spiritual death follows, and frustration sets in — as was the case for Samson (Judges 16:20-21).

The fact that Samson's eyes were gouged out means he no longer had any vision. Many children of God, as a result, no longer seek to discover what God's will is for their lives. Premature death can follow. So let us always learn to examine the thoughts that come to us (Proverbs 23:7). Can the Holy Spirit empty you of your joy, of your strength, or push you to slander or mistreat your neighbor? The answer is NO. Even in the face of sin or failure, God can still change everything, because failure before man is not failure before God. For the Lord only desires that we repent and return to Him, because He is faithful and just to forgive us (1 John 1:9).

God took Jonah's disobedience and used it to announce the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:40). Jesus Christ, even though He knew some of His apostles would betray and deny Him, still chose them, because He saw in them the fulfillment of God's plan for the salvation of humanity. It is the same for us: the Lord's gaze on us is not tied to the sin we have committed, but rather to the divine calling He has placed on our lives — for He calls us saints, gods, sons of the Most High (Psalm 82:6).

📎 A PDF handout was attached to this teaching on the old site: "COMMENTS EST-CE QUE TU GÈRES TON COEUR_ TES PENSÉES ~ par tonton Christian.pdf." The original download link could not be recovered automatically — please re-upload the file from the dashboard.