In Proverbs 23:7 it says “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.”
Did you know that people can say one thing but really be thinking another? Just listen to them talk. People actually live according to what they say after the word “but.” I don’t care what they say first before this conjunction; it’s what comes after that you hear what they are really thinking and believing in their heart.
Example: “So and so is a good man, we are lucky to have him for a pastor; but…” now we are going to hear what they really think about the pastor. “But he talks too much.” “But his sermons are a bit dry.” “But…But…But.”
Sadly, most Christians typically say the wrong things after the but. We put God’s truth before the but and our situations or feelings after. We say things like, “I know Jesus loves me, but it doesn’t feel like it” or “I know God is my sufficiency, but I don’t really have what I need,” or “I know I can do all things through Christ, but that’s easier said than done”, or “but I’m only human,” etc.
Now when we do this to ourselves, where are we living? We are living in the negative thinking within. Remember, “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.”
We need to learn to live out of God’s truth, to live out of the life of Christ within us. Our enemy the devil doesn’t care how much God-talk we use in our lives as long as we put it before the “but”. God’s truth belongs after the “but”. (I pray you are grasping this.)
A name for putting God-talk after the “but” where it belongs is The Holy But. Our Lord used it in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, “Father, take this cup from me, yet not my will be done, but yours.”
The Holy But is a bridge. It moves us from our negative thinking to faith in Christ Jesus. We don’t deny our circumstances because they are real, but they should prompt us to move through faith into living in the truth of the life within.
LIFE LESSON: To operate the Holy But, we have to put our circumstances first and God’s truth last. This will move us from our circumstances to the solution – the life within… Christ in you the hope of glory. Here are a couple examples:
“I feel awfully weak, but Christ is my strength.”
“I’m in pain, but Christ is my sufficiency.”
Bottom line…we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. As a man thinketh, so is he…no ifs, ands, or buts. Thank you for your prayers and financial support, we appreciate you as a partner with Growing in Grace Ministries for the Glory of God. You are the best!