CHANGING NEGATIVE THINKING: Our physical bodies are the temples of God, and we are therefore expected to take care of our bodies. If we maintain a healthy physical body, will that change our negative thinking?

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us, humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

Asking for God’s Help

Holy Father, our thoughts are impure, and evil continuously. Transform our hearts, transform our minds. Give us pure thoughts. In Jesus’ Name Amen

We have established that as human beings we are composed of four basic dimensions, the mental, the physical, the spiritual, and the social. These four components are interdependent. The disregard of one causes our life to be off, unbalanced, and far less effective. The point is that when we disregard one of the components, we are not operating on all four cylinders.

It is like driving a car on three brand-new tires and a ream. How far will you get?   To receive additional information on these four dimensions, review the previous lesson at SabbathSchoolDaily.com.

Because we are inherently sinners, resulting from what Adam and Eve did back in the Garden of Eden sin is attractive to us. Our tendency is to do evil. That is our nature. That’s why we are told in Psalm 1:1; Proverbs 5:1–8 that we should avoid places, things, and people that make us more inclined to sin.

Psalm 1:1 lets us know how we can be more successful at resisting evil by our choice of whom we seek guidance or counseling.

1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; (Psalms 1:1)

Proverbs 5:1-8 gives guidance on whom we should associate, especially those with whom we seek companionship.

1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom; Lend your ear to my understanding,

2 That you may preserve discretion, And your lips may keep knowledge.

3 For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil;

4 But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword.

5 Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell.

6 Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them.

7 Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

8 Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house, (Proverbs 5:1-8)

This is excellent counseling, but merely changing our environment or changing with whom we associate will not resolve the sin problem. Our problem with sin can be solved in only one way: we must let Jesus change our hearts, our mind, and how we think.

Our problem with sin and temptations can only be solved by the transformation of our hearts or minds. Like the leopard who cannot change his spots or the Ethiopian who cannot change the color of his sin, we cannot change our hearts.

But the good news is Jesus can. He can change our thoughts and feelings. This, however, is not to say we do not have to be concerned about our associates or the places we go for; they are guards against the temptation to sin.

Acknowledging our thoughts and feelings must change, Christ says: “

 ‘For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly’ ” (Mark 7:21, 22, NIV).

What does this tell us? It means that our minds need to be transformed for our bad behaviors to change.

Hear what the following verses say about the transformation of the mind:

 I Corinthians 2:16

16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:16)

Psalms 24:3-4

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalms 24:3-4) 

Romans 12:2

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Philippians 4:8

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.( Philippians 4:8)

Colossians 3:2

2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. (Colossians 3:2)

1 Corinthians 2:16 and Colossians 3:2 lets us know that we can have the mind of the Lord, the mind of Christ, such that even our “thoughts of the Lord.”

In Jeremiah 31:31–33, under the New Covenant or New Agreement God promised He would put His law in the minds of his people and write it on their hearts.

Jeremiah 31:31-33

31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31–33).

Hebrews 8:8–10; Hebrews 10:16 repeats this same promise.

Hebrews 8:8-10

8 Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—

9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

Hebrews 10:16

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” (Hebrews 10:16)

Similarly, in His Sermon on the Mount, or mountain, Jesus clarifies what is expected of us under God’s New Agreement or New Covenant.

This Sermon is found in Matthew 5:17–48. It is a must-read! Here Jesus broadened and deepened the meaning of God’s commandments to the level of thoughts and intentions.

Hence, we discover that Sin is not only something we do. Sin can also be something we think or feel if we allow our thoughts and feeling to consume us.

Therefore, we need to keep God’s word, which includes his commandments in our hearts and minds. Because sin originates in the mind.

But, can we say no to sin on our own? No, only by God’s mercy and grace working in our hearts and minds through the power of the Holy Spirit can we say no to sin.

 Remember our physical bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He will dwell in our temples, but we must allow Him to do so. With his help, we are able to resist the evil thoughts that come to our minds.  

So, our part is to ask Jesus to keep His promise to us to transform our minds, and it is our duty to place ourselves in a position not to sin. This requires that we be mindful of our associates, the things we do, what we watch, what we listen to, and the places we go.

Yet, in this life, we must remember that we can choose to sin anytime. Because we will always have sinful natures until Jesus comes. But when we let Jesus live in our hearts, if we are in Christ, we are fully covered by His righteousness. Although we are not yet perfect, we are considered already perfect in Him, according to Philippians 3:12–15.

12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. (Philippians 3:12–15)

You see, “When we are united to Christ, we have the mind of Christ. Out of our character shines purity and love.  Humility and truth control our life. The very expression of our countenance or demeanor changes. Christ abiding in our soul exerts a transforming power, and outwardly our lives reveal the peace and joy that rules supreme in our hearts.”—Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, book 1, p. 337 Adapted.

This transformation of the heart comes only by a daily surrender, a daily death to self, a daily determined effort, by faith, to be obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit that dwells within when we allow Jesus to come into our lives.

How nice it would be to short-circuit sinful thoughts. Is that possible? Find out on Day 5, p

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