"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…and the God of peace will be with you." Philippians 4:8-9

No one likes to empty the trash, it’s a dirty job, but if you don’t get it out, it gets worse! Sometimes the junk mail can stack up and take over our space.

I want to remind all of us that the start of a new year is a great time to empty the junk mail that is collected in our heads and start fresh with God’s victory over our thoughts!

Paul put it perfectly when he penned, “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).”

Transforming our minds is paramount if we are going to live victoriously in the new year! Think of it this way, if we’re not fighting the mind battles we’re not winning the mind games. Simply put, changing our thinking changes our outcome, because bad thinking always leads to bad outcomes. That’s exactly what King David said, “For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

The greatest thing we can do for ourselves as we start 2025 is to get control of our thought life before our thoughts get control of our life! Have you ever heard a coach tell his players to think badly about themselves? To think how they can lose the game? No way! God is our life coach, and He wants us to think triumphantly through our trials and believe boldly for the blessings so that we can claim the victory over our messy minds!

Let’s not forget that we’ve got the old man’s thoughts going on in the new man’s mind! The Bible gives us authority to take off the soiled and sinful mindset and put on the spiritual mind of Christ! Think about this – the longest conversation we have during the day is with ourselves. Take authority over your mind and you will take captive your thoughts!

Yes, there are bad things happening in our lives today and bad things will happen tomorrow, but we have the power to choose joy over tears, winning over whining, and we can choose to be the overcomer instead of being overcome! Consider these powerful words that the apostle Paul wrote 2000 years ago that still echoes true today, “I am sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, poor, yet making many rich, having nothing and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).” Let’s take some time today and inventory all the great things we have in Christ Jesus – we’ll be amazed at what Jesus does for us all the time! If we spend more of our day reflecting and thinking about what the Lord has done, we will remind ourselves just what the Lord will do!

If we want clean minds, clean thoughts, and clean lives, then we need to begin this new year with cleaning out the collected junk in our messy minds!

Standing in the gap,

Pastor Paul