Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences teaches that our thoughts shape our reality, and allowing negative patterns like doubt, anger, or bitterness to take root can block the good we desire. The Bible urges us to focus on what is true and praiseworthy, using our feelings as alarms to detect toxic thoughts. By intentionally replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, we regain control and move our lives in a positive direction.
THOUGHTS THE CREATIVE POWER
By Pastor Delbert Young
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
This series, and much more, can be found at sermonsbydelbertyoung.com and Delbert Young Sermons on YouTube.
Four key points from Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
1. The Bible instructs us to focus on positive thoughts
2. Our thoughts shape our reality
3. Negative thoughts can hinder progress
4. We can control our thoughts
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Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Scriptures: Philippians 4:8, Proverbs 23:7, Mark 7:21-23, Mark 11:23-25, Job 3:25-26, 2 Corinthians 10:5,
Philippians 4:8 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.
Why does the Bible instruct us to THINK ON GOOD THINGS? Why should I not allow my mind to run wild and think just about anything? We talked about how THINKING CREATES REALITY. Let’s examine some recent news stories where people allowed their minds to “run wild.” Perhaps this will help us see why we should control our thinking.
Anna Nicole Smith’s sad, sad death has recently been all over the news: the circus life, circus death, and finally, the circus funeral, all of which were the result of thinking “gone wild.” Success? Well, if you call gaining your fame as a playboy bunny playmate, being 26 years old and marrying an 89-year-old man who then dies, allowing your son to do drugs on which he overdosed and died, having a child of which any of at least 5 men could be the father and dying a drug-related death herself at age 39 if you call that success then she was the most successful person who ever lived.
How about Britney Spears, the girl that so many of your daughters idolize? She was the best-selling pop artist from 2000 to 2005. The 25-year-old has had two marriages, two divorces, and two pregnancies. She seems to enjoy exposing herself in public and has been in and out of drug rehab more times than I care to research. How did she get to this place in her life? How did Anna Nicole Smith get there? Everyone becomes who they are by their thoughts. That is why the Bible instructs us to control our thinking and only think good things.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Create who you want to be by your thoughts
Proverbs 23:7 For as he THINKETH in his heart, so is he:
Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil THOUGHTS, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and MAKE A MAN ‘unclean.
Your life is NOT a process of discovering who you are. Your life IS a process of CREATING who you are. God created you in his image. You create the rest, and you know that is the truth. What you think about, you bring about. Most people believe that their way of thinking is a result of their life experiences, including childhood, parenting, education, and so on. That is not true. Your life is a product of how you think. That is true.
I have run a quote on the video roll before the service for the past two weeks. In case you didn’t see it, let me show it to you. In her book, “Choose the Happiness Habit,” Pam Golden tells a true story about twin brothers. One grew up to be an alcoholic bum. The other became an extremely successful businessman. When the alcoholic was asked why he became a drunk, he replied, “My father was a drunk.” When the successful businessman was asked why he became successful, he said, “My father was a drunk.”
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
They had the same background and gene pool. They had the same upbringing. What was different? The difference was the creation of each brother’s thinking. One brother’s thinking led to a life of struggle, while the other created a successful life. It is exactly as Jesus said. From the heart come thoughts that make/create a man (or woman).
This is tremendous knowledge, understanding, and wisdom if used. You not only see why your life is the way it is and where it is, but you can also drive your life to the destination you want and draw to your life what you want with your thoughts. What you get IN LIFE you create by how you think IN LIFE. What you have and experience in your tomorrows, you are thinking and creating in your “todays.” Do not seek/think about who you are. Seek/think about who you want to be. There is only one way to know who you truly are, and that is by the life you create.
If you desire a specific thing – education, house, car, mate, wealth, health, whatever – you must begin drawing it to your life and, at the same time, driving your life toward it with your thoughts.
How thinking works
Allow me to show you how this works. Let’s say that I want a new black $55,400 Cadillac Escalade SUV. We talked last time about how Jesus said to use our thoughts for creative thinking. Jesus told us that WHOSOEVER SHALL HAVE WHATSOEVER if he or she would desire and believe you receive it (Mar 11:23-24). Let’s say I desired this vehicle, so I test-drove it. I smelled the interior, listened to the stereo, felt the air on my face, used the GPS navigation system, and the car “spoke” to me. I know how I look in it, and it’s on my “focus board.”
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Every day, I spend some time thinking (meditating/praying) about my black Cadillac Escalade. (I have a remote control black Cadillac Escalade.) The control is my mind-producing thoughts. When I focus my thoughts toward the Cadillac, the Cadillac begins to move toward me. I cannot, and you cannot see my thoughts. Nonetheless, the Cadillac is moving toward me. When I am not thinking about the Cadillac, it stops. When I think or move in negative thoughts, such as doubt, or unforgiveness – thoughts that are not good – the Cadillac moves backward.
Mark 11:23-25 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and SHALL NOT DOUBT in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, WHAT THINGS SOEVER ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, FORGIVE, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Backward thinking stops or pushes away what we desire to create
Backward thinking, such as doubt and negative thoughts of anger, gossip, unforgiveness, and sin, can hinder or push away what you want to create. Of course, I am using the black Cadillac Escalade to make my point as carnal as it may sound. So, let’s apply this same principle to someone who has cancer and needs healing. That person must desire and imagine—make believe—that he or she is well.
You imagine good thoughts of doing something you cannot now do. You spend time every day praying, meditating, and speaking about your health, not your sickness. So you see yourself well. Also, you have your focus board with a picture of you healthy. You have your replacement thought ready every time your mind attempts to tell you that you have cancer. So you say, “I am healthy, and I have no sickness in my body,” and you will not allow yourself to DOUBT. You will not allow yourself to be bitter or UNFORGIVING toward anyone. You will not allow yourself to have backward thoughts.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Where do you want your life to go?
Do you want your spouse to change? Where do you want to go financially? Where do you desire to go occupationally? In what driveway do you want your house? Where do you want to drive your life?
Paul said to think on these things—forward thoughts. Is it possible to think only forward thoughts with life going on all around us? Here is a quote from last week.
12,000 to 15,000 thoughts per day
“…I have people find out how their mind actually works, how many thoughts they run per day, and the average person runs about 15,000 thoughts per day, in which at least half of those are negative. And we know that our thoughts turn into our emotions, and our emotions turn into physiology.”
I provided several quotes from experts who say our minds produce between 12,000 and 60,000 thoughts a day. At least half of those thoughts are negative, and 95% of those thoughts are the same ones we had yesterday. We will think those same negative thoughts again tomorrow.
Do we realize this figures to a minimum of 42,000 negative “backward” thoughts a week and 2,184,000 backward thoughts a year?!!!!! It is no wonder lives, families, marriages, children, finances, health, and anything else we can “think” of are in disarray. Stop a moment and think about that. You, if average, suffer from a minimum of over 2 million backward thoughts a year.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
How can you control your thinking and have constant forward power thoughts (Phi 4:8) when you are blasted with 2 million backward negative thoughts yearly? Is it even possible? Wouldn’t it be great if you had an alarm to go off when you had a bad backward thought? Perhaps it could sound like this – “WARNING! WARNING! BACKWARD THOUGHT! BACKWARD THOUGHT! MY DESIRE IS MOVING AWAY! MY DESIRE IS MOVING AWAY! REPLACEMENT THOUGHT REQUIRED NOW! REPLACEMENT THOUGHT REQUIRED NOW!” However, that does not happen, does it?
Have you ever realized that you can literally think nonstop for hours and days on one negative backward thought? A depressed person, sometimes for weeks, can think negative, backward thoughts nonstop. They lie in bed, refusing to eat or bathe. They do not want to be like this, but one negative backward thought slipped in and pushed backward everything good coming to them in life. By now, they have pushed away people who love them. They have pushed away their health and cleanliness. They have pushed away money by not going to work. So, they allow backward thinking to push away the good things they desire in life.
I read it is easier to break a physical habit like smoking or even drugs than break a mental habit, such as anger, bitterness, gossip, etc. The smoker or drug addict, if he or she wants, can physically lay their habit down and walk away, but no one can take out a backward thought, lay it down, and walk away. With no warning, it slips in and, in an instant, becomes embedded in your attitudes and feelings. In an instant, it can control you.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
As I said earlier, it would be great to have an alarm system that would go off to warn us of negative, backward thoughts. I have good news. You have an alarm system built into you, and even with 40,000 thoughts a day, you can have power-forward thoughts 99% of the time.
If you pay attention, you will notice that thoughts reveal themselves. Thoughts reveal themselves – good or bad – through your feelings and emotions. Thoughts evoke both positive and negative feelings or emotions. We saw that one thought can create weeks of feelings and emotions of depression. YOUR BUILT-IN ALARM SYSTEM IS YOUR FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS. You can determine whether you are sending forward thoughts or backward thoughts by your feelings. Good feelings bring excitement, energy, joy, love, peace, gratitude, and health, among others. Good feelings always empower you. Additionally, positive feelings and thoughts motivate you to take action – be productive, have fun, and accomplish your goals, among other things.
Good feelings foster powerful, forward-thinking, and creative ideas, which lead to and bring us good things. The opposite is true with bad thoughts, which produce negative feelings and emotions. Bad feelings cause depression, rob your energy, bring guilt, anger, bitterness, ungratefulness, sickness, etc. Bad feelings literally de-power you and remove productivity. Also, bad feelings/thoughts remove your creative power thinking, and your world becomes dark, negative, and backward as you think backward thoughts. When you think negative thoughts, negative things happen to you. Never forget that. Why did Job experience all his bad stuff? Here is one reason.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Correcting backward thinking
Job 3:25-26 What I feared has COME UPON ME; what I dreaded has HAPPENED TO ME. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.
Job’s emotions and feelings were those of fear and dread. Fearful and dreadful thoughts only produce and draw to you fearful and dreadful results. Was Job depressed? Oh yes! Was he sick? Oh yes! He pushed everything and everyone away from him. He pushed his wife away, and he pushed his friends away. However, when he got his thinking moving forward, his life began to change and move forward.
The Lord God gave you an alarm system—your feelings. You can actually stop and ask yourself how you are feeling. Ask, “Do I feel peace or anger, resentful or grateful, love or hate, etc.?” When the answer is incorrect, correct it immediately by bringing the thought causing the feeling into captivity.
2 Corinthians 10:5 …we TAKE CAPTIVE EVERY THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ.
(Message Bible) 2 Corinthians 10:5 We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, FITTING EVERY LOOSE THOUGHT AND EMOTION AND IMPULSE into the structure of life shaped by Christ.
Immediately capture that feeling or emotion, which will capture that thought. Smash it, and replace that thought with a prepared replacement thought, thereby eliminating the bad feeling. It is impossible to have bad feelings and emotions and, at the same time, have good thoughts. Let’s use anger as an example. We can all relate to experiencing anger. People do not want to be around an angry, yelling person. Your thought of anger pushes good people and good things away, so it is a backward thought.
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Anger stops productivity and often becomes destructive
Thoughts of anger produce or draw more anger and negative consequences. You cause people around you to become angry. When you yell at someone, their immediate response is to yell back in anger. The thought of anger slipped in. Instantly, you are consumed by rage fueled by anger. Many times, it is too late to capture the thought. Moments afterward, you begin to calm down and feel remorseful. You know you lost it, and you know it has pushed away good things in your life.
Your “built-in” alarm system goes off – “WARNING! WARNING! BACKWARD THOUGHT! BACKWARD THOUGHT! MY DESIRE IS MOVING AWAY! MY DESIRE IS MOVING AWAY! REPLACEMENT THOUGHT REQUIRED NOW! REPLACEMENT THOUGHT REQUIRED NOW!” What do you do? Get out of that angry thought as fast as you can. You forgive, apologize/repent, and ask for forgiveness. Grab your replacement thought and reclaim your forward-thinking power. Paul said, Think on these things! That is why he said it.
When you find yourself having bad feelings, have a replacement thought ready that makes you smile and immediately gives you back your power, forward thinking.
I do not care how upset I am, how depressed, how angry, etc., all I need to do is think about any one of my grandchildren. I immediately have four reasons to smile, calm, and refocus. Amazingly, one thought can instantly make you smile, just as one thought can instantly take you to rage. Have your replacement thought ready to stop your backward thinking.
Are you a backward thinker or a forward thinker? Every negative thought pushes away your desires and dreams, and every positive thought creates and draws toward you your desires and dreams. Which will you do? We will see, won’t we?
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Backward Thinking: How to Guard Against Toxic Influences
Other Related Sermons:
Same-Sex Relationships – How to Love Without Compromise
Our Thoughts sermon notes audio
Three Thoughts About The Resurrection
Thoughts The Creative Power – sermon series videos audios notes
Whosoever Shall Have Whatsoever – sermon video audio notes
Pushed Around audio video notes
Also see:
Dr. Dennis Gersten,
Dr. Dennis Gersten,
Power of Your Thoughts/Mind,