FOR PRACTICING BELIEVERS ONLY
Look at it this way . . .
Do you sometimes find yourself talking to yourself? Of course you do. We all do. But why do we talk to ourselves? Isn’t that a little weird? Now if you said that you were talking to “the Man upstairs,” you might likely get by with it. But it’s okay. The fact is, all things being equally balanced, we can be our own best “sounding post” or “sounding board.” That technical term is defined as “a person or group on whom one tries out an idea or opinion as a means of evaluating it.” This is often referred to as “self-talk” and it’s highly recommended as a productive way to self-evaluate/motivate.
Just as the Little Engine, that thought he could, told himself, “I think I can. I think I can,” as he approached that foreboding hill. That positive self-talk must have helped, because as he made his way up and over that hill, he began saying to himself, “I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could.”
My thesaurus lists (a long one) self-assertion, self-command, self-educated, self-consultation, self-examination, along with self-deception and self-delusion. And that’s why we need self-discipline to hopefully self-make a good, positive decision as to how we may, finally, self-help ourselves to be open to accepting help from others, especially God.
If you’re a practicing believer, then your earnest desires and abiding wishes are the same as prayer requests to the ears of God. He knows you better than you will ever know yourself, and through His Holy Spirit, will guide, lead and show you how, when and where to go and what to say and do (IF you’re a practicing believer). Consider:
“Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.”
(Isa. 30:21, NLT)
We’re not to take this literally; it’s a spiritual aspect and it’s true for those who are practicing believers.
-John D
