Living in Abundance: Moving Your Thoughts Towards Prosperity
When moving towards a life of abundance, one of the biggest obstacles you will face is your thoughts. The human brain is constantly scanning for dangers in your environment. This is a protective factor, equipping you for the difficulties of life. Thankfully, most of the risks identified by the brain never happen in real life. However, this constant scanning results in a heightened state of anxiety and a life of fear.
This state of fear, plus the sensationalism of modern media, further intensifies your anxiety. You live in a world that is continually reporting on the propensity of financial depression, economic stagnation, and governmental failures. It seems every media report is about the potential collapse of societal systems.
There is an alternative to this constant state of fear and scarcity. When you look to God as your sustenance and supply; these systems of fear and lack no longer impact you. However, to live in this new state of abundance, you must change your thoughts and how you spiritually see the world.
Title: Mount McKinley, Author: Sandy Brown Jensen, Source: Flickr is licensed by CC BY-SA 2.0
Even in the darkest of economic times, people lived abundant lives. Not that cultural, societal, and financial systems do not affect your life; they do. Instead, this statement is asking you to recognize that when your life of abundance is based on God; you are no longer bound to live in fear. Abundant living recognizes that everything good in your life comes from God.
Reflect on your inner thoughts. Do your thoughts suggest the ever-present goodness and provision of God, or do they focus on lack, scarcity, and fear? For most of us, the tried-and-true path of fear and scarcity comes more easily. Living in abundance and blessing requires you to think differently about God, yourself, and the world. It is a deliberate choice to move your thoughts from curses to blessings in every situation.
Living in Abundance: Changing How You Think About God
To change your thinking too blessing and abundance, you must first come to terms with your view of God. Most people view God as residing out there, somewhere. This God requires you to beg and plead in prayer. If you happen upon the right phrase or have the right amount of faith; then God might, just maybe, answer your prayer. This is not the true God! It is a God that religious systems and poorly developed theology created.
The true God is ever present in creation. You must tune your mind into the creative Spirit to live a life of abundance. This view of God realizes that “every good and perfect gift is from above.” (James 1:17-18, WEB). God not only desires good things for you and your life, but it is God’s immutable character to give in abundance.
Consider your view of God. Do you view God as a capricious and misery being? Is your God a cold, dark, unpredictable mystery that may or may not answer your pleading prayers? If so, maybe it is time to switch gods.
The concept of switching gods is, of course, pejorative. However, it provides a distinct challenge, forcing you to reconcile your thoughts about God. Do you believe in a good or distant God? Whichever God you choose to believe in will affect your life greatly. It all comes down to choice.
Living in abundance and blessing requires you to think differently about God, yourself, and the world. It is a deliberate choice to move your thoughts from curses to blessings in every situation.
In order to move from a distant God to a caring God, fix the error in your thinking. The Book of James states that every good gift comes from God, but the author cautions to avoid deception (James 1:13-15, WEB). God is ever present and unchanging; however, it is your mind that deceives you: twisting and contorting your view of God.
A warped view of God is the great deception of which James is speaking. When you attribute suffering to God, you contort your view of God. This misunderstanding of God’s character limits blessings. James is very clear. Suffering is not from God, but results from human desires for power, material wealth, and control over others. The fleshly cravings that emanate from you and others cause suffering. Your suffering is never from God; this is an error in thinking.
To change to a life of abundance; you must allow God to be good. How quick are you to blame God when you suffer? It’s funny how quickly we blame God for the bad; but cannot give God credit for the good. The first step of living in abundance is changing your thinking. Stop believing God causes suffering. God has your highest good in mind. Stop looking at suffering as a trial sent by God. Instead, acknowledge difficulties as circumstances caused by your own and others' fallibility.
To live in abundance, you must allow God to be good. You must understand God is one presence, one power, God the Good. When you can shift your thinking to God the Good; then you open the door to new blessings and opportunities for abundance.
Living in Abundance: Moving from Curses to Blessings in Your Thoughts
When you change your thoughts from a distant, capricious God to an unchanging, ever-present, God the Good, then you are ready to move your pattern of thinking to blessing and abundance. Very few people realize your thoughts manifest in your life. Certainly, there are outside influences that impact your life; however, it is your thoughts that determine how you respond.
Just like having a negative view of God can prevent an abundant life; constant use of negative thoughts and words creates an atmosphere of scarcity. Your thoughts and words determine your goals and interactions with others. If you are thinking and stating, “I am short on money,” or “I am unsuccessful,” then these thoughts and words will become true.
To live in abundance, you must allow God to be good
It is unfortunate how unaware people are that their thoughts become words, and their words manifest as actions. Few people are aware of the dark, negative unconscious thoughts that pass through their mind daily. These negative thoughts are often on autopilot and unless you use your personal willpower to overcome them; the thoughts will continue to affect your speech and your actions.
Emmet Fox (2013) wrote the booklet, The Seven Day Mental Health Diet. This text provides a practical seven-day program to move your thoughts from curse to blessing. In the pamphlet, Fox challenges the reader to not think about problems, disliked individuals, or other negative thoughts for seven days. This is a great tool to catch your negative thoughts. When faced with a negative thought, the seven-day program encourages you to think of a solution. If a solution cannot be determined, then identify a positive character of God countering the negative thought. For example, if you are in constant fear of physical harm coming to you; you would substitute imagining the light, power, and love of God surrounding you and protecting you.
If you ruminate about a thought to the point, you can’t counter the negative thought, then you should start the whole seven-day process again according to Fox. This seems heavy-handed; but it emphasizes the importance of recognizing and changing your negative thoughts. Instead of starting the seven-day process over again it may serve you better to follow the advice of Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (WEB), by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
What does it mean to take a thought captive? This advice is frustrating for individuals that have tried to resist and block their repetitive, negative thoughts with little or no success. Resisting negative thoughts through sheer willpower is a waste of your emotional resources. If you could stop negative thinking by pure willpower, you would have already done it! Instead, acknowledge the negative thought and thank the thought for getting your attention. Ask the thought what it can teach you. For some, the ruminating thought is a past trauma current circumstances have triggered. It may also represent unresolved conflict that needs to be addressed. Don’t fight the thought; invite it to teach you why it’s there and what you need to do to resolve it.
Sometimes acknowledging a negative thought and allowing its brief expression is enough to remove its power and ruminating presence. At other times, it is important to identify how the thought is trying to protect you. If present circumstances are triggering the thought; then what actions needs to be done to remedy the situation? If the thought relates to past trauma or unresolved conflict; what supports do you need (e.g., pastoral care or professional counseling) to help resolve the inner issue? Ignoring or blocking the thought is likely to reinforce its presence. Instead of ignoring your negative thoughts, acknowledge them, identify what they are communicating to you, and then act.
Resisting negative thoughts through sheer willpower is a waste of your emotional resources
It is important to acknowledge your thoughts are energy. One of the basic laws of physics states energy cannot be created, nor can it be destroyed. Energy can only be transformed. This law applies to your negative thoughts as well. Once you acknowledge your negative thought, replace it with a thought that is equal to or greater in power than the original thought. One of the best scriptures to use when finding a substitute thought is Philippians 4:8 (WEB). “Whatever things are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, and of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is anything worth of praise, think about these things.”
The first step is to recognize your negative thought is in error. Negative thoughts are always inaccurate, as they distort reality. Compare your negative thought to each category in Philippians 4:8. If you find your thought is untrue, then seek the truth in the situation. Replace your thought with a truthful statement. For example, if you believe you are unsuccessful, identify three ways you have experienced success in the past and write each counter thought on a piece of paper. When you re-experience the untrue thought, notice it and respond with the affirmative statements of truth.
You must recognize thoughts and words have the power of life and death. It is important to change your thoughts and words from curse to blessing. Take every thought captive by noticing its message to you. Then use the message transforming the thought into a positive thought of equal or greater power. It also may be helpful to incorporate the Seven-Day Mental Health Diet (Fox, 2013) into your daily routine to change your patterns of thinking.
Conclusion:
To live an abundant life, you must retrain how your brain perceives God and the world around you. God is no longer viewed as a capricious and distant deity, but a being seeking your highest good. You must stop blaming God for your problems and realize that God is working on your behalf despite the circumstances that surround you. There is only one presence, one power…. God, the Good.
The second step of living an abundant life is transforming your thoughts and words from curses to blessings. Your words and thoughts have the power of life and death. Too often, you allow your unconscious, negative thoughts to rule your words and behaviors. Acknowledge your negative thoughts and allow them to teach you why they are present. Some thoughts will result from unresolved conflict, and a need for safety triggers others. Acknowledge these thoughts and seek the support needed to process and remedy their presence.
The Seven-Day Mental Health Diet serves as an excellent intervention for negative thinking. The diet allows you to not only recognize your patterns of negative thinking but transforms and renews your mind. When completing the mental health diet, it may prove helpful to compare your thoughts to Philippians 4:8 and identify your errors in thinking. Once you identify the error, develop a stronger affirmative thought to think of when negative thoughts come to mind. In time, the patterns of negative thinking will dissolve, furthering your progress towards an abundant life.
Written By: Heath B. Walters, Ph.D.
Copyright © March 24th, 2023, by Heath B. Walters DBA Spiritual Life Resources, All Rights Reserved
Reference
Fox, Emmet. (2013) The Seven-Day Mental Health Diet, Illustrated Edition. Merchant Publisher Books: ISBN-13: 978-1603865807.
World English Bible (2022). WEB Online. https://ebible.org/study/.