Don't think about that big piece of chocolate cake ...

Don't think about that big piece of chocolate cake -- the one that has the wonderful fudgey icing. It's got several gooey layers that are just oozing with delicious icing. Don't think about that chocolate cake.

Before you read today's Freedom Fighter, hear me -- it's not about chocolate cake, so don't even think about enjoying a piece with your favorite java. A really big piece of chocolate cake isn't a good way to start off your day. But maybe for a mid-morning snack? Oh yeah -- let's stop talking about the chocolate cake.

Now that I have your attention on, let's move to what the Lord has been showing me. What are you thinking about right now? My guess is that I have you duped into thinking about ... chocolate cake.

The mind is a powerful tool. Did you ever have one of those sleepless nights where you just couldn't turn your brain off? What occupies your mind? Throughout the day? When you have a free minute or two, what do you think about? What do you think about as you lay down at night to fall asleep?

Studies suggest that men do have one-track minds. I recently read a study that the average man thinks about sex at least 20 times a day. I read the response from a wife who was asked how many times a day her husband thought about sex. Her response? "Too often!"

Seriously, as men we need to think about what we think about. Our thoughts define who we really are. Solomon wrote, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he ..." (Proverbs 23:7) Listen to what A. W. Tozer wrote about our thoughts:

What we think about when we are free to think about what we will -- that is what we are or will soon become ... Anyone who wishes to check on his true spiritual condition may do so by noting what his voluntary thoughts have been over the last hour or days. What has he thought about when free to think of what he pleased?

Toward what has his inner heart turned when it was free to turn where it would? ... Such a test is easy to run, and if we are honest with ourselves we can discover not only what we are but what we are going to become. We'll soon be the sum of our voluntary thoughts ...

The best way to control our thoughts is to offer the mind to God in complete surrender. The Holy Spirit will accept it and take control of it immediately. Then it will be relatively easy to think on spiritual things, especially if we train our thoughts by long periods of daily prayer. Long practice in the art of mental prayer (that is, talking to God inwardly as we work or travel) will help to form the habit of holy thought."

So brothers -- what are you thinking about? What are the major themes that occupy your mind? Are you dwelling on areas that you need to surrender to him? The grand connect for us is that fearing God reminds us that HE knows and weighs not only our deeds, words, and actions, but our thoughts!

By the way, what about that chocolate cake? Remember the principle: what we think -- we become! That's why we want you to THINK VICTORY! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 28; Exodus 19-20; Matthew 18:21-35

Great Quote: What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them...we must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly. A. W. Tozer