The Movies In Our Minds, Pt 1.

Positive Imaging – The Powerful Way To Change Your Life – Norman Vincent Peale

When I first heard of this book, I thought “Imaging?!? Isn’t that a new age thing?” But I’ve come to realize over the years that there are a ton of gifts that God has given us which Satan has effectively stolen, by making them taboo. The innate ability to receive visions is one of them. Using our imagination to help shape and clarify our steps in the future is another.

The guiding principle needs to be where our focus is. If we remain squarely focused on God and constantly remind ourselves that HE is the one who ultimately makes things happen, then imagining a future and placing it into His hands is good and right. On the other hand, if we’re looking solely to our own abilities to try to force the future into our cookie cutter molds, we might have a problem down the line.

Part of the book addresses the fact that we all have movies running through our minds. We think in terms of pictures. This is especially true when we’re upset or angry about something. It’s not just that the dog is running around in the house, it’s that he might chew on something valuable. Or pee on the carpet. Or bite a child. And then our mind carries it further. What will people think when they visit, or if they saw? Am I a good parent? Am I a good person? Blah blah blah, it runs wild – if you let it.

We need to filter the movies in our minds. Reject the ones that are negative, don’t put them on an endless looping spool. Switch the screen. Look away. Write and direct an alternate movie. He’s given us that power. Just as our mind can conjure up a host of negative outcomes, we can choose to envision a handful of POSITIVE ones as well. It’s a choice, and one we don’t realize we’re making half the time.

Our thoughts have a direct effect on our future. What we envisioning happening to us and for us, will be communicated to our subconscious minds. And there that image will solidify and take root, modifying our entire belief system with that image, with that unspoken “goal.” Once it’s taken root and accepted (rather than rejected), all of our efforts from that point on, whether conscious or unconscious, will work toward that goal.

This is why it’s so vitally important that we dig in the dirt of our minds, uprooting wrongful thinking and beliefs. And how do we know what’s wrong and what’s right? Through the Bible. By comparing what the Word says with what we believe. It is the ONLY standard of truth and morality.