Mark 7:21-23 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Ok, all you superhero fans. Anyone ever seen the first Avengers movie from 2012? Yes, I’m talking superheroes again. What can I say, they offer major life lessons!
Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, I’ll fill you in. Toward the end of the movie, as the climax approaches, war breaks out in NYC. Your typical superhero good guys try to (and always succeed) save the world from the evil monsters. We watch as this big, ugly, black, other-worldly serpent-like structure slithers its way into the atmosphere from somewhere beyond the clouds. It looks like a skeleton of the worst serpent you’ve ever seen, with hundreds of smaller creatures attached, representing the bones. I know, weird, but I’m not making this up. And fascinating enough, it has a name. Upon hearing me name it the big, ugly black thing that slithers through the sky, my son informed me it is called a chitauri.
Now, oddly enough, God gave me a vision of a chitauri one night. Here’s my journal entry. “God gave me this vision. This large, ugly serpant-like structure had several appendages that looked like bones. But they all broke away individually and left this bare rectangular piece-the core. Once the ugly parts fell away, I saw a priceless, beautiful gem set in the middle of the rectangle.”
Through that vision God revealed this truth to me: The priceless gem set deep within the core of the ugly chitauri is the beauty within me (and you). We only need to find a way to keep our ugly thoughts at bay, and not allow them to suffocate us. Wow! Think about that for a second. God has placed something so priceless within each one of us, but it’s up to us to let it shine.
Let’s go a step further. The gem was located deep inside the heart of the chitauri. Our hearts are extremely integral components of our thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” You know that old saying, “you are what you eat?” Same thing applies here. We are what we think. All those ugly, bony appendages latch to the core and begin to suffocate our hearts, dulling the bright gem and eventually destroying it if we allow our thoughts to stray too far. How are you responding to God in your heart, your mind, your life?
Does It Matter What We Think? This vision reminded me how important our thoughts are. Would you rather watch a movie with ugly, dark, snake-like creatures or a movie with bright, beautiful colors that sparkle and dazzle you, similar to beautiful fireworks that light up the night sky. Let that gem deep inside you shine brilliantly as you meditate on the good things. 2 Cor 10:5 of the Amplified Bible says, “We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.” Are you ready to dazzle?
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