There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverb 14:12
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field… Matt 6:28
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverb 14:12
thedailylily.com 
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the straight and narrow path leads to God’s Kingdom.(Matt. 7:13)
“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity. Choose life!” (Deut.30:15))
“How hard it is for a rich man (one setting his hopes and life on acquiring and maintaining wealth) to enter the Kingdom of Heaven….it is easier for a camel to go through the narrow eye of a needle” (Mark 10:17
Proverbs 14:12 says to me that our human perspective on how things should be done…the decisions we must make, the action we take, the thoughts we have on a subject….may not line up with God’s perspective and His will or plan. He sees things from an everlasting kingdom perspective and knows the big outcomes that little decisons can make. Our emotions, immaturity, hidden motives, etc can cloud our thinking. God says His ways are not our ways… “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT)
Our own fleshly (carnal) thinking doesn’t produce the wonderful, life-giving results that the Spirit of God has planned. According to Romans 8:6, carnal thinking and doing leads to death, but finding out and following God’s ways leads to life and peace.
I have heard the term, “twisted thinking” used quite a bit lately. So often people realize they had twisted thinking in relationships both personal and business that ended. I guess at the time we might think we are so right and yet we are so wrong and it leaves pain and scars.
Maybe someone understands the term, twisted thinking and could share some examples to help us all. As the writer of proverbs points out, wrong thinking will take you where you don’t want to go.
With Christmas upon us I will use an example in this regards. We often gather at family homes to celebrate. In my case I have been one to want not to rock the boat with relatives or spouse and just took them along to a Christmas lunch celebration. In my heart I didn’t feel good about it as the host of the Christmas dinner was not aware that the relative didn’t much care for them. Knowing the feeling of both sides it was up to me to step in an say what I thought. In order to avoid confrontation I said nothing – twisted thinking. In the end the host
suffered as the other person sat in a chair and wouldn’t communicate the person actually took a nap. I was sorry I didn’t say anything and wasn’t honest with the host or the other person. Everyone was hurt and not helped.
A counselor said to me that you need to take the following steps. Remembering that when something happens to you, you have an emotional reaction.
Ask the following questions:
1. What just happened?
2. How did it make you feel?
3. What do I bring to this situation? (That is your history. For me it is to
appease and not confront.)
4. What do I want the people in my life to do differently?
5. Tell them your feelings.
6. Let go of the outcome.
The counselor said, remember does your behavior in this situation bring any gains. Our goal of course being gains. “Twisted thinking” brings the opposite.
Thanks Rena for sharing your heart. And, you are a great inspiration to bodily face yourself, admit your way of thinking may have been flawed at times and embrace the courage to change.
What is a “key” to “getting along” and not being confrontational on every issue that we face? Is there a way to confront without being ‘confrontational’? There must be a way to stand up for the truth we believe in without starting an argument or a crisis on every issue. I don’t think it’s called diplomacy, because being diplomatic sounds “nice’ but I don’t know how much TRUTH is involved in always being diplomatic. I heard a prophet say, one time, “it’s all in the approach.” But one must learn how to approach each situation. That is a big undertaking and involves a lot of changing one’s attitude of mind and even one’s demeanor and one’s perspective.
Good for you, Rena. You are willing to put away the things that you find no longer allow you to serve Our Lord and your conscience and the WAY!
Sometimes I think ‘twisted thinking’ is tricky thinking. Sara sent us an article about a ‘preacher’ who infiltrated a church of naive members by using Scripture for every argument that came up against his integrity. He used the Bible to defend his actions and was able to ‘pull the wool over their eyes’ quoting Scripture that “SEEMED to cover his offenses and evil deeds. For example: a history of being abusive in one’s life is excused because God and Jesus Christ forgive sins. And so being among the “redeemed” the person continues his masquerade as a sheep …..in reality is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, come to destroy the congregation of God. Here it is a twisting of the Scriptures to accommodate one and one’s plan and plot to take control of the church, or people or any situation or circumstance.
The scripture says it loud and clear. We all at times think we are right but the end will reveal. I would think selfishness in all colors and shades is the dust that sits upon the seeing mind.
Not sure I understand your question MG about getting along.
I guess what I mean is…. does one have to pick one’s ‘fights”? When one lives with a controlling person, it could constantly be Confrontational time. So, I suppose one has to learn which things to confront and which things to “let sleeping dogs lie”???
I believe when we seek the guidance of The Holy Spirit I believe He will lead us to know when and how to confront. Or, whatever action one needs to take. I don’t think we need to worry or concern ourselves with how many times we confront but obedience to have light and give light.
That’s true…to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit… and if we had done that or known how to do that in first place many of us would not be in the confrontational situations we find ourselves, today, precisely because we DID NOT seek the Holy Spirit and/or were disobedient to the Heavenly vision.
In Gwen Shaw’s Scripture reading for today (1Timothy 3:1-16) Paul talks about Christ manifest in me. And It came to me that I must let , allow, step aside for Christ to be seen in me as I walk this very day. This is the day that the Lord has made. He has prepared this day for a very special plan in His Kingdom thinking, ordained before the beginning of time. Am I going to frustrate the grace of God, this important day in the lives of those with whom I have contact, TODAY? So I pray, dear Lord, that I may display the Christ-like qualities of the Holy Spirit Who dwells within my spirit. For this might be a decision day for someone, somebody, some person(s) that God has in His sovereign mind for today. For how I conduct myself, the qualities I do or DO NOT display this very day before those with whom I fellowship or have conversation or contact may be a turning point in their lives…a turning point for eternity. How I (my demeanor, composure, responses, reactions) affect that person(s) may be key to an eternal life with GOD. Help me, dear Lord, to manifest Christ-in-me the Hope of Glory. Amen
Truly, this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.
I love Gwen Shaw’s words, “His Kingdom Thinking and His sovereign Mind. Now what a mind and way of thinking to take with me as I go work, play and enjoy His presence and His JOY!
What could we be thinking when we walk around with a stinky mindset?
2 Cor 2: 15 NLT says we should have thinking and doing that’s like a perfume…not stinky.
“Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume.”
MG, as I reread your comment I may have made a mistake in understanding what Gwen Shaw said and you said….Sorry, but it’s all good.
I’d like to share the footnotes, from my Bible, for the initial scripture, Proverbs 14: 12. Read with me, “The ‘path…that seems right’ may offer many options and require few sacrifices. Easy choices, however, should make us take a second look. Is this solution attractive because it allows me to be lazy? because it doesn’t ask me to change my life-style? because it requires no moral restraints? The right choice often requires hard work and self-sacrifice. Don’t be enticed by apparent shortcuts that seem right but end in death.”
Interesting footnotes. They should be a lighted path for our steps. If we could follow the lighted path our decisions would lead to life and not death.
I should say simple but hard….
This scripture from Proverbs 12:8 uses the term ‘twisted mind’ depending upon what translation you read and may give some more insight on what it is and how it related to twisted thinking. Apparently you can’t have good insight if you have twisted thinking or a twisted mind.
“A person will be praised based on his insight, but whoever has a twisted mind will be despised.” (God’s Word)
Other translations substitute ‘perverted heart’, ‘warped mind’, ‘wrong-minded’ or ‘vain and foolish’ for twisted mind, giving us a broader perspective on what it may actually be.
I read a magazine article today talking about “Defusing Conflict.” It talked about your health-eroding from fighting. The point was to work on improving your relationships. But, my point here is, Chrystle Fiedler, the author of article, wrote, “your immune system gears up and your brain starts to malfunction, so you’re operating with a survival brain instead of a reasoning brain.
Looks like the writer of Proverbs, which Debi quotes above, sure knew what he was talking about. We are seeing just how important it is to work on relationships. Of course I think it begins with our relationship with God…
Hum….”it begins with our relationship with God”. Now that sounds like the “bottom line”, doesn’t it?
That’s good. ” It begins with our relationship with God.” (quote Sara above). You know, I was just thinking about it and there really is no relationship of any consequence in this life,whether mother, father, sister, brother without Jesus Christ. Yes, we regard them lovingly as our “family” and most of us are grateful to God for our family, but Jesus Christ said that “those who do the will of MY FATHER, IS MY SISTER AND MY BROTHER AND MY MOTHER.”
That seems like a hard saying but the finite relationships on earth can and often do end very quickly; whether by hard feelings, harsh words, early demise, divergent lifestyles. Those “friends” of yesterday…where are they? People we thought we couldn’t live without? Mom and Dad, gone from the earth. Brothers and sisters separated by miles, creeds, preferences and choices, yes and death. The only real hope of “family relationships are with those who are in the household of faith, whether mom, dad, sister brother or saints in the Body of Christ. Relationships without Christ are finite and final. But the ones that are with true believers…they are our brothers and sisters and mother and husband and wife and children.
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”
Reading this scripture and the footnotes that Needles shared, makes me stop and think. It sounds to me like the above verse is referring to a path that looks good in our eyes but not in God’s eyes. We do not know which path to take in our own thinking. Our minds are clouded without the light of Christ to guide and direct us. We must mediate on the Word of God with much pray before we begin a journey down the path….. Understand with the Holy Spirit as our GPS we may have to turn off the path we are traveling and go in another direction.
Wonder how often we would or could change paths once our hard headed thoughts cement in our minds?
My guess is probably rarely or not at all by oneself. It usually takes a jack hammer or dynamite to break up cement and if it’s one’s own thoughts cemented then we are stuck. Maybe someone with the gift of deliverence could free us and then we would have to stay accountable to someone to keep taking steps to walk in a different direction until a new thought pattern becomes established.
:…stay accountable…” Hum, I think you used the jack hammer….how many of us want to do such a thing? Why does good things seem so hard at times?
Mark 7:13 says you have made the Word of God of non effect by the traditions which you have made up and delivered.Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.'” So Jesus told Gwen Shaw in her writings, that it’s what happens in your MIND that that defiles you. Therefore He admonishes us to ” keep our minds pure. For when we participate in gossip or slander or FAULT-FINDING our minds are “eating” of the forbidden fruit which will bring death, ‘as I told Adam in the Garden.’ And then when you feed these twisted thoughts and evils to others as in “passing it on” you are acting like the serpent in the Garden who tempted Eve to eat of that forbidden fruit.”
I say, Keep the law of love and you will not be passing on death warrants to others.
How about what you see?
In what sense do you mean? There’s this: Jesus said if a man LOOKS at (sees) a woman ( with his eyes) And then, IN HIS HEART LUSTS after her then his heart is impure and he has committed a sin against the commandment of the Lord. So his mind is unclean. Not just because he looked but because he lusted. This is true about lust for anything, money, power, sex, ambition. If we SEE something and then we COVET it, the seeing is probably not the sin but the coveting of it is. I suppose if we never looked on evil we would have to move out of this world because it is all around us…thus the prayer, “deliver us from evil”.
Ok, are you saying, I should use the self-control that I have been given in my fruit package? Make wise choices in my words and actions. Because if I make unwise choices by spouting off I am unclean!
I understand that my heart is chained to my mouth.
I guess being chained is good or bad….good if you are a ‘slave’ (Matt 25:1; Col. 1:7) of the Lord or bad if you are part a chain gang for the devil.
Yes Sara, that is a good way of putting it; even as Debi gives a good example, above. Or actually, maybe our mouths are chained to our hearts. Cuz what’s in the heart, first, inevitably comes out of the mouth. Either way it’s a dynamic duo…whether for the good or whether for the bad.