“There is no counterfeit without the reality.” – Oswald Chambers

The Counterfeit

Last week I talked about autosuggestion, or self-talk. Another word for it is “affirmations.” There’s nothing wrong with looking at the bright side, and refusing to get sucked into the negative that’s so prevalent in our world today. But self-talk as I was taught to do it is like Satan’s counterfeit of God’s truth. The counterfeit may look real, and it may even seem to have value for some people. But isn’t lasting, because it is not real.

The Reality

Meditation instead of self-talk!

I don’t mean the world’s idea of meditation, which is to empty your mind. I mean God’s idea of meditation, which is to fill your mind and heart with His Word, so that it infiltrates every aspect of your life.

Psalm 1:1-3 (NKJV)

¹ Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
²But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
³ He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

Meditation means…

… more than reading your Bible every day

… more than studying your Bible

… more than memorizing Bible verses

All of those are important, and we need to be doing them for our own spiritual growth. But meditation means “pondering, musing, weighing, asking questions, talking with ourselves about it, carefully examining it, is also needed in our spiritual growth… It means slowed down, careful consideration.” – Jesse Barrington

A Light Bulb Moment

“Our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a ‘temple of the Holy Spirit.’ He will be responsible for the unconscious part which we don’t know, but we must pay careful attention to and guard the conscious part for which we are responsible.” – Oswald Chambers

The lights came on when I read this one morning. Talk about déjà vu… shades of my past lives!

In 2007, shortly after I learned that I have ADD, I heard an audio, where the speaker says the person with ADD has no trap door he can close to protect himself from the upsurge of stuff that bursts forth from the subconscious.

In 2009-2014, my Mentoring For Free leaders said autosuggestion, or repeating your self-talk hundreds of times a day was needed to rewire your brain and displace the negative.

But guess what? In both situations, GOD is the answer! The Holy Spirit will take care of my unruly subconscious. He is my trap door, and He will do the rewiring.

And He will do the same for you, through His Word, if you belong to Him.

Proverbs 4:23-27 (NKJV)

²³ Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
²⁴ Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.