What to do with negativity

So, this morning I was meditating on a favorite passage in Psalms 19 which reads,

“without this revelation-light,
how would I ever detect the waywardness (or errors) of my heart?
Lord, forgive my hidden flaws whenever you find them.
¹³ Keep cleansing me, God,
and keep me from my secret, selfish sins;
may they never rule over me!
For only then will I be free from fault
and remain innocent of rebellion.
¹⁴ So may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts,
and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing,
acceptable before your eyes,
my only Redeemer, my Protector-God.” TPT

I have as a regular prayer verse 14 asking for help with my mouth and my thoughts being in alignment with His. I want all “errors” in my thoughts and feelings to be exposed and brought into the light of  what is real and true.

As I considered this, He spoke to me another companion verse from 2 Corinthians 10:5

“reasonings bringing down, and every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,” Young’s Literal Translation

I know there are two ways to take this verse. The usual one is that we are to make our thoughts obedient to Christ. The other which I believe is more accurate is highlighted. “and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,”. This one focuses on the obedience of Christ.

I heard the Lord say this morning that I have to take all negative thoughts and feelings captive and take them to where Jesus was obedient, even to the obedience of death on the cross.

In other words, I have to take them somewhere. I can’t leave them lying around creating more negativity. I can’t juggle them around trying to make myself feel better or just try to ignore them. I have to take action; arrest them and take them somewhere. I have to see all my negative thoughts and feelings going somewhere.

That somewhere is into Jesus as He suffered on the cross for me.

He took on everything that was not of God that was in me into Himself. Every sin, mistake, negative thought and feeling, sickness and disease went into Jesus.

I believe He took all of this into Himself in the garden of Gethsemane as I shared in my book, The Deeper Heart of God.

So, when I examine my thoughts and feelings and find any negativity there, I need to see it transferred into His body and know that He took it into Himself for me so that I could exchange it for His peace.

Another of my go-to passages that speaks of this transaction is found in Philippians 4 “Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One! 5 Let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near.

6 Don’t be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, 7 then God’s wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. 8 So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” TPT

Here in The Passion Translation, I particularly like the words “continually fixed” and “fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God praising Him always.”

There is nothing more glorious and praiseworthy than the sacrifice of Jesus. He took all that was out of kilter and negative with us and brought it into Himself then took it with Him to the cross. He actually took us as well; our old, fallen nature corrupted by sin into His body where we died with Him. Then He rose with us in Him so as Paul so eloquently said in Galatians 2:19-20 “But because the Messiah lives in me, I’ve now died to the law’s dominion over me so that I can live for God.

20 “My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of his cross crucified me with him. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me—we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me and dispenses his life into mine!”

He gave Himself for me by taking all my negativity into Himself and now dispenses His life into Mine. By faith; His faith and faithfulness this is now our present true reality.

I propose that most if not all our negative thoughts and emotions are based in fear and often with self-condemnation for some fault or flaw, we see in ourselves. Some old pattern of thinking that produces “emotions of death” as Paul called them in Romans 7:5.

Anytime we feel threatened by someone or something that might happen we have shifted into the unreality of the perceived future often steeped in past experiences and lies we’ve believed about having to relive them. Our imaginations can run wild with this stuff which is why it says we have to take them captive and bring them to the only place they can be dealt with; the cross of Jesus.

The fear is of being separated from our Loving Abba Daddy which is a lie and can never happen, but it can feel real in the moment. In that moment is when we need to do spiritual internal house cleaning and take the negative thoughts and feelings and see them vacuumed from our lives into Jesus, back in time, where He took them into Himself and died with them on the cross, actually.

{It’s a good exercise to use our imaginations and actually see this happen.}

The resurrection of Jesus proved that they were removed and that we now are raised in Him and even seated right now in Him in the heavenly realm.

It’s good to be reminded of this amazing truth that can be known and experienced only by faith through the revelation of Holy Spirit. It is ours when we ask and are open to receiving it as a gift, never earned.

2 Corinthians 5 says it best, “21 For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him.” TPT

I keep coming back to this amazing truth that reveals the revelation of our true identity and reality; we are, right now, the righteousness of God in Christ.

So, every contradictory thought or feeling regardless of the source has no place within our hearts or minds ever. We have the charge and the power to bring them captive to the obedience of Jesus on the cross and discharge them there; leaving them there and walking away with His gracious gift of Peace.

Lord, may I live this reality moment by moment this day and not allow any thought or feeling to rob me of your Precious Blood bought Freedom and Peace. Amen.