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b'Two of your closest friends are whispering to each other, glancing at you\\nevery now and then, giggling. What thoughts enter your head? Does your mind\\nspin something negative without knowing the truth of the situation? Spoiler\\nalert: Your friends were actually planning a surprise birthday party for\\nyou!\\nOver a few days, you send multiple texts to a family member and even try to\\ncall them, but they never get back to you. Where does your mind go? Do you\\nspend the days anxiously wondering if something you did or said upset them,\\nonly to discover their phone was acting up?\\nOur minds play games\\u2014and not always the fun kind. How can we rein in those\\nthoughts that whiz through our brains faster than the speed of light? If\\nyou\\u2019ve put your trust in Jesus, you are a child of God, and you have the\\nHoly Spirit\\u2019s power in you to help you take your thoughts captive before\\nthey start making destructive pathways in your brain. It won\\u2019t be easy\\nsince our minds tend to drift toward the worst-case scenario, but with\\nGod\\u2019s help we can \\u201ctake captive every thought to make it obedient to\\nChrist\\u201d (2 Corinthians 10:5).\\nIn Colossians 3, Paul says, \\u201cSet your minds on things above, not on earthly\\nthings\\u201d (verse 2). As followers of Jesus, we can practice thinking\\ndifferently than we did before Jesus was the Lord of our lives. Jesus died\\nfor all our sins and rose again victorious; we have been raised with Him by\\nbelieving in His sacrifice. Therefore, Christ is our life (verse 3), and we\\ncan practice dwelling on thought patterns consistent with our new self\\n(verse 10).\\nWhen our minds play games, Philippians 4 reminds us that we have God\\u2019s\\npeace to guard not only our hearts but also our minds in Christ Jesus\\n(verse 7). When thoughts enter, we have a choice to let them spread chaos\\nor to evaluate them before they marinate in our minds. Verse 8 is the\\nultimate mind monitor: Is this thought true? Is this thought pure? Is this\\nthought lovely? Is it admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy? When troubling\\nthoughts threaten to take control of our minds, we can turn to Jesus and\\nbehold Him\\u2014He is always true, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and\\nworthy of our praise. And His love for us is sure. \\u2022 Savannah Coleman\\n\\u2022 When our minds play games, how could it help to remember what Jesus has\\ndone for us? \\nFinally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble,\\nwhatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is\\nadmirable\\u2014if anything is excellent or praiseworthy\\u2014think about such things.\\nPhilippians 4:8 (NIV)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nPhil.4.4-Phil.4.8|Col.3.1-Col.3.17|Phil.4.8'