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WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________ Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today's blog post on podcast. https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_02_01_21_band-How_to_Think_like_a_Winner.mp3   ______________________________________   Have you ever wondered why some people are more successful in life than others? Is it a question of so-called "luck"? Or is there something more to this thing called success? The answer, as always, is found in the Bible. In this best-selling book of all time, God has clearly outlined the principles of success. The problem is that, sad-to-say, most people don't read the Bible. Or they read it after the fact. After the problem has arisen and nearly devastated their lives. Yet, the Bible contains the answer to every single situation you will ever face in life. In fact, the Bible is God's Manual for Life. It is the book He gave us to navigate our time on this earth successfully. Isn't it a tragedy that most of the world neglects it? The Bible is all about winning. Not only winning in this life, but, far more importantly, about winning in the life after this one. The life that will last forever.  In the Bible, God has set in place certain principles, or laws, that govern success. If we live according to these principles, we will experience a wonderful, blessed life. But if we don't, we won't. It's as simple as that. So, what are these principles of success? And how can we apply them to our lives? One of the fundamental principles is found in Proverbs 23: 7: This verse reads as follows: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Let's unpack this verse to discover what it means and how it can affect the entire course of our lives.  First of all, this verse clearly connects the way we think in our hearts with the way we are: "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." Note the phrase in his heart. The verse does not simply say as a man thinks, but as he thinks in his heart. Well, what is meant by the heart?  The word heart as used here does not refer to the physical heart, the organ that pumps blood throughout our bodies. No, the word heart as used in this verse implies that intangible entity within us that we all recognize but cannot adequately define. Yet, the Bible gives us a picture of what this intangible entity called the heart really is. The heart is that part of us that connects our soul with our spirit. We are made in the image of God, and we have a spirit, a soul, and a body.  Each of these three parts is also made up of three parts. The spirit is made up of the conscience, the intuition, and the imagination. The soul is comprised of the mind, the will, and the emotions. The body is made up of bone, fluid, and soft tissue.  The heart is the bridge between the spirit and the soul. In other words, the heart is connected simultaneously to the spirit and to the soul. On the one hand, the heart is connected to the conscience part of the spirit. On the other hand, the heart is connected to the emotions, the will, and the mind parts of the soul. The Bible makes many references to the heart. Each of these references gives us a partial definition of the heart. For example, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 9, verse 4, we read this: “And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?'” The act of thinking occurs in the mind. But in this verse, Jesus connected thinking with the heart as well. "Why are you thinking evil things in your hearts?