as a man thinks in his heart, so is he…
Eat you not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire you his dainty meats: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, says he to you; but his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:6-7
as he thinks in his heart, so is he…
to the natural man, the man outside of and without the Holy Spirit’s indwelling, this verse becomes something that man can fix to change hiself…if a man is as he thinks, then if he change his thoughts he can be changed, or rather, he can change hismelf…he sees this verse and interprets it to mean that our thoughts determine our being; so then a bazillion false doctrines are created to change a man’s thinking, and thereby to change the man:
- positive mental attitude
- meditation on everything from bible verses to self-esteem builders;
- cute little cliches to repeat when ‘negative’ thoughts invade the mind or when ‘toxic’ ppl are near (too bless to be stressed…God is good, all the time…when the devil reminds u of ur past, remind him of his future…etc)
this is all part of darkness. there is only one new creation, and that from the Father, born of water & of the Spirit…the new creation chosen in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world…we are to take every thought captive to the Word of God; to cast down every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…and any doctrine that offers a way to ‘redeem ur life’ or change ur future or heal or deliver you that is not by Jesus Christ needs to be cast down…
only the mind of Christ meditates on the Word of God; only the mind of Christ is able to receive the things of God, the natural man (adam) can’t receive the things of God…
But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14
the Holy Spirit only reveals one Jesus Christ…and Him crucified; the doctrines of man that seek to change man by any other way than being born from above, are lying spirits (who enters in not at the gate is a thief & a robber)…
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
-g-
I am what I am by the grace of God. As Jonah said “Salvation is of the Lord”. I was born again from above and not from beneath. Born not of my own will, nor the will of some man, not of my own works, not of anything I had to offer, but I was quickened, and made to know that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. As my bible says, there is none other name other than Jesus Christ whereby I must be saved. I repented, but God gave me that repentance. I believed, but God gave me the faith to believe. I surrendered, but I did so because Gods grace was irresistible to me. God bless. I liked you web site.
Brother Lynn
lynn…tnx fa ur comment…its a real blessing to meet the family of God in the earth…He who began a good work in us is faithful to perform it until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ…the day of the Lord is here…be bless… -g-
Such a deluded person, may think he has the capacity to make an intelligent,quality decision to change some one little thing he doesn’t like about himself; but in fact, it won’t work – because he is who he is, and he will stay who he is.
You may love a ‘friend’ like that. They are always trying to serve you something THEY want you to consume. You know what they are ’serving’ is not pure. It is sad to realize you have loved someone who doesn’t love you back. It is sad to realize that you have given good things and in return have been given bad things, and have been mistreated. It is sad to see that they sneer at you for staying on your lovely subject. Nevertheless, we love anyway. But we don’t have to eat what they are serving up, for the sake of friendship. Neither should we eagerly anticipate what our ‘friend’ will try to serve us in the future.
If the man has an evil eye then he is thinking evil in his heart. So he gives you this nice food but he has evil motives. maybe its poisened. maybe he wants you to feel obligated to do something for him.
It is a wise saying not to be suspicious of an the evil man when he does something ‘nice’.
The part in discussion that ‘as he thinks in his heart, so is he’. Elsewhere in the bible it says that a man speaks fromt he overflow of his heart. So i think that this is more speaking of the outflow of the heart. that someone with an evil heart does evil things. hense you should be suspicious if they have an evil heart and yet do seemingly good things. there has been enough disney cartoons to illustrate this simple truth.
But as for can you make a heart good by putting good things into it? well frankly i dont think this verse has anything to say on the matter.
I like your points that the real change in our life is done by the power of God, and that he begins a transforming work in us when we are baptised. I agree with that.
I also agree with those who would say that the things that you watch on tv and listen to will have an affect on your heart and how you act and speak. You dont need a bible to show that one to be true.
So in my opinion: good discussion but i think wrong verse.
“I am what I am by the grace of God. As Jonah said “Salvation is of the Lord”. I was born again from above and not from beneath. Born not of my own will, nor the will of some man, not of my own works, not of anything I had to offer, but I was quickened, and made to know that I was a sinner in need of a Savior. As my bible says, there is none other name other than Jesus Christ whereby I must be saved. I repented, but God gave me that repentance. I believed, but God gave me the faith to believe. I surrendered, but I did so because Gods grace was irresistible to me. God bless. I liked you web site.
Brother Lynn”
Amen. Indeed, salvation is of the Lord! And, THE LORD alone! I have a peeve with the whole “you can choose Jesus” or “you just need to open up the door to your heart”… and I may be wrong in saying this but one does not choose God, God chooses His people and what an honor and a priveledge it is to be His, if indeed you are. (Deuteronomy 7 is a beautiful passage) If God wants into your heart, you don’t have to “open up the door” – He’ll bust down the door! And what a joy it is to know that He has pursued you. Salvation is His work and His work alone! Romans 5:8,9 but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. God just recently opened up my eyes to His Word, to the fact that not only am I sinner… I’m the sinner that was the cause for His death. I need to spend more time reading through Romans!
“I also agree with those who would say that the things that you watch on tv and listen to will have an affect on your heart and how you act and speak. You dont need a bible to show that one to be true.”
I couldn’t agree more with this comment! Excellent! I don’t understand how one can renew their mind and put on the new man when they are polluting their minds with the things of the old life…
I’ve enjoyed your page! Once dead but by the grace of God alive in Him!
I agree with most of what was said here, except for the suggestion that people who explore Positive Thinking concepts are part of the “Darkness”. There is no darkness in whatever brings happiness and positivity to someones life.
As a Man Thinkith is so true…as if a person with evil thoughts will probably do evil things and a person who has positive thoughts will more than likely do positive things. Its the same concept but just because someone invests it in a different way does not automatically make it “Dark”.
thx fa ur comment kay…
Jesus Christ is the light…all things outside of Him are darkness…man outside of Christ looks for life and happiness and ‘positivity’ as you mentioned, but outside of Christ, he is yet in darkness and darkness is in him…
John 8:12 Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Joh 11:9-10 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
be bless… -g-
“As a man thinks so he is” is true for a number of reasons not the least is the so called free will! The choice of men is governed by what they desire, a man chooses what he wants to based on what he is aware of. So the natural man who knows not nor receives the things of God will choose according to his dark desires (Eph. 2) they are children of wrath by nature, dead in sin’s and trespasses and they are carried away by their passions. Romans 8:7 has something to say about this as well, “The fleshly mind is hostile to God, it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” The hostility of the heart of man toward God flows from his fleshly mind and heart that has no want nor ability to do what God desires, and what does God desire of unbelievers? John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Those were people who ate the bread and fish but did not believe when just a few verses later Jesus tells them they don’t believe because they have not been given by, drawn or had it granted to them by the Father, John 6:37-65.
So the unbeliever is like we were in our hearts before the Lord saved, dark and fleshly. The point isn’t that if a person changes their thinking they will change but simply that as a person is currently thinking so they are, currently; for the unbeliever as long is he is unbelieving then he is a wellspring of darkness and for the believer as they are brought out of darkness they are a wellspring of life by the grace of God. Because though you think you can change what you think you are wrong, for the will rests comfortably in the seat of the heart and its desires and will not and can not choose otherwise. “As a man thinks so he is”
I realize I paraphrased 1 Cor 2 and then typed Eph 2, it was because that passage had already been used and sited so I should have put an ibid. or something the Eph 2 bit was the comments I made after, sorry editing on my part, forgive me please.
fish: exactly right…thx fa ur comment…be bless… -g-
i apreciate with way the people are given thier view about as a man think in heart so he is.most of problem men are face on this earth is coure man’s way of thinking.in book of job{holy bible}”what i was appread of has happend to me” this shows how men are resposible the up and down of very life problem.i will always pray for men to be able to know what is the way to think about thier life on this earth.