Thoughts

[blessings from above]

23 hours ago, Josheb said:

Sounds good. By way of encouragement (and noteworthy to any and all readers), some congregations have staff with clinical training. When is was in graduate school I would occasionally meet ministers/pastors taking theory, skills, or Dx or other Tx classes to add to their religious/pastoral training. There are also pastoral counseling staff and ministries that charge little or nothing and don't require insurance. Lastly, there are many counselors who keep one or two folks on their roster pro bono. It's part of our ethics code, even if it's not part of our "faith code" . I always have one or two on my calendar who cannot afford me. Lastly, if you're in the clergy there may be a small group of counselors that gather monthly for mutual encouragement and exhortation and even though they are clinicians," they may be open to their pastoral fellows' participation. The small group of counselors with whom I met monthly have had pastors join more than once and almost always to positive effect. My accountability partner is a pastoral counselor and he does not charge those with whom he meets, even if they are no members of his congregation. Lastly, there are plenty of old, retired helpers (clinical and/or pastoral) who just can't stop doing what we do - only now they do it for free. It might take some effort to find these resources but the effort is worth it and if not needed by you then it may be for someone you know now or in the future. 

Yes and I even decided that I would create goals before I get Christian therapy because that is part of the process to recovery.

Blessings

 

[Who me]

On 9/5/2020 at 11:28 PM, blessings from above said:

Are intrusive thoughts an attack from the devil?

 

Are intrusive thoughts a problem for you? By that I mean do you find yourself in unless arguments with an unwelcome thought or think that you are thinking horrible thoughts that are contract to how you normally think?

 

If you do there are a couple of things you can do, primarily read the article, " 25 tips for successfully treating your off."

You may not have off, but this article has several tips on dealing with intrusive thoughts.

If they are a big problems you will need professional help and medication to get them under control.

[blessings from above]

yes thank you

[BeauJangles]

On 9/10/2020 at 10:17 AM, Samuel91 said:

Generally, thoughts come four avenues;

1. God

2. Your regenerated spirit

3. The devil

4. Your flesh( unrenewed mind)

Thoughts from the first two can be can be trusted and later ones should be brought unto the obedience of scriptures.

Any thought not in line with scriptures should be discarded regardless of whether its from the devil or from your unrenewed mind.

I would agree with the final statement of discarding unscriptural thoughts when they oppose proper doctrine. We do have freedom of thinking on our own, having personal hobbies, interests, and the like. The Lord doesn't expect us to be robotic in nature, as we were not created in this fashion for an automated response to everything. We are individuals who have similarities to one another in certain respects.

This is why people gather together in one accord with one another and proceed with activities. God is not boring and we are also aren't as believers in Christ, to be dull Christians only studying doctrinal issues. The world was created for our pleasure and our Heavenly Father takes delight in our general overall happiness and contentment. There are far more things to do in God's world besides simply attending church services.  

[Coliseum]

When someone says he has a intrusive thought, no one knows whether his definition is the same as someone else's. What is a intrusive thought? For me, it is an unexplained, instant, sometimes unwelcome thought that comes without my permission, without my intention, and without any prior knowledge. I have had those kinds of thoughts. For example, I own cats. I have always been extremely kind to them, and they to me. Once, I was holding and petting my cat, looking into it's eyes and saying how pretty she was. Then, out of nowhere a thought occurred to me that it would be very easy to kill the cat. What a horrible thought. It was uninvited, it had no obvious reason, it came instantly, it was certainly unwelcome. Yet, it came. How would I deal with such a thought? It is not that we don't have them; what will I do with them?

If we are in doubt who knows about them, we can be certain of this: God does. Go to God. So I prayed. God knows every thought. I recalled Phil 4:6-9. I ascribed nothing to the thought. I know that I am capable of horrific thoughts as well as beautiful ones. I am not fearful of the thought, because I know my actions speak for themselves. If I were a perfect person, I would have perfect thoughts. I am not a perfect perfect person, therefore I don't. "Who by worrying can add a single hour to his life"? 

We don't like to mention specific, intrusive thoughts. Why? Are we afraid people will label us, brand us, think less of us? Do I think everyone else has it all together but me? Well, I can be sure of this: no one has it all together; no one has it together at all. Paul knew it. He was unconcerned about it. Did Paul not say that he did not care what others thought about him---that he did not even care what he thought about himself? It only mattered  what God thought about him. And it only matters what God thinks about us. Go to Him; He is our Father.

[JohnD]

On 9/5/2020 at 5:28 PM, blessings from above said:

Are intrusive thoughts an attack from the devil?

They can be.

Sometimes they are self-antagonism.

A good example is when we do something wrong or stupid (especially

when there is nothing we can do to correct it). And we dis on ourselves

relentlessly.

The solution is simply but not easy. You have to take control of your thoughts

and think about other things and be ready for relapses when they come.

Intelligence: what an insane concept.

[LonerAndy]

On 9/5/2020 at 6:28 PM, blessings from above said:

Are intrusive thoughts an attack from the devil?

I would rarely assume that a bad thought is of the devil.   The human heart is desperately wicked.

Jeremiah 17:9.

Can a bad thought come from the enemy?  Sure.  But most just come from your heart.  That's why we need a Savior.

[Starise]

Sometimes when I'm especially trying to concentrate on something spiritual, it seems there is some kind of distraction. Case in point- Last evening I determined I was going to pray. At the exact moment I was ready to start the phone rang. I get down on my knees and the dogs jump on me. The neighbor next door decided to clear some land with his skid loader in the dark with the lights on. Have you ever wondered about those things? Could it have been a deliberate attempt to thwart something?  If a cock crowing three times was significant enough for the Lord to mention it, then all events are significant in some way.

The term "intrusive" was a good one. Intrusive thoughts from Satan?   One possibility. What are the thoughts? This might help determine where they are coming from. Why would you maybe be thinking this is a stronger possibility than other possibilities? If you think it's possibly thoughts from Satan, pray against it. Ask God to steady your mind.

Are you the type of person who is always "overthinking" things? This is a personality trait in many people. Our minds sometimes work overtime in processing information we think might be relevant to our problem. In doing so we take it too far, don't know when to stop. This is an obsessive compulsive trait. It's as if there's some kind of a glitch in our brain and a "thought loop" just goes round and round in different ways. 

The most direct answer to   "Are intrusive thoughts from the devil?" is it could be. Difficult to tell without knowing more. I think it would be short sighted to say it doesn't happen.