Let’s Get a New Thought

This morning I made a visit to the dentist for a filling. It was early. I was cold. I did not want the shot to deaden my mouth. The sound of the drill was already playing in my head. I dreaded what I was going into before I ended up in the chair.

Four hands were in my mouth, endless instruments surrounded me, and bright lights shined in my eyes. I felt my entire body tense. I did not want to be here. I was over it. I wanted to leave.

The dentist and the technician noticed my body language change in that instant. They decided to talk to me about their weekend plans and what they planned to order for lunch. At the end I was laughing and relaxed.

They knew how to play a GREAT game of distraction and it worked. The bonus is they were done before I knew it.

That made me think about life and about all the distractions that can shift our focus.

I have always thought that the word and idea of "distraction" was negative. What if distraction could be good? What if, when you shift your focus on something good, it results in a happier life? A relaxed life. More joy. After all, the Bible does tell us that the joy of the Lord is my strength, no one can steal my joy, and that my joy will be like a river overflowing at its banks.

I am choosing a different way of thinking- I am choosing joy!

At the 2021 Conference in Orlando, FL, USA, Dutch Sheets said, “My message today is to say to you, Aglow, and anyone else who is watching or here, we have to start thinking differently. It is time to adjust our thinking. I am not talking about sin. I am talking about activity. I am talking about our prayers. I am talking about our mindset. It is even time to start changing our language when we say revival is coming. It is time to start saying, ‘It is here and it is coming. He is here, and He is coming. This has begun. We are moving into something different. Now I have to start thinking differently.’ When you come into harvest season, you think differently.

Jesus said that it was okay to mourn and to fast when He was here. “Now, I want you to rejoice in this season because things are changing. John came to plow, but I am here to heal. He came to dismantle some things, and to announce some things, but I am the announcement! And now I am here to open blind eyes and let the oppressed go free and open prison doors.”

Graham Cooke said at the Leader’s Summit at the 2017 Aglow Global Conference:

When you get a lens change of seeing God and you change the way you think, you will be asking questions in line with who God is and with what God wants to do. Then you will be fascinated and not intimidated.

Practical Applications

From 1967 God’s plan is that Holy Spirit lead Aglow. We see what a powerful impact Jesus made in 33 years as He walked being led by Holy Spirit. We also see what a negative impact the majority of the religious leaders of His day had because they did NOT allow Holy Spirit to lead them.

Jesus walked in the fullness of His identity – of how He was known in Heaven. Walking in that confidence caused Him to withstand every onslaught of the devil.

In Aglow, we must walk each day according to the plans Heaven has for us. We must walk in the fullness of how Aglow is known in Heaven. In all our ways, we must partner with Holy Spirit so we stay true to the call of God as the assignments He has for us globally unfold before us. It is a faith walk. It is a trust walk. It is one where the only way of thinking we must have is the thought that Heaven is having.