I believe one of the most important things I can teach you is that your thoughts are powerful and they will actually determine your future. Have you heard the saying, "It's all in your mind"? Well, that's exactly where our successes and victories begin. You can think yourself into a mess or you can think yourself into a place of victory.

The Mind Is the Battlefield

The mind is one of the hardest areas to get under control and keep under control. Part of why it's hard is because Satan will attack you with lies and deceptions. You need to guard yourself against that. If you don't, your life could be one miserable day after the next.

Positive thinking doesn't just happen. It's something you have to do on purpose. You have to believe God's Word is for you. Then you need to hear yourself say what you believe.

Talk to Yourself

You're not crazy if you talk to yourself. In fact, your thoughts are "talking" to you all the time. And the way you talk to yourself is one of the most important things in your life. You can never get beyond what you think—especially what you think of yourself.

Think on Purpose

I believe many people think they don't have a choice about their thoughts. But you can think on purpose—positive thoughts or negative thoughts. If a negative thought comes into your head, you can cast it down and begin to renew your mind with the Word of God. (See 2 Corinthians 10:5)

There are days when I feel it's an all-day battle to stay positive, and I need to have "think sessions" based on God's Word. This means you set your mind on purpose and keep it set, even ahead of time. (See Colossians 3:2)

Having your mind set in advance is important so that when something doesn't go your way, you've already decided to not let it bother you.

Take Action

To help you declare war on your thoughts, I want to give you some battle strategies—Power Thoughts—for setting your mind in the right direction. Meditate on each Power Thought for a week, over and over again until it literally becomes a part of you.

Power Thought: I can do whatever I need to do in life through Christ.

Whatever the day brings, you can handle it through Christ. And because you're in Christ, you've also been made not just a conqueror, but you're more than a conqueror!

What does it mean to be more than a conqueror?

I believe it means that before you ever get a problem you already know that you're coming out of it with a victory because you know you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. (See Philippians 4:13)

Don't look at what you can handle. You can't handle anything without God. You couldn't make it through one day. But with Him, you'll make it every day!

Power Thought: God loves me unconditionally!

When you really know that God loves you, you can conquer anything. You feel valuable, you become bold, and you realize you don't have to be afraid of making mistakes or failing. You know you have a purpose in life!

Knowing that God loves you unconditionally will also remove the fear from your life, and it will make it difficult for Satan to load you up with guilt and condemnation every day.

Even when the world tries to make you feel like there's something wrong with you, remember that the first thing God gives you when you receive Christ is righteousness. You're right with Him, and it doesn't matter whom else you might be wrong with.

Believe that you're righteous in Christ by saying, "God, I know that you love me. I trust You. I know You're going to take care of this. It's going to work out good."

Power Thought: I am difficult to offend.

I've never seen a time when there have been so many bitter, touchy and angry people in the world. I personally spent too many years of my life angry, but now I have opted to act like a little child and trust God to be God in my life. And that's really all God wants us to do, is to trust Him, even if we never understand everything.

Forgiving those who've hurt you is a big part of trusting God. The Bible says to forgive others otherwise the Lord cannot forgive your sins. Ultimately, it's for your own benefit!

Set your mind that you won't be bitter, angry or resentful. You may not be able to help what you feel but if you change what you think, your feelings will catch up with your thoughts.

Receive His Reward

Don't you want to have God's promises? I do. I want to see them working in my life and my children's lives. We can't get that by being passive. We must renew our minds with the Word daily so that it becomes part of who we are.

In time, our thoughts and our words will be full of God's truths, and we will experience the blessings He has for us.

This teaching is based on Joyce's action plan study package, Developing Power Thoughts. Get all 12 Power Thoughts.