Where'd That Thought Come From? (Part 2 of 2)

The thoughts that make me pause and say, "Where did that come from?" are not usually easy to identify.  When I see a billboard, I know where the thought came from.  When someone is talking to me, I know where the thought came from.  It's the unexpected thoughts that really can knock me off course for awhile.  It's the UNSEEN sources that are more difficult to identify.  But even in the Biblical days, they existed.

"The Heart" is the term used in Scripture to identify one of these unseen sources.  "The Heart" describes a "storage facility" that keeps thoughts from our past.  I will describe this in more detail in a later post.  For now, though, I will simply say that anything stored in our heart (or long-term memory) can come back up into our mind - even decades later.  "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him."  (Matthew 12:34-35 NIV84)

The second category of unseen sources was one I knew from Biblical teaching, but for the longest time I never put two and two together.  This is the category know as "Spirits."  We know that God is Spirit (John 4:24) and that somehow His Spirit testifies with our spirit (Romans 8:16) reminding us that we are His children.  When I pray for wisdom, I expect God to fulfill His promise.  "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."  (James 1:5-6 NIV84)  How does he answer this particular prayer?  He gives us thoughts!  Thoughts from God are thoughts of wisdom.  God's Spirit is a source of thoughts!

There are more sources of thoughts from the unseen, spiritual realm.  We will take a look at them tomorrow.  But today, I leave you with these thoughts: 
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:6-8 NIV84)
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