DTPs

Remember viral infections were treated by doctors & quarantine meant the isolation of diseased people & pets? No Longer. Nowadays computer get sick. I was infected with gastric flu that brought me down a single week, yet I pushed on with my work leading to stairways of nowhere. I was diagnosed with ulcers deep in the throat that generated high fever, dizziness & great fatigue. Finally my system ‘crashed’ resulted in the much needed rest...

Think of our mind as a computer made to store & process massive amounts of data. Think of our strengths as software. Pianists are loaded with music programs. Accountants seem to be born with spreadsheet capacity. Fun lovers come with games installed. We are different, but we each have a computer & software, & sadly, we have viruses. You & I are infected by destructive thoughts...[I was suffering in depression silently]

Computer viruses have names like ILOVEYOU, Klez & Chernobyl. Mental viruses are known as anxiety, bitterness, anger, guilt, shame, greed & insecurity. They worm their way into our system & diminish, even disable, our mind. We call these DTPs: destructive thought patterns. Do you have any DTPs? When you see the successful, are you jealous? When you see the struggler, are you pompous? Ever argue with someone in your mind? Rehash or rehearse your hurts? Do you assume the worst about the future? If so, you suffer from DTPs...

What would our world be like without then? Had no dark or destructive thought ever entered your mind, how would you be different? Suppose you could relive your life sans any guilt, lust, vengeance, insecurity, or fear. Never wasting mental energy on gossips or scheming. Would you be different?

Oh, to be DTP-free. No energy lost, no time wasted. Wouldn’t such as person be energetic & wise? A lifetime of healthy & holy thoughts would render anyone a joyful genius. But would you find such an individual? An uninfected computer can be bought - but an uninfected person? Impossible. Trace a computer virus back to a hacker. Trace our mental viruses back to the fall of the first man, Adam. Because of sin, our minds are full of dark thoughts. "Although they knew about God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile & their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools" [Rom. 1:21-22 NIV]...

Blame DTPs on sin. Sin messes with the mind. But what if the virus never entered? Supposed a person never opened Satan's emails? What would that person be like? A lot like the twelve-year-old boy seated in the temple of Jerusalem. Though He was beardless & unadorned, this boy's thoughts were profound. The boy name Jesus...

Why? What made Jesus different? The Bible is silent about His IQ. When it comes to the RAM size of His mental computer, we are told nothing. But when it comes to His purity of mind, we are given astounding claim: Christ "Knew no sin" [2 Cor. 5:21] Even the demons declared His unique status, "I know who you are-the Holy One of God!" [ Luke 4:34 NIV]...

The loudest testimony to His perfection was the silence that followed this question. When His accusers called Him a servant of Satan, Jesus demanded to see their evidence. "Which one of you convicts Me of sin?" [John 8:46]. Ask around my circle of friends to point out my sin, and watch the hands shoot up. When those who knew Jesus were asked this same question, no one spoke. Christ was followed by disciples, analyzed by crowds, criticized by family & scrutinized by enemies, yet one person would remember Him committing even one sin. He was never found in wrong place. Never said the wrong word. Never acted the wrong way. He never sinned. Not that He wasn't tempted, mind you. He was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" [Heb 4:15]...

Lust wooed Him. Greed lured Him. Power called Him. Jesus-the-human-was tempted. But Jesus-the-Holy God-resisted. Contaminated email came His way, but He resisted the urge to open it. The word sinless has never survived cohabitation with another person. Those who knew Christ best, however spoke of His purity in unison & with conviction. And because He was sinless, His mind was stainless. DTP-less. No wonder people were "amazed at His teaching" [Mark 1:22 NCV]. His mind is virus-free...

But does this matter? Does the perfection of Christ affect me? If He were a distant Creator, the answer would be NO. But since He is our Savior & redeemer, the rely is a super sized YES! We are made to be like Christ! God's priority is that we be "transformed by the renewing of your mind" [Rom. 12:2 NIV]. You may have been born virus-prone, but you don't have to live that way. There is hope for your head! Are you a worrywart? Don't have to be one forever. Guilt plagued & shamed stained? Don't have to be one forever. Prone to anger? Jealousy? Jesus can take care of that. Jesus can change your mind...

God answers our prayers. He changes the man by changing the mind. And how does it happen? By doing what we are doing right now. Considering the glory of Christ. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit" [2 Cor. 3:18]. To behold Him is to become like Him. As Christ dominates your thoughts, He changes you from one degree of glory to another until - hang on! - you are ready to live with Him. How Great is our God! Amen?!

Heaven is the land of sinless minds. Virus-free thinking. Absolute trust. No fear or anger. Shame & second-guessing are practices of prior life. Heaven will be wonderful, not because the streets are gold, but because our thoughts will be pure. So what are you waiting on? Apply God's antivirus. "Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died & your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory." [Col. 3:2-4]

Inspired by:

Max Lucado