Quality of Thinking
By Al Pirozzoli
Do you ever think about thinking? Really, do you? Most of us would be inclined to say, no, or something like, I’ve never thought about thinking.
Well, we all have access to our 100 billion or so brain cells, each of which is a packet of divine instructions available to meet the challenges we face in this fast-changing modern world. What’s more, and this is critical scientific fact: the uncharted regions of your brain, the human genetic code, is still vast. Much of this area cannot be tracked under current limitations of science.
Therefore, you have no idea how deep your thinking potential resources go. You’ve never run mining operations into your mind so why in the world would you want to self-limit it? Most of us do put limitations on ourselves that the Creator did not. Limitations are self-installed. It’s a true DIY function.
Research is now only beginning to come closer to filling in the mapping of the three billion chemical genetic building blocks resident in each person’s genome; a complete set of genetic directions contained within the 24-chromosomes in the nucleus of every one of your brain cells. Just imagining that vastness is overwhelming.
How anyone can read brain-related specifications like this and not become exhilarated about their personal potential is beyond me. God has divinely engineered you to be a truly formidable creature with capabilities far beyond your expectations. Yes, it’s true. Let me provide one example for you.
Think about this for a moment. Not so many decades ago astronomers pursued an idea that at first hearing sounds like something only a delusional person would say. “We need to discover new planets and their location out in space, even though we can’t see them.” Did you catch that, the part about...even though we can’t see them? What makes us think we can geographically, in space, locate invisible, never-before-known planets? Because we are engineered as formidable creatures (made in God’s likeness and image).
How did they locate invisible planets?
They applied their brains and reasoned it out—quality levels of thinking. When known and observable planet’s trajectories warped inexplicitly and erratically, outside known astronomical laws, researchers looked into what could be influencing the changes to those elliptical orbits. By combining sphere geometry with gravitational theory, scientists were able to theorize: “The only way known planet X could be this far off course is if unknown planet Y is behind it at so much mass and distance. That alone would account for planet X’s asymmetrical odyssey. As they worked to develop this theory it proved out. A planet was there causing the erratic orbit. You see, quality levels of divinely driven thinking is why men can land on the moon while monkeys can only land in trees.
The King Solomon Example
Much the same way as in astronomy, solutions can hide behind what we know. But somebody has to decide to look for what can’t be seen. It’s the laser-sharp ability of quality thinking that gets behind to the invisible. When you think about it, the latest and greatest high technology is the human mind that the Creator fashioned into every person. In the Hebrew Bible we find a telling verse by King Solomon:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2). What King Solomon means by this is the Creator has hidden his wisdom in the elements, therefore it is an advantage for rulers in power to encourage research. Solomon assures us that the answers to our questions and the solutions to our problems do exist. In fact, they are eagerly waiting to be discovered.
Philosophers, scholars, and scientists have debated and tested many ways to support the search for knowledge and understanding. They have found ingenious ways to unravel God’s mysteries in the world, and to uncover the latent knowledge we need to live and progress. Much has already been uncovered over the centuries. We have a vast reservoir of knowledge contained in records of all kinds. New sources of wisdom and knowledge can be found whenever we encounter opportunities to think, to learn and then apply it properly.
“Wisdom,” Solomon said, can be heard in these places:
“in the streets in the chief place of concourse, in the openings
of the gates: in the city.” (Proverbs 1:20-22).
“in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths
at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.” (Proverbs 8:2,3).
The point King Solomon makes in these words is that knowledge is all around us. As we move about all areas of life we must observe and become cognizant of imbedded solutions and opportunities to make improvements and enter new realms that will benefit others and expand God’s Kingdom. All freely available to us. Within this vast reservoir is truth and non-truth, myths and realities.
Solomon advised seeking authentic truths and sound wisdom. It can be seen wherever you find knowledge of “excellent things,” “knowledge of clever inventions,” information about the “ways of righteousness” and the “paths of justice.” (See Proverbs 8).
Think about how amazing this is—notice how combinations of 26 letters make up every word in the English language. Similarly, all material things in the world are composed of different combinations of some 100+ different elements. An element is a substance that cannot be broken down into any simpler substances through ordinary chemistry. In other words, it can’t be destroyed by acids, it can’t be changed by electricity, light, or heat.
Philosophers in the ancient world held only a rudimentary concept of elements. Until researchers began to identify these elements that make up all life, they could not decode these properties and make use of them. Identifying the Periodic Table of Elements changed everything. In the same way, until we delve into our own make up and better understand God-embedded principles and laws that govern thinking (inner brilliance, quality thinking), we will remain at a disadvantage to expand it. Solutions will not suddenly appear in our science textbooks on their own. No cute little science or business elves are hidden in trees writing up the secrets to the elemental principles of life.
So, how does this relate to the Christian? It takes the labor of thinking, pondering, examining, questioning and so on. It requires time, study, and application of biblical principles. The hitch, however, is that you can’t apply something you don’t know. Therefore, studying scripture is the key to success on every level of human existence.
The Ultimate Solution: The Mind of Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, "we have been given the mind of Christ"(1 Cor 2:16).Those who have the mind of Christ can discern spiritual things that the natural man (or the unbeliever) is unable to. Having the mind of Christ is essentially the same as being indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:1-2; Acts 2:38)
Through the Holy Spirit, we are now "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). We gain new qualities, like humility (Phil 2:5), compassion (Matt 9:36) along with other and other effective divine "fruit" (Gal 5:22-23). We have a new purpose that is aligned with His (Luke 19:10).The mind of Christ is only accessible through faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person is saved, the Holy Spirit comes upon him, filling him with understanding and hope and wisdom and power. Thinking at this level of wisdom is a divine undertaking. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate in high quality of thinking and faith, and we have that same access. And indeed, we will need it to expand his kingdom and bring people to liberty and salvation.
There are dozens of Bible verses that deal with quality thinking. You might want to collect these amazing verses and apply them. We can’t tend only to the daily lives we live; we must become well-prepared disciples that are effective in our areas of influence.
Consider this carefully, why would Jesus ever tell us that we can do something if we can’t? No, that would make him a trickster of sorts. No, he is life and death serious about us bringing people into his kingdom and bringing divine solutions to our areas of influence. After all, God has created us as walking, talking warehouses of creative solutions that help others and ultimately glorify him. What an exciting mission God has called us to!
To get you started here are a few verses to ponder and start you thinking about divine thinking.
Philippians 4:8
Romans 12:2
Colossians 3:2
Romans 8:5-6
2 Corinthians 10:5
1 Corinthians 3:18
2 Timothy 2:7
Proverbs 23:7
Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
Now that’s a verse to think about, don’t you agree?
Do you ever think about thinking? Really, do you? Most of us would be inclined to say, no, or something like, I’ve never thought about thinking.
Well, we all have access to our 100 billion or so brain cells, each of which is a packet of divine instructions available to meet the challenges we face in this fast-changing modern world. What’s more, and this is critical scientific fact: the uncharted regions of your brain, the human genetic code, is still vast. Much of this area cannot be tracked under current limitations of science.
Therefore, you have no idea how deep your thinking potential resources go. You’ve never run mining operations into your mind so why in the world would you want to self-limit it? Most of us do put limitations on ourselves that the Creator did not. Limitations are self-installed. It’s a true DIY function.
Research is now only beginning to come closer to filling in the mapping of the three billion chemical genetic building blocks resident in each person’s genome; a complete set of genetic directions contained within the 24-chromosomes in the nucleus of every one of your brain cells. Just imagining that vastness is overwhelming.
How anyone can read brain-related specifications like this and not become exhilarated about their personal potential is beyond me. God has divinely engineered you to be a truly formidable creature with capabilities far beyond your expectations. Yes, it’s true. Let me provide one example for you.
Think about this for a moment. Not so many decades ago astronomers pursued an idea that at first hearing sounds like something only a delusional person would say. “We need to discover new planets and their location out in space, even though we can’t see them.” Did you catch that, the part about...even though we can’t see them? What makes us think we can geographically, in space, locate invisible, never-before-known planets? Because we are engineered as formidable creatures (made in God’s likeness and image).
How did they locate invisible planets?
They applied their brains and reasoned it out—quality levels of thinking. When known and observable planet’s trajectories warped inexplicitly and erratically, outside known astronomical laws, researchers looked into what could be influencing the changes to those elliptical orbits. By combining sphere geometry with gravitational theory, scientists were able to theorize: “The only way known planet X could be this far off course is if unknown planet Y is behind it at so much mass and distance. That alone would account for planet X’s asymmetrical odyssey. As they worked to develop this theory it proved out. A planet was there causing the erratic orbit. You see, quality levels of divinely driven thinking is why men can land on the moon while monkeys can only land in trees.
The King Solomon Example
Much the same way as in astronomy, solutions can hide behind what we know. But somebody has to decide to look for what can’t be seen. It’s the laser-sharp ability of quality thinking that gets behind to the invisible. When you think about it, the latest and greatest high technology is the human mind that the Creator fashioned into every person. In the Hebrew Bible we find a telling verse by King Solomon:
“It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the honor of kings to search out a matter.” (Proverbs 25:2). What King Solomon means by this is the Creator has hidden his wisdom in the elements, therefore it is an advantage for rulers in power to encourage research. Solomon assures us that the answers to our questions and the solutions to our problems do exist. In fact, they are eagerly waiting to be discovered.
Philosophers, scholars, and scientists have debated and tested many ways to support the search for knowledge and understanding. They have found ingenious ways to unravel God’s mysteries in the world, and to uncover the latent knowledge we need to live and progress. Much has already been uncovered over the centuries. We have a vast reservoir of knowledge contained in records of all kinds. New sources of wisdom and knowledge can be found whenever we encounter opportunities to think, to learn and then apply it properly.
“Wisdom,” Solomon said, can be heard in these places:
“in the streets in the chief place of concourse, in the openings
of the gates: in the city.” (Proverbs 1:20-22).
“in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths
at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.” (Proverbs 8:2,3).
The point King Solomon makes in these words is that knowledge is all around us. As we move about all areas of life we must observe and become cognizant of imbedded solutions and opportunities to make improvements and enter new realms that will benefit others and expand God’s Kingdom. All freely available to us. Within this vast reservoir is truth and non-truth, myths and realities.
Solomon advised seeking authentic truths and sound wisdom. It can be seen wherever you find knowledge of “excellent things,” “knowledge of clever inventions,” information about the “ways of righteousness” and the “paths of justice.” (See Proverbs 8).
Think about how amazing this is—notice how combinations of 26 letters make up every word in the English language. Similarly, all material things in the world are composed of different combinations of some 100+ different elements. An element is a substance that cannot be broken down into any simpler substances through ordinary chemistry. In other words, it can’t be destroyed by acids, it can’t be changed by electricity, light, or heat.
Philosophers in the ancient world held only a rudimentary concept of elements. Until researchers began to identify these elements that make up all life, they could not decode these properties and make use of them. Identifying the Periodic Table of Elements changed everything. In the same way, until we delve into our own make up and better understand God-embedded principles and laws that govern thinking (inner brilliance, quality thinking), we will remain at a disadvantage to expand it. Solutions will not suddenly appear in our science textbooks on their own. No cute little science or business elves are hidden in trees writing up the secrets to the elemental principles of life.
So, how does this relate to the Christian? It takes the labor of thinking, pondering, examining, questioning and so on. It requires time, study, and application of biblical principles. The hitch, however, is that you can’t apply something you don’t know. Therefore, studying scripture is the key to success on every level of human existence.
The Ultimate Solution: The Mind of Christ.
The Apostle Paul said, "we have been given the mind of Christ"(1 Cor 2:16).Those who have the mind of Christ can discern spiritual things that the natural man (or the unbeliever) is unable to. Having the mind of Christ is essentially the same as being indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:1-2; Acts 2:38)
Through the Holy Spirit, we are now "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). We gain new qualities, like humility (Phil 2:5), compassion (Matt 9:36) along with other and other effective divine "fruit" (Gal 5:22-23). We have a new purpose that is aligned with His (Luke 19:10).The mind of Christ is only accessible through faith in Jesus Christ. Once a person is saved, the Holy Spirit comes upon him, filling him with understanding and hope and wisdom and power. Thinking at this level of wisdom is a divine undertaking. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate in high quality of thinking and faith, and we have that same access. And indeed, we will need it to expand his kingdom and bring people to liberty and salvation.
There are dozens of Bible verses that deal with quality thinking. You might want to collect these amazing verses and apply them. We can’t tend only to the daily lives we live; we must become well-prepared disciples that are effective in our areas of influence.
Consider this carefully, why would Jesus ever tell us that we can do something if we can’t? No, that would make him a trickster of sorts. No, he is life and death serious about us bringing people into his kingdom and bringing divine solutions to our areas of influence. After all, God has created us as walking, talking warehouses of creative solutions that help others and ultimately glorify him. What an exciting mission God has called us to!
To get you started here are a few verses to ponder and start you thinking about divine thinking.
Philippians 4:8
Romans 12:2
Colossians 3:2
Romans 8:5-6
2 Corinthians 10:5
1 Corinthians 3:18
2 Timothy 2:7
Proverbs 23:7
Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
Now that’s a verse to think about, don’t you agree?
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