What is the best thought that you ever had?

[Ed Walsh]

Greetings all,

Like the title says, what is the best thought you have ever had in your life? I mean the best thought you have had. Not the best thought you think you should have had. Consider the difference before you answer.

What is the occasion of me asking such a question? I have been quite sick for going on six weeks now, and unlike my usual experience in trials, I have become discouraged, thinking perhaps I will never get better in this life. Don't worry. I have no reason to think that. It's just the thoughts that I've had. But early yesterday morning, the Lord reminded me of my very best thought, and it lifted me up and caused me to praise His holy name with all my might.

The question I am asking is very easy to answer for myself. But I'd like to hear some of your testimonies where you give your answers before I tell you mine. If your mind becomes a little blank when you think of the question, then it is probably not something you should try to answer at this point in your life. I lived many years before this very best thought changed how I looked at everything.

Any takers?

 

[Pergamum]

Whatever pain I endure in life or whatever my past sins have been, because I belong to Jesus, He loves me and has a place waiting for me near him so I can enjoy His presence forever. And I can do nothing whatsoever to repay all this kindness...and yet I don't need to. More than any fear of hell, His kindness towards me has broken me utterly and is remolding me into His image.

 

[Jeri Tanner]

I think the overall best thought I’ve ever had boils down to “having Christ is worth it all.”

 

[Deleted member 13126]

Everything must be proved from the Word of God. When the reality of Acts 17:11 “clicked,” my life changed. It turned my whole world upside down. To this day it has been the best thought I’ve had, though I may have many more years here before the Lord calls me home. I know some folks have a ‘life verse’ in some circles, a particular portion of Holy Scripture which they cling dearly to as a shipwrecked person would cling to flotsam.

This one has been mine from the beginning of my walk with the Lord, but it’s the thoughts around that verse which I credit with transforming my mind, even down to how I think thoughts after that first thought about Acts 17:11 and the consistency and self-authenticating manifold wisdom of God as revealed in His Word.

I’m not doing it justice by trying to articulate it here, but alas, you asked, and so I’ve answered.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day.

 

[Joshua]

I dunno, but I hope it will always be this one "All things unto the glory of God." This is the heart I want, loving Christ for His person, beyond His benefits, taking Him by faith that He will keep and save me, but even if He didn't (but He will!), that in all things the LORD God of truth would forever be glorified, whether in the salvation of His people, or the damnation of His enemies. This is rarely my primary thought and motivation, but I want it to be.

 

[Polanus1561]

Joy comes from obedience. Obedience is not antithetical to joy.

 

[JimmyH]

September of 1986. Reading through the NT for the first time. Began as a skeptic and ended as a believer. The best thought I ever had was reading through Romans 1 and the Holy Spirit revealing to me that I was a sinner ... I thought ... I need a Savior, and realized I have one in Christ Jesus.

 

[Ethan]

November 24th, 2019. I believe it came to me at the end of a long drive across Montana for work. We’d been studying Revelation, referencing Beale’s book, and had recently covered Rev. 18. We connected it with 1 John 2:15-17 at the study. It blew me away.

The Christian does not choose heaven to avoid hell, but rejects the earth to obtain Christ.

 

[Zach]

So many encouraging truths about our God and his Word and his gospel in this thread! Thank you, Ed!

At first my mind sort of drew a blank, and I certainly have not lived as long and attained the wisdom that many of you have on here, but I've enjoyed reading your replies and been thinking about the question today. Even though I was planning to sit this out and just read your replies, something did begin to stand out in my mind and I reflected more and more on the question. I don't know if it's the best thought that I have ever had and I come back to it over and over again and never cease to find tremendous comfort and more and more reasons to praise God.

It is something like this: that despite all my foolishness, sin, wrongdoing, wickedness, evil, and countless violations of God's decreed will, somehow, I have not been outside of his secret will for me and my life because he has been at work in me for my good and for his glory. It is simply staggering and incomprehensible to think that God, who is so holy and glorious that he hates all sin would, through the gospel of his Son, mysteriously, use it all to bring glory to him and for our ultimate good. When I look back on my life there is so much I would have done differently or wish I could do differently, so much to be embarrassed by, even ashamed of. And yet God in his perfect wisdom used it all. He would not do anything differently because he is perfect in wisdom and power. He used it all to show me my sin, reveal his holiness and grace to me, to teach me to not rely on myself, that his ways are better and to want to walk in them, and that he is good. That thought, or something like it, regularly makes me want to draw near in love and worship.

 

[Ed Walsh]

And yet God in his perfect wisdom used it all. He would not do anything differently because he is perfect in wisdom and power. He used it all to show me my sin, reveal his holiness and grace to me, to teach me to not rely on myself, that his ways are better and to want to walk in them, and that he is good. That thought, or something like it, regularly makes me want to draw near in love and worship.

I'll give my answer in the morning. And I'll bet it will surprise some.

But what you are saying, Zach is, I think, summed up in my life verse.

Romans 8:28​

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.​

 

[Grant]

The Lord’s Providence is so precious to me. My current season of life has been full of doubts and going through the motions. However, in the Lord’s providence, in this phase of life I have also been blessed with 3 daughters (7,5,2). Almost everyday the Lord reminds me of so much joy and awe through the truths my kids confess and remind me of, oh how humbling this has been, but also this has helped me to stay the course. As doubts or mundaneness have been so prevalent, out of the blue my 7 year old will ask me some doctrinal questions that I have answers for due to the Lord’s blessing in my studies. This may not be the best thought I have ever had (I mean come on, Popeyes….jk), but I hope my wife & kids feel I hold them up half as much as they hold me up during this season. The glimpses of faith I see in my oldest 2, serve as floodwaters to these dry bones of mine.

P.S. As of today, My 7 year old, Harper, knows all 150 kids catechism questions ( we started these when she was only 2).

 

[De Jager]

The Lord’s Providence is so precious to me. My current season of life has been full of doubts and going through the motions. However, in the Lord’s providence, in this phase of life I have also been blessed with 3 daughters (7,5,2). Almost everyday the Lord reminds me of so much joy and awe through the truths my kids confess and remind me of, oh how humbling this has been, but also this has helped me to stay the course. As doubts or mundaneness have been so prevalent, out of the blue my 7 year old will ask me some doctrinal questions that I have answers for due to the Lord’s blessing in my studies. This may not be the best thought I have ever had (I mean come on, Popeyes….jk), but I hope my wife & kids feel I hold them up half as much as they hold me up during this season. The glimpses of faith I see in my oldest 2, serve as floodwaters to these dry bones.

P.S. As of today, My 7 year old, Harper, knows all 150 kids catechism questions ( we started these when she was only 2).

Praise God....and good for you for diligently teaching her.

I have 2 daughters of my own - the first is 20 months old, the second is 11 weeks old....and I look forward to these kind of things!

 

[SolaScriptura]

These “Sunday School answers” are great! They warm this pastor’s heart.

 

[PaulCLawton]

Greetings all,

Like the title says, what is the best thought you have ever had in your life? I mean the best thought you have had. Not the best thought you think you should have had. Consider the difference before you answer.

What is the occasion of me asking such a question? I have been quite sick for going on six weeks now, and unlike my usual experience in trials, I have become discouraged, thinking perhaps I will never get better in this life. Don't worry. I have no reason to think that. It's just the thoughts that I've had. But early yesterday morning, the Lord reminded me of my very best thought, and it lifted me up and caused me to praise His holy name with all my might.

The question I am asking is very easy to answer for myself. But I'd like to hear some of your testimonies where you give your answers before I tell you mine. If your mind becomes a little blank when you think of the question, then it is probably not something you should try to answer at this point in your life. I lived many years before this very best thought changed how I looked at everything.

Any takers?

I suppose this might be considered "cheating" because it is not my own thought, but I treasure Lord's Day 10 from the Heidelberg Catechism more with each passing year. When teaching catechism to young people, I have sometimes referred to it as "the secret to happiness".

 

[FivePointSpurgeonist]

The day I was saved I realised that for many years growing up I was a false convert, I was filled with fear at the thought that I could have died in my sins and gotten what I deserved, this caused me to want to be sure that I was in fact saved and that it wasn't just a work of the flesh. I wasn't sure how to know for sure, was I supposed to have some specific experience? While the evidence of my new desires for Christ and old desires being dead were clear, I still had doubts for a week or two. I searched for answers on how to know I am saved, I came across an R. C. Sproul video that addressed something of this topic, I shut the video down, hopped in the shower and stood there with the realisation and thought that "I'm saved..." my sins are forgiven. This filled me with great joy.

 

[TheInquirer]

"I've ruined my life and I need Jesus to take over."

 

[Romans678]

My best thought? When I learned more about our prayers. Revelation 5 tells us our prayers are as incense, fragrant and distinct, in the presence of our Lord. To put it in more childlike terms, they are as familiar and delightful as the smell of your favorite freshly baked goods as a kid.

He delights in hearing his people pray to Him. He is moved by our petitions and supplications and our pleas. The Prayers of the Saints. I've been encouraged to pray more without ceasing ever since.

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[Santiago DO]

Thinking about God Himself. His attributes give me an incomprehensible peace. Especially the fact that everything is for His glory.