AUGUST 3, 2026
ON THE PORCH
I DON’T WANT A KITTEN!!
A few days ago, while checking on a friend, I got a reply that said, “Trying to win the battle against negative thinking.” I thought, “Man, that is something we struggle with on a daily basis.”
**We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
The Bible instructs us to take every thought captive. Why is that?
Because if we don’t, we end up with a negative mind, a hurting heart, and a body that is trying to manage the stress we are not meant to carry.
Months ago, I heard something to the effect of, “When a negative thought knocks at your door, you don’t invite it in and tell it to make itself at home. And you surely don’t ask if you can get it some lemonade.” I would add that you stand guard at that door and don’t even let it get a foot inside. If it does, it wants to unload the whole stinkin’ Uhaul, take over the place, and still expect you pay the rent!!
Pet hair used to be my pet peeve. We never had animals in the house growing up, so I my clothes were never “lovingly decorated.” Fast forward to several years ago. Benny has wanted an English bulldog since he was nine years old and the breeder he had followed for 10 years was retiring, so I put a deposit down and then told him about the bulldog puppy we would be getting. So, he worked some overtime, and we ended up in Sulfur Springs, picking up an adorable scared-to-death mess we named Chewy because when she cried she sounded like Chewbacca. She rode with her face hidden in Benny’s armpit the entire way home.
I soon found out that bulldogs shed…a lot. I stayed irritated for days. One day it occurred to me that Benny loves Chewy and I love Benny, so I could pout forever or put up with dog hair because I love him. (Chewy eventually found her way into my heart, too.)
Now we have Chewy, Wicket, and a long-haired shepherd mix named Whiskey. At least two of them leave “confetti” everywhere they go, and I do mean EVERYWHERE.
**The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
God’s enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy, and he’ll throw thoughts at us constantly to kill my joy, steal my confidence in who I am, and destroy anything holy in my heart. Those thoughts are like the dog hair on my floor. The more often I vacuum, the less it piles up in the house, our clothes, and the furniture. But when ignore it, it gathers and multiplies until I end up not just 3 dogs, but also a kitten, and I don’t need anything else to take care of. 
In the same way, if I deal with each thought as it enters my mind, I will have less junk and more joy. If I let the thoughts pile up and make themselves at home in my life, I end up being a mess and they make themselves at home. Then I have a full-time job trying to evict them.
**Sanctify them by the truth; your Word is truth. John 17:17
So, my goal now is to intentionally guard the door of my heart and mind and only thoughts that honor God align with His word.
**And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8
