Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” If you think of the action, you have already committed it. The action is only a follow-up to justify the thought. From the example Jesus gave, by physically lusting, you would have justified or realized the thought was already conceived; therefore, the mind is the most important aspect of this concept. The action is secondary to the mind. That is, the thought comes first, and then the action might follow. The thought is the most important ingredient of the two. With or without the action, the concept is still conceived by the thoughts alone. The concept that a thought does conceive and materialize in our mind even without the actions, is the power of the mind.
When thoughts are formulated, energy is manifested and the conception is materialized in the thought. To explain this some more, let’s look at this example: if I think I am living in Boston, but in reality I have never lived in Boston, then only my thoughts materialized with the concept of driving the streets of Boston, going to work, playing in the parks, and doing things that are specific to living in Boston. Because I think of these things, but not physically doing it, I have committed the act. To physically live in Boston is secondary to the thought. If I eventually live in Boston that would only justify what my mind had already done. If I think that I live in Boston when I am physically living in Miami, then I have already committed the act (in my mind). To physically live in Boston would only realize the thought. If I died without physically living in Boston, then that action cannot be added to my resume, because only physical things go on resumes; but equally, you cannot say that I did not formulate in my mind living in Boston; I did it. Lets look at this other example: if I think of the actions and the story about “Jack and the Bean Stalk” in my mind, then I have formulated a person called Jack, a big beanstalk that looks like a tree that grows up and disappeared behinds the clouds, and a giant that live above the clouds. All the events associated with the story are in my mind, but is Jack (from the story) real? No! Is the beanstalk real? No! Even though they are not real, I have formulated those actions in my mind.
If when Jack climbs the beanstalk in real life, then that would only confirm the thoughts that I had already have. The story of Hosea and Gomer (from the Bible, Hosea 1) some would say never physically happened. So what? If you know the story you have had already conceived the story in your mind. Do you really need Hosea and Gomer to act out the story before you can conceive the thought? You have already had the thoughts yet you have not seen Hosea or Gomer. Since the mind is the essence of all these examples, how does “truth” and “error” relate? Truth and Error only relate to the moral aspect of these thoughts. Morality brings all things into subjection – whether, in the mind or the action, they must be tested by morality. For example, the thought of stealing without doing it is morally wrong.
This is why TVs and other visual aids (through the printed form – newspaper, magazines, etc.) have a great impact on our society. We see these images and they stimulate thoughts and these thoughts are conceived in our mind. Some of these thoughts are evil and some are good. The evil thoughts will lead you to destruction while the good thought will lead to life. Another avenue to the infiltration of the mind is in meetings, seminars, and large gatherings. The presenter disseminates information which you use to formulate thoughts. Once these thoughts are conceived, they might possibly lead to the actions that will realize those thoughts. The control of the mind is done through this medium. The mind is a powerful thing; who or what is controlling your mind?
Jesus used another example when he said to Thomas who did not believe (or his thoughts were saying) that Jesus had not risen, but now “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” The blessing Jesus mentioned means good things do come to those who believe in Him even when their eyes have not confirmed the actions. To believe mean you have already formulated the concept in your mind. This is the first thing; to see it in action is secondary. And even if you don’t see it, your belief is still firm; it is conceived because actions do not always follow the thoughts. There are numerous accounts where sick people came to Jesus for healings. Whenever someone asked him for healings, he would ask them if they believed this can happen. They would say yes and then they were healed. The thought in the recipient plays the most important step in this healing process.
Thoughts should always maintain its belief even if the actions don’t show or confirm it. If the actions (I am healed) do not follow the thought (I want to be healed), then this would be doubting! If no actions follow a thought, then the mind would formulate failure responses that would reverse the original thought and would conceive the opposite expectation. If that contrary thought lingers, it would eventually manifest into actions (I am not healed). Thoughts should always maintain their belief even if the actions don’t show or confirm them.
If you believe this, then you are a special – blessed person. The majority of the world stands by something completely different. They are governed by the saying “seeing is believing”, which means they don’t know the power of the mind. But you are different. The concept that thoughts do conceive and materialized in our mind even without the actions is the power of the mind. Use it and you will “see” results.