When you give your mental assent to any idea, good or bad, you associate yourself with that idea and you incorporate it into your consciousness—to the extent that you realize it. When you read a passage of Scripture you will, if you assent to it mentally, incorporate it into your life to that extent.
This law, of course, works the other way too. If when you hear or read of some piece of injustice or cruelty, you approve it mentally by thinking that “it serves him right,” you are associating yourself with that deed, and making it a part of your own life, even though you do not speak a word. It is the mental assent that counts.
Give your assent only to Truth.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity….So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God…. (Romans 7:22, 23, 25).
It is said that a person who can control their thoughts will control their speech and thereby will control their experience. That could not be more true. All that we are and all that we experience begins with our thoughts. These thoughts become feelings and then will manifest themselves in our lives. However, mental assent is fully realized when accompanied by feeling and interest. So, giving mental assent is the first step. We will all harbor thoughts that are bad at some time. The key is to reject those thoughts immediately and refuse to invest them with feeling or actions. When such thoughts come to us, we could use the same phrase that Jesus used. Simply say, “Get thee behind me Satan”, and put your mind on something positive. Each time the thought returns, repeat the process. Soon, we will find the discipline to avoid such thoughts almost entirely.
The same is true for our faith and our positive thoughts. Thinking about God and giving mental assent to God’s truth is the most important step, but is only the first step. Our faith and God’s power is fully realized in our lives when we feel it, invest our interest in it and act on it in our experience. When we do all these things, God’s love, peace and joy are open to us in full measure. Then we will lie down in green pastures, and then our cup will run over. Then we will spend our days and nights in the gardens God created for us.
Assenting to truth,
Z gardener
Good Morning Garden 
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