Take your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ

Where do our thoughts come from? Most of us walk through life without ever asking ourselves that important question. We go through life allowing every thought in our minds to control us. We do not know where we came from, why we are here or where we are going. We go through life without any direction.

We do what the world does and think in our minds that that is all there is to life. We think money is all there is to acquire this world, we think getting rich is the purpose of life; as a result, we have idolized wealth. We kill and destroy each other just because of money. We are self-centered, we think helping others robs us of something. We get envious when others are doing well in life. We do not want to ‘reveal’ the ‘secrets’ of our success to others. We do not want others to access the same opportunities as us because we do not want them to do better than us or as good as us.

If we offer help, we want something in return. Sometimes we lie we will assist but actually do not, we just take advantage of the other person. In the end, we leave others mending the broken pieces we left behind. Like it is said, we want to have our cake and eat it too, at the expense of others. All we think about is ourselves. But where really do our thoughts originate from?

Our way of thinking is influenced by many things; our upbringing, culture, what other people say about us, how we view ourselves, events that have occurred in our lives and in our surroundings, peer pressure, societal expectations, and many such things. Our minds are always running, full speed. Our thoughts drive us.

Anything said or done is first conceived in the mind.

Yet, most times, we are not conscious of our thoughts. We are not conscious of where our words and actions originate from. We walk like automatic machines. We do whatever the mind says, whether good or bad, but most of the time, bad. We do not realize we do not have to submit to everything the mind tells. But how can we know that we do not have to submit to every thought when we are not even conscious of our thoughts?

We have to reach a point where we are consciously aware of our thought patterns.

We should realize that the human mind is an idol factory. When we do not have God on the throne, we can turn anything into our idol; our family, our spouse, our children, our jobs and careers, money, pleasures of life, validation from other people, people pleasing, our need to be accepted by people; anything can be turned into an idol, and usually we are not even aware we have made such things or people our gods. We were created for worship, and when we are not worshiping God, we will automatically turn to other things to fill that deep void within us. We are told the human mind is deceptive above all.

With time we come to realize that the mind is a battleground. Battles of life are fought in the mind. Satan attacks the mind with lies and wrong way of thinking; he introduces lies as though that were the truth. Growing up, we pick up many lies. When we rely on people, especially those people we tend to admire, we start believing their way of living life is the right way. We pick up societal expectations as the right way. We pick up people’s criticisms of us to mean that we should act like them. Without realizing it, we conform to the patterns of the world. We go by the world’s standards.

If we do not take caution, our minds will control us; it is easy to think hateful thoughts, judge others in our minds, envy others in our thoughts, be jealous, be discontent, plan revenge, harbor unforgiveness, bitterness, self-hate, thoughts of unworthiness, and many other demonic thoughts. It is the devil who attacks our minds with such thoughts. It starts small but with time becomes our norm, it becomes our default way of thinking.

The enemy attacks the mind, he is smart and cunning. Our minds can become the devil’s playground if we do not watch out. On the outside people may appear good, but external appearances are very deceiving. People’s ‘true colors’, that is, their way of thinking, come out eventually. This comes out clearly especially in social media. Given the opportunity to attack someone, people will say things that cannot be taken back.

When a relationship ends, some people say anything, they throw words that are ugly, demeaning, and condescending; they start acting in ways that are purely evil. When things do not go a certain way, some people take it upon themselves to revenge or take matters into their own hands. When some people want a certain outcome or want a certain thing or person, they manipulate their way; they become the sweetest people for a season, that is, until they get what they wanted.

There are those who speak lies as if it were the truth, there are smooth talkers and actors, there are those who will dine and smile with you then go about stabbing you in the back, there are those who will be your friend one minute then the next minute they are nowhere to be found. People change, people are fragile, people have a fallen nature; that is why we are to trust in God only.

The god of this world is Satan, no wonder there is so much turmoil left, right, and center. People say and do inhuman things. It is a man-eat-man society, survival for the fittest. The survival mechanisms people have taken up are as diverse as there are people. People will go as far as killing each other. That is where we have reached. That is the world we live in.

Most people have become the devil’s toys, he uses them however he wants; he gives them a sense of power when they do evil things, they become proud. Yet, what he never tells them is, he is just using them to achieve his mission of destroying this world and the people in it. Those same people being used do not realize they will end up in hell with the devil if they do not repent and turn to Christ. The devil knows he is hellbound and wants to take as many people with him as he can. Therefore, he attacks the mind, and people start saying and doing things that do not please God.

The Bible tells us that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. We are what we think. We say and do what we think. Out of the outflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

We have to come to a conscious awareness of our thought patterns. We are not automatic machines. Sinful thoughts are from the devil. But how can we know what is wrong if we have no standard to compare our thoughts with? What are the right thoughts and the wrong thoughts? How can we know? We know through the Word of God; that is the standard. The Word of God is Truth, the living Word. Knowing that then, we realize we have to know what the Word of God says so that if the enemy attacks our minds, we can run those thoughts through the scale of Truth. Then, anything not aligned with what God says, we discard.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can change our thought patterns.

The Bible says we overthrow intellectual arrogance and every stronghold that towers high in defiance of the knowledge of God, and we carry off every thought as if into slavery – into subjection to Christ.  We have to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. The weapons of our warfare are not weapons of this world, instead, we have divine power to demolish strongholds. The battles we fight are spiritual, not of flesh and blood. We are told not to conform to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds in Christ Jesus. That is how change takes place.

We feed our minds with the Word of God. When we do that, we have the truth. We start thinking as God thinks; we are loved, we are more than conquerors, we are made in the image of God, no weapon formed against us shall prosper, we are children of God adopted into son-ship through Jesus, we have a Father in heaven who loves us and is ever-present and changes not, this world is not our home, our purpose here on earth is to worship God and to love God and our neighbors as ourselves. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are given the Holy Spirit to empower us. When we are weak, God becomes our strength; His strength is manifest in our weakness.

Our minds should not control us and run wild. God is in control. By God’s Word, our minds are renewed and we are transformed. We are in control of our thoughts by the power of the Holy Spirit. We take the Word of God as it is and apply it in our lives, that is our standard. The enemy has no hold over us.

When we know the truth, the truth sets us free. We are no longer slaves to the enemy, we do not allow the enemy to attack us with distorted thought patterns and lies. We know who we are, we know where we came from, and we know where we are going. Jesus died for our sins, He took everything upon Himself so that we can walk free, He defeated death. We are not condemned, on the contrary, we are a new creation. In Christ, the old has passed, behold, the new has come.

Blessings.

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