"THINK" SERIES: PART 4 - "BRING IT IN"

"Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5)

I can tell you what's not in captivity, it is this one - we could be in the middle of the most uplifting conversation, bible passage, morning devotions, and/or prayer, and the most vile thought will appear out of nowhere. This kind of spiritual ambush is nothing new. Great men of the Faith, like the late giant of a preacher Dr. Charles Stanley and Swindoll, have both mentioned being invaded by the troll from the dark side, while we are in the most secret place with our Heavenly Father.

(There is encouraging news. What I have discovered, in my almost four-decade-long walk with King Jesus is this - the more I press into my daily exercise of prayer, praying the Scriptures and walking with Him, the less those evil thoughts are allowed to come across.  I think this happens to everyone who is maturing in the Faith, as we saturate every fiber of our being with His Word.)

So, how about this one? You may be reading an online newspaper and an image for a new diet smoothie comes across the computer screen. You are concentrating on the devastation caused by California fires, but your eyes are pulled astray and you recall some preacher in the past saying "The first look is free, but the second one is a sin". Forget the joke about some guys taking a longer first look so they don't think they are committing a sin. That too is a sin.  How about this other one - "you can't stop a bird from flying overhead and depositing something on your head, but you sure can stop him from building a nest there".

It is the same with our thoughts. Every living human being has a battle with temptation or some form of invitation to the dark side, sometimes being caught completely unaware/blindsided/bushwhacked or what have you. The believer has the upper hand in this battle, primarily because we are indwelled by the Spirit of God Who, in my case, quickens my heart rate to let me know - "get out of here now"! 

NOTE: Since these are short articles and not epistles, we may split Part 4  into two or three pieces to rightfully examine "taking every thought captive" in light of Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone).

The original word, in Biblical Greek, for "bringing" is aichmalótizó which has the inference of subduing a subject, thought, or even a person (for instance the enemy on the battlefield when in combat), and then bringing it under our control. Folks, we have the power to do this thing....and do it well. If you or I receive an invitation to go out with the office gang after work, to an adult beverage establishment to celebrate somebody's birthday, no matter how much you like or respect the person - we DO have the power, authority, and absolute RIGHT to decline, turn down, nix, say no and bug out.

While not as beautiful and divinely constructed as the Paleo-Hebrew of the Old Testament, the inspired New Testament has the same power in words, that enables our neurons to fire up Critical Thinking. At this point, the "flow-chart" in our minds should kick in right away, as we remember this part of the Lord's Prayer "do not allow us to fall into temptation".

The Book of James, written by the half-brother of Jesus says in James 1:15 "Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death". Let your Critical Thinking go immediately into a "what if" overdrive as in "what if you swear off the wagon and have a drink and then one too many... Then what if that loosens things up and everyone is whooping and hollering. Then God knows who could forget their morality and/or vows etc. etc....then before you know it - someone has crossed that line which is not meant to be crossed.

Before it even gets to the point where you let your guard down and potentially sin, - bring or take that flowchart in, recall every Scripture you have ever memorized, and then, resist the devil and he will flee. It is the most beautiful, liberating thing to say no to sin! You don't even get to the James 1:15 point and God is honored.

It is THAT simple.

Father, In Jesus' Strong Name, I pray that You will continue to guide, guard and protect our hearts, minds and souls, so that every living thought, action, choice and potential deed will NEVER ever bring anything but Glory to Your Name and honor and shalom to our loved ones and those whom we love. We ask these things in Your Precious and Holy Son's Name amen.

Image Courtesy FREEBIBLE IMAGES (Thank you)

TOWARDS HOLINESS, PART 7: OUR THOUGHT LIFE

Every sin against God and our fellow man and woman, began as a thought in our mind.  Initially we have no control over what passes before our eyes, thereby triggering certain forgiven sins, past lusts, repressed memories or things from our childhood, which are normally left there in the past, not follow the normal course of life.

Without fail, a song on the radio, or some flirtatious comment, which then unleashes a torrent of terrible thoughts can often reboot thoughts in our minds, which were long disposed of. How many times have you and I, said to ourselves “where did that thought come from?”  The old argument of left brain/right brain has nothing to do with it. Being alive does.

When Jesus saved us from an eternity of death away from Heaven, His precious Blood washed away our sin. His perfect Grace granted us divine forgiveness and His offer granted us the privilege of committing our lives to Him, as Lord and Savior.

HOWEVER, we still live in the same body, the same house, drive the same car and go to the same job with the same (mostly) unsaved co-workers. We have the same beautiful family, eat the same food (maybe more Chick Fil A); and go to the same grocery stores. Our destination changed. Our outlook changed. Our language and conduct are supposed to be more edifying and uplifting but sometimes, well, our thought life gets in the way.

When these things pop into our mind and we suddenly feel like yelling out in church or ramping up your speed past a cop, or doing something uncharacteristically stupid, it is what some call “random intrusive thoughts”.  These thoughts are random because they come of the blue and then, they are intruding on our daily and routinely peaceful comfort zone. We never ask for, or need them. Yet, we are bombarded.

How we react to them actually has something to do with our journey towards Holiness and guess what, the Bible tells us how to deal with them.  Many verses give us direction and encouragement so we do not have to run off and think we’re going to hell because and dirty or disgusting thought was triggered in our minds.

The Bible says:

“Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth” (Colossians 3:2). How do we do that when we are bombarded by sexual images all day long, by short dresses in the office or by sales pitches for the next new smartphone or trinket, which we know will break the bank? 

Answer? – When that thought comes in – let it go immediately. Do not dwell on it. If it is an open forward act of flirtation from another person in your physical space which will dishonor God, trigger the response of running the daylights away, literally, from that person or thing! However, random thought of just outrageous stupidity comes into our minds, just move on.  Easy come easy go. Let it go away….and those random and even the intrusive ones, will go away if we do not dwell on them. 

One thing to beware of is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The awful (on the surface) and corrupt thoughts which invade our peaceful minds during almost every other day, can lead a small few of our brothers and sisters to some extreme behavior. 

For example, someone holding a baby once at a concert, down the row from me,  told me that a thought had just entered her mind, to throw the child down. She would not, and of course, did not do it. But if that young woman was OCD, she would avoid all balconies in the future, even after all her kids were grown up and moved away. If she had a bad incident with a cashier at one grocery store, she would avoid that grocery store chain. If she was on a flight from Florida and the plane hit turbulence over Memphis, she would quit flying altogether, even though it would save her two days driving to visit her aunt in California. All of this OCD stuff basically means a lack of faith and a defeated spirit by those who are not familiar with the Bible or how to apply it to their lives, period.

The Bible says:

“Prepare your mind for action, keep sober in spirit….” (1 Peter 1:13) How do we prepare our minds for action, when thoughts blindside us- all the time? This one requires work. Most random thoughts in our daily come and go. As long as we do not dwell on them, they have no hold on us. Even if they bug us for a short season, as long as we do not ACT on ANY of it, we will not dishonor God and His Word.

Answer?: Read the Bible daily and pray. This one is sometimes impossible for even strong, mature Christians may not have the time in the morning before work. But we do have time during the day and instead of watching mindless TV shows, how about 5-10 minutes of Proverbs and Psalms? Why is this important? Well, when Jesus saves us, He implants His Spirit of peace, joy and all wisdom in us. However we can only know how to access this Spirit of Truth, if we KNOW about the Word Who became Flesh. The Word is the Bible and its contents. The Word Who became Flesh is Jesus. Jesus helps us beat these impulses 100% of the time!

The Bible says: 

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing….” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Sometime of these crazy thoughts which come into our minds can lead us to speculate, as to what it would be like to actually contemplate doing some of that whacky business.

If you and I are going to speculate, we had better speculate about the real-life consequences of that stupidity as well! More importantly, more pro-active than speculating is the 100% solid command to “take every thought captive”.

The Bible says”

“Think on these things” (Philippians 4:8c).

Is it possible for a person, of whatever age, to think positive thoughts all day, every day, forever and ever, amen?  It is NOT humanly possible, but God, we can actually do the best we can and walk in peace, constant joy and literally at Rest in the Savior, each day.

Taking every thought captive is the Biblical Command.  To take something or someone captive is as it sounds – that is, to get a hold of it, control it and basically lock down the person or thing.  What we are instructed here to do, by the Lord, is immediately recognize and be aware of the danger of a certain thought. Then SUBDUE it (make it captive) and, as the Bible says, make it subservient to the Will of Christ. 

There is absolutely NO chance that an ungodly thought will be obedient to what Jesus Christ requires of His disciples, so it will depart from our consciousness as soon as we bring Christ, or the Word and Holiness of God into the equation! To recap, what “taking thoughts captive and making obedient” as the Bible teaches, is NOT to make a bad or dirty thought a personal prisoner but immediately  seize control of it and hand it over to Christ.  That means “Lord, I don’t know where this evil thought blindsided me from, but I now take and hand it over to You, as the Bible says, knowing You will immediately dispose of it.  The success rate of this strategy is 100%!

A great exercise, if one keeps either a personal journal, or writes in the margins of one’s bible, or even owns a Journaling Bible (the ESV provides a lot of these), is to list each of these which the Bible recommends that we “Think On” and fill in our daily actions to address them.

As an example, the verse says the following: 

“Whatever is true -  The Word of God is true. Depend on it.

"Whatever is honorable – walking upright before the Lord (in Holiness) and therefore before all mankind, is the hallmark of a Christian woman or man of Honor. 

"Whatever is pure – think of Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God. Have the Mind of Christ, and the body will follow. 

"Whatever is lovely – look all around us. Look at God’s Creation – there is no artist who can create this beauty. There is no chef who can produce good food out of the ground such as we have, or no marine biologist who can manage His oceans. Contemplate His Beauty when down and out. 

"Whatever is of good repute – authentic bible-believing Christians do not go into bars, strip-(or so-called “gentlemen’s) clubs. We must strive,  with conduct becoming an officer of the army of the Lord of Hosts, to always maintain a reputation for clean living, speaking and acting. We must strive for excellence in work, volunteering, ministering and being gracious and loving. We must be seen as salt and light and not hot sauce and darkness.  All of these things, as we strive for excellence and things which are worthy of praise to our Great God in Heaven, are the things we MUST first think about….and then do. All of this in one bible verse – Philippians 4:8.

Just in case anyone thinks this is too easy or it is simple stuff or “I don’t need this, I don’t make mistakes or have any of those thoughts”, well….this is your first mistake.

The path to Holiness, or Christ-likeness, if this word sounds too “religious” for you) involved the whole person – body, soul and MIND. The battle for the soul, which ultimately affects the body, begins in the mind. If our mind is not set on Eternal Things, but on the fleeting pleasures of this perishing world, we would be in trouble. It behooves us to stay the course, persevere to the End and then see Christ, in ALL His Glory.

TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE

BREAK FREE!!!

The word stronghold has two contexts or connotations throughout the Bible.  The literal meaning of "stronghold" is fortress; refuge; helmet or protection. The LORD is called that in Psalm 27:1 when it says "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (ESV)


In this verse, the LORD's man or woman testify to the Mighty Saving Power of God, Who can and does do good things for His people. Because God is mighty to save, being our Shield and Protector causes us to live fearless lives for Him!


The other meaning of the word "stronghold" is not so good! In fact it is completely the opposite of the protection of the Lord! In short, this kind of stronghold is a pattern of thinking or a mindset; reasoning or rationale...through a certain belief...which is resistant to or rebellious against the Person and Knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ!


This stronghold is a stubborn, sinful idea which has 'fortified' itself in its own fortress. The main difference is this castle is a prison which keeps the person in bondage to whatever sin has grabbed him or her. This stronghold does not just happen but began simply as a sinful thought that got a 'toehold' in the person's life. If we use pornography as an example, it started as a simple visual or photo which popped up when you mistyped a word in "Google" while doing a research paper for, say, college or even a sermon!


That image then gets stuck in your mind. I know of a woman, of all people, who worked in sales and found herself innocently enough having to sell these laptops. The more she was around them and fellow computer sales folks, the easier it was for them to lead her astray into "oh it's nothing, it's just harmless fun". The next thing you know, this toehold got a foothold in her consciousness and she started going to internet porn sites at home.

Now this was a married woman! Her husband caught her on the computer at home watching the filth after seeing charges on the credit card for strange sounding websites! At first, she tried to rope him in to "enjoy" the experience with her. The moment she started using grocery money for her habit, it had moved from having a foothold to being a demonic stronghold in her life. They are now in divorce court.

The Apostle Paul wrote: "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV).


This stronghold of  pornography, adultery, drugs, alcohol or anything which takes you away from a right relationship with Jesus and your loved ones cannot be easily swept aside; dealt with or destroyed. It did not become a stronghold overnight as it was the end result of a sinful process. The good news is God has given us the weapons to pull it down and destroy it!

So Father in the Name of Jesus, I come to You now, knowing that the evil one has set out to seek, kill and destroy each and everyone of Your saints. He has set his stinking thinking to the ruin of the best of us by putting, what some call, just a "little seemingly harmless pleasurable" thought in our mind.  Lord but we know, that the pleasures of sin are only for  season. 


Lord give us strength therefore to resist these thoughts and as the Scriptures says, let us then take EVERY single thought captive and refuse to participate in it. You give us the Word of God to do that, if we only recognize that we have the authority to use it to fortify ourselves. The Psalm says "Thy Word oh God, I have hidden in my heart that I may not sin against You" (Psalm 119:11).


There it is, You have given us Your living, breathing Word - found in the Bible - to fight these thoughts before they become footholds leading to strongholds. You have given us Your Holy Spirit to know an discern these things and see when the enemy is coming after our minds, our marriages or our families. The Spirit has already prepared a way out which You, in Your all-knowing Mind, have prepared for us!


Let us therefore be mindful of that Truth and use the Divine Power, which You have already sub-contracted out to us, to resist and defeat the evil one. Father in the Name of Jesus, if something has already become a stronghold in our lives, let us seek out a more mature believer than us, who can come alongside us and counsel with and pray with us to pull these strongholds down and destroy them through prayer, fasting and confrontational intercession with these demons.


Lord we thank You that You have given us the Spirit of Christ to deal with these awful challenges in life and we claim that Authority now, given to us in John 1:12, under the Power of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus' Holy, Mighty and Powerful Name....as we are now victors in the battle; overcomers and more than conquerors in and through the Word and in Truth, in Jesus' Name,  Amen and Amen!

(image by google images)