|
Hello my friends! Recently, a sister in Christ wrote a lovely piece about spiritual warfare, and the importance of taking our thoughts captive. I asked permission to share her writing, and she said yes, but encouraged me to rewrite it in my own words. So, here you go! I hope this blesses you all. It's definitely an issue that hits home for me :o) God's Word tells us that every believer in Christ Jesus is to have His mind, to receive His thoughts. But, how exactly does this happen? Indeed, our minds are a battlefield, I am certain you can all relate! Everyday we are bombarded with a million different thoughts about a million different things, and sadly they are usually not good things. The devil does everything he can to keep us hearing AND reacting to his thoughts and ways. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus has won the victory for us on the Cross! Jesus alone has the power to free us, and keep us safe, filled with HIS thoughts. Thoughts lead to actions, so naturally, if we are filled with these good, right and true thoughts from the Lord, they will result in good, right and true actions. God doesn't want us to be deceived by the devil. He wants us to understand and know how exactly the devil tricks us so we can say NO and start learning to follow Jesus, and live His way. The first thing we ought to understand is that in the Garden of Eden, Satan did not hand Eve an "apple." Rather, what he gave her was a thought, an idea that she could be wise on her own without her Creator, that she could be "like God." Satan presented Eve with this thought that brought God and His goodness into question. He presented her with doubt. The first mistake Eve made was even choosing to respond to the devil in the first place-- engaging in an a conversation with him, and entertaining his thoughts. This of course, led to the devil's thoughts becoming her thoughts, which then became action. The action being, not only did Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but she gave it to her husband as well, and we know the disastrous consequences that followed thereafter, the death and destruction this very event has wrought on our world. Indeed, it is true when sin is fully grown, it brings forth death (James 1:15). This all started with a simple thought, a simple idea that was proposed to Eve by the devil, but as she took this thought and embraced it, it then led to action, which then brought forth sin. So, with this in mind, let's take a look at something said in the Old Testament that will help us to see more clearly how the enemy works, so we can let Jesus free us from the devil's deceitful ways, and be tricked by him no longer! Take a look at this verse from Isaiah: "'No weapon formed against you will prosper; and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is from Me,' says the Lord." Here we are told that "no weapon formed against you will prosper..." That means there are "weapons," so that's not good news, no, not at all! These weapons are of the devil and his kingdom of darkness, but the only way these weapons can be successful is IF someone actually picks them up and uses them. What exactly are his weapons? Well, they're the thoughts, attitudes, opinions and so on that lead to actions. They seem to fit the situation at first glance, and perhaps by our initial impulse, such as being offended, bitterness, anger, self-pity, unforgiveness, just to name a few. We are tempted to use these weapons of the devil in response to everyday situations and circumstances. When we use these weapons, when we rely on these things, we are embracing Satan's ways rather than the ways of our precious savior Jesus. That's horrible! Isn't it?? We'd never admit that, we are pretty adept at coming up with all sorts of excuses for using these weapons, for lashing out in anger in response to the hurt, in wallowing in self-pity when we are ridiculed, clinging to unforgiveness when the unimaginable is done to us, and so on. This is the way of the world, so we often are persuaded into believing this is all just fine and dandy. Yet, we forget that this world is currently under the rule of the devil himself (Ephesians 2:2, John 14:30) so it should not surprise us at all that the world is following suit. As Christians, we are called to be different, to be set apart, and though for the time being we are still IN this world, we are "not OF it" (John 17:14-16). Only Jesus has the power to set us free from the deceitful ways of the devil and this world, to set us free from these "weapons" we have adapted as our own. The Lord has "armor" for us to put on, but we must take off the devil's armor first. We must put off the old, and put on the new, as we are told in Ephesians 4:22-24. We need to stop looking to this world and all its wicked ways to help us, and to instead look to God alone. The best way to see where our "armor" has come from is to look at the nature of God's kingdom, and Satan's kingdom. God's Kingdom Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, virtue, purity, wisdom, justice, honesty, fairness, sincerity, knowledge, understanding, grace, mercy, excellence, forgiveness, compassion, devotion, truth, kindness, humility, willingness to yield, self-control Satan's Kingdom Rejection, hatred, violence, anger, wrath, malice, filthy language, rebellion, jealousy, envy, condemnation, shame, pride, guilt, lying, greed, covetousness, revenge, retaliation, slander, accusation, fear, terror, unforgiveness, unmerciful, self-pity, gossip, self-centeredness When we asked Jesus to be our Savior, this is exactly what we were asking Him to save us from; the filthy armor and weapons we got tricked into taking and using from the devil. We are told in Colossians 2:15: "Having disarmed principalities and powers, (Jesus) made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it." Jesus removed Satan's weapons when He died in our place on the Cross. With Jesus, WE ARE TRULY SAFE! Now, we need to know what God's "armor" looks like. In Ephesians 6:10-18, the Apostle Paul describes the "armor of God" that every believer needs to put on and keep on: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints," As you can see, this battle is spiritual. It's not against flesh and blood, the physical, as v12 states, but rather it's against the "rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." It's spiritual! So, none of our earthly weapons or strategies will be of any use at all. We need the armor of God, and thankfully, we have Ephesians 6 to tell us all about it! I think we ought to read this passage every day, so that we would never forget the spiritual battle we are in, and that we would always be ready, and armored up in the Lord Jesus, rather than our own measly efforts. The Apostle Paul exhorts us in Romans 12:1-2 by saying: "Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 we are told: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ," The Lord also reveals to us in Proverbs 3:5-6 that we are to: "Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, and lean NOT on your own understanding; in ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Remember this my friends-- when we asked Jesus to save us, we were asking Him not only to save us from hell, but also to save us from our desire to be in control of things, and to instead let Jesus take control. He alone is able to sort through all the many thoughts that come into our minds everyday, the thoughts that have resulted in emotions and actions, and had even created strongholds in our minds. By ourselves, we have no ability to discern where our thoughts actually come from, nor the ability to protect our minds from their influence. But Jesus does! "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." My friends, it is time we stop dwelling on the thoughts, the lies of the enemy, and to instead dwell on our great and wonderful Savior Jesus, and His thoughts. It's time we start taking our thoughts captive to Jesus, as we read in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. As soon as we recognize a thought as being from the devil, we must reject it, and replace it immediately with thoughts from Christ, with His Word, His truth. We make a grave error of attempting to depend on our own emotions and intellect, especially when it comes to combating our thoughts. I know for me, this has been one of my biggest battles! I'm a pretty emotional person, so I've had a LOT of practice all my years depending on my own feelings. Unfortunately, it wasn't until fairly recently that I finally started getting a grasp on this. Feelings are not to be trusted, not in the slightest. The devil often puts such thoughts in our minds that, if accepted, can result in a lot of emotional turmoil and stress. Yet, we know we are told so many times in Scripture that we should not worry, or fear, or stress (2 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 35:4, Luke 12:22). Instead, we are called to trust God, to believe Him and His word over our own thoughts, feelings, fears, and even circumstances. Consider what Jeremiah has to say about our hearts!: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" It is my encouragement to you all to start examining the things you're allowing into your life that may be influencing your thoughts. Thoughts that are either encouraging the lies of the devil, or the truths of God. Do the television shows, the movies, the video games, the books, etc. you consume help you combat the lies of the enemy? Or are they strengthening them, and feeding you even MORE falsehoods? Are they tearing you down and ridiculing God and His good ways, or are they building you up in Christ and encouraging you to run the race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1-2)? I believe a big component to taking our thoughts captive is also being aware of the influences we are allowing in our lives. So I encourage you all to pray, and ask God if there are any things in your life that need to change, if there are things that may be feeding the thoughts of the enemy. It's time we get serious, and make war with the deceptive thoughts, the lies, the tricks. It's time we take every thought captive to Jesus Christ. Imagine literally grabbing your thoughts, and chaining them up as if they were prisoners, and bringing them immediately to Jesus. I really like that image. Instead of running with these thoughts, let's take them right to Jesus without hesitation. My dear friends, it's time we put off the old ways, and put on the armor of God, taking every thought immediately to Jesus Christ our Lord. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before You today in the mighty Name of Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our King, our everything! Oh, God, You know the struggles we have with our thoughts, our feelings. It is so hard some days, Lord. How desperately we want to be set free from these thoughts, these doubts, these feelings, these struggles that have plagued us for so long! We ask You to please tear down the strongholds the enemy has erected in our minds over the years, and that You would replace his lies with Your truths. Lord, fill our minds with Your thoughts, and Your thoughts alone. We are weary from listening to the lies, to the fears, to the doubts. We don't want to live in bondage to the lies any longer, Lord, we want to be free in YOU! Lord God, please get Your truths deep down into our hearts, and help us to believe You and Your word over our thoughts and feelings. We know that the truth will set us free, and You are the way, the truth, the life. Teach us to take our thoughts captive to You, Lord, and help us to rest in You and Your amazing unfailing love. Thank you Lord, that You came to the captives free! We love You!
In Jesus' precious Name we pray, amen.
0 Comments
|
Videos, articles, devotionals & more!
Archives
November 2024
|
