I generally don't write more than 1 blog a month but I'm pretty excited about what God is showing me so here I go....it'll be short.
Captive thoughts what does this mean? Well, I know what it means, but what does it mean in our own personal lives? 2 Corinthians 10:5 says this " We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. I love that but I really love how the Message Bible puts it....
"The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't
fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have
and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or
manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt
culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped
philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God,
fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure
of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the
ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into
maturity."
"...fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure
of life shaped by Christ"
Let that sink in for a moment (or a lifetime). I was just telling a friend a battle I went through a while back and my exact words were this "The world doesn't fight fair"! My situation at the time, was such that I kept thinking this just isn't fair that when I'm down, all these thoughts are getting thrown at me too and then I got this Scripture out and this part rang true, the world doesn't fight fair but God's Word IS fair and true, it is timeless and always works when applied to our situations in life as we walk them out.
Have you ever struggled with something in your mind? Maybe it's something everyone knows you've struggled with or maybe it's just between you and God. Nonetheless it's a struggle to keep your mind from wondering back to a thought pattern that maybe you've thought you could never overcome and has often times overcome you. Maybe it was a loose thought, emotion or impulse that you feel like you just can't get past. You can. You will. But it is a battle, but all battles have a winner and you can win. Not in your own strength or power. Not by buying a ton of self-help books (really, who are those books helping other than the ones writing them by making money), not by quietly meditating on a mountain somewhere chanting some powerless phrase...no you take every thought captive and make it obedient to God. It is an action that you take.
I know what you're asking now....so I have to take the thought captive one time and I'm done with it right? Wrong. Sometimes, in different seasons of my life, I've had to take the same thought captive over and over again 100 hundred times a day until I overcame a wrong way of thinking. Taking your thoughts captive you can turn it around by taking God's Word and applying it to your thoughts until you overcome those thoughts and begin thinking on whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is noble (those are the thoughts we are to be thinking on Phil 4:8). In other words, you can replace the lies that are going through your head about yourself or how others view you or your shortcomings that you feel and replace them with how God views you and your situations. He loves you, He has good thoughts for you and a purpose for you He, daughter, is enthralled with your beauty, you are an overcomer, victorious not defeated...the list goes on and on!
Renew your mind daily with God's Word and don't give up hope. You can overcome wrong thinking patterns...keep pressing in and meditating on scriptures that give life, hope and healing (even for your broken thoughts). And, by the way, if there is something you are really struggling with that nobody knows about, find someone you trust and is a strong Christian (a good friend, a pastor, family member or your spouse) and tell them you are struggling so you can have somebody to be accountable to. I am thankful for a couple of amazing people in my life who will speak truth into my crazy thoughts (even if it hurts a little to hear from time to time).
Press on sisters!! God has awesome things in store for you! Don't grow weary in the battle!! :)
