How to Get Control of Your Thoughts

Have you ever, like me, had thoughts pop in your head that you didn’t know where they came from?  We can’t necessarily control what thoughts enter our stream of consciousness. But we better control what we do with them after the pop up.

thoughts

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The Bible teaches that we reap what we sow, (Galatians 6:7-8) and that reality is definitely evident in our thoughts.  What we think directly influences what we do and who we become.  Solomon challenges us to protect our hearts diligently since all of life’s issues flow from it. (Proverbs 4:23) When the Bible refers to our heart, it speaks not just of our feelings, but our thinking and our will.

 

The Secret to Successful Thoughts

Consider the admonition of Paul.

“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 10:5

“Take every thought captive.”  We should have thoughts rather than letting thoughts have us.  We have to ask the question, “who is in charge here, me or my mind?”  I like to put it this way: think about what you think about.

So the secret to successful thoughts is to be both intentional and protective of our thoughts.

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Preparing Our Minds to Counter the Devil’s Lies

I remember an old joke declaring how you could tell if a particular individual was lying.  The punch line was, “If his lips are moving, he’s lying.” 

preparing our minds

The devil has earned such a reputation.  John 8:44 tells us four realities about the devil’s reputation: there is no truth in him, he is a liar, he is the father of lies, and lying is his “native language.” Through his skilled lying, the devil has led countless people astray, including many Christians.

Maybe you’ve heard the lies. “You’re no good.”  “You can’t _____.” “You won’t ________.”  If you try, you’ll just _______.” You may have heard many other such lies.  The devil likes to get in our heads.

Preparing Our Minds with Truth

We are not helpless against his lies, however.  The only effective defense against the devil’s lies is God’s truth.  You don’t have to fall for his deception.  You can prepare your mind for the inevitable onslaught of his lies by arming yourself with God’s truth.  Let me share three ways you can get ready and fill your mind with God’s truth.

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Spiritual Warfare and the Prepared Mind

Much of both my personal study and my preaching lately have focused on spiritual warfare.  Whether or not we realize it or admit it, if we are Jesus-followers we face conflict on a spiritual level daily.

spiritual warfareMany people think of spiritual warfare in physical terms.  Some see physical illness, financial distress, or problems with material things in our lives as the devil’s attack, but the Bible teaches us that spiritual warfare takes place on an invisible battle field – what Paul refers to as the “heavenly places.”  (Ephesians 6:12)

Granted, the devil will try to use these physical and material circumstances against us, but they are not in and of themselves the battleground. Spiritual battle takes place over HOW WE REACT AND RESPOND to them.  The devil will try to muddle our thinking and demoralize our emotions by tempting us to focus more on our circumstances than on God.  The primary theater of operations in spiritual warfare is our MIND.

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Preparing Our Minds for Spiritual Warfare

1 Peter 1:13 challenges us to prepare our minds for action.  We cannot wait until spiritual attacks occur to defend ourselves, but we must ready ourselves for the inevitable onslaught of the devils devices.  Let me suggest three readiness steps you can begin doing today that will put you in a better position to prevail in spiritual warfare. Read More

The Battle for Your Mind

The struggle is real, indeed! As believers, we have a very real enemy and he doesn’t play nice. Over the past two-weeks, I have encountered intense spiritual warfare raging in my mind and heart, and believe me, this was not my first rodeo with the devil.

One of the biggest mistakes believers make is to at best minimize the devil’s influence and at worst to disbelieve in him or his work to distract, demoralize, and derail your joy and service for God. I am saddened that there are people who do not believe in God, and I pray that their eyes would be opened to the truth, but the saddest of all to me is the one who does not believe in the existence of the devil.

The devil’s main arena is our minds. Therefore, He likes to mess up our thinking and confuse us with his lies. Deception is the name of his game. At the very first encounter a human being had with the devil, he tried to confuse her thinking and understanding of God’s truth. Genesis 3:1-7 recounts the very first sin committed, and the bait the devil dangled in front of Eve was in the question of verse 2, “Did God really say…?” (emphasis added)

The devil is not very entrepreneurial. He has been creating confusion and doubt in the minds of the creatures about the Creator’s explicit truth forever. God’s Word is VITAL (I cannot overstate this notion) to our spiritual effectiveness. The Word is both an offensive weapon, the sword of the Lord in Ephesians 6:17, and a defensive tool, the word hidden that we might not sin according to Psalm 119:9,11.

Intentional Bible Study

This is why I challenge you so often to be intentional with your Bible reading and study. If we fill our minds with God’s truth, we are more equipped to fend off the devil’s attempts to confuse and delude us. For the believer, spiritual victory begins and ends in the mind. Read, study, memorize God’s Word so you will be armed and defended against our very real enemy’s attacks.

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. – John 8:32

I want to help prepare you to memorize Bible verses for when you don’t have a Bible handy. Below is  a link where you can download for free my A to Z Bible Memory sheet. The sheet provides you with 26 Bible verses each beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet. You can memorize and have them ready when the devil tries to deceive you.

A to Z Bible Memorization Plan.

Connect the Dots in Your Mind

dotsLet’s play a little game of spiritual connect the dots, shall we?

Dot 1: The Bible clearly teaches us what God wants to accomplish in our lives:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. – Romans 8:29

Dot 2: The Bible also clearly teaches is that our thoughts determine who we are:

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. – Proverbs 23:7a

Dot 3: If we are what we think, and if God wants us to become like Jesus, then it stands to reason that our thoughts should gravitate toward Jesus:

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:2

…looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:2

So, my simple challenge to you today is this: think much and often of Jesus. The more you fill your mind with Jesus, the more like Him you will become. First, avoid things that draw your mind away from Christ. Be careful what you let into your minds. Then, fill your mind full of God thoughts. You can play Christian music on your radios, CD players, and mp3 player, or surround yourself with Scripture verses – on index cards, desktop backgrounds, or wherever our eyes roam.

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, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

We bring our thoughts captive to Christ when we intentionally think of Him on a regular basis. The more we think of Him and consider Him in our lives the more we become like Him. So I challenge you to begin connecting the dots between where you are and where God wants you to be. It all starts in your mind.