I put the following together this past week so that we have some insight on how our thoughts affect us either good or bad. It is my prayer that it assists you in the battle for your mind. Please share as you feel lead.
Have a happy holiday weekend.
Tony Sanchez
Thoughts – Every day we are bombarded with thoughts that are pleasant and thoughts that are not so pleasant. The pleasant thoughts reflect God. The evil thoughts come from the enemy and can be thoughts such as bitterness, un-forgiveness, worry, coveting, pride fullness, lustfulness, day dreaming and even thoughts of our past sins. Is it weird how our worst sins from the past appear out of nowhere even though you have been forgiven? Evil thoughts can come in waves and will continue as long as the enemy is there to both tempt us and torment us. The Word of God tells us we should be “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 We have an obligation to confront any thought that does not bring glory to God and to bring it into captivity.
Imaginations – Imagination means to form a mental picture of. Every sinful thought that is not held captive will become rooted in our imagination. Evil thoughts will now be ever present and we mill these thoughts over and over. As time goes on, our imagination goes wild and we are reaching a point where we are in danger of losing control of our thoughts. God warns us in the beginning of His Word that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” Genesis 8:21.
Strongholds – At this point we are not serving God because we have not controlled our thoughts and these sins have become the focal point of our thought process and our life. These strongholds do great damage to us and everyone around us. We are consumed with these thoughts and nothing else matters even though we don’t want to be in bondage to these thoughts. We may not see the light of God because we are consumed by our thoughts. Nothing matters to us except our thoughts.
What is the solution? – We take responsibility. 2 Corinthians 10:4 (NLT) We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. Ezekiel 18:30 tells us to REPENT! Does God do your repenting for you or do you do it for yourself? You must take responsibility and recognize your sin. You have to confess your sin to God and REPENT on your own. God is not going to turn you away from your sin for you. So turn yourselves away from your sin. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus Christ has already done everything for you at the cross. A popular belief is to think that we don’t have any work left to do. That is not what the Bible says. We as sons and daughters have a responsibility to do it ourselves. He is going to work with us as a work of the Holy Spirit. He has given us His Word. He has given us His love as a Father to us. God the Father has given us the Lord Jesus, which is the Word. He has given us the Holy Spirit Who gives us the power to overcome sin and then leads us into all truth. He has given us Himself. Now He expects us to do something with it.
If you cannot subdue yourself, you cannot subdue kingdoms. If you cannot establish the Kingdom of God in your own life, He cannot trust you to establish the Kingdom of God anywhere else. Being a son of God means you are not only a son of God by faith, but you are a son of God in reality.
So, if you are a son, you will be faithful to your Father and you will establish His kingdom in the earth. Luke 22:29 And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me. That means you will cast out those thoughts from the enemy in the name of Jesus Christ. Luke 11:20 But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
AMEN and AMEN!
