Posted: 11/25/2006 at 6:39am | IP Logged

Taking Every Thought Captive

By Terry Somerville

Many Christians are ruined by an out of control thought life.  The devil knows  he cannot stop Jesus in us, so through lies sown into our lives, bad experiences,  false teaching and our culture, he  hopes to control our thinking and action. Once we learn the truth about our mind in Christ, we will have freedom and victory!

The Passive Mind
Some times Christians ask me to pray for them because they  are waiting for Jesus to deliver them from their thoughts. They are discouraged and constantly seeking help. They think freedom means  never having a bad thought. This is not true. Victory means  knowing what to do with bad thoughts!  We are not to be passive and accept every thought that comes into our head, but to take every though captive to the obedience of Christ.

How The Mind Works

Our culture tells us "you are what we think". The truth is, you are what you DO with what you think!  Can we control our thoughts? Well, yes and no. Here is how it works.

1. Our mind is like a " chalk board".
We use our minds  by writing our thoughts on it. We can do math, write letters or what ever on the chalk board. The chalk board is not  you, it's how and where  you think.  The real you is much deeper than that

2. God also writes on the "chalk board" of our mind.
The Lord created our minds to work with thoughts. When we were saved that didn't change. The mind has thoughts, the will has desires, the emotions have feelings. But God also puts His thoughts in our minds. That's the only way he can speak to our mind, because our minds operate by  thought.  When we see a thought on the "chalkboard" that we know we didn't think, it may have come from God.  This is what  1Co 2:16 means "....we have the mind of Christ."

3. The devil, or any other spirit also can write thoughts into our minds.
This is how spirits talk to man.  Many Christians are upset with the idea that a demon may talk to them. The truth is, the words of the devil are everywhere. They come to your mind through natural means. You read them , hear them on TV.   The devil even spoke to Jesus. The issue is not that a demon may write on your "chalkboard", but that you recognize  it  and take the eraser to it! Ananias and Sapphira are an example of Christians who heard the devil, and because of their covetousness, accepted the deception.

Recognizing The Source

When  I "have a thought I know I didn't think", I need to discern  where that thought  comes from. There are three tests that can become automatic "screens" to filter our thought life.

1. The Scripture Test
Does the thought agree with scripture? We know that anything that comes from the Lord will agree with the Word of God.  

 I knew a minister who lost his wife to cancer. A Christian woman in another city thought God was telling her to leave her husband and marry this minister. She wrote letters to his office, but because they were so strange, the secretary chose to "file" them. Eventually the woman said God told her to kill her husband! At that point it was all exposed and the womans pastor was contacted.

This woman was passively receiving every thought as if it was from God. This is how Satan destroys lives. We need to apply the scripture test which says adultery and murder are sin! But what about things that may not have a scriptural context? We can use two other tests as well.

2. The Character Test
This test is simple. Does the thought have the character of Jesus? Does it exalt Him or self?  Is it pushy and demanding it's own way, or does it leave time to be tested? Is it righteous and holy? If we can see Jesus in it, that is a good sign that it comes from Him. After all, the Holy Spirit is HOLY.

3. The Fruit Test
Finally, what is the ultimate fruit that will be produced  by the thought? Does it exhibit the fruit of the Spirit?  The devil entices the works of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit will encourage the fruit of the spirit.

Take Every Thought Captive

Once we recognize a thought is not from God we can "take it captive". That means we are the boss of our minds and reject it. Literally, take the eraser and rub it out. We rebuke the devil who wrote it. Usually this works and once a believer gets the idea they have tremendous victories. But everyone has areas where we are "stuck" because our life experiences  and  beliefs about ourself and others accept and hold the  thought. 

One time I was in Niagara Falls, and as I came up near the brink a strong thought and came over me. "Climb over and jump. It will be over quickly". I recoiled and immediately recognized two things. 1. It was not me because I want to live. 2. It was the devil,because he wants me dead!  What was going on? Simple. Demons of suicide and death wait at the edge of the abyss. They speak to one person after another hoping to find someone who is depressed and kill them! They  just picked the wrong guy! I rebuked the devil sharply and it was over!

This brings up an important point. The devil hopes to speak things that resonate with our life. He entices us with OUR OWN DESIRES   He looks for areas that have deep roots in us and uses them a bait, so we will accept his ideas and follow them.

Sound and Resonance 

I played electric guitar in various bands over the years. One of the things I learned about was resonance. For example. If a very loud sound of the note "E" is in the air, my "E string" will begin to vibrate without my touching it. It is resonating to the sound. Guitarists learn to play with this and sustain notes. 

This is a good illustration of what happens in our soul. If there is an "E" in our soul, it desires to resonate every time there is an "E" in the atmosphere. If there is a depression rooted in my soul, every time I encounter something depressing  in the environment I will begin to "resonate" with it.  I will feel my depression even as a Christian. I need to deal with the resonance and take the thoughts captive.  There are three ways to stop resonance in a guitar, and in the spirit. They all work, but one is the best.

1. Stop the source = Bind The Devil 
If I can stop the E sound in the air, my guitars E string will stop vibrating. The source is gone. The spiritual equivalent of this is  to rebuke the devil. He goes away and I fel better...till next time. The problem is, I will resonate every time theres a sound!  Many Christian live at this level and always blame the situation for how they feel. They never deal with "E"  in their souls. All sorts of things are buried away, coming out in the wrong environment.

 The church today lives at this awful level. Most Christians depend on Green House Christianity and feel their only place of victory is the controlled environment of Church. They  depend on how good the church or worship is and go from place looking for a better environment. They cannot survive when exposed to the weeds and weather of the world. Binding the devil was never meant to be a defensive strategy, it was meant to plunder His goods.  The reason we resonate must be dealt with as well.

2. Stop The Response - Self Control 
Here is another solution. If my guitar starts resonating to an "E" in the air, I can put my finger on the string and mute the sound. This is like exercising self control. Many Christians live at this level in addition to binding the devil. Every time they feel lured and enticed by fleshy vibrations, they grab and control them self till it shuts down. What an awful way to live- from one self control tothe next  self control. We are to have self control, but this is not the life of the Spirit.  We are called to "...by the Spirit,  put to death the deeds of the flesh"  We don't merely control the old man,  Christs new life replaces the old!

3. A New Note - A New Life
The third and most effective way to deal with resonance is to simply change the tuning of the string. If I tune the string on my guitar  to  "C" instaed of "E" , the sound of  "E" in the air will not move the string at all. Spiritually, this is equal to entering into newness of life. The Christian that enters new life in his soul can walk through any situation and not be affected.

I remember the first time I went to India. I had been warned about the demon power. But  I  had such an  encounter with the love of God for the Indian people that idols and demons became irrelevant. They simply did not affect or move me in any way.  Only God's love moved me.  I had a new note in my soul.

Joh 14:30  I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me;

Nothing In Me

When we have thoughts from the enemy the best place to be is "He has nothing in me". It is possible to live there as we "tune up" our lives. Another time I will look at uprooting the things that grow deep in us, but right now I want end with a story about John Wesley from his journals.

John Wesley was staying at a home in the village where he was preaching. A mob came to the door demanding to violently take him and they finally broke down the door. They grabbed Wesley by the hair (he had long hair ) and they dragged him down the street. Wesely says in his journals that he had such peace he could have been sitting at home reading by his fireplace!  He called to them as they dragged him along "Will you not let me speak" Finally they allowed him to stand and he said 'who have I wronged? What have I done to you? " Suddenly the mob leader jumped in front of Wesley and said to the crowd. "If any man lays a hand on him he will answer to me" He was convicted of his sin and came to Christ!

The church must enter into such faith in the last days. It is not spiritual performance, but a soul free to resonate with God alone, and a mind that sets everything in order. Let us be that generation.

Blessings

Terry Somerville

http://www.totalchange.org

Posted: 01/13/2007 at 1:29am | IP Logged

Jesus is the truth. (Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.)

 So the truth is to know Him and by knowing Him (1Jo 4:17  In this is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, that as He is, so also we are in this world.)

we know who we are.  We died and the life we have now is that of Jesus.  (unto God.²³¹⁶

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with⁴⁹⁵⁷ Christ:⁵⁵⁴⁷ nevertheless¹¹⁶¹ I live;²¹⁹⁸ yet not³⁷⁶⁵ I,¹⁴⁷³ but¹¹⁶¹ Christ⁵⁵⁴⁷ liveth²¹⁹⁸ in¹⁷²² me:¹⁶⁹⁸ and¹¹⁶¹ the life which³⁷³⁹ I now³⁵⁶⁸ live²¹⁹⁸ in¹⁷²² the flesh⁴⁵⁶¹ I live²¹⁹⁸ by¹⁷²² the faith⁴¹⁰² of⁽³⁵⁸⁸⁾ the³⁵⁸⁸ Son⁵²⁰⁷ of God,²³¹⁶ who loved²⁵ me,³¹⁶⁵ and²⁵³² gave³⁸⁶⁰ himself¹⁴³⁸ for⁵²²⁸ me.¹⁷⁰⁰ )

So we look at Him as in a mirror. (2Co 3:18  But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.)

 In Him we see our true self as the result of the regeneration.  He is our new identity.  So we can never be what we see in our thoughts.  We are not what we see in our daily life experiences of ourselves.  We are what we see in Him.  We have been for long subjected to the lies of the Satan.  He killed us by linking us to the reality we see in life.  We believed him that what we see is what we are.  The reality we see in life is the result of our lack of faith or in other words our lack of revelation of Him and what the regeneration mean.  Because we sometimes know so little we experience so little - only the life of “me” and not the life of Him.  As the result we think the thoughts of man and not the thoughts of God.  We have the mind of man and not that of God. 

We also got holiness (be as He in our daily actions and also the way we think ) and not just righteousness (justified by faith).  That is why we have to get all the wrong thoughts subjected under Jesus.  That mean to allow the Holy Spirit – God - (Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Mat 4:4  But He answered and said, It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.")

to give us the correct ones whenever a wrong one is put into our minds.  We shouldn’t look at the thought (Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes) as if it might be correct but at Jesus.  (Heb 12:2  looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith) The way to handle the wrong thoughts is by recognising the truth – the voice of the Shepherd.  (Joh 10:16  And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also lead those, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.)

 Then the wrong one will have no effect on you.  It may be presented to you but you will rather laugh at it then being controlled by it.  It is like telling you one plus one equals three.  I might tell it to you maybe three times but in the end you will chase (Mat 4:10  Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan! ) me  away!  On the other hand if you look at it as if it may be correct you will then walk into the realm of wanting it.  You will then desire it and also get the change to receive the spirit (Satan – power Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasing to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make wise, she took of its fruit, and ate. And Jam 1:14  But each one is tempted by his lusts, being drawn away and seduced by them.

Jam 1:15  Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin. ) to be able to take it.  That is why we shouldn’t walk in the spirit of the Satan but in the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:16  I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.)  While He and therefore His fruit is in us we walk in victory.  (1Jo 5:4  For everything that has been born of God overcomes the world.  And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith.)  What is in the heart determines the walk (Luk 6:44  For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

 Luk 6:45  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth the good. And an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth the evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.)  either in the flesh or in the spirit.  (Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.)

Watch out for methods – laws/ways (Gal 5:18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. And Gal 3:10  For as many as are out of works of the Law, these are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them."  ) given to you guaranteed to bring success.  You build on sand.  Your house might have the appearance that it stands!  It is guaranteed to fall!  The power of the law to succeed lies in yourself (Gal 3:21  Is the Law then against the promises of God? Let it not be said! For if a law had been given which could have given life, indeed righteousness would have been out of Law. )

and it was only given to teach (Gal 3:24  So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith.) us that we do not have the power in ourselves to attain holiness through it.  We are not good!  (Mar 10:18  And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except one, God. )

Holiness are only to be found in the life of God and we can only walk in it by the life of God.  When He lives out His life in us we can experience holiness because only He is holy!  He has not in selfishness hidden His holiness from us.  In fact He gives it (2Pe 1:4  through which He has given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, so that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.)

to us in grace (Gal 5:4  you who are justified by Law are deprived of all effect from Christ; you fell from grace.)

so that we can also experience it and the glory (Rom 8:30  But whom He predestinated, these He also called; and whom He called, those He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified.)

of it! (