Captivating Thought

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

On my computer is a filter that intercepts my mail and supposedly catches spam and trash email before I open them up and waste time or subject myself to a virus.

Gods Word…Our brain filter. In our brain, we are responsible to be filtering our thoughts…before we act on them. This is the main place the battle to live the Christian way of life is won or lost. Winning this thought battle is a skill that can be learned and perfected, but you must first realize your potential in this area. I believe for the most part we have not been taught how it’s done and shown how to make practical application in our moment by moment life.

Thoughts precede actions. If you desire to get control over areas of sin in your life and body, you must first get control of your mind in these areas learning how to think like God would have you to think about them, then choosing to make your body follow your mind.

In my own personal mental battles, it is often back and forth for awhile, with me taking control then before I realize it …the battle is back on with the thoughts coming fast and furious. I take control again …then here they come again, and so on. Some people would say I need ridlin or prozac or something to settle my mind…but I believe just the opposite. These battles are valuable in that they continue to point out to me the weakness in my thinking that has not yet been perfected. That’s right, I said not yet and meant to as I take Philippians 2:5 seriously when it says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”.

Knowing your area. I firmly believe that our thoughts can be impacted negatively in a number of ways. We are all very, very different beings. What may be a challenge or battle for me may to you be a “no brainer” or not a challenge or temptation in the least. Knowing your area of weakness and then being willing to do something to take action about that weakness or battle is critical in learning how to “bring every thought into captivity". One of the keys is to be paying attention to what is going on around you and in your head at all times.

The Perfect Standard. Several years ago WWJD was the “in” thing and a lot of Christians had it on bracelets, shirts and bumper stickers but what was in their mind and on their tongue when that driver cut them off or someone at work mistreated them? The absolute perfect standard for our function today…is to be like Christ in His humanity. People tend to mystify Jesus Christ but I believe his life needs to be studied, understood and emulated to a lost and dying world around us who desperately need to see Him in living color through us, and it all starts with our minds and thoughts then to our actions. If Jesus Christ worked at your job, how would your company be different today? How much time would Jesus spend “surfing the net” versus casting the net? How much time would He spend fretting about someone else’s job performance versus working to please His Father regardless of what else was going on around Him?

People, this is how real we need to get to know Jesus Christ…to be able to know his character and know how he would act and react in every situation and then we need to be doing the same. Jesus said it best as to our responsibility to be doing this when he said to his disciples in John 20:21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

If I am truly His disciple, and I am, this is the standard by which I will be judged for all eternity…not based on my sin which has been settled on the cross by Him on my behalf but on my service and function to represent Him and His Heavenly Father moment by moment and thought by thought…not just Sunday morning from 9:30 to 11:37. Thanks for your time and your focus as I love you dearly and want the best for you in every way.