Controlling The Mind
Revelation 12:10: "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.' "
Alice was working hard on a project when she thought: "You'll never be able to accomplish this. You're going to fail because you don't really know what you're doing." As discouragement began to set in, the Holy Spirit prompted Alice to "take captive" every negative thought (2 Corinthians 10:5). Immediatly she wrote down each one and began analyzing them in light of God's Word and His character.
Thus Alice recognized that the source of her negative thoughts was Satan. She then crumpled the paper and threw it away. That day the Holy Spirit gave her a tool for recognizing and dealing with the battle in her mind.
We all face the same battles every day. Every thought comes from three possible sources: people (ourselves included), God, or the devil. Two commn mental strongholds that Satan has over us today are thoughts of inferiority and thoughts of condemnation, just like those that Alice experienced. These accusations must be cast down through spiritual warfare, as we refuse to be subject to them and instead accept what God's Word says about us.*
Food for thought: What thoughts have you been entertaining lately? Take time to discern their source and match them against what God has to say.
Dig Deeper:
Proverbs 23:7: "For he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. 'Eat and drink,' he says to you, but his heart is not with you."
Zechariah 3:1-7: "Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. 2The Lord said to Satan, 'The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?' 3Now joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. 4The angel said to those who were standing before him, 'Take off his filthy clothes.' Then he said to Joshua, 'See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.' 5Then I said, 'Put a clean turban on his head.' So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by. 6The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: '7This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.' ' "
John 8:44: (Jesus speaking to the Jews, the children of Abraham) "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strong holds. 5We 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."
*Sherman, Dean. Spiritual Warfare for Every Christian: How to Live in Victory and Retake the Land: YWAM Publishing, 1990.
