Captured: NOT Killed

Here are some thoughts about thoughts.

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Captured; NOT Killed

2 Corinthians 10:5 – . . . and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

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Have you ever walked into a room, or around the corner, and seen something you really wish you had not seen?  Many people have.  I certainly have.  I have walked into a place of business to make a purchase, and there saw someone I knew engaged in some activity or behavior that stunned me to the depths of my being.  Oh, how I wish I could unsee what I had seen.  I did not see it because I was looking for it.  It just happened.  It impacted relationship with that person; my trust was deeply shaken, as was my respect for their character.  While this is an example of being shocked by what we see, the basis for what I am sharing is about thoughts. 

Thoughts can fly into your consciousness faster than machine gun fire.  You can perceive something with any of your five senses that will trigger memories you thought long-gone, provoking thoughts you believed were forever gone.  They can be good or bad.  The point I want you to grasp here is that once an idea exists, it cannot be killed.  If it is a great thing, you may not desire to lose it.  If it is something that is painful, ugly, unrighteous, or grieving, you must know that the enemy of your soul can use it as a tool to bring you to discouragement or defeat.

because an idea once existing cannot be killed, the Lord has given us in His Word a faith method for dealing with the thoughts out of which ideas arise.  Take a moment to read the passages in our Manna for Today.  The human mind is a seedbed for thoughts of every kind.  If you have good soil, regardless of what you plant in it, the soil will attempt to grow it and produce fruit.  For that reason, one needs to be truly guarded about the thoughts and ideas he allows to be planted in both the spirit and soul (mind, will, intellect, emotions).

Now take a moment to read and allow our Text for Today to become settled in your spirit and soul.  “Every thought” is to be taken captive and subjected to obedience of the Anointing.  Not “some thoughts,” or even “bad thoughts,” but “every thought.”  You see, it is from thoughts that are given liberty to exist freely in our life that ideas, images, and the like arise.  The mind (soul) is a magnificent gift given us by the Lord.  You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body.  We are to allow the mind of Christ to dwell in us.  We need to know the Scriptures intimately.  Then every thought we have will be examined in light of the anointing.  If the alignment is accurate, we can use that thought in a creative manner.  If the alignment is inaccurate, then that thought is held in abeyance to the Word of God and the anointing, and not allowed to influence our lives.

Manna for Today – 2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Romans 12:1-2; Matthew 6:31; Philippians 2:1-11;    Philippians 4:4-9