Tag Archives: Take captive every thought

Strongholds that protect, not defeat you

 

The proof of our love is found in our motives and actions, not just our words. Words persuade and entice. But actions speak louder. We can say, “I love God. I’m a Christian. I love others.” But saying does not prove anything about love. The proof of our love is found in the outward expression of the goodness God has placed in our hearts. It was never intended to remain there, but to fill us with an overflowing contentment that spills into the lives of others. The proof of our love comes not with boasting of our deeds but rather with “gentleness and meekness of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:1)

 

To find the source of the proof of our love requires we look more deeply, beyond “the surface of things” to the authority that speaks into our lives. What authority is this? It is whatever we allow to persuade our thinking and control our actions. Think of authority as being a stronghold in your life.

 

Have you ever noticed that there are two types of strongholds in life? There are those that keep you safe, like the protective walls of a great city. And there are those that take you captive and imprison you, like negative thinking and other lies. Your house is a sort of stronghold, built with secure walls and locked doors. But if we leave our front door open who will protect us? Our minds are like that. Either we have built up protecting walls, built on the solid foundation of God’s lasting truths that secure our thinking or we invite danger and evil to set up negative and pretentious arguments that distort our way of thinking and threaten our well being.

 

What king of a stronghold have you established? Is it one that protects and provides for your wellbeing or one that takes you captive to vain philosophies and self-limiting possibilities? One that builds you up or tears you down? One that makes you a conqueror or one that conquers you?

 

Paul reminds us that we have divine spiritual weapons to fight against strongholds that set to defeat us. “We 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.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

 

Sometimes, we think we can defend ourselves with boasting of our own history of accomplishments and abilities. But those strongholds hold no protection for us. Everything we boast of could be gone tomorrow. Our bank account looks strong until it fails. Our health seems strong until it’s suddenly taken from us. Our family seems like a rock and refuge until it is divided.  Our vain thinking seems clever to us until the lies are exposed.

 

It’s only in submitting to the authority of the one who is able to demolish the negative strongholds in our life that we find real strength and protection. God is that final authority who speaks proven love and conquering truth. His Word builds protecting walls around our lives.  But strongholds are continually tested every day. Each new argument that speaks divisiveness, self-depreciation, and hurtful lies sets siege and seeks to become a stronghold that holds us prisoner, separated from all the good God intends for us. Each day it’s a new battle and a new battle field. Each moment is a choice, an opportunity to to trust and honor God or to go our own way.

 

Today is the day. This moment you are reading this is the time to declare again, “I will remain awake today. I will be vigilant. I will take captive every thought that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and make it obedient to Christ.  I will examine every lie against the truth of God’s Word and seek refuge in the walls that protect and prosper me, not the ones that imprison me in negative and futile thinking. Today I will live free as God intended.

 

 

 

They cracked the code to being happy

 

They cracked the code to being happy.

 

Or so say the researchers at Mayo Clinic. Evidently, amongst the myriad of diseases and conditions they’ve examined, they’ve also been studying happiness. Why? According to their findings, happy people tend to be healthier people. Researchers there observe that the pursuit of jobs, money, houses, and love is really about finding happiness. The problem, they conclude, is that we’re looking for it in all the wrong places. Psychiatrist John Tamerin observes, “If you lead your life always waiting for a great thing to happen, you probably will be unhappy.”

 

What’s the secret code to being happy?

 

1. Take control of your thoughts.
Focusing on what is right in life instead of what is going wrong increases the sense of happiness. It shifts our tendency to let our thoughts wander into sadness, fear, and dissatisfaction. Learning to control our thoughts shifts our perspective from sad to thankful, from fear to acceptance and confidence. We embrace happiness as a choice.

 

2. Be flexible.
“Resiliency has everything to do with happiness,” Dr. Sood said. The clinic’s research concludes that people who are flexible and able to adapt to life’s unexpected turns are happier. They learn to limit the affect of sadness so that circumstances in one area of life don’t overwhelm their whole life. (As Marcia and I vowed early on to not let cancer define who we were.) Creating space helps. For example, create space between a negative experience and the treasured people you’re about to meet. Don’t let unhappiness poison your whole day.

 

3. Help others.
Thinking too highly or too often of ourselves is a barrier to happiness. As one of the researchers said, “Complainers are never going to be happy. Happiness is a decision.” The more we focus on others the less unhappy we are with our own lot in life and the more meaning and satisfaction we find in living.

 

It’s always encouraging when science catches up to God’s Word.
God reminds us to “take captive every thought and make it obedient,” to renew our minds, to put off hindering ways and put on goodness, faithfulness and self-control. We’re encouraged to remember the good that can come out of suffering. It builds our character and faith. It helps us persevere with renewed perspective. And it helps us minister to others who are suffering. “Consider others’ interests more than your own” is a biblical key to happiness.

 

So do you want to be happy and healthy? Do you want to find happiness even when you aren’t healthy? Focus on God’s Word. Seek him first. Put others ahead of yourself. Is it really that easy? Perhaps more than you might think. In any case, the choice is yours.

 

Be as happy as you choose today.

 

Plato’s Cave

 

The Greek philosopher Plato told a story to his students about a group of people who were imprisoned in a cave since childhood. The cave was the only existence they knew. Behind the chained prisoners was a fire and between the fire and the prisoners was a short wall, behind which others used puppet figures to cast shadows onto the wall in front of the prisoners who were unaware of both the fire and the puppet figures. All their life, these shadows were the only reality the prisoners knew, and they began to imagine the shadows as real.

 

Socrates was asked what would happen if a prisoner were forced out of the cave into the sunlight outside. He concluded the prisoner would find the sun’s brightness to be blindingly painful, resulting in a shadowy vision, but that eventually he would adjust to this new reality outside the cave. He would see reflections in the lake and then come to see the images were actually of real people and things. He would see the stars at night and the sun by day. He would come to experience this new reality as so much better than what he experienced in the cave, he would want to return to the cave and bring the other prisoners out into the light. But returning to the cave, the freed prisoner would find himself once again blinded by the darkness. His fellow cave-dwellers would conclude from this that the freed man’s journey had blinded him and would fight any attempt he made to convince them to leave their cave.

 

It’s a sad story, isn’t it? Perhaps we are all like the cave-dwelling prisoners. Shackled by our preconceived ideas and negative patterns of thinking, we cannot imagine any other way of perceiving our world. But in fact, they are only shadows dancing in the light and have no bearing on reality. The more we are accustomed to such shadowy darkness, the more difficult we find it to accept real light, if you would allow, the light of the *Son*. Even after our mind’s eye adjusts to His light, we continue to see things dimly. While we experience the new reality we sometimes continue to embrace the shadows of our own thinking.

 

But the more we embrace His light, the more we rejoice in its truth. We learn that all is not as it seems, as it feels, or even as it sometimes appears. Our circumstances continue to appear as shadows but we have the benefit now of seeing more clearly and enjoying life beyond them.

 

Here is where our interpretation departs from Plato’s. Jesus says those who really love Him become that light themselves. First, the light penetrates all the darkness of their own minds and hearts. Then, compelled to share the light with others, they return to the cave, but they aren’t blinded by darkness. Instead, they bring His light into the cave and the darkness flees at its presence. Those who embrace the light will see the illusion of the shadow figures and become free. Others who reject it, remain shackled.

 

Our minds are battlegrounds for so many arguments and pretensions that war against us. Over and over, we find ourselves in Plato’s Cave. But there is an escape. “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Bring it out into the light where the deceitful shadows can be exposed and real truth revealed. I don’t know how long it will take. It seems these shadows continue to play in our minds repeatedly. And repeatedly, we have to take them captive, exposing them to the light.

 

But over time, as our eyes become better adjusted to the real Light Of the World, the shadows fade away and we see more clearly, and we experience the freedom we’re freely offered.

 

Recovering a sense of control

 

Control. We all want it. It drives our life. We want to control our lives and our future. We want to control our circumstances. If we’re honest, we probably want to control others. God’s word says we should have self-control. It’s one of the fruit we exhibit when we walk in God’s light under the power of His Spirit. Maybe you felt you were making progress in this area, but when a life changing event comes upon you, you find yourself striving to recover a sense of control over your life. Authors Magee and Scalzo consider recovering a sense of control as the second phase in the transition from surviving to thriving*.

 

Esther suffered with aplastic anemia (AA) and required a stem cell transplant that was in one sense a cure, but also caused major upheavals in her life and her family’s. In addition to the physical challenges, they struggled with medical bills and emotions. Like many who face cancer, Esther became proactive in researching the condition and treatments, focusing on and gaining understanding of the daily medical test results. My experience is that this strive to gain some sense of control can both help and hinder the recovery process.  There is the pervasive thought that if you just understand more you will be able to control the situation. Often our circumstances will just not be controlled. But how we deal with them can be.

 

Esther made it her goal to get well. The journey was a rough one filled with disappointments: lost hair, painful mouth and skins sores, GVHD of the digestive system, financial challenges, and emotional roller coasters. But through it she says, “We may have sad days, scary days, disappointing days or feeling unwell days, but never a BAD day.” What? Never a bad day with all that suffering? How is that possible? She answers, “I couldn’t always control my physical condition, but I could control my attitude. Focusing on my priorities put things in perspective and kept me motivated. As I rebuild my life, I realize that my experience changed me. I am more grateful, nicer, more compassionate, and less judgmental. I have less patience for nonsense, complaining and ingratitude. I’m more confident now. I live more fully and authentically, recognizing that life can end at any time. What we make of it is up to us. Some things are worse, but most are different and better. The key was letting go of what I had before so I was open to loving my new life. I had to mourn the loss of the past so I could embrace today. It’s not about pretending but about letting myself be sad for a period of time and then getting over it and moving on.”  She adds that there are some things she can’t do anymore, but for every limit she creates a new alternative to finding joy. “Today, life is good. Not always easy, but good…not only surviving but thriving.”

 

We can’t always control our circumstances. But can take control over negative habits and thoughts that limit our life. We must “demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and … take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:5

 

Ask yourself how you can actively participate in the recovery from whatever limits you. Make assessment of the real risks you face. Define the kind of life you want to live and what does living well look like – even if your circumstances don’t change. Choose to recover the one thing you can control – the way you think and respond to life. Let God help you.

 

* Picking up the Pieces – Moving Forward After Surviving Cancer

 

Submit

 

 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:7

 

We like to have our way, not give in to others. Jesus showed us we should submit to authorities. But we think we have the right to ridicule our authorities. Jesus’ brother James warns that our selfish desires cause fights and quarrels, envy, and aggression. We think it’s the other person’s fault. We seek pleasure over God’s will and enjoy friendship with the world, instead of friendship with Him. (James 4:1-6)  These evil ways have become part of who we are. So what are we to do with these temptations? James answers:

 

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:7-10)

 

Submit, resist, draw near, purify yourself, grieve over your rebellious heart, humble yourself before God. Change! This isn’t a multiple choice option. It’s the path to drawing closer to God. He knows we will never be perfect at this. But there is danger in compromising on God’s instructions. What if instead of first submitting to God we just try to resist temptation in our own power?  When I try this I get beat up over and over. We live a lifetime of frustration, guilt, and defeat with just such an approach.

 

Worse yet is befriending and justifying that which tempts us. If we insist on this pseudo relationship with God He will give us over to our own way of thinking as He did with King Saul, with the Israelites, and with those in Jesus’ time. “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts…” (Romans 1:24). He will do the same with us if we insist.

 

When we acknowledge that God is God and we are not, it makes sense to first submit to God’s authority over our thoughts, motives, and actions. Just as Moses removed his soiled sandals before stepping on holy ground, so we too serve our best interest when we ‘wash our hands’ of wrong ways of thinking and behaving. By purifying our hearts of wrong desires, and ungodly ambitions we humble ourselves before God. We can’t be humble while laughing at things that disgust Him, remaining apathetic to those things that make Him sad, or believing lies about who we are.

 

Humbling ourselves before God draws us close to Him, where He restores and renews us. Ask God today, what areas of your life have not been humbly submitted to Him and find the satisfaction of being lifted up by His righteous right hand.

 

 

Fretting is good…for repairing guitars

If you repair guitars it could be helpful to know something about fretting. It is useful for producing quality tones on the instrument. But the kind of fretting the rest of us tend to do is not helpful for anything except creating ulcers and resentment. It’s called worry.

The Lord Almighty who created all the universe with His spoken command, the One who created everything out of nothing, the One who chose you before the foundations of the earth were laid…this same gracious, loving, holy, powerful, just, all-knowing, wise, sovereign and glorious ‘El Roi’ God sees you where you are. The question is do we trust a sovereign God? Or do we feel more comfortable trusting ourself?

If we trust God, we have nothing to worry about, do we? After all, He knows best and has the best interest of His children at heart. If he chooses suffering and hardship to bring us into that better plan it will be for our good. If we choose our own hardship, He promises to bring us through it if we turn to Him. We earthly parents do the same, however imperfectly. He promises He will never abandon us and that our pain, sorrow, and suffering will one day end and produce glory. If we really believe it, what is there to be anxious about?

But we still worry, don’t we? We don’t need to beat ourself up because a worrying thought comes across our mind. The question is, what do we do with it? Do we dismiss it and turn it quickly over to God or do we dwell on it? Do we determine its fate or does it determine ours? Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) I like the mental image of handcuffing that wrong thought and marching it into God’s courtroom. Let Him deal with it.

I admit, I have lots of questions. When will my leukemia be cured? What might cause it to take a turn for the worse? Will we get to carry on with plans to minister in South America? Will my finances hold out? How do I fulfill God’s will when I am so weak? I’m guessing you have lots of questions about your life too. Questions are great. They bring us to God.

But when questions turn and churn into worry, fear grows and interferes with trusting God. We start to think His way is too hard or start thinking OUR way is better than His. (Talk about irrational thinking!)

Jesus said repeatedly, don’t worry. Maybe we should just take Him at His Word. And when we start fretting about something, reaffirm our trust in the One who is sovereign, who has our best interest at heart. “I believe, Lord. Help me in my unbelief.”

Leave fretting to the guitar repairers.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Battle for the mind

What trials have you faced or are you now facing that pose a battle for the control of your mind? Is it a serious illness, the grief that accompanies a serious loss, a deep disappointment with how life has turned out, a continual longing for satisfaction that always escapes you, or a temptation you can’t seem to escape? Each of these and others affect the way we perceive and respond to our circumstances. Unattended and unresolved, they influence how we perceive ourselves and lead us to question our very identity and how we perceive and respond to others and to God.

This is the spiritual battle for the mind. It is a battle we will each fight all our life. But although we enter the battlefield each day, it is not God’s intent that we are defeated by it. On the contrary, although we won’t fully escape the battle until he calls us home to heaven, he equips us to overcome the battle while we live now. He desires us to experience victory and abundant joy each day, even as we face our battles.

But if we ignore or neglect the tools God gives us to fight the battle, we bring even more distress to our minds, and confusion that prevent us from experiencing victory over the struggles that confront us. In absence of relying on God, we trust in our own abilities or we wallow in self-pity, so consumed by the wounds we experience, we find no strength to seek the healing touch of the great physician.

What are we to do in such a daily and life long struggle? First, we need to remind ourselves that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood…but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12) Your fight is not with your spouse or child or coworker, it is against evil forces that war against healthy relationships. If we want to live a victorious life, we must be aware of this reality so we can be vigilant of the real dangers before us. We have to know the enemy before we can defeat them.

Second, we have to equip ourselves with God’s tools for surviving the battle. How foolish it would be to walk into a real battlefield without protective armor. “Put on the full armor of God.” The armor includes truth, righteousness, peace, faith, the Word, and salvation. (Ephesians 6:11-18) “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Let’s not idly walk into minefields unaware of their danger.

Third, we have to renew our minds daily. “Be transformed by the renewing of your minds.” Romans 12:2 “Put off your old self. Be made new in the attitude of your minds. Put on your new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24) “The mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

The daily battle may rage on. Trust God and you will be able to stand firm, and victorious!

The Wolves Within

From an old Cherokee tale:
An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, “Let me tell you a story.

I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.

But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.” He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,for his anger will change nothing.

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, “The one I feed.”

BT: How do we ‘feed’ these inner wolves? By our thoughts. It’s true, we do become what we think abt all day long. (Proverbs 23:7) I don’t know if we have control over what thoughts enter our mind. But we DO have control of whether we dwell on them. Live a life of freedom today. Take charge of your thoughts, and put on goodness.

We 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. 2 Corinthians 10:5