LEARNING DAILY

 

2 Corinthians 10: 3-6, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

 

In the last page of the blog, we saw that God has provided His followers with everything we need to battle against the spiritual forces of evil. As you and I live in this evil world, we will have to defend the truth against false teaching of false doctrines or arguments that reject the knowledge of God. Paul is telling us how we are to do that; any argument that exalts itself against the knowledge of God must be cast down. How do we do that?

 

“Christian warfare involves bringing all our thoughts into alignment with Christ’s will; failure to do so will lead to immorality and spiritual death” (LSSB). Paul wrote in Romans 6:16, “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose to sin which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive His approval” (New Living Translation) (LSSB). The notes found in the Life in the Spirit Study Bible offer four steps to help us bring our thoughts into alignment with Christ’s will.

 

Psalm 94:11 reminds us that God knows every one of our thoughts and nothing is hidden from Him. “The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.” Futile in this verse means “quickly passing” as compared to God’s thoughts which are eternal – His thoughts are very different from those of human beings. This verse must be put with 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he has done, whether it be good or bad.” Each of will stand before God and will either receive rewards for what we have done as we walk with the Lord or eternal punishment because we did not take the thoughts captive when he was tempted with sin.

 

I would be willing to bet you understand the following statement very well. The mind is a battleground. There are things that come into your mind that originate with you. There are other thoughts that come directly from the enemy. Oh yes, the enemy can cause you to think about something against what God has said to stay away from. Remember these words? “Has God indeed said….?” As you and I take every thought captive, we must continually, that is daily, resist and reject evil and unwholesome thoughts in the name of Jesus Christ. I would ask you to take a moment and turn to Philippians 4:8 and read what Paul tells us to think on. This has been a verse I have had to turn to often regarding my thought life! It would be good to commit it to memory. It is important to remember that we overcome temptations by the blood of Jesus and by just saying “no” to what the devil is tempting us with.

 

The third thought from the LSSB is to be focusing our minds on Jesus Christ and heavenly things rather than on earthly things. Colossians 3:2 confirms this, “Set your mind on things above, not on the earth.” Read and study God’s Word daily; it is fresh and new every day and think about what Philippians 4:8 tells us to think on. I have been reading and studying God’s Word since 1976 and I get so much out of it today. I am always seeing something new and seeing new meaning from it! It brings peace when I am anxious and joy when I need to be lifted up. It brings me hope and encouragement when I look at what is going on in the world around me. And it keeps me focused on what I need to be doing until He returns.

 

Perhaps the obvious ways to bring every thought captive is to always be careful about what we allow our eyes to look at and our ears to hear. That’s where you and I must say “no” to what we allow ourselves to look at. It is no secret that sin begins with what our eyes see or our ears hear. James 1:14-15 tells us that what our eyes see and ears hear creates desires that lead to sin and if it is not stopped it can bring death (spiritual death).  You and I do our part by not putting anything that creates the desire for sinful things before us. You all know what I am talking about!

 

Be encouraged! The Holy Spirit has been given to each of us to purify, cleanse us from all righteousness. It is an ongoing process as we walk on the narrow way to eternal life in God’s eternal kingdom. Never, never give up and think the journey will not be worth it when we see the King of kings and Lord of lords face to face in heaven!  

 

From now on DJSB will be used to note information or quotes from the David Jeremiah Study Bible and LSSB will refer to information and quotes from the Life in the Spirit Study Bible