Getting Free... (more on Thoughts)

In my "Breaking Free" Bible study homework, last night, I was studying about a "steadfast mind", and how we are to "take every thought captive" to Christ & His power. And, Beth shared the steps we need to take to "get free"!

1. Recognize the captor.


2. Confess sin to God.


3. Tear down the lies.


4. Put up the Truth.


5. Take every thought captive.

Here are some quotes from the study...

p.188 - "captivating thoughts are controlling thoughts -- things you find yourself meditating on too often. Focusing thoughts."

p.189 - "Taking thoughts captive to Christ doesn't mean we never have the thought again. It means we learn to 'think the thought' as it relates to Christ and who we are in Him."

p.191 - "Confession means coming to the point of saying the same thing God says about any specific matter."

p.193 - "The demolition of strongholds really begins when we expose and tear down the lies fueling our strongholds."

p.194 - "...if you don't listen to God and obey in the early stages, the longer you wait, the less discernment and strength you have."

p.194 - "If you know a stronghold exists somewhere in your life...yet you cannot identify the lies, you are still a captive."

p.195 - "...the walls of your mind will never stay bare...Once we tear down the lies, we have to re-wallpaper with the Truth or the enemy will happily supply a new roll of wallpaper [for our 'prison']."

p.195 - "God will not release us from anything that has enslaved us until we've come to the mind of Christ in the matter... Once the mind of Christ has taken over, the power of the stronghold is broken and the person and situation will finally begin to evacuate the premises."

p.197 - "Before we can get any controlling thoughts out of our minds, they must become Christ-controlled thoughts while still in our minds."

Steps for getting free...

1. Search God's Word for Scriptures. Find Scriptures that speak the mind of God to your specific stronghold.

- compile a list of Scriptures. Keep looking until you find them. Not just those that rebuke, but also those that speak of God's unfailing love & forgiveness to you.

2. Write these Scriptures on note cards.

- best way to compile them is to use spiral-bound note cards... call them "Truth cards".

3. Take these Truth Cards wherever you go.

- "be prepared to fight for your freedom with some radical choices...expect the battle to heat up when you start tearing down the lies!"

4. Avoid as many forms of deception as possible.

- "flood your mind primarily with truth and secondarily with materials that line up with truth... we must exercise radical caution when we're escaping."

More quotes...

p.198 - "Our thought life is something we'll work on for the rest of our lives."

p.199 - "When we do not make the deliberate choice to think according to the Spirit, we tend to default to the 'flesh'."

p.199 - "When the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, the purpose is for life & peace."

p.200 - "The more we feed the Spirit of God within us and yield to His control, the more His presence will fill and satiate us with life and peace."


My biggest "stronghold" is currently my overeating & weight issues. And, the cool thing is, I already have an "armory" of verses (both "rebuking" and "uplifting") to combat the lies and replace them with Truth! God has given me many over the last year and a half. :o)

More On Thoughts...

Well, it seems like God wants me to think on this verse, as I've come across reference to it (or, something similar) TWICE now, today! LOL

I like the way The Message version puts it:

[3-6]The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

Take note that it says EVERY thought... not just "some" thoughts. So that means that thoughts about eating are included here! So often, when this verse is referenced, it's to things like immorality, and promiscuity, and things like that. The "big sins". But, God says "overindulging" is a sin, too! Not in so many words, of course, but...

Ephesians 5:5b says, "...the greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world."

And, of course, there's gluttony...

Like I said in an earlier post, Satan wants us to believe that our overeating is "no big deal"... that God doesn't really care if we overeat. But, that's a LIE! Overeating/gluttony (and, when I say this, I'm thinking *deliberate* overeating... choosing to "plug our ears" before "jumping into that pit") is a sin! And, we're to *hate* sin!... as my friend, Heidi, says, we're not just to "avoid" it, but to all-out DETEST sin!

I am praying that I will get to the point where I see overeating as the sin it is, and that I will hate it -- that I will confess, repent, and be able to turn away from it for good!

In her E-newsletter today, author Susan May Warren, talked about being careful of what we expose ourselves to: television shows, news programs, music, books... these can lead us to thoughts that aren't in line with Biblical principles.

My mother always used to like to say, "Garbage in, garbage out." She said that what we allow into our heads/minds is what's going to show itself in our behavior/words later on.

In an online excerpt of the book I mentioned in my last post, "Every Thought Captive", Proverbs 4:23 is quoted. It says:

"Above all else, guard your heart,
for it influences everything else in your life."

And, this is what it had to say about that verse:

"Every act, whether beautiful or heinous, starts in the mind. Every charitable act begins with a loving thought, and every sin grows out of a distorted thought. We sin, in large part, because we hold on to and live out of toxic beliefs. So whether we are aware of the depths and brokenness of our thoughts or not, they are very real, and they influence us more than we even know."

So, my challenge to myself for the next week is going to be to watch my thoughts -- and to watch what I allow to *influence* my thoughts. And, if when I find any negative thoughts, or thoughts that disagree with God's Word, I'm going to "take them captive" and lay them at His feet. ;o)

I challenge you to do the same!

Our Weapons ... Every Thought Captive

Lundie, over at FaithLifts, has posted a fantastic article on the "unearthly" weapons we use to wage war on the spiritual front, and our need to "take every thought captive". ;o)

Check it out!

I'll post more of my thoughts on this verse soon, too! ;-)

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Every Thought Captive: Battling the Toxic Beliefs that Separate Us from the Life We Crave By Jerusha Clark

This is a book I put on my wishlist a short while back... now I think I'd like to get it sooner (will move it up on my wishlist), thanks to Lundie's article! :-D

(click on the book's cover to read it's description)