Tag Archives: take every thought captive

November 13, 2024 · 5:29 AM

Destroying False Arguments

I’ve always loved court shows on TV like Law and Order. The writing combined with the drama and actors makes for a great show. Because of that, I’m also a person who has wanted to be on a jury. I want to see the arguments up close and to be able to decide. When you think about that word argument in this context, that’s what these persuasive speeches by lawyers is called. Their job is to take the same set of facts and argue what the truth is from them. They want to persuade the jurors to their side of the truth. They both will tell compelling arguments in order to sway the jury to either act or decline judgment.

In 1 Kings 12, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, had just taken over as king. In verse 4 the people said, “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you” (ESV). He sent them away for three days while he decided on what to do. He brought in the elders who had advised his father to hear the argument they would make on what he should do. They felt like he should ease the load on the people. The. He brought in his friends who were young and inexperienced to hear their arguments. They thought he should be harder than his father and rule with an iron fist. He was persuaded by their arguments. When he told the people what he decided, they were angry and the kingdom split.

Each of us face similar arguments all day every day. We have the voice of the Holy Spirit making an argument for how we should live and make decisions. We also have our sinful nature making arguments against the desires of the Holy Spirit. No wonder Paul gave us instructions in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We are constantly hearing arguments from two skilled lawyers on what actions to take. It’s important that we destroy the arguments that go against God’s design for our lives. We must learn to bring them captive or we’ll live divided lives, which are unstable. God has give us the choice, and also the power, to destroy false arguments. Seek Him for wisdom and courage to listen and obey the Holy Spirit.

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Recognizing Deception

Since wars began, deception has been used as a tactic to win. We’ve all heard the story of the Trojan horse. Military leaders know the power of deceiving your enemy to get them out of their place of refuge, drop their guard and to walk into a trap. In fact, Sun Tzu in lathe Art of War” prioritizes deception and says it’s something that every great military leader must master. Confusing maneuvers, misinformation, messing with the enemy’s psyche, camouflage and more are used to deceive the other side and have proven to be the difference between victory and defeat. It’s no wonder our enemy uses deceit to attack us. He plants lies to echo in our minds to keep us from remembering the truth.

In Nehemiah 6, Sanbalat and the other enemies of Israel had found out that there were no more gaps in the wall around Jerusalem. They continued to use deceit to attack Nehemiah. Four times they sent messages trying to get Nehemiah to leave the protection of the walls and meet them. He rejected them each time staying the course to finish the gates. Then they told him that there were rumors of his true intent and they were going to tell the king who would attack him. Verses 8-9 say, “I replied, ‘There is no truth in any part of your story. You are making up the whole thing.’ They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination“ (NLT). Nehemiah refused to be swayed by the lies by holding onto the truth of what God had told him.

Our enemy lies to us constantly trying to get us to quit doing what God has called us to. He is the father of lies. That’s why we are told to put on the whole Armor of God. Ephesians 6:14 says, “Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.” We must stand our ground when the enemy attacks with lies and deceit. We do that by putting on the belt of truth. God’s Word is truth and the standard by which we hold every thought captive to. Truth exposes the lies of the enemy and sets us free. What thoughts have been intimidating you lately? What thoughts have been causing you to doubt God? Recognize them as deceit from the enemy to keep you from the work God has called you to, put on the belt of truth and continue with greater determination.

Photo by Ziad Al Halabi on Unsplash

Controlling Anxious Thoughts

How do you react to stress? I know we all handle it differently. One of the times i was stressed out, i couldn’t sleep. I had so many things going on that i couldn’t control. Those problems started causing other problems and things started to compound. The things I couldn’t control became all I could think about. I couldn’t sleep or eat much because i was so worried about all these things. Then my eye started to twitch, which drove me nuts. I figured I could control that so I went to the eye doctor. After checking out my eyes, he said, “There’s nothing wrong. This is usually a sign of stress. You’re not stressed are you?” I laughed and said, “Just a little.” I loved under that stress for a while because i kept letting my thoughts run wild about all the things I couldn’t control.

I eventually learned that worrying about things I couldn’t control was robbing me of so many things. I realized that i had to focus on what i could control which was my thoughts and spending time with the one who is able to control the things I can’t. 2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to take every thought captive. That means to stop them in their tracks, interrupt them and get them out. I had to train myself to quit letting them go wherever they wanted and force them into obedience to Christ. They don’t have a right to control me. I have been given authority to control them. Once I realized that, I began to use the Bible as my benchmark of truth against the thoughts. When I held them up to the Bible in comparison to what God says, if they didn’t line up, they had to go.

King David reacted to stress the same way. He let his thoughts get out of control until he was stressed out. He wrote Psalm 94:19 showing he learned to quiet them. He wrote, “Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control, the soothing comfort of your presence calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight” (TPT). Many times, we simply need to get out of the present and into His presence to regain control. I like to turn the tide by turning on praise and worship to get in His presence and to start realigning my thoughts. I can then cast my burdens on the Lord and quit trying to do things in my strength. There are many things He created us to do, but carrying burdens that we can’t control isn’t one of them. We rob ourselves of the peace He offers and rob Him of things that should be on His plate instead of ours. If you’re anxious and overwhelmed today, make time to get into His presence and challenge those anxious thoughts. He offers you peace, calmness and His burdens instead.

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash

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