Thinking Order of Thought

Thinking

Order of Thought

The first thought is “the Knowledge of God”   

The Knowledge of God is both Word and Spirit

God’s Word is the only standard

The second thing is “Personal obedience”

Be sure your thoughts are God’s thoughts

The third order of thought, “Obedience of others”

To change the thoughts of others never back them into a corner

Always shine the light of God’s hope through His Word

This leads us back to number one, “Knowing God’s Word”   

If thoughts do not line up with God’s Word

Than those thoughts need to be imprisoned

The only way of escape is to follow Jesus as His disciples did

Every day they heard His Word and saw His heart

Jesus will make His thoughts known to you and I

When we take up our cross and follow Him   

2 Corinthians 10:5-6

Order of Thought

What is the foundation of your thinking?

Where is your home base

for the thoughts in your head?

When someone pulls out in front of you

and you are startled at their foolish

move, what comes to mind?

Where do those thoughts of anger come from?

All of us have thoughts that make us feel good.

Thoughts that are self-centered.

It is natural to think about protecting

yourself, attacking when we feel threaten.

The apostle Paul had invested his

heart into the people at Corinth.

While he was gone, others

brought sin into the church.

There were those who disapproved of Paul

and tried to sway the church people.

Arguments were taking place in the church.

Paul addresses this problem in four

steps that should order our thoughts.

Paul says…

“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.

And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience,

once your obedience is complete.”

 

The first thought is…

 “The Knowledge of God”   

The Knowledge of God is the foundation.

Building on or replacing it, is not permitted.

Our Knowledge of God is quantitative.

Our limits of the Knowledge of God

will limit our ability to think properly.

Studying the Word of God and the Heart of God

is essential to the first step in the order of thought.

Sometimes it is best to be silent if we

do not know what God says and feel.

Our silence should take the challenge

to research the Scriptures in prayer,

 so we can speak later,

giving us authority to speak.

It is important that our Knowledge of God

incorporates both His Words and His heart.

God, like us, is not unfeeling about what He says.

If we take just His words,

we are libel to become like the Pharisees

who Jesus was in constant argument with.

 

To understand the Heart of God we must remember…

God is Love.

We must also remember only two things are

needed to fulfill everything we are to do in life.

Matthew 22:37-40…

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'   This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'   All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Love God and Love Others.

 If we do these two things, we

don’t need any other instruction.

So number one in the order of thought is…

 “Have the Knowledge of God”

The second thing is…

 “Personal obedience”

Capture your own thoughts that don’t

line up with the Knowledge of God.

Examine your own faults and

get your emotions under control.

There are times when people say

things that make your blood boil.

 It does not matter if they are right or

wrong, you need to be slow to speak.

Don’t let your mouth run with your anger.

If your personal agenda has got in the way…

 Repent and ask others to forgive you.

Only after we have got the distraction in our eye out,

 can we address the distraction in someone else’s eye.

This brings us to the third order of thought…

 “Obedience of others”

Punishment is a hard word,

 no one likes punishment.

It should be our goal if we need to punish,

 like Paul did with the man sleeping with his

father’s wife, seek correction, not destruction.

Don’t back people into a corner

where they have nowhere to go.

 Always shine light on the way

of escape from their wrong.

Like the scriptures say…

 He who steals should seal no more but

work with his hands so he can give to others.

Jesus came to save sinners.

It is true the wages of sin

is death but there is a gift.

God’s love provided a way of escape

through Jesus’ death on the cross.

The gift of eternal life is not automatic.

The gifts comes to those who follow Him.

Jesus is the Way…

 The only Way out of the punishment

and destruction of disobedience.

This leads us back to number one…

 “Knowing God’s Word”

    

If thoughts do not line up with God’s Word

than those thoughts need to be imprisoned.

The only way of escape is to

follow Jesus as His disciples did.

Every day they heard His

Word and saw His heart.

Jesus will make His thoughts known to you and I…

 When we take up our cross and follow Him.   

Scripture Reading

2 Corinthians 10:1-6 NIV

10:1 By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you — I, Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away! 2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. 3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 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. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.