Devotional Life
Thoughts
Our devotional time needs to be a time for us to think about God’s Word
A time where we bring our thoughts and the thoughts of others into captive
Time where we examine those thoughts in light of the love and justice of Christ
Where do our thoughts come from?
Everywhere, from the realms of both good and evil
What do we do with our thoughts?
We isolate and test them until we can give an answer with gentleness and respect
This can only be done if the thoughts are obedient to the life and teaching of Christ
Let Christ be the Doorkeeper of your thoughts
Thoughts
Where do thoughts come from?
I know that there are a lot of philosophers who
spend their lives trying to answer this question.
They look into the conscience and conscience
thoughts among many other things.
The mind is amazing.
We can work through numbers
and come up with equations.
We can think about a plan
and then build it.
We can dwell on thoughts that
end up controlling our lives.
So where do our thoughts come from?
Thoughts are triggered.
It does not take much to trigger our minds to
think, but something triggers our thinking.
You may walk into your backyard and
smell the neighbor’s cooking on the grill…
And you start thinking you are hungry
or your mind may paint a picture
of a juicy burger or steak.
Our thoughts come from collective influences.
If you were raised in a political family…
You will find the collective thinking
of your family to be the way
you think about social issues.
If we are going to answer the question
where do thoughts come from,
we also need to answer the question…
What do I do with my thoughts?
We don’t always recognize
where our thoughts come from.
But knowing that my thoughts from
smelling the neighbors cooking on the grill
and the thoughts of being hit by an arrow bring
a different degree of intensity to our thinking.
The outside influences on our
thinking are immeasurable…
It is wise to understand those influences are there.
Imagine the amount of money you would
spend if you allowed the commercials
you see in a day to control your thinking.
When we answer the question…
“What do I do with my thought?”
We need to be aware our
thoughts are not always right.
When I was a child I made
up my mind that there were
certain foods I did not like.
I am sure glad I grew up and
saw how dumb that was.
But the fact is we all have made
up our minds in ways that keep
us from developing thinking.
Corinth at the time of Paul the
Apostle was a flood of new thinking.
The world was converging on Corinth
and new ideas from around the world
were challenging the way people think.
Paul was very concerned about the
way the believers were thinking.
Paul recognized the starting place for
dealing with any problem starts
with the mind and the way we think.
Paul says do not take control of
the world influences with weapons.
Paul was very aware of those who
fight with weapons to control the
way people think or remove them.
Paul says the battle needs
to be won in the mind…
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.
2 Corinthians 10:5-6
What we think needs to be
brought into obedience to Christ.
Paul tells us what this means
in the next verse…
You are looking only on the surface of things.
2 Corinthians 10:7
You and I have the responsibility to
look beyond the surface of things.
We have the responsibility to…
Test everything.
Hold on to the good.
Avoid every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
Just because it sounds good…
Does not mean it is good.
We have a responsibility to give
an account for what we believe.
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect,
keeping a clear conscience,
so that those who speak maliciously against your good
behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
1 Peter 3:15-16
Our devotional time needs to be a time
for us to think about God’s Word.
A time where we bring our thoughts
and the thoughts of others into captive.
Time where we examine those thoughts
in light of the love and justice of Christ.
Where do our thoughts come from?
Everywhere…
From the realms of both good and evil.
What do we do with our thoughts?
We isolate and test them until we can give
an answer with gentleness and respect.
This can only be done if the thoughts are
obedient to the life and teaching of Christ.
Let Christ be the Doorkeeper of your thoughts.
Scripture Reading
2 Corinthians 10:1-7 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.
7 You are looking only on the surface of things.
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