War Zone- Week 8 Tactics of the Enemy vs. Strategies of the Believer (Thought Life)

Today we will look at another tactic of the enemy: Thought Life 

Many books have been written and sermons preached about the battlefield of the mind. Why? Because the enemy of our souls is out to destroy us and one of his greatest tactics is to influence our thought life.  

I want us to consider three reasons for being careful about what we allow our minds to dwell on.  

First, our thoughts matter to God.  

Romans 12:2, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT) 

We are commanded here not to copy the behavior or customs of the world, but to allow God to change us into a new person. How is He going to do that? By changing the way we think.  

2 Corinthians 10:3-6, For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, 5 casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is complete. (MEV) 

Verse 5 tells us that one of our weapons against the enemy is controlling our thoughts and making them obedient to Christ. We cast down vain imaginations and every thought that tries to become more important or real to us than God is.  

Matthew 22:37, Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’” (NLT)  

Jesus told us to love God with all of our mind. If we are to love and honor God with all of our mind, there will be no room for other hindering thoughts to dwell there.  

Colossians 3:2, Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. (AMP) 

It is far too easy to get caught up thinking about things that have no eternal value. For instance, “How am I going to pay this bill.”  God is our source; we must stand on His Word and dwell on the promises He has given us rather than on worry and fear. He promised in Philippians 4:19 to provide all our needs and He is not a man that He should lie (Numbers 23:19).  

Secondly, all actions begin as thoughts.  

Psalm 139:23-24, Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. 

In the previous four verses of Psalm 139, David declared his rejection of evil doers and their sinful deeds. It would have been easy for him to stop his prayer there; however, in verses 23-24, David acknowledged that thoughts lead to actions. He asked God to search his thoughts to prevent him from acting in a way that his not pleasing to God. David knew from firsthand experience that dwelling on ungodly thoughts leads to sin (i.e. Bathsheba). His desire was to root out all thoughts that would lead to sinful actions. It took a humble man to ask God to search his thoughts so he would not fall into the same sin traps of those whose sins he had just rejected.  

Mark 7:20-22, And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. (NLT) 

Here the Greek word for heart is: καρδία (kardia) which means- mind (seat of thought and emotion). The heart was thought to be the seat of the inner self (composed of life, soul, mind, and spirit). “Heart” is similar in meaning to “soul,” but often the “heart” has a focus on thinking and understanding.i  

Jesus was telling his listeners, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law, that their age-old customs of cleansing did not make them clean because the real cause of their defilement was what they thought about rather than any dirt or germs on their body/flesh.  

What we dwell on in our thoughts is what will eventually become our actions. We are commanded to be careful about what we look at, listen to, etc., because looking at or listening to the wrong things will lead to thinking about the wrong things, which will in turn lead to doing the wrong things. (Psalm 101:3, Matthew 6:22, Proverbs 4:22, Isaiah 33:15, Proverbs 13:3...)  

Thirdly, the quality of our life is impacted by the quality of our thought life.  

Proverbs 4:23, Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. 

The Hebrew word for heart here is: לֵב lēb which means- the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion: conscience, courage, mind, understanding. ii 

Again, we see that the word heart means our thoughts. Our thoughts lead to our feelings/emotions, which lead to our beliefs, and what we believe shapes the trajectory of our lives.  

“Your thoughts are a catalyst for self-perpetuating cycles. What you think directly influences how you feel and how you behave. So if you think you’re a failure, you’ll feel like a failure. Then, you’ll act like a failure, which reinforces your belief that you must be a failure.”iii 

I came across the previous statement in my studying, and while it comes from a secular source, it holds Biblical truth. As we just read in Proverbs 4:23, our thoughts will determine the course of our lives.  

If you want to find someone who is successful, look for someone who constantly thinks about success. The opposite is true as well. If you want to find someone who is unsuccessful look for someone who is constantly telling themselves and others that they will never make it, will never succeed, will never amount to anything.... Their thoughts of failure consume their thinking and thus, direct their life.  

Highly successful people fail just like the rest of us, the difference is how they think about those failures. They see each one as a steppingstone. Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” If he had thrown up his hands in defeat after his first failure, we might not be reading this today. LOL or at least it might be very dark as we do 😊. You get the point.  

As we learn to control our thoughts, because we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), we can begin to hear Holy Spirit speaking His thoughts into our mind. As we begin hearing and acting on the thoughts of Christ, we will bring destruction on the kingdom of darkness. This is why the enemy is after our thought life and our minds. He understands that a mind stayed on Christ and focused on Holy Spirit’s leading us detrimental to his kingdom.  

In Philippians 3:8-9 we are given a spiritual litmus test for our thoughts. 

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart]. The things which you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things [in daily life], and the God [who is the source] of peace and well-being will be with you. (AMP) 

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (NLT) 

To take every thought captive we must evaluate it for its value or worth. We must determine if it aligns with God’s litmus test. 

We are commanded in Philippians 4:8-9 to think on things that are: 

1.True 

The 1828 Websters dictionary defines truth as: “Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be. The truth of history constitutes its whole value. We rely on the truth of the scriptural prophecies.” It then lists the following two scriptures:  

My mouth shall speak truth Proverbs 8:7. 

Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth John 17:17. 

We must ask ourselves, “Does what I am thinking align with what I know to be true from God’s Word?”  

2.Honorable 

The 1828 Websters definition of honorable is: “Proceeding from an upright and laudable cause, or directed to a just and proper end; not base; not reproachful; as an honorable motive. Nothing can be honorable which is immoral.” 

The Amplified Bible defines honorable as: worthy or respect. We must ask ourselves, “Is what I am thinking about worthy of respect? Is it respectful toward others? Is it respectful toward God?” 

3.Just 

Believer's Bible Commentary says just means righteous, toward both God and man. 

Webster (1828) defines just as:  

“In a moral sense, upright; honest; having principles of rectitude; or conforming exactly to the laws, and to principles of rectitude in social conduct; equitable in the distribution of justice; as a just judge. 

In an evangelical sense, righteous; religious; influenced by a regard to the laws of God; or living in exact conformity to the divine will. 

There is not a just man on earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Ecclesiastes 7:15.” 

“Is what I am thinking just toward myself and/or others? Is it influenced by the Word or by culture/society?” 

4.Pure 

Ephesians 1:4, Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. (NLT) 

Webster (1828) defines pure as: “Free from moral defilement; without spot; not sullied or tarnished; incorrupt; undebased by moral turpitude; holy.” 

The Amplified Bible says: whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word. 

“Are my thoughts without defilement, holy? Can what I am thinking be confirmed by God’s Word?” 

5.Lovely 

The Amplified Bible says: whatever is lovely and brings peace. 

The Greek word for lovely is: προσφιλής prosphilēs which means pleasing. 

“Is what I am thinking pleasing to God? Does it bring me peace?”  

6.Admirable 

The Greek word for admirable is εὔφημος euphēmos which means appealing, praiseworthy.  

“Are my thoughts pleasant and uplifting? Do they draw me closer to Christ or cause me to pull away?” 

If any of our thoughts do not pass the litmus test, we need to take it captive by replacing it with what we know to be true from the Word.   

In conclusion, we must take special care of our thought life because our thoughts matter to God, all actions begin as thoughts, and the quality of our life is impacted by the quality of our thought life.  Remember, to determine which thoughts can stay and which must be taken captive we can use the Philippians 4:8-9 litmus test. As we learn to take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ, we will be able to hear God’s voice and leading more clearly.  

 

Works Cited:

i NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary. Copyright © 2015 by Zondervan.

ii NIV Exhaustive Concordance Dictionary. Copyright © 2015 by Zondervan.

iii https://www.forbes.com/sites/amymorin/2016/06/15/this-is-how-your-thoughts-become-your-reality/?sh=16003955528a