Take Every Thought Captive

I'm reading The Fear of the Lord by John Bevere and in Chapter 3 he mentions Psalm 139:17-18.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them! 

If I would count them, they are more than the sand...

Wow! God's thoughts are more than the grains of sand on earth and they are ALL precious. This made me think about my own thoughts. How do mine add up? Are they all worthless? Do any have value? Then I remembered a few verses that will help me get my mind right!

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. 

                                                                                                                            2 Corinthians 10:5

I'm supposed to take my thoughts captive, like prisoners, when they don't align with God's word. I need to be on high alert watching for those sneaky thoughts that try to bring me down. You know the ones, they come up and make you feel inadequate, they leave you worried about something out of your control, they are any negative thought you can think of. God doesn't leave us hanging! He tells us what to think about...

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

                                                                                                                            Philippians 4:8

Sometimes it's easier to think about our troubles, even POTENTIAL troubles. I'm talking about myself here, I'm the world's worst when it comes to thinking about the future and all the things that could go wrong. What a lack of faith and a waste of time! Let's face it, it's more difficult for some of us to think positively and to believe things are going to work out for good but wouldn't life be SO MUCH BETTER if we did?! We just need to believe what God's word says and DO it. 

Therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they neither toil or spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 
                                                                                                                                   Matthew 6:25-34


Fear not little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with money bags that do not grow old, with a treasure in heavens that do not fail, where no thief approaches, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 
                                                                                                                                  Luke 12:32-34

God doesn't want me to be anxious about what he considers small issues like food, drink, or clothing. He wants me to be concerned with greater things!! Like giving to the needy; to whom food, drink, and clothing do not come as easily. He wants me to gather up for myself treasure in heaven that will last unlike everything this world has to offer. God's word is steadfast and doesn't change with the times. The world is always changing; nothing lasts, in the end his word will still be standing strong. 

I want my heart to be where the REAL treasure is. So for goodness sake! I'm going to take every thought captive, think on the lovely, pure, excellent, noble things! And quit being anxious about things that are going to be burned up in the end anyway so that I can focus on what will last. I know I'm not perfect and that I will have days where those unwelcome thoughts come but hopefully these verses will come to mind. :)


Mandy






{photos taken by me}

Live Fearlessly and Peacefully

I was so blessed by a greek word study from the other day that I felt I NEEDED to share the highlights with you. We are so blessed to have the translated word of God readily at our fingertips; however, it's unfortunate that some of the meaning gets lost in translation. Thankfully there are people out there who take the time to look back at the Greek/Hebrew and dig up a the true heart and meaning behind a verse. I love Sparkling Gems from the Greek by Rick Renner, it's a book of word studies focusing on verses out of the new testament.

{via}

Make Up Your Mind To Live Fearlessly And Peacefully in These Last Days!

That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

-2 Thessalonians 2:2

 soon = "greek word tachus which means quickly, suddenly, or hastily"

shaken= "greek word saleuo which means to shake, to waver, to totter, or to be moved."

Renner says the tense Paul used here of these greek words foreshadow events that will be so horrific they could "result in shock or alarm," and they will be so devistating they could "throw the world into a state of  shock or distress."

mind = greek word nous which is "everything in the realm of the intellect, including one's will, emotions, and ability to think, reason, and decide."

Paul is telling us is to control our minds. We cannot allow ourselves to be controlled by fear or panic. What good would that do anyway?

troubled- greek word throeo which is "inward fright" that could result in a person being "devoured with worry, anxiety, or fear."

Paul prophesies these events will not be a one time occurrence, the tense he uses "points to an ongoing state of worry and inward anxiety resulting from these outward events."

Renner says it's obvious the day Paul was speaking of has arrived and that we need to be "deeply rooted in the confidence of God's promises!" He mentions the following verses:

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:15 & 16

rule: is the greek word brabeuo "which describes an umpire who calls all the shots and makes all the decisions."

When God's word dwells in us richly then His peace will be what is leading us and helping us make moment by moment decisions, not our emotions or events of the day.

richly: is the greek word plousios which "can be translated as lavishly."

I'm trying to get a picture of what letting God's word dwell in me richly would look like. I guess it means his word would come to mind quickly in a time of need because I've been in the word constantly and I'm always being refreshed. The decisions I make would reflect whether or not the word of Christ dwells in me richly. The words I speak, the way I behave, how I treat others, etc. Wow, come to think of it, I need to be in the word a whole lot more than I am. :-/

If we're rooted and grounded in God's word and we're letting the peace of Christ rule in our lives then we should never have to give into fear or panic which is something I often do even in my daily life {bad Mandy, BAD!}. Our minds should always be stable and fixed on the truth, God's word. Should we find ourselves giving our minds over to fear then we need to remember 2 Thessalonians 2:2 and Colossians 3:15 & 16.

I hope this blessed you as much as it blessed me! Do not fear!

Here are some more encouraging verses:

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.

-1 Corinthians 16:13

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

-2 Corinthians 4:7-11

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

-2 Timothy 1:7

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"

-Hebrews 13:5-6

There are lots more...you'll just have to look for yourself. :)

God bless you.

-Mandy