Thursday 2 August 2012

Controlling Your Mind

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

                                                                                                                                                2 Corinthians 10 : 5

The verse above clearly tells us that it is crucial for us to control our thoughts and mind. The Word of God says that we need to cast down imaginations and every high thought that is against the knowledge of God; to bring into captivity EVERY thought to the OBEDIENCE of Christ. All our thoughts should be from God.
Did you know that your mind is a battlefield. We do not war against our relatives, family members, neighbours, as a matter of fact with any human being. Our war is against the devil. He is our main enemy who came to steal and destroy us and to make sure that we burn in hell. The devil first attacks our minds. This is something that everyone needs to realize. Whether you are a new born again Christian or a 30-year-old believer, you need to be careful and always be on guard. Our mind is the battlefield that determines your happiness.   
Therefore, it is very important that we are able to control our thoughts and feelings. We should know the moment the devil is attacking our mind by speaking unbelief or things against the knowledge of Christ. Do not give a single second of your time to the devil’s lies when it attacks your mind. In whatever situation, refer to God, talk to Him, ask for His advice, open the Bible and read. God is ever-ready to listen and to help you out in whatever situation. Never have the thought “Who am I? I am not holy. God wouldn’t listen to me.” If you have those thoughts, that’s the devil speaking condemnation to you. God has said, come and confess and He is merciful to forgive us. That is why it is important that we know His verses and it is continuously in our mind.
Let me explain further on how the devil attacks your mind. Firstly, when your mind is idle that is when your mind is inactive or when it is not thinking about Jesus nor singing praise, the devil will attack it. Because the devil knows that the line is clear to attack it. It will send in so many thoughts about your past, or current situation, what God is not doing for you, why you should go to church etc. Eventually, without you realizing, your mind will be controlled by the devil. This is something dangerous and this is when trouble and unhappiness will begin in your life. This is the point you will be far away from God.
For example, someone has done you wrong in the past and one day you made the decision to forgive the person as what the Bible instructs us to do. Good however, there will be times when the devil will remind you of what the person has done to you, how much hurtful words were thrown at you, how badly you were treated, the embarrassment he/she caused in your life and many more. The devil will also remind you, how can you forgive such a person, he/she doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, don’t forgive. The devil will also remind or show you things that it is absolutely normal to NOT forgive other people and the joy of taking revenge. It will remind you that it is okay to take revenge or have a grudge when the Bible says the total opposite.
If you do not control your mind from the beginning when the devil attacks you, slowly it will choke the Word of God in your life. Somehow you will forget what God has said, you will forget about forgiveness, about letting go, about not keeping a grudge, about love, about everything. God has said to love others as you love yourself and He had asked how can you love Me whom you cannot see when you hate your own brother whom you can see (paraphrased).
Now, the question is how to we solve this problem? The problem of what to do when my mind is being attack. In my opinion, the most important thing that we as Christians need to do is to continuously listen to either his songs (songs of praise and worship) or messages by pastors or even by reading the Bible or any other Christian books/magazines. It is important that we continually update our list of Praise and Worship songs that we would never feel bored. It is also important that we constantly keep our mind busy with God. You may say this sounds like a fanatic, a true scary fanatic, but you need to remember that the devil is like a roaring lion. It is just waiting who it can devour. There is nothing wrong in being a fanatic for Jesus. I would tell you that it is so much safer.
It is better to be safe than to fall into trouble and lose your peace. Movies, television and the Internet are the greatest tools the devil uses to change your thinking towards life and God. In movies, it is so clear that the devil is trying to send wrong messages which are against the Word of God. For example, these tools will portray that it is okay or normal to commit suicide, or to take revenge on someone who has hurt us, to have hatred, or to give a piece of your mind to someone and to lose your temper. We keep thinking it is very normal. But in fact this is all against the teaching of Jesus.
You do not have the right to take away your own life because you belong to Jesus, you are His. The Bible teaches us not to take revenge instead to love your enemies and bless those who curse you. The Bible also teaches us to be humble and meek not to show your ego and give our piece of mind nor to lose your temper. No one needs to hear ‘your piece of mind’. What people need is love and patience. Only Jesus is love and we as His children need to show it to the world. Even that is His commandments. Because just how the father is, that is how the son should be.
God will not control your mind for you. You need to control it yourself because we are no longer babies but we are adults. It is time for us to know what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. Remember, you are the one who needs to control your mind. It is in your hands.

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