Recently, one of my friends mentioned 2 Timothy 1:7:
“For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
She
discussed our ability to cast certain thoughts down. Indeed, according to God’s
Word, we do possess that power:
“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
In fact,
we have the Mind of Christ:
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may
instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:16
So, the sound mind is a God thing, gifted to us. But we choose how we
utilize that gift. It’s not, necessarily, about feelings; it’s about decision.
And the power, following Jesus’ example, is determined by three words: “It
is written.” This is best laid out in Matthew
4:1-11.
“Then
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you
are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus
answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on
every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
5 Then
the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of
the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of
God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He
will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus
answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the
test.’”
8 Again,
the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give
you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus
said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord
your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then
the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Repeatedly,
Jesus shoots down the devil’s arguments
(verses four, seven and ten).
So,
what’s stopping us from doing the same? Ignorance, pride, doubt? Indeed, our
thoughts, whatever they may be, are powerful:
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so
is he...”
Proverbs 23:7
Therefore,
why not think God’s thoughts, which are Truth? We have the power of choice.
Let’s choose to be in our sound minds today!!!
Copyright © 2019 by
Sheryle Cruse
No comments:
Post a Comment