← Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt
How to Take Control of Your Thoughts (2 Corinthians 10 Explained)
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Second Corinthians 10, verses 3 through 5. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ. This is probably one of the most impactful, profound, powerful portions of Scripture that I've ever memorized in my walk with Jesus. The reason being is that as Paul is writing Second Corinthians, he breaks out into this weapon of warfare when it comes to spiritual warfare. Now, Ephesians 6 is probably the most popular text on spiritual warfare, but 2 Corinthians 10, 3, 5 gives us an anecdote for what the enemy is coming for. And that is spiritual warfare of the mind. If you're anything like me, you've probably experienced something along in your walk with Christ where you began to believe a lie, or you began to get a thought, or a thought pattern stuck in your mind looping around, causing you to live a life that you know is not the fullness of freedom in Christ. This could be about your worth. I'm not worthy. Who am I to do this? Jesus could never forgive me of that. This could be about your calling. I'm not gifted like she is. I'm not gifted like he is. I'm not called to do great things like they are. This could be about your family. I'll always be like this because my family's like this. This could be about your future. There's no hope for my future because my present doesn't make any sense. I don't know what lie that the enemy is coming after you with. But what we know that Paul just said is that though we walk in the flesh, you see my skin, you see my body, I'm living in a different reality. There's a spiritual realm going on. And by the way, that spiritual realm has an enemy attacking me every single day. That's the first thing that you have to know. If you are in Christ, you are not just living on cruise control. You're living in a spiritual battle where the enemy hates you. And what does he want to do? John 10:10. He wants to steal your hope. He wants to kill your hope. He wants to kill your life. He wants to destroy your faith and destroy your calling and destroy your ministry. He hates you. And here's the reality. If Satan can't keep you from going to heaven, he wants to keep you on the mat. From living a life full of fruit. I don't know if you're like me or not, but you've probably had a moment in your life where you go, I know I'm saved, but I don't think I'm free in my mind. Well, look at what Paul says. He says the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh. So we're not fighting this battle with a sword and a spear. Spear. We're actually fighting this with spiritual weapons. I want you to envision that your hands are holding a spiritual sword, a spiritual sling, a spiritual shield that God has given you. Spiritual weapons that have divine power to destroy strongholds. What's a stronghold? Well, look at what he says. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of. Of God. What does that mean? The enemy is going to come to you with a lie. That is something other than what God says about you. So when the enemy comes and talks about your worth, or when the lies come that make you shut down or make you think you're not good enough or make you think you can never be forgiven, guess what? The spiritual weapons that you have and I have have the power to destroy those strongholds which are coming against. Against your identity in Christ. We take every thought captive. I just wanna take a moment and help you understand that the thoughts that you're thinking are not just you. A lot of that is the enemy coming after you to destroy your life, to kill your calling to take the hope that you have and. And put you on the mat. And I want you to know that Jesus has something better for you. And so for anybody listening to this right now, you're looking at someone that has lived many years stuck in his mind, whether that be anxiety or panic attacks or fear. But when I began to realize that I have spiritual weapons with power to free the strongholds in my mind and tear them down. And I get to not be a victim of my mind, but actually take the thoughts that come up in my mind captive. And the Bible says that you get to submit them under Christ. The first thing that you need to do is identify the thoughts the enemy is speaking to you. And just like a mouse when you're dragging it on the MacBook, you know, you click on something and you drag it in the trash. I want you to view that same way of thinking where you click on that thought and you drag it to the trash and you say, that thought will submit to Christ, that thought will submit to Jesus. The Bible says that for those who are in Christ, we have the Mind of Christ. So for you today, I want you to know you're not a victim of your thoughts. You're actually holding weapons of divine power that get to destroy those strongholds that is yours in Christ Jesus. If you want to learn more or go deeper about this, I highly encourage you to study this passage. And Maddie and I actually did a podcast on Anxiety where we talk deeper about this. On the power of the spiritual weapons. Now, what are those spiritual weapons? Well, the first one is the word of God. If you're believing a lie, you need to remind yourself of the truth. The second is this prayer. You know, it destroys the weapons of the enemy more than anything. Getting on your knees and calling out to your heavenly father and asking him to break those strongholds himself. Prayer has changed not only my life, it's renewed my mind and my thinking. Don't just talk to God, but listen to God five to ten minutes a day. Put your phone away and say, God, I'm going to sit in silence and I want to listen to you. It's hard, but it's worth it. The third is this. It's community. You know that science is proving right now that 80% of the thoughts that you have are not true. 80%. 8 out of every 10 thought that comes into your mind is not true. Here's what you have to know. Everything you think you don't have to believe in, everything you feel is. Is not necessarily real. That was powerful, groundbreaking truth for me to sit in that even though I think this and feel this, it doesn't mean it's true. What does my community say about this? And so when I get most stuck is when I let this thought stay in here and I don't get it out. You know what I'm quick to do now? When a thought gets stuck in here, I call my wife. I say, hey, Mattie, I am thinking this thought. Is this even true? Or I call my boys and I go, hey, guys, I'm really stuck in this thought right now. I just want to speak it out loud. And you know what happens is they begin to say, grant, that is not true at all. Do you know what God says, by the way? I don't even know how you're thinking that. Here's the truth about who you are. My boys will come around me and go, hey, Grant, that's not true. And even though it feels true, I'm going to pray over you that you would believe what God says about you. Those are powerful ways. The fourth is this. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is your guide, your comforter and your counselor. The last thing I want to say is I think we're quick to go to counselors, we're quick to go to podcasts, we're quick to go to TED talks, we're not quick to go to God. I want to encourage you right now with any thought you're having. I want you to simply pray this prayer. Jesus Christ, I invite you into the thought pattern of my life that is not from you and I want you to heal me and renew my mind. Before you go to that friend, before you go to that counselor, before you go to that TED talk, I want you to say Jesus would you heal that thought pattern in my mind and God would you renew my mind in you and renew my mind by the power of your Holy Spirit he will do it. The Bible says you Christian have spiritual weapons to destroy strongholds and we take every thought captive and we submit it to Christ.