Capture Every Thought

“We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.” 

2 Cor.10:5                   

The battle for sin always starts in the mind.  James 1:14 "Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him." Whatever you focus on pulls you.  If you focus on godly things, it’s going to pull you that direction. If you focus on the stuff that’s at the movies and in magazines, it’s going to pull you that direction. Whatever you focus on gets your attention. Whatever gets your attention and captivates it is going to get you. This is why encouragement to Godly thinking is such a key thing and why being around Godly people to encourage you to that end is essential (Heb.10:24,25).  Psalm 119:6 states, “Then I shall not be ashamed, when I have respect to all Your commandments."  Why? Because if you’re thinking about God’s truth, God's will, then you’re not thinking about the dumb stuff you could be doing.  

Did you know that in the Bible, not once are you told to resist temptation? We are told to resist the Devil, and that’s a whole different issue. But the key to overcoming temptation is not to push back. It’s to change your focus. Temptation always follows a predictable pattern: attention, arousal, and action. Your mind gets hooked, your mind kicks in, and then you act on it. So you don’t fight a temptation. You turn your mind to something else. “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Cor.10:5 ).  The thing is, we’re not very good at capturing every thought and turning it to Christ, because that takes lots of practice. You can’t always control your circumstances, and at times you can’t even control the way you feel. We can control what you think about. That’s always your choice. And if you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel, and ultimately change the way you act. 

What do you spend your time thinking about? Where does your mind wander when you’re not focused on something specific?

How do you train yourself so that it is more natural for you to focus on God’s Word instead of the things of this world?

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will  meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.  I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Ps.119:14-16

 Jim