Taking Every Thought Captive

Taking Every Thought Captive

II Corinthians 10:3-5

II Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty think raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”

A Spiritual Goal

• Be ever focused on the spiritual goal• We are being molded and refined by the Holy

Spirit• Want to be in the likeness of Christ• When we lose sight of the goal, we become an

easy target to Satan• Do not mistakenly believe we are mature

enough and loose sight of the goal

Spiritual Warfare

• Not a battle for your heart, but battle for your mind

• Satan does not have the authority to take your heart from God

• As a Christian, you have a promise of eternal life

• Satan can suggest thoughts that can interfere with your life

We Are:

• Subject to human limitations• Possess no supernatural power within

ourselves• Subject to death• Do not wage war using underhanded

resources that the world does for our gain

We Can Use:

• God’s power• God’s might• God is without limitation, assaulting the

power of darkness with divine weapons

Life Style of Holiness

• Live lives filled with prayer• Divine wisdom• Holy conduct• Living lives with obedience, service, worship,

and perseverance• No fortress, no enemy, can withstand God’s

power

How Do We Allow Satan to Attack Our Minds:

• Pride• Unbelief in God• Assumed lack of need for God• Worldly desires• Lust• Self-righteous thoughts• Rebellion

How Does Satan Build Fortresses

• Through our thought life as we entertain speculations

• Assumptions of our own human understanding & knowledge

• Through our imagination & reasoning• Our own required expectation & anticipation

Taking Every Thought CaptiveTo the Obedience of Christ

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Taking Every Thought Captive

Re-play or Pre-Play

Re-Play or Pre-Play

• Re-Play is when we use our memory and we build cases against people, judge people, and put pieces of information together in order to gain a greater understanding of someone or something using our own memory coupled with our expectations and requirements.

Re-Play or Pre-Play

• Pre-Play is when we uses our imagination to allow us to think about what we might say or do if given the chance in any given situation.

How Do We Take Every Thought Captive

• Understand we are in a battle• Persistent spiritual warfare for the mind,

thought life, battle for truth• Put “you” to death; individual desires,

expectations, and requirements• Have purity of ourselves; physically, mentally,

and spiritually

How Do We Take Every Thought Captive

• Starve our minds of thoughts that find fault in the Gospel, the church, men and women of the Church God has placed in authority over us

• Thoughts that we have it all together• Judge others by their actions and praise

ourselves by our intensions

Feed Our Minds

• Bible verses • Worship songs• Prayer

Taking Every Thought Captive

It is time to tear down, destroy, dethrone everything that stands contrary to the knowledge of God.

Give ourselves wholly to God as holy people set apart for God.

Taking Every Thought Captive