“Your mind is the greatest gift God has given you and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. You should seek to bring every thought into captivity in obedience to Christ. This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a trial comes along because then your faith and the spirit of God will work together.”
Oswald Chambers
2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV)
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
The human imagination is a powerful force. It can imagine a beautiful future or it can conjure up a worst case scenario. Our imaginations can put us in the grip of fear and that is a place God would never have us go. For a lot of people their imagination destroys their peace. But this scripture verse shows the power to defeat fear is a sound mind. We maintain a sound mind by bringing every thought into captivity.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
Paul is saying if my thought doesn’t line up with Gods Word, I’m going to take it captive. If my thought is not true, I’m not going to allow it to run free in my mind and my imagination where it will put me in a place of unhealthy fear.
Some of you have been very anxious during this pandemic, you have the opportunity and the responsibility not to let this event destroy your peace. You can control your mind because if you couldn’t God would not have commanded you to do it.
We need to have a mind centered on Christ. Fill your mind with scripture, the promises of God. Corona virus without Christ is a scary thing but with Him, it’s not scary. We know He has the power to demolish this virus and He has the power to heal those who have been infected.
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
We serve The God of the Bible. The God who created us. The God who parted the sea and the God who raised Jesus from the dead. We know that we can trust Him. In the midst of uncertainty we know we can trust our Lord Jesus Christ. Focus today and one day at a time on God and His Word. When your mind begins to go to a place of unrest and fear, go to God’s Word and read the truth. Read it out loud and claim the promises and simply trust God. He has brought us this far and He will get us home.
Pastor Ronnie
(This blog post was inspired by a sermon from Dr. David Jeremiah)