EVIL THOUGHTS
2 Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
God desires that our thoughts would be Christ like, holy and conformed to Christ’s image. Satan through evil spirits desires to corrupt our thought life. Satan tries to influence our thought life by having evil spirits put evil thoughts in our minds. If we follow these evil thoughts our lives would be completely destroyed and we would miss out certain blessings. Evil thoughts about lies, lust, the opposite sex, rejection, self-pity, loneliness, sadness and fear can shift our focus from God. The more we focus on these things the less faith and love we have for God. These gradual deceptions destroy our lives. God desires the best for us only if we submit to His commands. The Lord commands us to control our thought life. As Christians we must bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). God monitors our thoughts and sinful thoughts grieve Him, for example in Genesis 6:5-6 reads, “The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain”.
Imaginations, thoughts and daydreams must be in line with God’s commands. Do not embrace evil thoughts or act on them. We must immediately ask God to take control. We must resist evil thoughts with the power of Jesus. The bible says resist the devil and He would flee. You need to take your thoughts captive before they take you captive. The choice is yours, you have the authority. Jesus never sinned in his mind. That is what God is teaching us to do.
Our thoughts can lead us to either heaven or hell. Our thoughts determine the kind of live we would live on earth. Most of the sins we commit originate from our thoughts. Every sin we commit happens twice firstly in our minds and then secondly when we commit the sin. As Christians we can avoid certain sins by not entertaining certain thoughts initially. We often end up acting out the things we think about. Our thoughts must honor God. We must renew our mind, be self-controlled and set our minds on things above.
One way of overcoming evil thoughts is by getting engrossed in bible study and prayer. There is so much power in the presence of God that enables us to be more like Christ. Reading and meditating on God’s Word must be a regular habit. The more we read God’s Word, the more we set our minds on things concerning Him. All Christians must memorizing scripture. Study and memorize Scripture so that you can be ready with the truth the next time evil thoughts pop up. Prayer is powerful weapon we have as Christians. Regular prayer and communion with God is a necessity. We must dwell in the presence of the Almighty through prayer. Moses spent time communicating with God and His face shown so much that He had put a veil on His face. There is so much power in God’s presence to overcome temptation and evil thoughts.
Setting your mind on what God desires (and not ungodly things) brings life and peace. Romans 8:5-7, “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Matthew 15:18-19 but the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.
