Renewing the Mind: Battling Negative Thoughts with Faith

Never gets old, that's under it. So we're on to the message.

So today’s teaching is perhaps one of the most important and often overlooked lessons that God desperately desires us to learn. We're talking about our thought life, often referred to as the Battlefield of the Mind. I think if we can truly grasp what it means to be in control of our thoughts and using the power of biblical principles and the way of life that Jesus taught, the results can be life-changing.

In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that the thief, the Devil, comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. For Jesus himself came so that we might have an abundant life—the abundance that we were promised. God is giving us when things happen in our world that we don't understand, we easily forget the goodness and overflow of life that we have.

We're told in John 10:10 that the devil will continue his purpose to steal from us. We are at war right now with the powers of darkness. That statement might sound a little bit dramatic, but look around you. Though we have abundance, joy, love, and life—not to mention God on our side—we have become a disconnected and depressed world. The Bible tells us why.

In Ephesians 6:12, in the King James Version, it says, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

In 2 Corinthians 10:4, the Apostle Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. What does this mean? Most of us aren't getting bombed or shot every day; however, our minds and our spirits are at war every day.

And what do most of us do about it? Often, we end up worrying about it all the way through the day, maybe even into the night, unwilling and on our own limited understanding of God's plan. But we have a spiritual bulletproof vest.

Paul goes on to tell us in verses 5-6 that we must destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

What do they mean by that? Personally, I think what it’s alluding to with the first part is about destroying arguments and opinions that heighten themselves against God. I think it’s about having a different mindset that subsequently renders the devil's attempts to get us to question God's knowledge and grace flat and purposeless.

This isn't just about other people's knowledge that might be trying to defend God, but rather about the lies of the devil that are the opposite of God's will—the harmful thoughts that the devil uses to waver in our fear. Those are the ones that I think are talked about.

Remember how the devil deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden? He got her to question the truth that God had given her, and therefore that led to sin and separation from God. The devil is trying to do the same thing with us today, usually by convincing us to adopt a wrong mindset on all the negative thoughts that come with it.

If your mindset is not fixed on the truth of God, it will lead you away from the story by whatever devices that the devil knows will keep you distracted and disillusioned.

So what does it mean to take every thought captive? Taking something captive is a thoughtful, decided action. How many of you have done this: left your house in the morning, taking a deep breath, and thought, "I’m going to go and put down the tiger today"? Let’s be honest, probably most of you haven’t. That’s because it takes a lot of planning. It requires a reason to put your life at risk, and it would take some serious effort.

In the same way, our thoughts can behave like wild animals. Sometimes it requires a strong force of will, planning, and fight in order to restrain them. But isn’t domination of your thoughts and wrong thinking worth it? Isn’t it better to be protected from misery, depression, despair, bitterness, and destructive patterns that cause carnage in your life?

If your wild animal thoughts are telling you right now, "I’ve tried to overcome wrong thinking, but I can’t," it’s important to remember that we cannot do this in our own strength. But of course, being filled with the Holy Spirit and armed with the knowledge from the Bible, we can trust in the power of God to help us overcome every area of weakness.

Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing—that’s what John said in chapter 15. But we can do all things through Christ who is our strength within us. We are also told that we’ve been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

To bind is to forbid, and to loose is to allow freedom. This teaches us that we have the power, and if we have the power over all things on earth, as God tells us we have, we have power over our thoughts.

The New Living Translation changes "bind" and "loose" to "forbid" and "permit." It is up to us to choose what thoughts to keep and what thoughts to reject. Therefore, we are the judge of our own thoughts. Just as criminals will be put forward before a judge, we should drag that thought to the bar, trial, and test whether there’s any truth in them before we give them any power over our lives.

Without the word of God, we have no way of deciphering what is true and what is deception because the devil offers us clever suggestions all the time. Often, they will turn into feelings and actions, and negative thoughts affect our realities.

I’m sure most of the people in this church have very nice thoughts and that they’re all good and helpful and honest. But have you ever had a thought that feels terrible? It feels harmful to yourself or strange, like, "Why did I even think that? That doesn’t sound like me."

Before you allow yourself to feel guilty, realize that actually that thought may have come from another source, intent only to lead you away from God. Some thoughts we must deliberately refuse if we really want to have the abundant life that Christ wants us to have.

We cannot afford to be passive with our thoughts. We cannot afford to be passive with our thoughts. We’ve got to be fierce and forceful and bring them to trial. The first thing we can ask ourselves is, "Where is the evidence for this thought?" And then, if there is any evidence at all—most times there isn’t anything provable—then you can cross-reference that with the Bible and with scripture.

Once you know that it isn’t true, then you can let it loose. Sometimes, in order to have the blessings that God wants us to have, we have to fight for them. That means we’re going to have to be forceful about what we hold on to and what belongs to us.

Because God protects our minds from the thief, the devil, who only wants to steal from us. Having a disciplined thought life is an essential element to living a victorious spiritual life.

You can think of it as well—our minds are like running streams, constantly portrayed with thoughts, and we sit on the banks fishing. Whatever fish we catch, we will take care of, we’ll go shopping, and eventually ingest.

The devil will fish into the stream that poisons us, and as good fishermen, we must learn how to detect a bad fish, a bad thought, and take care to cast it away in order to protect our spiritual, emotional, and physical health.

So what part should we be encouraging? Practically speaking, the Apostle Paul gives us an excellent list of forces to fix our minds on in Philippians 4:8. It says, "Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."

Over 40 million self-help books are sold every year. Very few people, if any, are able to just read one of those books and live the rest of their lives with that knowledge in contentment. Most of the knowledge is probably forgotten by the end of the book.

I believe this is because Jesus wants to help us. We weren’t created to face these battles we’re going through alone. We need him and our brothers and sisters in Christ to be able to face life’s challenges.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In a very simple way, what the scripture is referring to is asking Jesus to walk alongside you and deliberately yoke yourself to him so that his strength will enable you to bear your burdens.

In Romans 12:2, it tells us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." This was my mom’s favorite scripture, and it’s inscribed on the bench outside if you’ve seen it.

In a sense, it’s talking about a messy mind and clearing out the junk, as the American preacher Joyce Meyer likes to say—getting rid of the stinking thinking. The way to strengthen the spiritual bulletproof vest is by reading the Bible and meditating on the word of God, speaking aloud God’s word, praying, and worshiping through song on a consistent, regular basis.

We can’t just do it on a Sunday; it’s a must. It’s the most effective way of quickly discerning true thoughts that will bless you from wrong thoughts that will take you further from God.

The more time you spend with Jesus, the more you become like him, and the less the devil is able to torment you with lies. The word of God works like a filter, enabling you to sift out anything that does not line up with the truth.

I think John 8:31-32 addresses this: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

God will help us to renew our minds, and when we humble ourselves before him, though it takes effort, planning, and some risks, it will pay off eventually.

Even with this message today, the devil will try and convince you to dismiss this teaching out of hand, even now or later on. He’ll try and tell you that scripture doesn’t work, that you have no control over your thoughts, and that none of what God is saying will be successful in the long term.

But as we know, the devil is a liar and the father of lies, as stated in John 8. He wants to hold you back and take away the authority, peace, joy, and love that a child of God has.

Have confidence that this method, which is a combination of spiritual and psychological elements, will work because in Isaiah 55, God promises us that his word shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I propose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

In Jeremiah, God says, "Is not my word like fire?" declares the Lord, "and like a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces." Just imagine what it can do to negative, self-destructive thoughts.

God wants us to live the best lives possible. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and we cannot hold on to this joy while constantly worried, tormented, and distracted by all the thinking of the devil—all these devil-driven thoughts.

If we seek out God and spend time with him, and know and ask for his wisdom and understanding, we should receive all the blessings and beauty that life has to offer.

I believe that we are here on earth to learn our true purposes in life. We can only truly do those things once our mind is renewed by God.

Let’s ask ourselves this: What barriers have we put up that stop us from loving and learning in our true response? Why did the devil succeed in planting these thoughts?

Because no form is in your side forever; no chains are able to shackle you forever—not if you really seek God out and ask him to help you on your journey.

I’ll say an evidence-based thought: Why is it confusing? I mean, even Jesus himself spoke in broken riddles. Why not make it simple?

Well, here’s my theory: Have you ever Googled something and the next day completely forgotten it? We all have. We all have the information of all of humanity at our fingertips, and we’re still confused. Often, we have to relearn that information with just a search.

Well, we don’t hold on to things that we can easily access. We don’t appreciate things that aren’t scarce. If you were told everything that would happen in your life, why it happened, and how it came about, would that information throughout your life bring you the same joy?

Now compare that to when you pray and read the Bible. When something is slowly revealed, is it not so much more satisfying? You learn so much more in the process of finding an answer rather than just getting the answer.

So let’s gather our spiritual weapons and try to apply this message to our day. All you need is your Bible and a simple question: Where is the evidence for this thought or feeling? Is it true?

For these two things, and with enough time, these principles will transform not only your mind but your entire life.

This message has been a focus on what’s inside of us, but let’s focus now on others and the rest of the world.

So we’ll start with prayers and intercession.

I think we can sit down.

Living Heavenly Father, we pray for this community around us here at Vietnam, for those who feel forgotten and pressed, for those who are empty, hurting, broken, and lost.

For those who feel their own destruction of life, for those whose skills are no longer needed and who have time on their hands and feelings of despair.

For those feeling terrified by the increased cost of living, increased rent, or mortgage. For the elderly who feel lonely and don’t know where to turn.

Lord, we pray for our community, where many long for acceptance, love, understanding, and hope.

We pray for those in danger through addiction to drinking or illegal drugs. Lord, there is so much need in this area, and we pray that you will open our eyes and our hearts to do what we can to help.

We pray that our witness, our worship, and our service may be worthy of Jesus. We ask for wisdom and understanding, truth and sensitivity in the whole of our life together.

In Jesus, we pray that our church will be a home for sinners and a place where all are made welcome, and where people are made whole in Christ.

Lord, guide us as we look to the future. May each one of us grow closer to you and be willing to do anything to reach those around us through our words, our deeds, and our love.

In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen.

Continue to pray for our community as we connect with the residents of Melbourne Street, meeting scars, greeting Melrose streets, and don’t forget who will receive the prayer times this month.

We also pray for everything and everyone you know. There are so many different ways to continue to pray for the country family, and you’ll be interested in followers who are close to them.

They are in need of strength at this time. Continue to pray for Paul in this moment, for healing, and also for David, Kelly, and Bessie as she worries about them.

Pray for everyone else you know with health issues or waiting for tests, or those going into treatment. We pray that the treatments will be effective and that the test results will come back favorable, taking away a few years of anxiety.

Lord, we bring these friends to you and the situations and people that need it.

Bob, I thank you that people are willing to give, that they are aware of everyone around them and aware of situations that really are in need of your help.

I just pray that you use this offering for its best purpose and that whatever situation it needs, at last, will get it.

I want to thank you again for all our brothers and sisters in Christ that we are here today to bring this offering to you.

In Jesus’ name, we pray.

And, um, a blessing.

Yeah, bro, yeah.

So I am on track.

Yeah, let’s say another prayer.

Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as we’re prepared to leave this church and return to the world outside, we ask that you bless us with your love and your grace.

May we carry with us the delight of your presence, and may we be a source of hope and inspiration to those around us.

We thank you for the reminder that you never leave us or give up on us, no matter how difficult our journey may be.

May we find comfort in the knowledge that you are with us always, strengthening us for whatever trial and challenge we face.

Continue to bless us with your wisdom and your compassion so that we may be a force for good in the world, spreading your message of love and redemption to all who will hear.

May the peace of your presence fill us always and continually remind us of the incredible gift of God that is all around us.

We offer this prayer to you with open and ready hearts.

We live for you, Jesus.

Let’s share the grace of God.