In the previous blog post: walk in the dominion that God has given you, the walk of the new creation was discussed. The dominion (authority) that has been given through Jesus Christ was discussed as the consequences if you, as the new creation, don’t walk in the dominion that God has given you. In this article the mind will be discussed and how important it is to take authority over your thoughts. Because if you don’t take authority over your thoughts, your thoughts will take authority over you and rule your life. Let’s have a look at what the Bible says about the mind. How can you take authority over your thoughts?
Your mind determines your course in life
All the works and actions of people derive from the mind. As it is written in Proverbs 23:7: As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
The way a man thinks about himself (or herself), makes him (her) the person he (she) is. Out of the mind and the way a man thinks, man acts. Therefore we can say, that all behavior, actions, and speech derives from the mind.
The mind acts also as a filter. When your mind is ‘clouded’ or ‘corrupted’, or to put it in other words, when you have a ‘wrong’ mindset and therefore a wrong way of thinking, then everything you perceive with your senses (see, hear, feel), will become affected by this wrong mindset.
The mind of a person is therefore very important and determines the course of life.
The old man and his thoughts
Before you became born again, and before you became a new creation, you were the old creation; a sinner, and lived as a sinner. Your spirit was dead and you were led by your flesh and your carnal mind; your thoughts. The lusts and desires of your flesh and your mind ruled over you. They determined what they wanted you to do, and you obeyed them. You acted upon your thoughts. You were a slave of your flesh and your thoughts.
And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Ephesians 2:1-3)
Your carnal mind was against the Word of God, and therefore enmity against God (Romans 8:7)
Your mind was carnal and was controlled by the darkness; by the prince of the power of the air. Because that was your source. Your mind, and your thoughts agreed with the thoughts of the world, because the ruler of this world (the devil) was your father. You belonged to him, he reigned in your life, and you obeyed him. Because of the fact that the devil is the adversary of God, every thought he put into your mind was against the Word of God.
The new creation
Then came the moment, that you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Your sinful nature was exposed by the Holy Spirit and you repented of your life as a sinner. You became born again and became a new creation. The new creation is in the beginning still a baby, and oftentimes still subjected to the flesh (body and soul). Because your flesh has been fed for years by the darkness, and reigned, since your natural birth, in your life.
All those years your mind was fed, and led, by the world system. Al those years, your flesh, including your mind received input out of the natural world (through nurture (the way you were raised), education, entertainment, (social)media, etc.).
Your whole mind has been polluted with the knowledge of this world. Their your mind is in line with the mind of the ruler of this world; the devil.
When you become a new creation, you still think like the world. The only difference is, that you believe in Jesus. But your mind and the way you think have not changed yet. Your thoughts still line up with the world and not with the Word.
It is, therefore, time to renew your mind, and to start nurturing your spirit, so that your spirit will mature. It is time to stop walking after the flesh and start walking after the Spirit, as a son of God.
How do you nurture your spirit and ensure that your spirit and the Holy Spirit, will reign in your life? How do you renew your mind, so that your mind will line up with the mind of Jesus Christ; the Word? The answer is, by the Word of God, through prayer, and by praying in the Holy Ghost.
The mission of every newborn Christian, is to become a son of God and walk after the Spirit. Just like Jesus.
For to have the mind dominated by the sinful nature is death, but to have the mind dominated by the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6 (K.W)
Renew your mind with the Word
Your mission and purpose as a new creation, is to become like the Word; Jesus. Your ‘former’ and ‘current’ way of thinking, doesn’t define who you are, but the Word defines who you really are. The Word is the mirror for the new creation.
Your whole life, you were controlled by the darkness, by the world. You were fed with lies, that blinded you to the Truth.
Now, the time has come, to lay down these lies and to put on the Truth; in other words: to renew your mind with the Word of God.
The Word of God will expose all the lies of the world and of the devil.
The spirit in you must reign over your flesh. This means including your thoughts, feelings, and emotions (that go against the Word of God).
When your spirit doesn’t take authority and doesn’t start to reign over your flesh, your spirit shall be subjected to the flesh and you will still be controlled by the flesh; the darkness.
The devil works in the mind
One of the biggest territories of the devil is the mind. The devil knows how important the mind is. The devil knows that the mind controls the behaviour, actions, and speech of people. That’s why the devil wants to reign in the mind, and control the mind of man. So that, man will remain the devil’s slave and do exactly what he wants (Read also: ‘The will of God vs the will of the devil‘).
The devil doesn’t want you to find out the Truth. Because when you find out who you really are in Jesus Christ and what dominion (authority) has been given to you, you will become a big threat to the devil and his kingdom. That’s why the devil wants you to stay ignorant of the Word and have a lack of knowledge.
The devil wants you to stay carnal and keep living after your flesh. He wants to control you through the lusts and desires of your flesh and your mind; your thoughts.
When you become a new creation, the devil and his army do not have any legal right anymore to occupy your mind. But…. they do have the ability to occupy your mind.
The devil and his army will take every opportunity to stay in control of your mind. He has one mission and that is to bring you into captivity and bring you back into darkness and destroy you.
The devil and his army are fallen angels. They can;t read your mind; your thoughts, but they can fill your mind with their lies.
The devil sends his angels with a mission to attack your mind with lies, and to control your mind with thoughts of destruction, worry, anxiety, fear, suspiciousness, jealousy, pride, envy, negativity, rebellion, self-rejection etc.
The instruments of the devil
Besides these attacks on the mind, the devil also uses instruments from the visible world: like education, (social) media, entertainment; tv, movies, computer games, books, etc. to invade your mind. These instruments will ensure that you will stay in his power and will stay controlled by evil spirits. How can you see if people are controlled by evil spirits? By their actions and their addictions.
As soon as you can’t live without these instruments, you are addicted (smartphone addiction, tv addiction, gaming addiction, book addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction etc.). When you are addicted, you are controlled by the forces of darkness.
It is therefore very important, that when you become a new creation, to be careful with what you look at, watch, and hear, and with what ‘things’ you feed your mind with.
If you don’t guard your mind and keep feeding your mind, with the things of the world, you will become like the world. By feeding your flesh, you will ensure that your flesh stays strong, and keeps reigning in your life.
Yes, your flesh will stay in control of your life. But when you feed yourself, with the things of the Kingdom of God; the Word of God, prayer, fasting, speaking in new tongues, etc. then your spirit will become strong and shall reign in your life. When your spirit reigns, you shall walk after the Spirit.
Taking authority over your thoughts
In Ephesians 2:3 Paul wrote to the saints at Ephesus, not only about their position in Christ, but also about their former lives and how they were led by the lusts of their flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. This is also a truth for today. Because before you turned to Christ, and became a saint, you were a slave of the will of your flesh and mind (your thoughts). Your flesh and mind instructed you what to do, and you automatically obeyed.
But… now that you’ve become a member of the Body of Jesus Christ, you no longer walk according to the will of your flesh and mind. Because you have laid down and buried your flesh through the baptism in water. The flesh is death, so the flesh can’t be in control anymore.
If your flesh is still in control, it means that you haven’t laid down your flesh yet. You haven’t put off the old man, but is still alive.
You’ve become a new creation, and your spirit has become alive by the power of the Holy Spirit. You shall walk, and live after the Spirit and not after the flesh anymore.
You shall not be controlled by what your senses, and thoughts are telling you to do. But you do, what the Word of God tells you to do. You will take authority over thoughts, that do not line up with the Word of God and don’t let those thoughts take authority over you.
How do you take authority over your thoughts?
1. Get to know the Word of God
First of all, you must get to know the Word of God. Because how else will you find out, that the thoughts you have, don’t line up with the Word of God? The Word instructs you, to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed from the world, by the renewing of your mind with the Word of God. Only by renewing your mind with the Word of God, you will get to know God’s will and the truth. If you know the truth, you can attack the lies with the truth.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2)
2. Meditate on the Word, day and night
Let your mind be filled with the Word, and don’t let your thoughts depart from the Word. Let the Word dwell and be in your heart constantly.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein:for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success (Joshua 1:8)
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night (Psalms 1:1-2)
3. Take every thought, that goes against the Word of God, into captivity with the Word.
You can only win the battle against your thoughts, out of the Spirit, by bringing your thoughts into captivity with the Word of God. Only the Word can beat the adversary. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus didn’t beat the devil by singing songs, but He beat the devil with the Word.
When thoughts of worry arises, or other evil thoughts, bring these thought into captivity, to the obedience of Christ, by speaking the Word, and tell these thoughts: that God thinks thoughts of peace, and not of evil towards you, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11)
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Take authority over your thoughts,
before they take authority over you
If you won’t take a stand, and don’t take authority over your thoughts, by bringing them into captivity to the obedience of Christ; the Word. But instead, feed these thoughts, by thinking about them and meditating on them, which will result in believing these thoughts, then these thoughts will take authority over you and bring you into captivity.
The thoughts, that go against the Word of God, may seem harmless in the beginning, but the truth is, that they aren’t. They have a destructive character.
If you feed thoughts, that oppose the Word of God, they’ll lead you to negative thinking, anxiety, worry, self-rejection, depression, mental illness, and maybe even suicide.
Eve didn’t walk in the dominion that God gave to man; to rule over the heaven, the earth, and all there is within. She didn’t silence the serpent, with the words of God. She didn’t command the serpent to be silent and to go away.
No, she let a thought of doubt enter her mind and acted upon that thought instead. Therefore she and Adam lost their position to the devil, and the devil became the master over man.
If you don’t walk in the dominion that God has given you, through Jesus Christ. And if you won’t take authority over your thoughts, then these thoughts will take authority over you. They will become your master.
God has given you all authority in Jesus Christ
Don’t pray to God, and ask Him to take these thoughts away from you. Because God has given you the dominion, the authority, to rule over them, in Jesus Christ. God has given you the authority in Jesus Christ, the Word, to rule over your flesh, including your thoughts..
Therefore renew your mind with the Word of God, guard your mind, stay in the Word (in Jesus), and walk after the Spirit, in the dominion that God has given you, through Jesus Christ. Take authority over your thoughts, before they take authority over you.
Read also ‘How to get peace of mind‘, ‘Why do you have to renew your mind’ and ‘Why do you have to guard your mind’
“Be the salt of the earth”
