The mind is powerful and determines your words and actions in life. Therefore it’s important to control your thought life. If you don’t take authority over your thoughts, your thoughts will take authority over you and rule your life. Let’s look at what the Bible says about the mind and how to take authority over your thoughts.
Your mind determines your course in life
All the words, mga gawa, and actions of people derive from the mind. As it is written in Proverbs 23:7: As a man thinks in his heart, Gayon din siya.
The way you think about yourself makes you the person you are. From the mind and the way you think, you act. Therefore all behavior, mga kilos, and speech derive 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 a wrong way of thinking, then everything you perceive with your senses (ang nakikita mo, pakinggan, pakiramdam), become affected by this wrong mindset.
Your mind is very important because your mind determines the course of your life.
The mind and thoughts of the old creation
Bago ka ipinanganak na muli kay Kristo at naging bagong nilikha, ikaw ang dating nilikha (makasalanan. You lived from your fallen state as a sinner under the power of darkness. Your spirit was dead and you were led by your flesh, by your carnal mind with your carnal thoughts.
The will, mga pagnanasa, and desires of your flesh and your carnal 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.
At ikaw ay Kanyang binuhay, na patay sa mga pagkakasala at kasalanan; Na sa panahong nakaraan ay lumakad kayo ayon sa takbo ng sanglibutang ito, ayon sa prinsipe ng kapangyarihan ng hangin, ang diwa na ngayon ay gumagana sa mga anak ng pagsuway: Sa kanila rin tayong lahat ay nagkaroon ng ating pag uusap noong mga nakaraang panahon sa mga pagnanasa ng ating laman, pagtupad sa mga hangarin ng laman at ng isipan; at likas na mga anak ng poot, kahit na tulad ng iba (Mga Taga Efeso 2:1-3)
Your carnal mind opposed the Word of God and therefore your carnal mind was enmity against God (Mga Taga Roma 8:7)
Your mind was carnal and controlled by the darkness; by the prince of the power of the air. You lived in darkness and the darkness was your source.
Your mind and your thoughts agreed with the thoughts of the world. That’s because the ruler of this world (ang demonyo) was your father. Nabibilang ka sa demonyo, who ruled your life and you obeyed him and did his works.
Since the devil is the adversary of God, every thought that he put into your mind opposed the Word of God (ang Biblia).
The mind and thoughts of the new creation
Pagkatapos ay dumating ang sandali, that you believed and 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, who is reconciled with God and lives from the restored state in Christ after the Spirit.
Although the new creation is complete in Christ, the new creation is in the beginning still a baby.
Sa simula, the new creation is oftentimes still subjected to the flesh (katawan at kaluluwa).
That’s because from the day you were born on earth, your flesh has been by the darkness and naghari ang kasalanan bilang hari sa buhay mo (noong ikaw ang lumang nilikha).
All those years your mind was fed and led by the world system. Sa loob ng maraming taon, your mind received input from the natural world, through nurture (the way you were raised), edukasyon, libangan mapagkukunan, (sosyal na sosyal)media, atbp.
Your whole mind has been polluted with the knowledge and wisdom of man, at ang mga bagay ng mundong ito. Bilang isang resulta, your mind is in line with the mind of the ruler of this world; the devil and all those, kung sino sa kanya.
Kapag ikaw ay naging isang bagong nilalang, your mind is still conformed to this world (sistema ng). Ang pagkakaiba lamang ay, that you believe in Jesus Christ and that your spirit is raised from the dead.
Be not conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
Your mind and the way you think have not changed yet. Your thoughts are still conformed to the world instead of the Word (ang Biblia). Kaya nga, oras na para panibagong isip at pakainin ang iyong espiritu. So that your spirit matures.
It is time to stop walking after the flesh and let your thoughts dictate you what to do and start walking after the Spirit and let the words of God dictate you what to do. So that you get to know the will of the Father and walk in obedience to the Father as a son of God (Ito ay nalalapat sa parehong mga lalaki at babae) on earth and manifest the Kingdom of God.
How do you renew your mind and feed your spirit?
You renew your mind and feed your spirit with the Word of God (ang Biblia), sa pamamagitan ng panalangin, and by praying in the Holy Ghost.
Newborn Christians have become a new creation; a son of God in the spirit realm. The mission of every Christian is to reveal this spiritual transformation in the natural realm. This means that Christians will walk as mga anak ng Diyos after the Spirit just like Jesus, ang Anak at ang buhay na Salita.
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
Mga Taga Roma 8:6 (K.W)
Why must you renew your mind with the Word?
Your mission and purpose as a new creation is to become like the living Word; Si Jesus. Your ‘former’ and ‘current’ paraan ng pag-iisip, doesn’t define who you are. The Word defines who you really are. Ang Word is the mirror for every new creation; lalaki at babae.
Your whole life, you were controlled by the darkness (ang mundo).
You were fed with lies of the devil that blinded you to the Truth of Ang Diyos; ang tagalikha ng langit at lupa at lahat ng nasa loob.
Ngayon na, the time has come, to destroy these lies in your life and to build upon the Truth, which means 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: ang iyong mga saloobin, mga damdamin, at emosyon (Na sumasalungat sa Salita ng Diyos).
When your spirit doesn’t take authority and doesn’t reign over your flesh, your spirit shall be subjected to the flesh and you will still be controlled by the flesh; ang dilim.
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 behavior, mga kilos, and speech of people. That’s why the devil wants to reign in everyone’s mind and control the mind. Kaya nga, man remains the devil’s slave and does exactly what he wants.
The devil doesn’t want you to find out the Truth. Because when you find out the truth of God and who you really are in Jesus Christ and what dominion (awtoridad) God gave to you, you will become a 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, doing Ang Kanyang kalooban.
The devil wants to control you through the lusts and desires of your flesh and your mind: ang iyong mga saloobin.
Dapat alam mo, that when you became a new creation, the devil and his army didn’t have any legal right anymore to occupy your mind.
Gayunpaman, they still have the ability to attack and occupy your mind.
The devil and his army take every opportunity to attack you and to stay in control of your mind. He has one mission and that is to bring you into captivity of him again and to bring you back into darkness and destroy you.
The devil and his army are fallen angels. They can’t read your mind but they can attack you and fill your mind with their lies.
The devil sends his angels with a mission to attack your mind with lies, and control your mind with thoughts of destruction, mag-alala, pagkabalisa, takot na takot, suspiciousness, paninibugho, pagmamalaki, inggit na inggit, negatibiti, paghihimagsik, pagtanggi sa sarili, atbp.
The instruments of the devil to infiltrate and control your mind
Besides these attacks on the mind, the devil also uses instruments from the visible world: like education, (sosyal na sosyal) media, libangan; telebisyon, computer games, mga libro, atbp. 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, television addiction, gaming addiction, book addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction, atbp.). When you are addicted, you are controlled by the forces of darkness.
It is very important, that when you become a new creation, to be careful with what you look at, Panoorin, at marinig, 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 become like the world. By feeding your flesh, you will ensure that your flesh stays strong, and keeps reigning in your life.
Oo nga, your flesh will stay in control of your life. But when you feed yourself, with the things of the Kingdom of God; ang Salita ng Diyos, panalangin, pag-aayuno, speaking in new tongues, atbp. then your spirit will become strong and shall reign in your life. Kapag naghari ang iyong espiritu, lalakad ka ayon sa Espiritu.
Why is it necessary to take authority over your thoughts?
Sa Mga Taga Efeso 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 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 (ang iyong mga saloobin). Your flesh and mind instructed you what to do, and you automatically obeyed.
Ngunit… 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 binyag sa tubig.
The flesh is death, so the flesh can’t be in control anymore.
If your flesh is still in control, you haven’t laid down your flesh yet. You haven’t ipagpaliban mo na ang matanda but the old man is still alive.
You’ve become a new creation and your spirit has become alive by the power of the Holy Spirit.
As a result of this transformation 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 Bible tells you to do. You will take authority over thoughts that do not line up with the Word of God. You 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
Una sa lahat, dapat mong makilala ang Salita ng Diyos. Because how else will you find out that the thoughts you have, don’t line up with the Word of God? The Bible instructs you to not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind with the Word of God. Sa pamamagitan lamang ng pagpapanibago ng iyong isip sa Salita ng Diyos, you will get to know God’s will and the truth. If you know the truth, you can attack the lies with the truth.
At huwag kang makiayon sa mundong ito: kundi kayo'y magbago sa pamamagitan ng pagpapanibago ng inyong isipan, upang mapatunayan ninyo kung ano ang mabuti iyan, at katanggap tanggap na, at perpekto, kalooban ng Diyos (Mga Taga Roma 12:2)
2. Meditate on the Word, araw at gabi
Let your mind be filled with the Word, and don’t let your thoughts depart from the Word. Let the Word of God dwell and be in your heart constantly.
Ang aklat na ito ng kautusan ay hindi mahihiwalay sa iyong bibig; ngunit ikaw ay magbubulay-bulay doon araw at gabi, upang maingatan mong gawin ang ayon sa lahat ng nakasulat doon:sapagka't kung magkagayo'y gagawin mong masagana ang iyong lakad, at pagkatapos ay magkakaroon ka ng magandang tagumpay (Joshua 1:8)
Mapalad ang taong hindi naglalakad hindi sa payo ng mga di -makadiyos, ni tumayo sa paraan ng mga makasalanan, ni nakaupo sa upuan ng mapanirang -puri. Ngunit ang kanyang kasiyahan ay nasa batas ng Panginoon; at sa kanyang batas ay nagmumuni -muni siya araw at gabi (Mga Awit 1:1-2)
3. Take every thought that opposes the Word of God into captivity with the Word
You can only win the battle against your thoughts from the Spirit, by bringing your thoughts into captivity with the Word of God. Only the Word of God can beat the adversary. Kapag ang devil tempted Jesus sa ilang, Jesus didn’t beat the devil by singing songs, but Jesus beat the devil with the Word.
When thoughts of worry arises, or other evil thoughts, bring these thought into captivity, sa pagsunod kay Kristo, by speaking the Word, and tell these thoughts: that God thinks thoughts of peace, and not of evil towards you, para mabigyan ka ng inaasahang katapusan (Jeremias 29:11)
Paghahagis ng mga imahinasyon, at bawat mataas na bagay na nagtataas ng sarili laban sa kaalaman ng Diyos, at pagdadala sa pagkabihag ng bawat kaisipan sa pagsunod kay Cristo (2 Mga Taga Corinto 10:5)
Kumuha ng awtoridad sa iyong mga saloobin, bago sila kumuha ng awtoridad sa iyo
If you don’t take a stand, and don’t take authority over your thoughts, by bringing them into captivity to the obedience of Christ; ang Salita. Ngunit sa halip, 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 oppose the Word of God may seem harmless in the beginning. Ngunit ang totoo ay, that they are not harmless. They have a destructive character.
If you feed the thoughts that oppose the Word of God, they’ll lead you to negative thinking, takot na takot, pagkabalisa, mag-alala, pagtanggi sa sarili, depresyon, mental illness, and maybe even suicide.
Eve didn’t walk in the dominion that God gave to man.
Eve didn’t rule over the heaven, ang lupa, At lahat ay nasa loob.
She didn’t silence the serpent with the words of God. She didn’t command the serpent to be silent and to go away.
Hindi, she let a thought of doubt enter her mind and she acted upon that thought instead. Kaya nga, 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 gave you through Jesus Christ. And if you don’t take authority over your thoughts, then these thoughts will take authority over you. Your thoughts 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, ang awtoridad, to rule over your thoughts. God has given you the authority in Jesus Christ, ang Salita, to rule over your flesh, including your thoughts.
Therefore renew your mind with the Word of God. Bantayan ang iyong isip, manatili sa Salita (kay Hesus), at lumakad ayon sa Espiritu, in the dominion that God has given you in Jesus Christ.
Kumuha ng awtoridad sa iyong mga saloobin, bago sila kumuha ng awtoridad sa iyo.
'Maging asin ng lupa”
