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, 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 you think about yourself makes you the person you are. From the mind and the way you think, you act. Therefore all behavior, actions, 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 (what you see, hear, feel), 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
Before you became born again in Christ and became a new creation, you were the old creation (sinner. 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, lusts, 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.
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 opposed the Word of God and therefore your carnal mind was enmity against God (Romans 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 (the devil) was your father. You belonged to the devil, 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 (the Bible).
The mind and thoughts of the new creation
Then came the moment, 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.
In the beginning, the new creation is oftentimes still subjected to the flesh (body and soul).
That’s because from the day you were born on earth, your flesh has been by the darkness and sin reigned as king in your life (when you were the old creation).
All those years your mind was fed and led by the world system. For years, your mind received input from the natural world, through nurture (the way you were raised), education, entertainment resources, (social)media, etc.
Your whole mind has been polluted with the knowledge and wisdom of man, and the things of this world. As a result, your mind is in line with the mind of the ruler of this world; the devil and all those, who belong to him.
When you become a new creation, your mind is still conformed to this world (system). The only difference is, 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 (the Bible). Therefore, it’s time to renew your mind and feed your spirit. 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 (this applies to both males and females) 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 (the Bible), through prayer, 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 sons of God after the Spirit just like Jesus, the Son and the living Word.
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)
Why must you renew your mind with the Word?
Your mission and purpose as a new creation is to become like the living Word; Jesus. Your ‘former’ and ‘current’ way of thinking, doesn’t define who you are. The Word defines who you really are. The Word is the mirror for every new creation; male and female.
Your whole life, you were controlled by the darkness (the world).
You were fed with lies of the devil that blinded you to the Truth of God; the Creator of the heaven and the earth and all there is within.
Now, 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: your thoughts, feelings, and emotions (that oppose the Word of God).
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; 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 behavior, actions, and speech of people. That’s why the devil wants to reign in everyone’s mind and control the mind. So that, 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 (authority) 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 His will.
The devil wants to control you through the lusts and desires of your flesh and your mind: your thoughts.
You must know, that when you became a new creation, the devil and his army didn’t have any legal right anymore to occupy your mind.
However, 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, worry, anxiety, fear, suspiciousness, jealousy, pride, envy, negativity, rebellion, self-rejection, etc.
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, (social) media, entertainment; television, 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, television 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 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 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.
Why is it necessary to take 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 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, you haven’t laid down your flesh yet. You haven’t put off the old man 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
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 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. 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 of God 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 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. When the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, 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, 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 don’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 oppose the Word of God may seem harmless in the beginning. But the truth is, 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, fear, anxiety, worry, self-rejection, depression, 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, 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 she 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 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, the authority, to rule over your thoughts. 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 in Jesus Christ.
Take authority over your thoughts, before they take authority over you.
‘Be the salt of the earth”
