Taking your imagination captive brings perfect peace
Jun 8, 2023 12:47:25 GMT -5
fearnot and oliverwithatwist like this
Post by Cindy on Jun 8, 2023 12:47:25 GMT -5
“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3) The word translated "mind", can also be translated "imagination" "heart" "reasonings" or "thinking" The word in the original language covers all those things.
Is your hope in God faint and dying? Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose imagination is stayed on Thee. Isaiah 26:3 (R.V. marg.) Taking your imagination captive. Is your imagination stayed on God or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful sources of exhaustion and sapping in a worker’s life. If you have never used your imagination to put yourself before God, begin to do it now. It is no use waiting for God to come; you must put your imagination away from the face of idols and look unto Him and be saved. Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us, and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. If you have been bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, it will be one of the greatest assets to faith when the time of trial comes, because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. Learn to associate ideas worthy of God with all that happens in Nature—the sunrises and the sunsets, the sun and the stars, the changing seasons, and your imagination will never be at the mercy of your impulses, but will always be at the service of God. ‘We have sinned with our fathers … and have forgotten’—(Psalm 106) then put a stiletto in the place where you have gone to sleep. ‘God is not talking to me just now,’ but He ought to be. Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright. Oswald Chambers My utmost for his highest
Oswald Chambers Is also relying on the following verses for what he wrote above:
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)
There's actually quite a few more I could quote, but I leave it up to you to find them. Basically what God says to us concerning our minds and hearts, our thoughts and feelings, is that we are to be in control of them. He is well aware of the fact that we have not been in control of them, but after we are saved, He expects us to begin to put His Word into practice. Thankfully, He also gives us His Holy Spirit, who enables us to know, understand and apply His Word to our lives. Some folks will read this or other similar posts, and not give another thought to it, because for whatever reason, they're not interested. Sadly, they don't realize that God will judge them not only based on what they know, but also on what they could have known. So if they are saved or unsaved and read this entire post, God will expect them to live what this post says. He will also expect them to learn more about this subject and apply that to their life too. If they don't, they will be judged harshly for it.
We humans tend to love making excuses for ourself. When we were children, we did it all the time. It came naturally - meaning it's part of our sin nature and a character trait of Satan's that we are exhibiting. We can go all the way back to Adam and Eve, and see that after they sinned, they both played the blame game. Today, we hear soldiers say, "It's not my fault, I'll I did was follow my orders." (that's what the NAZI soldiers in charge of the concentration camps said too. We hear Catholics and members of other cults say, "It's not my fault, the priest, or pastor of my church, never taught us that." I could continue, but I'm sure you get the idea now. God does not accept excuses. If the Bible is available then you are expected to know it well. Here in the USA, it's very available. You can get them free in a number of places or simply read it online for free. There are all kinds of study helps available for free as well. Yes, Bibles are also available for free to the blind. There is no excuse for anyone in the United States, to not know the Bible well. Those who don't know it well, who don't spend time reading and studying it every day, will discover that they have stored up God's wrath for themselves.
So, why is God's Word so important? It is through His Word that we are drawn to God and saved. “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:18) We are saved by God's Word.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) We receive it as God's Word, and not just as the words of other men. (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Furthermore, we're told that it's through scripture that we are made wise enough to realize that we need Jesus and therefore repent of our sins and are saved. Then, after our salvation, God uses His Word to continue to help teach us His Will, and what scripture means; He uses it to rebuke us when we're sinning and to train us to be righteous, just as it says here: “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:15–17)
Through God's Word, we are given absolutely everything we need to live our life here in a godly manner. I love this scripture that tells us this and more: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3–4) Wow! Through His Word, we even are allowed to participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption caused by the unsaved!
Finally, we are commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is not a suggestion, nor is it multiple choice. It's a command: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) Then He tells us it's through His Word that we are cleansed of our sins and made holy. “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:26–27)
You see it's by reading and studying His Word daily that we are transformed, our mind is renewed. Without God's Word, we would just have our old mind, which would be telling us to sin. The more time we spend in God's Word, and of course the more we apply it to our life, the more and more we will grow to be mature, complete. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24) If we don't read, study and apply God's Word daily, our minds won't be renewed, our new self won't become mature and obviously, we won't be transformed.
Applying His Word to our life, includes taking captive any thought that doesn't line up with God's Word. This next verse gives us an idea of the kind of things we are to allow into our minds and hearts: “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.” (Philippians 4:8) and the following tells us some things to avoid: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (Ephesians 4:29–31)
The only thoughts you have to take captive are the ones that aren't true; The negative, false, the lies, etc. The thoughts you take captive are the ones that say or insinuate things like:
God's abandoned me;
God isn't going to rescue me or help me etc this time;
God hates me;
God doesn't care what's happening in my life right now;
"If God doesn't help me now that means I've done something terrible to displease Him."
"If I don't pay the bill I'll lose my house".
"I'm going to wind up losing my house".
"no one cares."
" No one can or will help me."
"I haven't been completely healed which means I have sin in my life so God won't heal me."
"I'm stupid".
"I'm ugly"
"I'm such a horrible sinner God couldn't possibly forgive me".
"I keep sinning so that's why God is letting this happen."
"God hates me".
"God only cares about my spiritual life not my physical life".
"I can't stop sinning so why bother trying".
"I can't stop sinning so I must not be saved."
"Why me."
"I've been good so why do I have to suffer? God isn't fair!"
"I don't know what to do, the Lord never speaks to me"
"I can't hear or understand what He is telling me to do".
"I can't"
"What if the car blew up"
"What if my husband left me"
"no one likes me"
The negative "what ifs" thoughts and fantasies as well as any sinful "what if" thoughts and fantasies. Fantasizing about things you know are sinful or that could lead you into sin; Fantasizing about things you have no control over to the point that they upset and worry you.
To "take a thought captive" simply means you stop thinking it, you ask the Lord's forgiveness for the thought, telling Him you repent from thinking that way. (which means you will do your best not to allow that kind of thought in your mind again. So you stop thinking that you're ugly, and then you have to make that thought obedient to Christ. How do you do that? Well, you find a scripture that tells the truth about your lie. Perhaps you could use: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14) and/or “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7) Or any other scripture you find that speaks to that lie.
The Old Testament as quite a lot to say about this too. But I only have time to post a couple more.
“he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. ...”” (Deuteronomy 32:46–47)
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
Last, please realize that God's commands about what to allow in our minds, hearts and imaginations, includes everything we listen to, including music, all that we read, all that we watch on TV, on Facebook, or any other place online, the movies we watch, the books we read, the songs we sing, the jokes we tell, etc.
Is your hope in God faint and dying? Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose imagination is stayed on Thee. Isaiah 26:3 (R.V. marg.) Taking your imagination captive. Is your imagination stayed on God or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful sources of exhaustion and sapping in a worker’s life. If you have never used your imagination to put yourself before God, begin to do it now. It is no use waiting for God to come; you must put your imagination away from the face of idols and look unto Him and be saved. Imagination is the greatest gift God has given us, and it ought to be devoted entirely to Him. If you have been bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, it will be one of the greatest assets to faith when the time of trial comes, because your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. Learn to associate ideas worthy of God with all that happens in Nature—the sunrises and the sunsets, the sun and the stars, the changing seasons, and your imagination will never be at the mercy of your impulses, but will always be at the service of God. ‘We have sinned with our fathers … and have forgotten’—(Psalm 106) then put a stiletto in the place where you have gone to sleep. ‘God is not talking to me just now,’ but He ought to be. Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright. Oswald Chambers My utmost for his highest
Oswald Chambers Is also relying on the following verses for what he wrote above:
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24)
There's actually quite a few more I could quote, but I leave it up to you to find them. Basically what God says to us concerning our minds and hearts, our thoughts and feelings, is that we are to be in control of them. He is well aware of the fact that we have not been in control of them, but after we are saved, He expects us to begin to put His Word into practice. Thankfully, He also gives us His Holy Spirit, who enables us to know, understand and apply His Word to our lives. Some folks will read this or other similar posts, and not give another thought to it, because for whatever reason, they're not interested. Sadly, they don't realize that God will judge them not only based on what they know, but also on what they could have known. So if they are saved or unsaved and read this entire post, God will expect them to live what this post says. He will also expect them to learn more about this subject and apply that to their life too. If they don't, they will be judged harshly for it.
We humans tend to love making excuses for ourself. When we were children, we did it all the time. It came naturally - meaning it's part of our sin nature and a character trait of Satan's that we are exhibiting. We can go all the way back to Adam and Eve, and see that after they sinned, they both played the blame game. Today, we hear soldiers say, "It's not my fault, I'll I did was follow my orders." (that's what the NAZI soldiers in charge of the concentration camps said too. We hear Catholics and members of other cults say, "It's not my fault, the priest, or pastor of my church, never taught us that." I could continue, but I'm sure you get the idea now. God does not accept excuses. If the Bible is available then you are expected to know it well. Here in the USA, it's very available. You can get them free in a number of places or simply read it online for free. There are all kinds of study helps available for free as well. Yes, Bibles are also available for free to the blind. There is no excuse for anyone in the United States, to not know the Bible well. Those who don't know it well, who don't spend time reading and studying it every day, will discover that they have stored up God's wrath for themselves.
So, why is God's Word so important? It is through His Word that we are drawn to God and saved. “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:18) We are saved by God's Word.
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) We receive it as God's Word, and not just as the words of other men. (1 Thessalonians 2:13) Furthermore, we're told that it's through scripture that we are made wise enough to realize that we need Jesus and therefore repent of our sins and are saved. Then, after our salvation, God uses His Word to continue to help teach us His Will, and what scripture means; He uses it to rebuke us when we're sinning and to train us to be righteous, just as it says here: “and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:15–17)
Through God's Word, we are given absolutely everything we need to live our life here in a godly manner. I love this scripture that tells us this and more: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3–4) Wow! Through His Word, we even are allowed to participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption caused by the unsaved!
Finally, we are commanded to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is not a suggestion, nor is it multiple choice. It's a command: “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18) Then He tells us it's through His Word that we are cleansed of our sins and made holy. “to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:26–27)
You see it's by reading and studying His Word daily that we are transformed, our mind is renewed. Without God's Word, we would just have our old mind, which would be telling us to sin. The more time we spend in God's Word, and of course the more we apply it to our life, the more and more we will grow to be mature, complete. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22–24) If we don't read, study and apply God's Word daily, our minds won't be renewed, our new self won't become mature and obviously, we won't be transformed.
Applying His Word to our life, includes taking captive any thought that doesn't line up with God's Word. This next verse gives us an idea of the kind of things we are to allow into our minds and hearts: “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.” (Philippians 4:8) and the following tells us some things to avoid: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (Ephesians 4:29–31)
The only thoughts you have to take captive are the ones that aren't true; The negative, false, the lies, etc. The thoughts you take captive are the ones that say or insinuate things like:
God's abandoned me;
God isn't going to rescue me or help me etc this time;
God hates me;
God doesn't care what's happening in my life right now;
"If God doesn't help me now that means I've done something terrible to displease Him."
"If I don't pay the bill I'll lose my house".
"I'm going to wind up losing my house".
"no one cares."
" No one can or will help me."
"I haven't been completely healed which means I have sin in my life so God won't heal me."
"I'm stupid".
"I'm ugly"
"I'm such a horrible sinner God couldn't possibly forgive me".
"I keep sinning so that's why God is letting this happen."
"God hates me".
"God only cares about my spiritual life not my physical life".
"I can't stop sinning so why bother trying".
"I can't stop sinning so I must not be saved."
"Why me."
"I've been good so why do I have to suffer? God isn't fair!"
"I don't know what to do, the Lord never speaks to me"
"I can't hear or understand what He is telling me to do".
"I can't"
"What if the car blew up"
"What if my husband left me"
"no one likes me"
The negative "what ifs" thoughts and fantasies as well as any sinful "what if" thoughts and fantasies. Fantasizing about things you know are sinful or that could lead you into sin; Fantasizing about things you have no control over to the point that they upset and worry you.
To "take a thought captive" simply means you stop thinking it, you ask the Lord's forgiveness for the thought, telling Him you repent from thinking that way. (which means you will do your best not to allow that kind of thought in your mind again. So you stop thinking that you're ugly, and then you have to make that thought obedient to Christ. How do you do that? Well, you find a scripture that tells the truth about your lie. Perhaps you could use: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:14) and/or “All beautiful you are, my darling; there is no flaw in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7) Or any other scripture you find that speaks to that lie.
The Old Testament as quite a lot to say about this too. But I only have time to post a couple more.
“he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. ...”” (Deuteronomy 32:46–47)
“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8)
Last, please realize that God's commands about what to allow in our minds, hearts and imaginations, includes everything we listen to, including music, all that we read, all that we watch on TV, on Facebook, or any other place online, the movies we watch, the books we read, the songs we sing, the jokes we tell, etc.
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