Have you ever had a thought that sounds reasonable in your mind, but when you say it out loud, it sounds downright crazy and embarrassing? I used to hear these nagging thoughts in my mind about someone in my life getting hurt or dying in strange scenarios. Several years ago, the scenario revolved around my husband driving to the nearby gas station to pick up something. I can’t tell you how many times I went without eggs in my recipes or for breakfast because the thought came in, “If you send your husband to the gas station to buy those eggs, he might get in a car accident and die. If he dies, it will be your fault, so you better not send him. You should have had eggs. You are a poor planner and not a very good housewife.” Ouch! When we hear negative thoughts like these, they can either be from our flesh or the devil.
“The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy.” (John 10:10) I’m sure you can see those themes sprinkled throughout the thoughts that were in my mind. If we break down some of our thoughts and look at them for what they truly are, we can more easily see the underlying themes of the enemy—stealing, killing and destroying.
Let’s break down this thought: “If you do this, your husband might die. Then it will be your fault. And by the way, you are not a very good housewife.”
Looking closely, we can see:
- A threat of death (stealing my joy and peace and trying to bring me to worry)
- An accusation of judgment (it will all be your fault)
- A slam to my personal character (you are a poor planner and a bad housewife, leading to guilt and self-hatred)
God doesn’t want us to accept every thought that comes into our minds. God didn’t want me to flip-out over the egg problem and dwell in fear that something horrible was going to happen. To think those thoughts and meditate on them over and over is just plain torture! Instead, God wants us to “cast down” those thoughts.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
In Greek the word for “casting down” is kathaireō, which means to take down and use force, to throw down, pull down, demolish, refute and destroy. When you refute something, you reject it. We need to cast down some of the thoughts that come into our minds.
We can’t let the devil play with our minds anymore. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:16, that we have the mind of Christ. Our mind belongs to Jesus, and any thought that does not match up with what He thinks has to go.
What is a nagging thought that has been attempting to steal, kill or destroy your heart, joy or peace?
Prayer: Lord, would you help me identify when I have a thought that does not match with your heart. Give me the strength to recognize it and to cast it down in your name, Jesus. Lord, I bring this thought, ______(name the thought) ___ and I put it in your hands. I rebuke the enemy for trying to tempt me into fear or worry in the name of Jesus. I take every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ right now. Lord, I praise you and thank you because you are good, and you have good things in store for me. I bless my mind to think like the mind of Christ—all day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
