Renewal of the Mind - New Series Part III

"...taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

As many of you might know, I am have some hearing impairment.  It's been there all my life and I've grown used to it - adapted as they would say.

One of the struggles physically I have, is background noise in a restaurant.  You know how that goes - major noise:  dishes clattering, people chattering, music way above conversation level (why do they do that?) and so on.

Well I have a "click" on my hearing aid that helps with that - at times I do have to use it.  The background noise is muffled somewhat so I am able to center on the conversation directly in the sphere where I am sitting.

I definitely see no difference in the way we take thoughts captive and renew our minds.  Proverbs was written in the ancient of days - before Paul penned, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."  And in Proverbs it says, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."

Sin and the fall of man all took place in the garden by a thought to be entertained.  The lie came before the sin/action.  And it continues the same.

Our actions really are based on our thoughts.  Yet there is good news.  God put His Son in our hearts through the Spirit so we could be strengthened in our inner man.  Part of that strength is to be able to have the discipline to "hear" the thoughts we may be subtly thinking about in the background.

For me, I've learned that I have "front" thoughts" and "background" thoughts.  God truly wants us to take ALL thoughts captive.  And years ago I heard this from a Christian counselor.  He said that all people do what is called, "disassociation."  What he meant by this is that you can be driving a car, mowing the lawn and all of the sudden realize you've not been paying attention.  And we go, "Uh oh, how did I get from point A to point B while driving?" (By the way, there's is NO WAY one can do this while driving in Cuenca - you gotta stayed focused!)  One was outwardly "doing" the task, but the mind had wondered off somewhere else.

He says that is a form of disassociation.  So the conscience(background) may be full of guilt, unresolved things, and yet go about outwardly "trying" to have fun, put on a smile, and do all sorts of things.

A good news flash:   God truly has not called us to live this way.  We get to be WHOLE in our thinking and get to be washed in our conscience by His blood.  And yes at times, there may be some things He calls us to do to help with that conscience being free and clear.

In my life, I have discovered the Lord as the true Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.  I continue to discover Him in all of His way and many facets.  And one thing I do not escape at all and is the same thing being accomplished in all my brothers and sisters in Christ - is taking every thought captive.

The lies of the evil one can come at us or float up in us.  Some of those lies can be of the "old," and some new ones.  New ones in the sense of the enemy "trying" to get back in to some old pattern/way of thinking.  Or our present lives and the way we live and walk it.

But as stated before, we get to be detectives.  Everyone loves a good detective story - gathering ALL the facts/ statements and assimilating the TRUTH.

God knows that pain/hurt is real.  We've been hurt to some degree - some more than others.  God is not asking us to deny the fact that hurt is real.  He is only asking us to bring them to HIM and listen for His cure.  And, to feed upon the TRUTH and never a lie.

So we use our lives as the "test tube" - the laboratory experiment of grace, truth and life found in Christ our Lord and Savior dwelling in our hearts.

Last night I was tested.  I saw someone who had hurt us real bad - and I felt some pain come up.  I can honestly say there weren't any thoughts of bitterness - only sadness.  However, there were other thoughts that wanted to attach itself to that sad feeling and I did recognize them.   I tend to be more negative about myself than others.

A friend said to us that he was now beginning to look at his thought life like equipment they use in the army:  First a radar shows/detects that an enemy is coming.  We would call that fiery darts.  And fiery darts can be those thoughts.  Well, then he also said that he is acting like a sniper now.  And shooting them down before they can make entrance/lodge/be entertained in his mind and hearts.  For me, I may look at myself more like a cowgirl doing the same thing  - smoking that gun and saying, "Yahoo - another one down!"

This is nothing more than the reality of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to first strengthen the inner man and the will to want to live and walk this way.  AND certainly the worthy goal of our lives.  As a result, we grow more intimate with the Lord because we get to experience His wonderful counsel about everything.  We will be living out fellowship with Him at all times, in all things.

Oh thanks be to God for His unspeakable grace and for His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ - our glorious Lord, Savior, Brother, Shepherd, Teacher and Friend.

Sue Gaither