Standing Firm

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. [1 Corinthians 16:13]

Biblical TeachingsPodcast EpisodeYou Are Who God Says You Are

Capture EVERY Thought

Cathy

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 KJV].

QUOTE: The devil is vicious, but he’s not victorious. You my friend have everything you need to defeat him (unknown).

So, what’s a girl to do about this enemy and such negative thoughts? Well, what’s awesome is that we have the choice to think the thoughts we want to think. We have the choice to train ourselves to capture every single thought. We have the choice to create habits that will break strongholds, make the enemy flee, and transform our thinking into Stellar Thinking.

To make something automatic it takes sixty-six days of doing something consistently and persistently. I would recommend that you take the steps listed below one at a time and work on one for sixty-six days or until it does become automatic for you. Then you can work on another until all six become a part of your daily thought life. There may be times when you may need all six at once, but please be gentle with yourself and don’t try to make them a daily habit all at once.

SIX STEPS TO TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE…

There are corresponding scriptures with each action step that are also listed in the weekly scriptures and there are bonus scriptures included.

STEP #1:  THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT: We have the power and the choice to accept or reject the thoughts that come into our heads. We can CHOOSE what we allow in or what we immediately reject. Remember the first exercise that we did where I asked what you thought about the first thing that morning? From now on, we will start THINKING about what we are thinking about. Pay attention to your thoughts before they take a seat in your mind or roll off your tongue.

Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. [Ecclesiastes 10:12] 

STEP #2: RENEW YOUR MIND: You are already doing this by creating your list of I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM. Work on disciplining your mind, and choose to replace negative thoughts with positive thoughts. For example: Replace: “I’m too old to do anything now” with “Thank you, Lord, that I’m alive and thank you for this dream you have given me.” Replace “I’m tired” with “I’m fantastic and working on my God-given vision. Keep on adding two positive statements every single day to your list.

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect [Romans 12:2]

STEP #3: DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH EACH THOUGHT: When you have a thought come into your head, immediately decide if it’s truth or a lie. You do not need to listen to the enemy when he tries to trick you into believing something negative is true. Immediately kick out those negative, self-limiting thoughts. Don’t let them stay in your mind and then go to your heart, choose to let them go. Once it’s in your heart, you will start believing it. Once you start believing a lie, it will determine your decisions and actions. If it’s true, from the Word of God – keep it, if it’s not get rid of it right away. Stay in the Word and the Word WILL transform your thoughts and eliminate stinking thinking.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. [Proverbs 4:23].

STEP #4: CONFIRM YOUR THOUGHTS WITH SCRIPTURE: If you are not sure whether your thoughts are negative or positive or a lie or truth, the best way to confirm it is by going to the Scriptures. What does God say about that thought? What does God say about YOU? Compare your thoughts to the Scriptures. Many of the negative thoughts in your head are lies from the pit of hell, and you simply do not have to believe them anymore. Starting right now, since you know you have a choice on what you think about. You also know a way to capture them – you are obligated NOT to believe any more lies.

But Jesus told him, No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. [Matthew 4:4]

STEP #5: CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON STELLAR THOUGHTS: So, we know that it’s good to focus on positive things, but what does that really mean? What are some thoughts we should focus on? How do I think these thoughts? This short power-packed passage of Philippians 4:8 tells us exactly what to fix our thoughts on. things that are TRUE, HONORABLE, RIGHT, PURE, LOVELY, ADMIRABLE, EXCELLENT OR WORTHY OF PRAISE. Wow, now this is the core of Stellar Thinking! Always go to what the way tells us to do.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. [Philippians 4:8]

STEP #6: USE THE MOST POWERFUL WEAPON: There is one action that overrides anything else that we can do which is speaking the Word of God out loud and protecting ourselves with the word of God. This is the weapon that we have at our disposal because we are fighting things in the spiritual realm, not the physical world. This is exactly why I have included Scriptures throughout the entire book for every single day. Use the Word, memorize scriptures, and speak God’s word out loud every day, all day long!

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [Hebrews 4:12]

CAPTURE EVERY THOUGHT: Please take a deep breath, be kind to yourself, and know that capturing our thoughts is a lifetime daily process, it’s a minute-by-minute action, we are transformed by capturing one thought at a time, one moment at a time ONLY through the help of the Holy Spirit within us.

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ [2 Corinthians 10:5 NLT].

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DAILY ACTION STEP
Say to yourself out loud
I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM

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FRIENDLY REMINDER: Take out your journal and write down your thoughts, takeaways, and progress for this week!

TAKEAWAY GEMS

  • You can choose and decide what you think about
  • You can create new habits of thinking
  • You can think about what you are thinking about
  • You can renew your mind
  • You can decide what to do with each thought
  • You can and should confirm your thoughts with Scripture
  • You can choose to focus on the right things
  • You can speak the word of God out loud daily


QUESTIONS TO “THINK ON”

  1. What are some new thinking habits that you will create?
  2. In what ways have you allowed your mind to run amuck without thinking about what you are thinking about?
  3. When a negative thought or a self-limiting belief arises, what action are you going to take to “capture” that thought?

ACTION STEP

CAPTURE YOUR THOUGHTS: choose one or two of the six steps to take your thoughts captive and start making it a habit (do it for sixty-six days). Then after sixty-six days take another one, then another one. Rinse and repeat for the rest of your life!

DAILY SCRIPTURES

DAY 1: We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments [2 Corinthians 10:3-4] 

DAY 2: We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. [2 Corinthians 10:5]

DAY 3: Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. [Ecclesiastes 10:12] 

DAY 4: For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [Hebrews 4:12]

DAY 5: But Jesus told him, No! The Scriptures say, People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. [Matthew 4:4]

DAY 6: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. [Proverbs 4:23]

DAY 7: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect [Romans 12:2]

 

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