by Catherine McDaugale | Sep 23, 2024 | Christian Living, Life, Thoughts
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. (1 Corinthians 10:4–5 (NKJV))
There aren’t many things we can control. You can’t control
- other people,
- the decisions your kids make,
- how someone will react to something you say, or
- if traffic will be busy during your morning commute.
If we could, our children would always choose to do the right thing, people would always respond with kind words, and our commutes would always be easy.
But one thing you can control is your thoughts.
Now, I can almost hear some of your thinking, No, you can’t. Random thoughts come into my head all the time.
I agree. We are bombarded every minute of every day with seemingly random thoughts. Thoughts like:
- You’re so stupid. Why did you say that?
- You’re ugly.
- You can’t do it. You’ll never amount to anything.
- No one really likes you.
The thoughts will come. Yet, you can decide what you’ll do with them when they do. You can let them roll around in your head. You can agree with them (e.g., Yeah, I am stupid.). Or you can handle them Biblically.
As we saw in our verse, the Bible instructs us to take every thought captive. Arrest that thought. Stop it. Don’t give it free rein.
Pay attention to your thoughts. When you think something like, You’re done for. No one cares about you. Pause. Pay attention to the thought. Then ask yourself, Is it true?
And remember the standard of truth. The truth is what the Bible says about something. It’s not necessarily what the world says about it or how you feel.
Jesus is truth (John 14:6). That’s why the Bible says you need to make your thoughts obedient to Him. If your thought doesn’t line up with what Jesus says is true, then it’s false; it’s a lie. And if it’s a lie, you need to discard it and replace it with what Jesus says is true.
So, is it true that no one cares about you? You may feel like it’s true. But is it? What does the Bible say?
The Bible says that Jesus loves you.
- He loves you so much that He died on the cross for your sins (Romans 5:8).
- He loves you so much that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
- He loves you so much that you will then get to spend eternity with Him (John 3:16).
- He loves you so much that He’s preparing a place for you so you can be with Him (John 14:2–3).
- He loves you so much that He wants you to cast all your care on Him (1 Peter 5:7).
These are just a few of the verses that show how much Jesus loves you. So, the thought that no one cares about you is false. It’s not true no matter how you feel.
Because that thought is false, discard it. Replace the lie with the truth that God’s revealed to you (that Jesus loves you). Pray and ask God to help you believe His truth. Then meditate on the truth as you walk by faith with Him.
Photo by Philipp Cordts on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Sep 9, 2024 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5b (NKJV))
What an amazing promise for the believer: God’s presence. God will not leave you, dear sister. He is always there.
There is nothing you can do to make God leave. He is faithful, even when you are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13). Why? Because He can’t deny Himself (2 Timothy 2:13). That means God cannot contradict who He is.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 (NKJV)). And He is faithful. Isn’t that awesome?
There’s power in remembering that God is with you. The One who created the universe just by speaking is near.
The enemy wants you to forget this promise. When you think you’re alone, you’re vulnerable. If your eyes aren’t on your Savior, you’re distracted. And when you’re trusting in yourself instead of God, you’re ineffective. Worse, if he can make you fearful, you’ll be immobilized.
We need to remember the promise of God’s presence. God is with you. You don’t have to be afraid.
If you want to try to do it yourself, He’ll let you. But when you rely on and trust in God, He will
- help you and uphold you (Isaiah 41:10);
- be your refuge, a safe place (Psalm 46:11); and
- be your strength and your shield (Psalm 28:7).
So, remind yourself daily of the promise of God’s presence. Keep your eyes fixed on the One who will never leave you or forsake you. His grace is sufficient for you, and His strength is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Write Hebrews 13:5 on a sticky note. Put it on your mirror so you’ll see it in the morning. Memorize the verse. Hold on to this promise. And then walk by faith with the One who will always be by your side.
Photo by Uta Scholl on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Mar 6, 2023 | Life, Thoughts
And take the helmet of salvation . . . . (Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV))
Have you ever had one of those days when it feels like you’ve fallen into a deep, dark pit? As you look up, the small point of light is so far away that getting out seems impossible. In those times, the only thing I can pray is “Abba, please help me,” over and over again.
Of course, God always rescues me when I finally turn to Him. He pulls me out of the pit. But how did I get there in the first place?
The day usually starts off just fine. No sign of a storm. Not a cloud in the sky.
But at some point, a barrage of negative thoughts pour into my head when I’m not paying attention. Before I know it, my mind is consumed by a situation, circumstance, or event.
Those thoughts are uninvited. Unwelcome. But that doesn’t stop them. And the descent into the pit begins.
So, what happened? When the thoughts came, I didn’t even consider that it was a tactic of the enemy. Satan’s mission is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). Satan can’t possess a born-again believer who is already indwelt by the Holy Spirit (John 14:17). But one way he fulfills his mission is by messing with our minds.
Paul warned us that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)). There’s a spiritual battle going on right now that we cannot see.
But God didn’t leave us defenseless. He gave us spiritual armor that we need to put on every day (Ephesians 6:13-18). One piece of that armor is the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17).
You can protect your mind with that helmet. You can keep the enemy from using your thoughts against you.
Surrounding your mind with the helmet of salvation reminds you of the truth. As a born‑again believer, all of God’s promises are yours in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). The truth about your salvation is that
- your soul is secure because you’ve been sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13);
- you are God’s child (1 John 3:1);
- you’re victorious because of what Jesus has done for you (1 John 5:4-5);
- you are safe in Jesus’ hand (John 10:28);
- nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39); and
- this life is not all there is – one day you will live with Jesus (John 14:3).
All of these promises – and many more – belong to you. God loves you, and He will be faithful to fulfill His promises. As my pastor likes to say, “The best is yet to come.” Amen!
Remind yourself of these truths. They remain true no matter how you feel. Although feelings are real and we all experience them, they lie. They’ll pull you down into the pit if you don’t remember the truth.
So, be proactive. Protect your mind by putting on the helmet of salvation. Pray and ask God to protect your mind at the start of each day. Say something like this in your own words:
Abba Father, please protect my mind from spiritual warfare today. Help me to remember that I belong to You. Please remind me throughout the day that I am safe in Your hand. Prompt me to meditate on the fact that I have an amazing future in store for me with You. I praise You because You are faithful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Another beautiful promise is that, when you draw near to God, He will draw near to you (James 4:8). Draw close to Him today.
And remember – even though you can’t see what your future holds in this life, you can trust that God will fulfill His promises. Remember your status as God’s child and all He has promised as you walk by faith with Him.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Jun 20, 2022 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth, Thoughts
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 10:4-5 (NKVJ))
War is real. Countries invade other countries. Lives are lost and devastation follows. It’s no surprise. Jesus told us in the last days we would “hear of wars and rumors of wars” (Matthew 24:6 (NKJV)).
But did you know that there is a spiritual war going on around you? A battle is being fought at this very moment in the spiritual realm. As the Bible explains, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV)).
We’re at war. And many don’t even know it. That war is being fought over people’s souls and Christians’ lives. Although we can’t see it, it doesn’t make it any less real.
We get a peek into this spiritual realm through God’s prophet, Elisha. When Elisha and his servant were surrounded by a great army with horses and chariots, the servant was afraid (2 Kings 6:15). Wouldn’t you be afraid too? I would. But Elisha told his servant, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16 (NKJV)).
I’ll bet at first the servant thought Elisha had lost his mind. Maybe he looked at himself and then at Elisha. Yep, there were only two of them. Two. . . versus a great army. What was Elisha talking about?
Elisha then prayed that God would open the servant’s eyes so he could see (2 Kings 6:17). “Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (2 Kings 6:17 (NKJV)).
That must have been an amazing sight. Elisha’s servant was able to put on spiritual glasses (so to speak) to see what was really going on. He had the privilege of seeing what most are unable to witness.
We get more insight into the spiritual realm from another one of God’s prophets. Daniel had prayed for God to give him understanding about a vision. But his prayer wasn’t answered for three weeks.
When an angel came to answer his prayer, he told Daniel that his words had been heard “from the first day” he had “set [his] heart to understand” (Daniel 10:12 (NKJV)). Yet, the angel had been delayed by “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” – a fallen angel or demon – until Michael the Archangel had come to help him (Daniel 10:13 (NKJV)).
In the spiritual realm, God’s angels are battling against fallen angels. And the stakes are high. People’s souls rest in the balance. As Jesus warned us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10 (NKJV)).
If you’re a believer in Jesus, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). You belong to God; your soul is secure. Still, the battle rages on around you.
Satan tries to keep you from drawing closer to God and from being effective at doing God’s work. He knows that God uses people to reach other people. So, he tries to render believers ineffective.
His tactics have been the same for generations. In the garden of Eden, Satan tempted Eve to sin by appealing to
- the lust of the flesh (she “saw that the tree was good for food”);
- the lust of the eyes (“it was pleasant to the eyes”); and
- the pride of life (it was “desirable to make one wise”) (Genesis 3:6 (NKJV)).
When Eve got her eyes off God and on herself, “she took of its fruit and ate” even though she knew she wasn’t supposed to eat it (Genesis 3:6 (NKJV)).
And Satan continues to use these three things to tempt us. He tries to get us to satisfy
- our flesh (It’s okay if I flirt a little; my husband never pays attention to me like he does.);
- our eyes (I know I can’t afford it but that outfit would look great on me.); and
- our pride (She deserved what I said to her. Doesn’t she know who she’s talking to?).
Out of these temptations arise distractions, irritations, addictions, and misplaced desire. And those things take our focus off God and places it on ourselves.
So, what do we do? We need to use the spiritual weapons God gave us to fight the war. As we see from our verse above, those weapons are “not carnal,” which means they are not of this world. Instead, they are “mighty in God.”
If we look in Ephesians 6, the apostle Paul tells us about the spiritual armor God gave us to use in this fight. He directs us to “put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (Ephesians 6:13 (NLT)).
Paul then tells us more about this armor. Let’s look at one piece – “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17 (NKJV)). Did you know that you can use the Bible to protect yourself? You can.
The Bible is a powerful weapon that you can always rely on. That weapon 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 (NLT)).
Jesus used the word of God to counteract Satan’s temptations. Each time Satan tempted Him with something, Jesus quoted from the Bible (Matthew 4:3-10). As He did, Jesus withstood every temptation that came His way.
That’s why it’s so important to memorize Bible verses. When you’re in the middle of a spiritual battle, God will assist you by bringing those verses to mind. You can then speak God’s word out loud to resist temptation.
When we use the spiritual weapons that are mighty in God, we are able to fight the battle. “By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life” (2 Peter 1:3 (NLT)). Let’s arm ourselves with the spiritual weapons God has provided so we can live a life pleasing to Him. When we keep ourselves pure, God will be able to do His work through us to reach the lost as we walk by faith with Him.
* Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
