A CLINKING IN THE THINKING #3

While we may laugh at the idea of having a "clinker in our thinker", the truth is that it is more of a reality for us than we may think. The phrase simply means to think "wrong"; something being truly wrong in the things we allow our thoughts to focus and feed on. As I've previously said, to Master Our Mind is to Master Our Life. (If you haven't already read the first two blogs on this subject, I encourage you to go back and read them both, for the purpose of continuity.)

Last week, we examined the Scriptural truth that ". . .the god of this world (the devil) has blinded the minds. . ." (II Corinthians 4:4). In that examination, the words "carnal mind" was shown to be the extreme opposite of the "Mind of Christ". So the Apostle Paul declared four spiritual truths that teach us we must change our thought patterns in order for us to change from the carnal (worldly) mind to the Mind of Christ. We looked at three of those four truths; they are:

1) The CARNAL MIND CAN BE CONVERTED.

2) The CONVERTED MIND CAN BE CORRUPTED.

3) The CORRUPTED MIND CAN BE CONQUERED.

Before we move to Paul's fourth truth, I want to point out that there are "strongholds" of the "corrupted mind" that must be cast down or destroyed (II Corinthians 5:10). In order to destroy or pull down those strongholds of the devil entrenched in our mind, we NEED WEAPONS! There are two sources from which we can obtain our weapons, but only the ones from the right source will work.

a) We could use the WEAPONS OF THE WORLD. What are these worldly weapons? They include education, psychology, psychiatry, human reasoning, human wisdom, effort, even the attempt to be strong-willed and determined. These things may indeed have a proper place in our lives, but not one of them will tear down the strongholds of the devil. This world's weapons are completely useless in pulling down the devil's strongholds that are used to take charge of our thinking. Literally billions of dollars have been poured into programs to help people in bondage to overcome their addictions, moral depravity, abusive behaviors, sexual perversions, destructive mind-sets, etc., but very few people have received any degree of lasting help from such programs. For you see, the warfare we truly face is not just physical, relational, emotional, mental or material. The Apostle Paul said, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our warfare is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of spiritual darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:10-12). You see, our battles are not worldly, they are spiritual in nature; and the strongholds the devil uses are not physical or material, they are spiritual! So, our warfare is spiritual in essence and that is why worldly weapons will not work to pull down the devil's strongholds. So many followers of Jesus are confused, frustrated and defeated that they can't change their mind-set and thinking, and it is because they are trying to change them using worldly weapons.

b) We can use the WEAPONS IN GOD'S WORD! What are the spiritual weapons that are described in God's Word (the Bible)? They include: The Word of God, The Name of Jesus, The Blood of Christ, Fervent and Consistent Prayer, Repentance, Confession, Faith and Trust in God, Righteousness, The Gospel and Salvation, Praise and Worship to God (Ephesians 6:14-18)! These are the explosive and powerful weapons (much more so than any nuclear weapon) that God has provided, enabling us to destroy every one of the devil's strongholds which can control our minds, hearts, thoughts and actions!

If you don't want those troubling, negative, destructive, sinful thoughts that come through the work and deceit of the devil, and that confuse, compromise and fight against the truth of God and His Word, then you MUST:

*Confess those thoughts and that way of thinking to God,

*Repent and turn away from those thoughts. Refuse to harbor the clinking in your thinking.

*Place your Affirmations Of Faith on a 3 x 5 Index Card and use those Scriptural affirmations to subdue and replace those unwholesome thoughts. (see last week's blog to read more about Affirmations of Faith)

*Ask God to give you a permanent "bench warrant" for the expulsion of satan out of your thought life! God has given you the authority of His SON (Jesus) to evict the devil out of your mind and heart!

Now, for the fourth spiritual truth that the Apostle Paul declared to be available so that we change our thought patterns from the carnal mind to the Mind of Christ.

4) THE CONQUERED MIND CAN BE CONTROLLED! Let's look at II Corinthians, Chapter Five. It is not enough to DETHRONE Satan from our minds, WE MUST ENTHRONE CHRIST! Once we evict the devil from our thoughts, we have to put Christ in there, in First Place! If we fail to do this the devil will come back with his ugly schemes to plague our thinking again. We can rid our thinking of every thought contrary to what is right, but if we do not replace those thoughts with the right, and pure, and truthful ones, we will never gain victory over the devil's lies and schemes to keep the clinking going on in our thinking. What can we replace those satan inspired thoughts with? Philippians 4:7-8

gives us the answer! Here are listed six "soldiers" to "guard" our minds. "And the peace of God, which surpasses ALL comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is TRUE, whatever is HONEST, whatever is RIGHT, whatever is PURE, whatever is LOVELY, whatever is of GOOD REPUTE (REPORT), if there is any Excellence and if anything is Worthy of Praise, DWELL on these things!" These are the six guards God has given to us to protect us from thinking wrong!

Notice in verse 7 the word "PEACE." It says, "And the Peace Of God. . . ." You know the Peace of God is the Umpire of the Soul! Remember this, anything, including any thought that robs you of the inner peace God wants to give you, should be totally rejected! Any time a thought cripples your inner God-given peace, get rid of it; run it through the six guards! If that thought cannot pass the guards, EVICT IT! Again, God's peace is the Umpire of our Soul! A baseball umpire declares when the ball crosses the plate that it is either a "strike" or a "ball." He/She calls it all! The Peace of God does the same thing spiritually! We cannot have the peace of God and have corrupt, negative, untrue, non-Scriptural, worldly, impure thoughts running through our minds at the same time. When the peace of God is no where in our thinking, we know the devil has thrown us a "curve ball" and we have "struck out!" If we do NOT have God's peace pervading in our thoughts, it is because we need to clear out the channels of our thinking; we have been thinking the wrong thoughts!

If you have ever been to an airport and gotten ready to embark on a flight, you had to be scanned to see if you had anything unacceptable in your possession. You had to pass through inspections and sensors that can detect unacceptable objects. You must remove them so the guards can see if they are harmless or need to be confiscated. We believers in Jesus Christ who love, honor and worship Him, have "detectors" in our own spirit that show us the unacceptable things in our thoughts. God purposes to remove those wrong thoughts from our minds and replace them with wholesome thoughts that enrich our lives so that God's peace does prevail! As Paul the Apostle said, ". . .DWELL ON THESE THINGS!" DO NOT HAVE ANY CLINKING IN YOUR THINKING!