BECOMING PERFECT IN THINKING

“For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, pulling down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ”, 2Cor.10:4-5

There are thoughts and imaginations that take us nowhere and there are those which take us somewhere – either to death or to life, to the wrong side or to the right side. There are right thoughts which God is able to curse too because people may have touched some other unholy thing and go on with the things of God on their way blinded by sin. Because a way is cursed, it may not mean the imaginations behind and beyond it are wrongly thought of, since it may just mean someone has sinned somewhere else and God cannot afford to let the way further untouched, touching it here to serve corrections elsewhere. One may also assume that, anyone starting of with the wrong imaginations and having the right kind of real relationship with God, may be led beyond whatever he has ever thought of. What makes something work out is the real kind of relationship one may have with God. Whatever thoughts or fears or good emotions one may have, one is never to forget that the Lord is our aim, and that sin is what comes between us and God. Before dealing with the thoughts of our mind, then, one should deal with the sins of our life – either simultaneously or beforehand, yet never afterwards. There is no way reasoning will become perfect, motives will become shaped and holy if some sin is not dealt with personally and individually from top to root, as well as to its ramifications – and one should be able to deal against it soberly and before a God who will then say “neither do I condemn you” because we are not ashamed of Him.

Once sin is fully dealt with and once one is purposed to deal against it as the first thing to do if there comes another sin into our minds and remembrances which God has thought best to convict of later on only, because of selfishness one may deal against thoughts, sins and imaginations the wrong way, since accusations may stir us into resisting instead of exposing, banning as an important and powerful issue instead of becoming able to lay it aside as a useless thing; and accepting instead of subjecting it to the Lord if it is good thing we are able to think about. Thoughts are never the problem, and we only believe they are because people believe that, to know it all is what godliness is all about, in the stead of having Christ Jesus and that for real. Having Christ one will have it all – only let it be for real.

Nevertheless, one quite often feels guilty because of thoughts which come into our minds and because of it one turns oneself very suspicious of any other thoughts which God may even come to uphold and bless fully – or even come to increase it to the right extend and to the right direction by having it redirected. One should never feel guilty to think, unless it is God’s time for us to rest from mind and soul work. If thoughts are wrong and wrongly motivated or wrongly directed, if one does so in the Light before God without having a strong-mindedness for or against it, surely the Lord will either kindle or extinguish it in a most kind and sober way. One is to have in mind from the start that one is to think openly before God for Him to either get into our thoughts and let them be turned alive, or to allow Him the main option to stay out of them so they will dry out and die away because we are and remain in the Light and where God alone will live in us, and where thoughts without God will die – no matter how quick though – because we are and remain as and where we should be whatever happens, it is, in Jesus.

Any strong-mindedness against any thought will always have it increased one way or another. Any wrong thought is not banned by resisting it, but rather by exposing it to the Lord. When we do so, it only shows the Lord is our ultimate end.  One should never be harsh against whatever we have no control over sometimes, but rather seek Who will deal with our minds the way we should. In the same way, many people fear that, unless they think and believe hard concerning the right things, thoughts will evaporate and they will either sin or loose on some things if they don’t think continuously on it. One is to acknowledge all the time that, to handle and hand over things to the Lord along with ourselves – without being forced to do so – will increase on the right kind of thinking under blessing (even and especially when we are unaware of it so happening), and that to seek the Lord, especially when we need to think and reason about something, will never extinguish the right thoughts but will rather increase and kindle them in the right way as well as in its proper timing.

One is to subject thoughts, of whatever kind, to the Lord and one is to learn to be fully able to do it instinctively and unhindered by guilt when it is bad or emotion when the thought is good unto us or someone else; instead of giving oneself over to good feelings or falling captive to bad ones by resisting them, one should be made able to subject them all to the Lord for a change and leave them there right away. The shame on people will be that they give themselves over to good feelings and other mind things, instead of learning to hand them over to the Spirit of God. If one laid down horrible sins before the throne of grace and the Lord was not shocked away from us because of them, how will God ever refuse to do the right thing to and towards our thinking imaginations if we choose Him whatever we may come to think about? The only fault one is to avoid is, instead of handing over and subjecting thoughts and imaginations unto God for whatever they need be done unto – for or against them – one usually hands oneself over to those thoughts and feelings by thinking on them voluntarily or in a captive's frame of mind, having thoughts dashing and coming to and fro, because of that attitude of not having God as the ultimate end of our relationship at any time on earth whatever we may think of, even whatever seems good unto us; or one may involve and evolve oneself into bad thoughts and uncontrolled ways of the mind because one instinctively seems to resist whatever man or devil is still able to seed and inflame our minds with or against. Instead of handing oneself over to good thoughts or to resist bad ones, one should seek to be made able to be subjecting them to the Lord at all times – whatever kinds of thoughts they are or merely seem to be unto us. Therefore, one should hand oneself over above all and thoughts will be directed accordingly. It is not wrong to think mathematics when we do it with the Lord. It is not right to read or think about the Bible and the right reasoning of it all when one is doing well without God.

Paul talks about having the mind of Christ because of being filled with His Spirit. By this he means literally what he says. But, even having the mind of Christ, one should never hand oneself over to thinking and feeling, but rather hand thinking over to the Lord for approval, increase and multiplication, blessing or laying it aside to be rekindled in the right time, in its own timing and space of time, quick or not, since the Lord is not always slow nor always quick in achieving things for or through us all. God needs to conceive in us an eternal, constant way of life before loose thoughts may become controlled and fully sponsored by Him. Till it happens, one may not be ashamed of Christ whatever we may think of - even if we are ashamed of what we may still be able and made to think of. Our minds need become of the obedient kind before it obeys – not obey the thoughts, but the Lord. Our minds are not the god, but Jesus is the Messiah Moses said about, “After me comes One you should always be able to listen to”. Let God find you in the right frame of mind once He comes and shows Himself to you as He is or you will never be able to obey Him. You cannot obey two masters at the same time and timing at all - either your mind or God.

Subject your thinking to God and not God to your thinking and they will live in harmony inside you. "Love the Lord will all your mind...". Amen.

José Mateus