Daily Devotionals
Monday, November 11, 2024 (Paula)
Good morning!
Normally, Mary Ann kicks off the week by writing to our group on Mondays, but she is feeling under the weather.
Let’s all pray she is feeling better soon!
Mondays are a great day to launch a fresh mindset to anchor our week. I thought we could spend a little time on mindset today.
We will all fight internal thought battles of some kind this week. Perhaps you are fighting one right at this moment.
It’s important to identify and name the thought battle first. There’s often a lie or fear hiding in the center of it.
We have an enemy of our soul. The enemy’s chief target is the MIND because the most effective way to influence behavior is to influence thinking! Our minds are the control centers of our entire beings. The enemy knows that nothing… NO THING… is bigger or more powerful than God! That’s why everything that “exalts itself“ in our thought life is called a “pretension.” Satan plays make-believe. He can only pretend because he’s lost all authority over us as believers. He is liar!
Ask yourself this morning, “How much of my thinking is mastered or controlled by things “pretending” to be bigger than God?”
The Bible calls this a “stronghold”. We ALL are challenged by them. We all need to address them directly. Perhaps you have a stronghold like anger, fear, people pleasing, unforgiveness, despair, pride, an addiction of some kind, unbelief, perfectionism, insecurity, guilt?
A stronghold is bondage to a certain mindset.
It keeps us walled off from freedom in Christ. It keeps us paralyzed and occupied and limits our God given purpose.
But Christ wants us free!
Christ has died and risen to set us free.
This is your simple and powerful mindset to behold this week:
NOTHING is more powerful than God!
Put it on repeat.
Look at what the apostle Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every claim that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
The most effective way to influence behavior is to influence thinking! See what Paul said? “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”
No thought, no threat, no circumstance, no idea, no assignment, no body, no thing is more powerful than God.
The word of God will be the absolute common denominator in all genuine deliverance from captivity.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32
“He sent forth his word and healed them” Psalm 107:20
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” Psalm 119:45
Set your mindset up right for the week by joining me in prayer:
Dear God,
You care about my mindset. Help me identify lies and capture my thoughts. I place them under your authority! May I walk in assurance and the boldness that comes from the belief that nothing is more powerful than you.” Amen!
We are better together.
Paula
Normally, Mary Ann kicks off the week by writing to our group on Mondays, but she is feeling under the weather.
Let’s all pray she is feeling better soon!Mondays are a great day to launch a fresh mindset to anchor our week. I thought we could spend a little time on mindset today.
We will all fight internal thought battles of some kind this week. Perhaps you are fighting one right at this moment.
It’s important to identify and name the thought battle first. There’s often a lie or fear hiding in the center of it.
We have an enemy of our soul. The enemy’s chief target is the MIND because the most effective way to influence behavior is to influence thinking! Our minds are the control centers of our entire beings. The enemy knows that nothing… NO THING… is bigger or more powerful than God! That’s why everything that “exalts itself“ in our thought life is called a “pretension.” Satan plays make-believe. He can only pretend because he’s lost all authority over us as believers. He is liar!
Ask yourself this morning, “How much of my thinking is mastered or controlled by things “pretending” to be bigger than God?”
The Bible calls this a “stronghold”. We ALL are challenged by them. We all need to address them directly. Perhaps you have a stronghold like anger, fear, people pleasing, unforgiveness, despair, pride, an addiction of some kind, unbelief, perfectionism, insecurity, guilt?
A stronghold is bondage to a certain mindset.
It keeps us walled off from freedom in Christ. It keeps us paralyzed and occupied and limits our God given purpose.
But Christ wants us free!
Christ has died and risen to set us free.
This is your simple and powerful mindset to behold this week:
NOTHING is more powerful than God!
Put it on repeat.
Look at what the apostle Paul explains in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every claim that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
The most effective way to influence behavior is to influence thinking! See what Paul said? “Take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.”
No thought, no threat, no circumstance, no idea, no assignment, no body, no thing is more powerful than God.
The word of God will be the absolute common denominator in all genuine deliverance from captivity.
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32
“He sent forth his word and healed them” Psalm 107:20
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts” Psalm 119:45
Set your mindset up right for the week by joining me in prayer:
Dear God,
You care about my mindset. Help me identify lies and capture my thoughts. I place them under your authority! May I walk in assurance and the boldness that comes from the belief that nothing is more powerful than you.” Amen!
We are better together.
Paula
