We do not fight bad thoughts with will power or effort.
We fight bad thoughts, falsehoods, with the truth of God's Word.
This is the truth which sets us free.
Look at this passage from Philippians:
"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Think on These Things
8Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 9Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." (Philippians 4: 6-9)
This passage had granted me great comfort at one period in my life.
Yet the fears and worries would still wash over me.
Why? Because I did not see Jesus as a loving Savior saving me today, as well as when He died on the Cross two thousand years ago.
Every time that I had fearful or angry thoughts, I believed that I had lost fellowship with God. I then believed that He was one thousand miles away. The truth is, His presence in our lives does not depend on us.
His life in us depends on Jesus, who gave His life for us:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
What did Jesus overcome in granting us eternal life?
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3: 17)
With this promise of no condemnation comes the fullness of the New Covenant:
"0For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)
I am once again grateful for the ministry of Pastor Joseph Prince. He struggled with his thought life, struggling to control bad thoughts. The truth is, that we do not have to be ashamed of what we are thinking but rather recognize that every though is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10: 4-5)
The bondage for me for so long was that I had believed that what I felt would drive God away. It cannot drive Him away, for He has promised to be a God to us.
We do not struggle against bad thoughts with will power, but we meditate on His Word, and let the negatives subside.
I did not believe it for the longest time, but it's true: AA is mind control at its worst. Why? The program communicates the lie that we cannot control our thinking, that we are powerless over just about everything, and that we have to succumb to the negatives in our lives, our thoughts, our inner being, looking at ourselves while ignoring God who is above and outside of us.
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