Sunday Scripture

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2 Corinthians 10:3-6.  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 pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.


     Happy New Year everyone!  I did not write an end to 2016 because we spent 12 hours on a trip to get Precious Maryn's hair braided and when I finally home....well lets just say I was not in the mood.  I was in A mood but not that one.  
     I'm so happy that New Years Day was on Sunday this year.  I was able to worship in church as I welcomed in a new year and it was such a blessing.  I missed Claire a lot.  She is still in Haiti until tomorrow night.  I was praying for her as we sang and worshipped and asking God to hold her heart today.  She doesn't want to leave Haiti, or the kids at the orphanage.  Her heart will be breaking today as she has to say good bye.  As I was asking God to care for her I felt him tell me that she is ok she is good.  God said my child.....is......good.  Instantly I was done worrying about her heart and instead just loving how much God adores her.  Tears ran down my face as I sang songs of how Great He is......and how much He loves us.  
     He gave me a gift in his words to my heart this morning.  Here is another gift from God.  2 Corinthians 10:3-6.   God gave me this gift many years ago and I hope I can share it with all of you the way He showed it to me.  It will help us move freshly into 2017, and maybe even help us stick to our goals and resolutions.  2 Corinthians 10: 3-6 is not new if you have been my friend for awhile.  This is the power behind how we "take our thoughts captive in obedience to Christ".  
     I didn't create this.....I learned it from a book called The Bondage Breaker about 20 years ago.....but it has become a life skill tool for me.  Try it.  Essentially, in our lives we are influenced by many things.  Family, friends, music, television, work, play, etc.  God is with us in all of it, but sometimes it is hard to find him, to feel him and hear him and follow him.  All of these influences are fighting for our thought life and our actions....and as Christians, there is always a battle going on for our thoughts and actions.  God wants us for good and Satan wants us for evil and destruction and loss. 
     The more we follow Jesus and try to live our lives in His Will, the harder these struggles are.  This scripture agrees with us and reminds us that the battles are not worldly ones......they are spiritual.  We need to fight with spiritual weapons.  We need to lean in to God and try to learn more about Him and what he wants.  Satan sure doesn't want us spending our time doing that!  So he puts crap in our heads to throw us off, and he creates situations that keep us distracted and off balance and fighting chaos instead of peace.......and here is the magic words:  I take these thoughts captive in obedience to Christ.  Why?  because when we declare the name of Jesus Christ the demons have to go.  They cannot exist where He dwells.  The cannot.  The thoughts or situations we are battling disappear with these words because they were spoken for us from God, through His Holy Spirit.  I take these thoughts captive in obedience to Christ.  Try it.  Write it down.  Put it in your phone and on your mirror and when you find yourself arguing in your head, or wondering where that random and aweful thought came from, or just feeling like you are being messed with.....take those thoughts captive in obedience to Christ.  It works.  It has worked for me over and over and with time, I didn't have to tell myself to take those thoughts captive 20 times a day.  It went down to just a few times, or even whole days without needing to.  Eventually, some random thought will pop back in and I will think, "whoa!  where did that thought come from?  what the heck?"  and if I am striving to follow God's will I will remember to take that thought captive in Obedience to Christ.  
     I will pray that as I share this tool, you will all find freedom and power in Jesus Christ and begin a journey in 2017 that will take you into the love and life-giving will of God and out of the  constant fight in this world.  I will pray that I will have even more victory in these battles myself in the new year.  
     A new year gives us chances to "start over".  God's mercies are like that, too.  New every morning.  Every day is New Years Day with Jesus.  Lets move forward with the promise and expectation that God himself gave us.....He will help us.

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