Capture those thoughts

reading today in 2 Corinthians 10.
Paul writes to the Corinthian church. Some have accused the brothers of "walking according to the flesh". Paul denies this accusation saying the following:

1I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— 2I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. 3For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

We are in a battle you know. A battle that yes, has been won by the Lord already, but a battle none-the-less. We are in earthly bodies, on a world that has been fully impacted by sin. WE are impacted by sin in all that we do. We can't escape that. All we can do is make our "thoughts captive to obey Christ".

If we capture how we think, we are better able to live in this world the way Christ wants us too. Think about that a bit. How we think influences how we act.

Paul defends himself saying he's not living according to the world, but in fact he is taking his thoughts captive and arguing against those in the world who would deny the truth of the gospel.

Lately Jim and I have been listening to audio from Sovereign grace ministries. EXCELLENT resource by the way. Anyways, been listening to a series by CJ Mahaney on the Idol Factory. Wow.... a man who really makes you think about how you think and how it influences our actions. I have felt convicted more than once.

I want for my life, to be as Paul says it is to be...

17"Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." 18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

That means I have to look to myself. I have to capture my thoughts. I to have to see what separates me from God and from doing his will. I have to find the idols in my life and repent of them and become what God wants me to be.

Only then can I be approved of by my Lord and Saviour. Otherwise I'm living a life that doesn't show Christ, and that's what I want to live.

I'll stop blathering here. You go listen, you go read. See what God wants of you. :)