"For the
weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ" II Cor 10:4-5.
The Lord has been
dealing with me on the many facets of this verse. Our thought life should be
centered in, and occupied with, that which is worshipful towards the Lord, and
edifying. The posture of our spirit should be toward strengthening our witness
to others, and encouraging spirituality. However, some of us have allowed the
enemy to rob us of our spiritual inheritance. It can become tempting to
withdraw from reality when very real circumstances become too difficult to
face. To withdraw from the path the Lord has planned for us and create
spiritual illusions that are completely imaginary and are not based on God’s
word. Our tendency is to move our imagination into these areas and live as
though we possessed these things. The repeating of this process will create and
establish within our soul an inner pathway which will lead us toward the
destruction of the spiritual reality which the Lord desires to bring to
maturity within us. All of these "patterns" or "paths"
which have been built within us must be dealt with, and submitted to the cross
for crucifixion. Many of us have, at one time or another, given some ground to
the enemy in our thought lives. Any ground that the enemy has taken from us in
the area of our imagination must be quickly retaken and dedicated to the Lord.
If we fail to do this, our inability to properly relate to reality will be
noticed, and in time, adversely affect our relationship to the Lord, and to
others. By the grace of God we can withdraw from any imaginary pattern of
experience and deal, in a positive way, with the very real and tangible things
which we were seeking to avoid. Our thought patterns must relate to reality.
Life can be, and usually is, very difficult. It is exceedingly important that
we place the Lord as the head of our circumstances, and then remain open to Him
in their outworking. He never promised us an easy way through. Rather, He
promised to enable us to become overcomers. Vain imaginations will rob us of
our ability to face problems and become an overcomer. Most of us, in some
measure, are limited in our abilities. By a divine arrangement, we were created
to be dependent, not independent. There is a higher power whom we are to
acknowledge. We do not have the grasp, or the hold on things that we can easily
imagine we do. The temptation is ever present within us to try to work out our
own destiny, apart from God. Since we cannot do this, we are tempted to move
into the area of imaginations and create our own destiny, which in time will
lead us to our own destruction. Let us enthrone Jesus as Lord over our minds.
Only then will He be able to guide us through each circumstance that we face.
He is the Lord of reality.
