Capture Thoughts

Daily Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

~

Monday through Wednesday

Devotionals

for the week of July 8, 2024

by

Beth McLendon

Topic:

2 Corinthians 10:5

How to Capture our Thoughts

Monday

Capture Thoughts?

Yes!

God tells us to

Take our Thoughts Captive.

2 Corinthians 10:5

This page will show you

HOW.

2 Corinthians 10:5

tells us to

Take every thought captive

and bring our thoughts

into obedience to Christ."

This takes practice!

God wants us to

capture our thoughts

and then

turn them in the right direction.

Look at the dog below.

The dog captured the ball -  which will stand for a bad thought.

Are you like that dog?

Do you keep company with your bad thoughts?

Do you let them "hang around" with you?

If you will

inch

forward with God

in taking your thoughts captive

God will help you.

It

IS

possible to take thoughts captive!

The miracle is there for you

if

you move forward.

Look

at the boy above.

The boy is ready to catch a ball.

Are YOU ready

to catch your thoughts?

Steps to Take

After thinking a thought...

Capture that thought!

Yes - Capture it!

Ask yourself:

"Does it agree with Bible principles?"

If

the answer is

>    No    <

then

intentionally

replace that thought with a godly thought.

Examples below

More - How to 

I will give you

>  Specific Examples  <

of

How

to take thoughts

Captive

and 

Choose Obedience.

First Example:

Capture a Thought that says,

"I could call in sick today so I don't have to go to that

boring meeting we are having."

Evaluate the thought...

"Does that thought agree with the Bible?"

Answer:

"No."

Replace the thought with...

"I know lying is a sin. I am not going to lie."

Tuesday

Walking with Jesus

Steps to Victory

Second Example:

Step One

Capture a Thought that says,

"I forgot to send my work in on time, so I will say,
"I turned it in, so I guess it got lost." 

Step Two

Evaluate the thought...

"Does that thought agree with the Bible?"

Answer:

"No."

Step Three

Replace the thought with...

"Lying is a sin. I need to obey God."

Step Four

Sometimes Prayer for Strength is needed:

Lord of my Life, 

Telling the truth is going to be hard.

It is going to cause me trouble.

Strengthen me.

I want to choose to be a

Mighty Follower of Jesus Christ.

Help me humble myself.

I proclaim that

I WILL

do hard things for you, my Lord.

Amen

Step Five

Then take action

based on God's Word.

Adding Scripture

can help

strengthen your resolve to make right decisions.

Consider Step 3 in the above example.

Instead of just saying, 

"Lying is a sin. I need to obey God"

let's add Scripture.

Adding Scripture to the

"Replace" step

looks like this...

Replace the thought with - 

"Proverbs 12:22 AMP says,

Lying lips

are extremely disgusting to the Lord,

But those who deal faithfully are His delight."

I will obey God.

Jesus is Truth.

The devil is the Father of Lies.

We turn our back on Jesus in order to lie.

Power Proclamations

Jesus loves me.

Jesus gave his life for me,

I will give my life to him.

I will be dedicated to Jesus!

Inspiration and Motivation

can come from a

Great Testimony

like the one below!

Leaving a Great Legacy 

True Story 

(I don't remember the exact words of the boss.)

I was at a funeral of a family member

who had made a big turn-around in character

after giving his life to Jesus almost 2 years ago.

At the funeral,

his boss

(I'll call him Mr. B)

came up to me.

Mr. B knew me, and knew I was a strong follower of Jesus Christ.

Mr. B said to me,

"I know ________ is in heaven with Jesus!

He really loved Jesus!

He became an amazing man
when
he gave his heart to Jesus."

Then he said,

"I want to share with you that

recently he was driving a company vehicle

and ran a red light.

The camera on the traffic light took his picture

and sent us

a bill for the traffic violation.

He immediately

confessed and humbly took responsibility.

Two years ago, he did the same thing...

but at that time he was deceptive and tried to lie

to get out of trouble.

After giving his life to Jesus,

he lived a great testimony of godliness.

You and your family should be proud of him.

Note:

Many times

when

we capture a thought

about

doing something ungodly

we can simply say....

"I know God does not want me to do this."

Third

example

on a different topic

will be given on Wednesday.

Wednesday

Godly Decision Making

Making Right Decisions

Making right decisions

is

made easier

when

we intentionally

spend time with

people

who closely follow God.

Make time

for

being with people

who try to

obey God and who encourage others to obey God.

Choosing

the

Right Friends is important.

Consider

our newly updated 

Friend Devotional Page

Consider

praying to God to send you

strong, godly friends.

Women need women friends, and men need men friends.

Wisdom says -

Do not get too close to a new person too fast.

Third Example:

Capture a thought that says,

"I could make extra money by

doing such and such.

It may not be exactly legal but it is probably ok. "

Evaluate the thought...

"Does that thought agree with the Bible?"

Answer:

"No."

Replace the thought with

one of these thoughts...

"God doesn't want me to do something

that is not

fully legal and above board."

OR

Psalm 119:36 TLB

"Help me to prefer

obedience

[ to the law or to God's principles ]

to making money!"

Brackets added by Beth

OR

1 Thessalonians 5:22 

I need to

"Avoid even the appearance of evil."

Musical Motivation

is found

at the bottom of the page.

Next:

Insights into

1 Thessalonians 5:22

2 minute video

Abstain from all appearance of evil.

The Greek word translated "abstain" is "apecho."

It is Strong's Greek word 568.

Different Bible translations use other words for "abstain" 
such as:

avoid,
stay away from, keep away from

Avoid the Appearance of evil

That Scripture verse

can guide us

away from many dangers and temptations.

Today,

Let's wisely ask God to lead us

away from trouble and sin.

God,

I call out

for your

Holy  Spirit

to lead me!

Consider our

Yielding to God prayers

and our

Bible Verse for Champions for Jesus

Full Armor of God Prayers for Men

Full Armor of God Prayers for Women

Champion Faith Music

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Capture Thoughts was posted in July 2024.