What's consuming your thoughts?

 

COLERAINE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SUNDAY 2 MARCH 2025 – MR KEITH WILSON

EPHESIANS 6 VERSES 12 TO 18

I wonder if I was to ask you tonight “what are you thinking”, what would be your response? That is some question. My reason for asking is what is consuming your thought life? You are what you think all day long. Thoughts impact our behaviour, our choices, our self-confidence, our health, the risk you do or do not take., that feeling of self-esteem in all arenas of life. Negative influences can affect all areas of life. Our thoughts affect our emotions or moods. What we decide to choose to do or not to do. Our thoughts affect our self-confidence very much. Our thoughts can react to other people. What we eat and don’t eat affects our thoughts. Thoughts of self-esteem and self-worth affect many people in today’s society when it is trying to promote everyone is important. Never at such time has self-esteem been at such a low. Young women because of pictures of super models have taken their own lives. Young men not able to fit in take their own life. Thoughts can have negative or positive experience on our lives. As Christians we are different. We have been changed by the Lord. Our thoughts should not be of things around us. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. How we look or not look shouldn’t cause us much thought. As Christians we should think differently. Philippians 4 verse 8 “Finally, 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.” Paul is reminding believers at Philippi because they are Christians they should no longer be concerned with the things of the world. Temporary things, things that are perishing. I could be concerned with losing weight, having the right physique, the right amount of money, the right car. They are only temporary, they will not last. Paul wants us to think of things that are true. There are a lot of misconceptions that the devil will try to use to get our focus off the Lord. I do not need to tell you of the media lies that are told. They focus in on lifestyles – if you want to be a homosexual or lesbian you can be those. The media is promoting lies daily, hiding the truth, hiding emotional and physical feelings. Paul tells us to focus our thoughts. We don’t fill our thoughts with such things but with the word of God. Verses 16 and 17 “Above all taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Negative thoughts are from the devil. We need to fight them with the sword of God, which is the word of God. He wants you to believe things that are not real. There are so many living in fear today of things that are not true, of things that will never come to pass. The devil wants to bombard our thoughts all the time. Philippians 2 “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” The enemy has no right to your thought life because for the child of God we have been delivered, set free and that is why he said in verse 12 “we wrestle not against flesh and blood.” That tells me something I don’t wrestle with. It is “against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” High ranking demons make war against God’s people. That is why Paul writes to Ephesus and says “Finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”  You and I do not have the power to defeat the enemy. If as children of God can realise who we ae in Christ, what Christ has accomplished on the cross, that we have an armour God has given us then we can defeat Satan and all his forces. We need to put the armour on to withstand against the wiles of the devil. If we don’t put on the armour God has given us how will we be able to stand? Some people are in Christ and they are not in a battle. They will say “doesn’t matter I am saved and I can live as I like.”  We are reminded from the word of God that there is an enemy. We are reminded who we wrestle against. Ephesians 4. God called us from the foundation of the world and he saved us by his grace. He determind we would be born into the family of God, born with royal privileges. If you are saved tonight you are in a royal priesthood already. We wrestle in the flesh and blood. The Lord has already declared us to be holy, to be righteous. We have the righteousness of God. Now we have it we are already sanctified. That is our position before God. What you are in reality has to be lived out in experience. That is why Paul is writing these letters. He told them earlier in this book who they were in Christ – “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. That we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ.” Do we realise who we are? If so let us put on the armour of God. Let us have a state of mind that we stand on Christ and in Christ. In what he has done and what he wants to do. I am reminded of the enemy every day. I cannot do this or that very easily, to let those thoughts into my mind. If the enemy can get into your mind he can determine all your thoughts. That is where our battle is. The enemy wants to do so much. He wants to turn them against each other. He can get a thought into the mind and destroy a work. If we realise where our battle really is we would be on our knees and praying that God would come and give us that spirit of unity. Remember what Jesus suffered on the cross – a spear was thrust into his side, a crown of thorns was put on his head, stuffed vinegar was put in his mouth. They nailed him and cried “there are others he can save and yet he cannot save himself.” What did Jesus say in response? “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Christ hung on the cross for the whole of mankind. He saw the need for salvation. He didn’t have impure thoughts but rather loved everyone. There is an enemy who wants us to think impure thoughts. The outward man is perishing but the inner man is being renewed day by day. If I rest on Christ I realise who I am in Christ. I realise the battle is not mine but Christ’s. All he wants us to do is rest in him. In our make up we have a soul, a mind, a will, emotions and thoughts. That is what the devil wants to attack. To get our focus on temporary things. We are reminded that the godly shall suffer persecution. Why? To get us to depend on ourselves and not on God. Don’t you think that the demons and the devil are in hell itself? There are demonic forces in the heavenly realm against the rulers of darkness in this world. We are surrounded. There are certain things they cannot do if our faith and trust is in the Lord. In Job’s life the Lord allowed the devil to go so far. You might find yourself in temptation or testing but be reminded that the battle of the mind is to get you thinking of things that don’t really matter. So many are living in a state of fear, depression, oppression. We can be bombarded with spiritual attacks that take our focus off God and the word of God. We all have different make ups, we are sensitive to different things. The mind is where the enemy attacks. What is your focus?  The enemy comes and plants a thought in our minds. The more thinking you do the more down you become. The more discouraged you become. This is not from the Lord but the devil. We can cast down thoughts in the name of Jesus. We are told here to put on the whole armour of God that we wrestle not with principalities and powers. The question is what are we going to do. Psalm 28 verse 7. “The Lord is m strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him and I am helped, therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.” Why don’t you think of these thoughts when the enemy attacks? When our heart and mind is stayed on Jehovah we will be kept in perfect peace Isaiah the prophet tells us. It can only be in putting on the whole armour of God. The devil attacks in times of weakness.  Remember the devil was defeated at the cross. He knows the weakness of the flesh. If he could bombard you with the media, if he can do all this, keep men and women, boys and girls from giving their all to Christ, to realise who they are in Christ. The enemy will try and convince us that we are in the mess we are in and there is no way out, we might as well give it all up. Why? Because there is no hope. The enemy is against the truth. Instead of being hopeless we have hope. Christ has died and defeated every principality, every power and all spiritual wickedness. He brought a victory through the cross and the blood of Jesus Christ. Allow yourself to be around people that are living for God. We have been redeemed. Ephesians 4 verse 30. There is a time of judgment coming but there is also a reward coming for the child of God. When the unsaved will stand before the judgment seat of Christ after 1000 years and they give an account of what they did with Christ. We have freedom from the enemy when we realise who we are in Christ. Christ has accomplished our freedom on the cross and defeated the enemy. That you and I could be saved, could have eternal life. Have you that eternal life? Are you saved? Have you repented of your sin? Have you come the way of the cross? Are you living for God or are your thoughts being bombarded by the devil?