According to Dr. Caroline Leaf, toxic thoughts—such as stress, worry, fear, anger and unforgiveness—actually cause damage to the brain. Chemicals are released into the brain, causing chaos and damage. Those toxic thoughts can cause a loss of sleep or affect the ability to do your job right, physical illness and more.
My former pastor Dave used to always say that we will always move in the direction of our dominant thoughts. Whatever we spend the majority of our time thinking or meditating on, will ultimately control every decision we make. So are your private thoughts destroying you? The Bible has a lot to say about how our minds should be governed. One of the very first things new believers should be taught is, the principle of renewing the mind with the Word of God. Why? Because the decisions of the heart begins in the mind. Every action is preceded by a thought.
When Satan wanted to take his position back from God’s image bearers, he went about it by creating questions in the mind of Eve. He asked a series of questions that got her thinking that her Creator was withholding something she thought she needed, from her. He’s still using the same old tricks today, and shamefully, many of God’s children are still falling for it.
“Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1 CSB
Notice the question and the lie interspersed with a play on words. Did God really say you can’t eat from any tree? The moment we begin to put our own spin on what God has said, we open up our minds to the bombardment of erroneous misinformation.
“But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 3:3 CSB
“The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:15-17 CSB
As you can see, God never said they couldn’t touch it, He said they shouldn’t eat from it. Side note: Did you also notice that they were not forbidden to eat from the Tree of Life. 🤔. That Tree was not kept from them until after they had sinned. Every act of obedience or disobedience is generated in the mind. We become what we think about. You can literally think yourself into sickness, depression, fear, anxiety, poverty and paranoia. You can also think yourself into the opposite of those things. Our minds are powerful creative tools. We can choose to use it for good or evil. Renewing the mind is a choice we make, so unfortunately no one can do that for us, not even God. Once our minds have been made up to do something, even if we reconsider our decision, the original thought is still stored away. Our minds were created for greatness. We were created to think and act like the One whose image we bear.
“Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father];”
Ephesians 5:1 AMP
That’s why Satan set out to use our thoughts against us. I wrote in an earlier message that even though a person’s heart may be healthy, when a doctor declares that person brain dead, it’s over. The mind controls every activity. Adam was brilliant, whatever he thought to name all animal species, God accepted. But when they allowed their thoughts to overrule God’s command their minds became polluted.
I did a message on fatal attractions, we’ve all heard the horror stories. People can literally create a relationship with someone in their minds. Our thoughts can become so real that we begin to turn fantasies into real life images. We say those people have lost their minds. I’ve been saying that about the 21st century church for a while.
We have created our own concept of Jesus and His church. We have adopted so much of the world’s doctrine, that it’s hard to find the mind of Christ anywhere in most sermons on a Sunday morning. But God has given us His Word to help get us back on track. The daily washing of our minds with scriptures will cleanse our thoughts, destroying the enemy’s lies, leading us to overwhelming victory. Here are a few scriptures that deals with the negative as well as the positive side of the unregenerate and regenerate mindset. Firstly, remember that you’re a brand new person in Christ, you’re not patched up, you have been given a brand new spirit. Replacing the faulty one you received at your natural birth. You also received your own personal Teacher with a promise that He will be in you and with you forever. 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 14:15-17.
1. Isaiah 26:3
“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”
2. Isaiah 43:18
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.”
3. Psalm 19:14
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer .”
4. Psalm 94:11
“The Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.”
5. Psalm 139:23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”
6. Proverbs 3:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”
7. Proverbs 4:23
“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
8. Proverbs 17:22
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”
9. Matthew 6:25
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
10. Matthew 22:37
“And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”
11. Mark 7:21-22
“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”
12. Mark 12:30
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
13. Romans 7:23
“But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
14. Romans 7:25
“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”
15. Romans 8:6
“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.”
16. Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
17. Romans 12:3
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”
18. 1 Corinthians 2:11
“For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
19. 1 Corinthians 2:16
“‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
20. 2 Corinthians 10:5
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.”
21. Ephesians 4:23
“And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.”
22. Philippians 2:5
“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
23. Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
24. Philippians 4:8-9
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
25. Colossians 3:2
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”
26. 2 Timothy 1:7
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
27. James 1:8
“He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
28. 1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 CSB
The renewed mind is a threat to Satan’s kingdom. That’s why he wants to keep the body of Christ ignorant of their rights and privileges as God’s image bearers. When we’re armed with His Truths and think His thoughts, we’re no longer controlled by destructive thoughts. Greater is He who is in us, than any enemy forces in the world. Emphasis mine. Don’t allow your private thoughts to derail your future. Cast them down. Take authority over them in the Name of Jesus! You’re born a winner! Jesus took back what Adam gave away, so we can be triumphant over Satan’s deceptive line of questioning. Remember don’t answer a fool! Shut him down like Jesus did with the sword of the Spirit. It is written!
“Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 CSB
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
April 29, 2021