The Thought Bank

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

-2 Corinthians 10:5

This is a holy call to control our minds, and our minds are a powerful thing.  Our thoughts can be set up against the knowledge of God and go against everything God says about us and to us.  Our uncontrolled minds can bring us down roads that God never wanted us to travel.  You know what I am talking about, right? Our minds can lead us down the road of worry where we see our unresolved issues and fear what might happen next.  Our minds can lead us down paths of self doubt where with each step we take we hear a whisper in our ear telling us we are unworthy and unfit.  Perhaps as a woman your mind has led you down Hormone Street where every insecure thought that could ever enter your mind has set up camp and you just can’t seem to get a grip on it.  The mind is not an easy thing to control, so where do we begin?

This verse tells us to take every thought captive.  That means as soon as you start to think one of the thoughts that goes against God’s voice, you have to recognize it and grab a hold of it.  Sarah Young says in her devotional that we need to let the Holy Spirit act as a bouncer and boot those thoughts out of our minds.  But then you have to take it a step further.  You have to find something to replace those thoughts with.  You have to go into your thought bank and replace it with truth.  Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Your thought bank needs to be full of truths and promises from the Bible that you have stored up in your mind so that you can take those unconstructive thoughts captive and replace them with God’s Word.  I know this is not an easy task, but in spending time in the word daily and trying to memorize scripture, I have been amazed at the collection God has given me in my thought bank.  If you need a little help in building your own collection, here is a start.  I suggest printing these verses out or writing them down and carrying them with you.  You can even put them in a note on your smart phone so any time you find yourself needing to take a thought captive, you have the replacements on hand.  You are not in this alone, sister.  Let’s “demolish these arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” together. 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

-Romans 12:2

The Thought Bank 

• "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” –Matthew 6:25-27
• “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”  --Philippians 4:19
• "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." –Matthew 11:28-30
• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  --John 14:27
• “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”  --Psalm 55:22
• “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” –Proverbs 3:5-6
• “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  --Romans 8:38-39
• "Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”  --Psalm 103:2-3
•  “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”  --Zephaniah 3:17
• “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  --Ephesians 2:10
• “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”  --Psalm 107:1

Father God,

We thank you today for the truth of your word.  Thank you, Lord, that you have us in the palm of your hand and can meet every one of our needs.  Thank you for making us spotless with the blood of your Son, so we no longer have to carry thoughts of shame or self doubt.  Thank you for giving us your truth to fill our minds with.  You are amazing, Lord.  We praise you in your majesty today.  I love you, Amen.

 

The Purpose of the Heart

As I sat one day looking at the heart stickers my 3 year old daughter carefully placed on our windows for Valentine's Day, it occurred to me that hearts are so much more than a symbol of love. Our hearts are the part of us that God created with the purpose of connecting to Him.

When God created our hearts, as He was knitting us together in our mother’s womb, He was making our hearts with great purpose in mind. When I was pregnant with our second daughter, Sydnee, I went for an ultrasound midway through my pregnancy and was told that our daughter may have a heart defect. We were sent to a baby cardiologist two weeks later to take a closer look at exactly what the heart defect was. During the two weeks between appointments my family and I refused fear and clung to Psalm 139, knowing that God was making her beautifully and wonderfully. I hoped that the case was that God just wasn’t finished with her heart yet, but we knew, even if she was born with a heart defect, God doesn’t make mistakes. Everything he makes is made perfectly and with purpose. Even with a heart defect, God was making her a heart that would connect with His.

Here are five scriptures that reveal to us part of the purpose God had in mind when He created our hearts:

1. His Dwelling Place
“Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”
-Ephesians 3:17 NLT

Your heart was designed to be His dwelling place. I seriously can’t get over that. It blows my mind! My oldest daughter (3 years old) was sick with a stomach ache a few weeks back and as she clutched her tummy I asked her why her stomach was hurting. Her response was, “I don’t know. I think God’s trying to get out.” I questioned her further and soon realized that she had grasped the conversation we had with her about how God lives in her. She just had one slight misconception that God could make His way out of us once He had already made himself at home. Let me assure you, dear ones, He’s not going anywhere!

2. His Search Engine
“You will seek the Lord your God and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
- Deuteronomy 4:29 ESV

Our hearts were made to search for God, to literally thirst for Him. This explains the emptiness you feel in your heart until you meet Christ and begin to understand the unfathomable measure of His love. This is why people can search endlessly, trying to fill the hole in their heart until they come to the realization that God created our hearts with a God-shaped hole inside. Only he can fill that hole, and when we search for Him with all our heart, we will find Him. He will fill the empty space and make our hearts complete.

3. His Conference Room
“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘Lord I am coming.’”
-Psalm 27:8 NLT

Isn’t it amazing that the Lord created our hearts to be the place where we talk with Him? I have had a few conversations with fellow Christians where we question if we are hearing God correctly. Sometimes when God calls us to do something radical we may think, “Was that really you Lord, or a voice in my head?” I know I may have just given the impression to the non-believing world that Christians walk around with voices in their heads, but I know there is a brother or sister in Christ out there who is totally resonating with what I am saying right now. I find this verse interesting because it is so clear that our heads are not God’s meeting place of choice. He calls our hearts to come and talk with Him and our hearts respond. He created our hearts to be the very place He dwells and communes with us.

4. His Worship Center
“My heart rejoices in the Lord.”
-1 Samuel 2:1 NLT

Oh how the Lord must smile when our hearts sing praises to Him. Throughout scripture we see references to our hearts being filled with joy, thanksgiving, and song. God created our hearts, hoping that we would welcome Him in and serenade Him with songs of joy, gratitude, and praise. That is what is so beautiful about corporate worship. To gather around with fellow believers and hear the hearts of many lifting up their thanks and praise to God is amazing. And that is just a glimpse of what we have coming in the future. One day we shall all gather before the throne and on bended knee let our hearts cry out to the Holy One. It makes my heart smile just thinking about it; imagine what it does to His.

5. His Tablet
“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.”
-Deuteronomy 30:14 NLT

We are commanded to lay up the words of God in our hearts; to write them on the tablets of our hearts. It is so easy in the media-centered day we are living to become saturated and distracted with outside influence. Having the Word stored up in our hearts enables us to continually obey it and helps us to stand guard against the enemy’s schemes. This is where scripture memorization really comes into play. Having a bundle of scripture memorized and readily available helps us to remain strong and diligent in any situation when fears, temptations, and trials come after us.

Now let us not forget the greatest purpose of all; so great that I felt the need to separate it from the above list.

“Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is this, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
-Matthew 22:37-39

God created our hearts for love: to love and to be loved. He loves each and every one of us with an unfathomable, unfailing love. He desires for us to love Him back, so much so that Jesus himself deemed this the greatest commandment of all. Even our most loving relationships on earth pale in comparison to the love that God has for us, and the Bible is full of examples and evidence of such love. In the previously mentioned scripture, Jesus goes on to say that the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Isn’t it beautiful that God didn’t desire to keep all that love to Himself? He designed our hearts to love one another. Allow God to fill your heart with His love so that it spills over onto other people and above all back to Him. Hold fast to that love.

Check out this Casting Crowns song.  All He Ever Wanted (Was Our Hearts)

Love Extravagantly

“Watch what God does, and then do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents.  Mostly what God does is love you.  Keep company with him and learn a life of love.  Observe how Christ loved us.  His love was not cautious, but extravagant.  He didn’t love in order to get something, but to give everything of himself to us.  Love like that.”

Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG

Wow! There is so much to learn from this scripture…

If you are one of my single friends, please don’t check out yet.  Although the story I share below pertains to marriage, there is something in this for you too.  Extravagant love applies to every relationship, friendships included.  We see the definition of love, sacrifice and service through this verse and the life of Jesus.  

At the beginning of my relationship with my husband I would have special days like Valentine’s Day, anniversaries, and vacations planned out in my mind.  I had all these romantic ideas about how the day would go, and I expected them to play out just how I had imagined.  As you can imagine, figuring my husband was not a mind reader, I often found myself disappointed.  I somehow was shocked that he didn’t get the memo I had sent him over brain waves.  

A year after we had our first child we went on our first weekend getaway without her.  It was just him and I, and I had the whole romantic weekend planned out in my mind.  I remember sitting on the balcony of our hotel room having my quiet time the first morning of our trip, and God led me to this verse in the Message translation.  He spoke right to my expectations and called me to lay them all down and just love my husband extravagantly, without expecting anything in return.  That trip turned out to be one of my favorites of all time.  We had so much fun together and truly enjoyed each other’s company.  

Maybe you are like me and have something special for Valentine’s Day planned out in your mind.  Might I challenge you to lay down your expectations, and love like Christ?  Don’t be cautious.  Go all out in love—love extravagantly, but don’t expect anything in return.  Love not to get something, but give yourself fully.  

Do what God does…love extravagantly.   

He Loves Me

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  Valentine’s Day is a holiday that we either love or dread.  It can be a reminder of all the love that we have in our lives or it can shed light on the lack of love we have in our lives.  But do not be deceived, dear sister.  Not one of us is lacking in love.  Let us not forget the greatest Valentine ever sent; the Valentine that was signed and sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ. 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

-John 3:16 NIV

Replace” the world” with your name.  God so loved ________ that he gave his one and only son.  God loves you! God loves you! Is it sinking in yet?

I will never forget when God’s love for me finally sank into my heart.  For years I knew in my head that God loved me, I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I even sang the song “Jesus Loves Me” believing that I knew that, but I hadn’t really known it in my heart yet.

I finally realized in my heart just how much God loved me at my church’s women’s retreat.  Throughout the entire weekend I heard powerful messages about God’s love for me and I felt the Lord tugging on my heart, telling me the message was for me.  During one of our quiet time breaks I went outside and took in the Lord’s beauty in the majestic Rocky Mountains.  I opened my Bible and read Psalm 45.  I was awestricken by the following verse:

“The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord.”

-Psalm 45:11

As I read that, I made every attempt I could to prove that this verse was not referring to me.  I scoured through every translation I could get my hands on at that moment and then felt the Lord telling me, “Stop!  This is for you.  Quit trying and striving for perfection.  Stop trying to earn my love.  You are beautiful and acceptable in my eyes.  Open your eyes to see that I am well pleased with you.  You are my princess and I am enthralled by your beauty.  I am singing songs over you right now.  I love you, my precious daughter.”  At that moment I laid down my desire for perfection, and I cuddled up in His love for me.   

The year following that retreat was one of the hardest years of my life.  My family and I walked through trials that would have destroyed me had I not known in my heart how much God loved me.  Had I not learned in my heart the deepness of his love and the fact that I don’t have to earn his love, I never would have survived the challenges that I faced that year.  And the amazing thing is that I was pregnant during the retreat.  I was still in the beginning stages of my pregnancy, but had I gotten pregnant when we first started trying to conceive, I would have missed the retreat.  I fully believe that God had that all planned out.  He knew I needed to go to the retreat to hear the messages that would be shared before I faced the trials ahead.  Praise God for His sovereignty and His perfect timing. 

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

-Romans 8:38-39

Thank you, my King, for your unfathomable love.  Lord, I pray that we would all fully understand your great love for us; that it would sink into the deepest part of our hearts.  May we as women find rest in your great unfailing love for us, God.  Thank you that NOTHING can ever separate us from your love.  And thank you for choosing me to be your princess and for clothing me with such righteousness that you are enthralled by my beauty.  May we all walk confidently in your unfailing love for us.  I love you, my God.  I pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Happy Valentine’s Day, My Friend!