2 Corinthians 10:5
Nineteen-year-old Liu Shih-Kun was an esteemed concert pianist in China until the Cultural Revolution banned all things of Western influence. Refusing to renounce his beloved music, Liu was deemed an enemy of the people, beaten and imprisoned. There he languished in a tiny cell with no books, no paper, and even worse; no piano. Six years later, for propaganda reasons, he was asked to play in Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After years without an instrument to practice on, he performed brilliantly. Eighteen months later when he was finally released, he again played flawlessly. That Liu survived is remarkable; that his hands continued to move as if they'd never stopped playing is amazing. His secret? Stripped of everything musical, for seven and a half years Liu disciplined himself to shut out negative thoughts and practice hour after hour on an imaginary piano.
A well respected counsellor says: 'We don't realise the extent to which our own thinking contributes to our mental anguish. The earlier you stop 'thought attacks' the easier it is to regroup and get back on track. Now, while the concept is simple, it's not easy to implement. Once you start paying attention you'll probably discover you have a lot more 'thought attacks' than you can possibly imagine.' Police shout 'Freeze!' when they want to stop a suspect and protect themselves. And you can freeze out harmful thinking by capturing every thought and making it 'obedient to Christ.' Paul says: 'This is not a wrestling match against a human opponent. We are wrestling with...spiritual forces...' (Ephesians 6:12 GWT). Your thoughts have power. To win over them, you must submit to Christ and control what you allow your mind to dwell on.
Used with permission from UCB Word for Today. Free issues are available here for the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Comments
I think the strength of Christ goes beyond every human thought: it's quite indescribable, over any judgement of ours.
Recently this truth was made a greater reality to me from a Scripture in 2 Cor 10:3-5
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ
These two words I have high-lighted have very important truth contained in it. The Greek word for "thought" is the word noēma. This Greek word specifically refers to seeds of thoughts that are part of a big plan. Its like tiny seeds are sown with the aim to bring about a plan that is immediately unseen but huge. Sometimes, we won't even recognize these thoughts when they come... they may seem really insignificant, but they would have caused us to be indifferent to the things of God.
The second word, "speculations" is the word "logismos", from which our English word "logic" comes. Sometimes when something happens in our life or when I hear a report, this "invisible wave" starts affecting me, making me indifferent to some of things of God. However, we must realize that these are invisible words that come from an invisible enemy, that are raised up against the knowledge of God.
I hope that makes sense =P
God is so good ~~ His creation of humans to excellent!!
Thanks Mike, wish I could send you some meat loaf!!! ((smile))
LOL:Wanda
I found it interesting to read that having lived by the airport all your life you harldy notice the planes now. My daughter said that when she used to live close to a main line railway.