RR “Taking Our Thoughts Captive – Part 2” By Jerry Miller

Shalom,

Rabbi’s note:  For Part 1 - Taking Our Thoughts Captive, by Jerry Miller, please see the RR for Sunday, May 4, 2025.  Jerry has taken a short break from writing every other Sunday.  We are so glad he is back with us.  Blessings to Jerry. 

“For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful through God for the tearing down of strongholds. We are tearing down false arguments and every high-minded thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. We are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Messiah.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5, TLV)

Last month I shared some thoughts on the biblical concept of taking our thoughts captive, as the above passage puts it. I focused specifically on the “false arguments” we deal with in our minds—thought processes that stand in contrast, or even in defiance to, the truths of God’s Word. Of course, the enemy’s desire, through deception and temptation, is to draw us into ways of thinking and processing that can lead us to doubt the faithfulness of God and the integrity of God’s Word. Such thinking can be a strong hindrance to our relationship and walk with God. Considering that the enemy is active in targeting our thoughts, we must realize that a passive mind can become an easy target for the demonic lies and false arguments that seek to derail us in our relationship with the Lord. This is why our use of God’s Word is key to our victory in combatting the enemy’s lies. Let’s consider this.

Yeshua Himself provides us with a pattern for walking in victory. Consider when Yeshua was tested in the wilderness during a time when He had been fasting for forty days. The devil came to Him with a false argument, suggesting that Yeshua should demonstrate His power by turning stones into bread so that He could have food to eat. Yeshua, of course, immediately rejected the argument, declaring the Word of God from Deuteronomy 8:3: “…man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai.” At a point when Yeshua must have been physically weakened from His fasting, the devil tried to appeal to Yeshua’s hunger to draw Him into compromise and prematurely break His fast. Yeshua did not just seek to passively ignore the devil, but He declared truth that directly contradicted the goal of the temptation confronting Him. There is power in the spoken Word of the Lord to overcome and dismantle false arguments by which we are tempted. In our own lives, the false arguments we deal with might just come from our own minds, but again, they often are demonically inspired. Either way, the point is that we need to quickly and firmly resist these arguments as we see that they do not line up with God’s Word or God’s character.

Remember that in the false arguments we often deal with, there is spiritual power to draw us into anxiety, fear or other debilitating types of mindsets. Have you ever, when attacked in these areas, tried to talk yourself out of fear or anxiety, seeking to convince yourself that there is really no reason to be fearful or anxious? I know I have, and it doesn’t work very well. That’s because there is a spiritual dimension to such thoughts, and they cannot be overcome by the strength of our minds and logic alone. We will not experience victory over fear or anxiety by trying to convince ourselves that the fear is unwarranted. Such an approach is attempting to fight a spiritual battle with natural or fleshly weapons. At times when we are being attacked by fear (or anything else that “exalts itself against the knowledge of God”), we must learn to see things from heaven’s perspective.

King David is one of the faith heroes who, amid troubles, opposition and betrayal, clearly understood the principle of seeing with a heavenly perspective. I love his words from Psalms 61:2, where he writes, “From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (NKJV). I really appreciate David’s transparency here. He did not deny that he felt overwhelmed, but he knew he needed to see things from heaven’s higher vantage point. The heavenly perspective we desire, and the power to break through fear or anxiety or any other false argument seeking to prevail in our thinking, comes from the Word of God. God’s Word is filled with spiritual power to combat false arguments and spiritual strongholds.

This is why it is so important for us to be learning God’s Word. I’m not just talking about learning the basic narrative, events and theology of the Bible. Yes, that is essential, but beyond that, we must grow in our knowledge of the multitude of promises in Scripture that describe God’s commitments and faithfulness to us as His sons and daughters. I’ve focused today on the areas of fear and anxiety. Related to these areas, we need to be learning the promises God gives us for experiencing peace amid crises. We should learn the promises related to victory over fear. And then, for any situations we may face, it is important to know and declare promises of God related to His own nature and character. Our knowledge of the true character and nature of God will fill us with greater confidence in God’s desire to fulfill His promises in every area of our lives.

God’s Word truly has the power to tear down the false arguments with which we can be tempted. His Word supernaturally displaces wrong thinking and builds us up in His truth. May we be a people committed to growing in His Word and actively declaring His Word in the face of every false argument that seeks to “exalt itself against the knowledge of God.”

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sun15-June-2025 19th of Sivan, 5785
Nu 13:1-20Jer 30Dan 61 Co 12 (Mk 13)