OTD's BSSM Weekly: Capturing and bringing your thoughts in obedience to Christ

Week 12 in the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry

It is back to back with a Bill Johnson class as my update. Again, there were some things said in the teaching that made me feel I had either taken the class before or something very much like it with another name. If you’ve been a regular reader, you’ll notice some of them as well. This class was about capturing thoughts from the enemy. Do you remember the verse in Proverbs that says that as a man thinks, so he is? (Proverbs 23:7) It was in reference to a stingy man that gives food to a person, but that statement holds true for every other human. The thoughts we allow to sit in our minds and marinate will become the belief system that controls our lives. 

The importance of renewing our minds to daily embrace the mind of Christ cannot be underscored enough. This is why Paul tells us to CAPTURE our thoughts and imaginations to the obedience of Christ.

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 AMP

He had also said earlier in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that we have the mind of Christ and beyond having access to the mind of God, we can actually think like God.

Below are notes from the class. 

• The mind of Christ means living in repentance. Go back to God’s perspective of reality. The time I need to repent is when I am outside the mind of Christ. Repentance is more effective when it is done from our thinking first and not from our actions.

• When you surrender, you move in the current of the flow of God's thoughts. Surrender is living in repentance.

• Our countenance will always reflect the nature of the world that we are most aware of.

• It is not possible to remain aware of the kingdom of God without a deep prayer life.

• When you can look at 15,000 people and look at 5 loaves of bread and two fish and think that it is enough, your thinking is flowing with the mind of Christ.

• What is the world? Whatever cools your affection for Christ, that is the world. John Wesley

• A stronghold is a place of safety for the enemy to hide and then strike when you aren't conscious of it. The castle walls are built with our thoughts.

• Fear is the worship of the inferior. The enemy is still looking for worship and he'll take it in the form of your exaltation of his power above that of God.

• Fear complicates simple things.

• Most of the time, we don't have money problems, we have Lordship problems. Most of the time, we don't have addiction problems, we have Lordship problems. Most of the time, we don't have relational problems, we have Lordship problems. Most of the time, we don't have depression problems, we have Lordship problems. What Lord do you defer to in the times you make a decision? Fear or Love?

• Your weapons are in God. You cannot go outside the place of abiding with Christ and win any significant victory. Every victory comes from the place of communion with Christ.

• The enemy gets us to agree with the facts so that we can believe his lies. The truth coming out of the mouth of a liar is empowered by the spirit of a lie with the intention of capturing the affection of your heart. It is a set up for further deception. "Agree with me here, so that I can lie to you here."

• Like flies are attracted to smells, sometimes before you realize it, the enemy (Beelzebub - lord of the flies) is attracted to the smell of any negative thought you have. If you don't clear it out quickly, it sits and starts laying more lies in your mind.

• The sword of the spirit - this sword isn't describing a long weapon for fighting but a short one that could be used to dig out arrows that get shot into parts of the body. When the enemy shoots a flaming arrow at you, the sword of the spirit is the weapon to employ for dislodging it. In connection to the note above, you can use the knife to dislodge the lies laid by the father of lies.

• If you've spent time worrying over a problem, you know how to meditate. Now, you just need to change the content of your meditation and focus on something good.

• The enemy always wants to occupy the place of your sacrifice and offerings. Nehemiah 13:4-7 tells us what the priest, Eliashib did for Tobiah, who we found out in the earlier parts of the book was an enemy of Israel. What or who is occupying the room meant for your sacrifices and offerings. He is after the singleness of our minds and our devotion.

• Confusion comes when we entertain other ideas outside of God. The more we subject ourselves to ungodly value systems, the more complicated our lives become. If our mind is single, our decisions come easier. What is your content intake? How much time do you spend on ‘harmless’ entertainment, the news, and social media?

• Our job is to capture every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. This means that we capture the thought and send them out by our obedience to Christ; our obedience in believing His word to us. We are not stronger than our thoughts inspired by faith.

• You will never know your significance until you first discover your insignificance. You've got to know your lostness before you can fully celebrate how found you are. This is face to face with the reality that we had no hope and were dead in sin until Jesus called my name and I received life.

I’ll close out with two more notes. Do you notice that Paul says “We have the mind of Christ.” and not “I have the mind of Christ”? This may be a matter of context but there is a correlation with Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer and calling God, ‘Our Father’.

It is a collective ownership. We all make up the full body of Christ, and while each part has its role to play in entering into victory, we must keep in mind that our individual victories are for a collective purpose.

When I have personal victory, I have the authority to bring corporate victory.

What thoughts do you need to take captive right now?

Love and love,

OTDamilola,

For King and Kingdom