History Books in 90 Days: Ezra 1-3
2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV); We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the
knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
The thought life is something that many of us lack the motivation to control. We can aim for
intentionality with people, but we only have to be with people for so many hours of the day. Our
thoughts, on the other hand, are incessantly intrusive; they don’t even allow us the privilege of going
to the bathroom in privacy!
Really, the mind is a wonderful thing and we would all much rather be with it than without it, but to be
intentional even in our thought life is quite a challenge. The mind is a world of its own, and much can
be done in there to the exclusion of all others… except of course, God. Right. We forget about Him
sometimes. Lust, anger, offense, unforgiveness, apathy – these thoughts seem to cloud our minds,
hiding Him from the forefront; but He’s still there, and He knows every thought – wicked or worthy.
It takes hard work to be intentional with our thoughts, but it is so important because evil thoughts
are just a step away from evil actions. And so we must take seriously the words in 2 Corinthians.
Our weapons are not of the flesh; they are divine and have divine power to demolish strongholds in
our lives – strongholds of jealousy or sarcasm or whatever it is. We must notice whenever a thought
enters our territory that goes against what we know about God through Scripture and the Spirit.
Then we must take that thought and cast it before Jesus Christ who Himself is the Truth and who will
reveal truth to us.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask God to show you how you have sinned in your thought life and confess these things. What
are some of the common sins of your thought life that cause you to forget that God is allseeing?
2. Ask God for His strategy for you in this area. How do you take your thoughts captive and bring
them to Him? Ask Him the clarifying questions that will enable you to live differently because of
this verse.
