Ephesians 4:17-19: So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
In this passage Paul exhorts the church to not live as the Gentiles do. Paul mentions the futility of their thinking.
Thoughts are extremely important. Motivational speakers sometimes refer to the thinking of a man by saying, "One man thinks he can, another man thinks he can't. Both men are right."
Paul said, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Meanwhile, much of the modern church says, "I can't do anything."
A believer must decide whether his thoughts will be governed by the Word of God, or by the world's way of thinking. The thoughts governed by the Word of God will produce success in God. Thoughts governed by the world's way of thinking will produce futility.
In Philippians 4:8 Paul clearly demonstrates how the believer should think. Finally, brothers, 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.
Dictionary.com gives the following two definitions for futility:
1. producing no result or effect.
2. unproductive of success.
The definition given for futility is: uselessness as a consequence of having no practical result.
It seems obvious that every believer would desire for his or her thoughts to be governed solely by the Word of God. Sadly, the thinking of many believers is governed by the futility of the world's way of thinking.
In the next couple of weeks I will focus on the process of renewing the mind to the thoughts of God. That concept is mentioned in Ephesians 4:23 as Paul wrote, to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Paul also wrote about this important process in Romans 12:2, Do not conform any longer 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.
This week, however, I want to emphasize one point. We are at war, and the war rages against your mind. Satan bombards the believer with thoughts of fear, thoughts of failure, thoughts of poverty, thoughts of death, thoughts of sickness, thoughts of sin, thoughts of condemnation, etc.
Jesus defeated Satan, but the victory must be enforced daily. Satan attempts to convince you, that you are the one who is defeated. He succeeds far too often. Too many saints give greater credence to the lies of hell, than to the Word of God.
In this hour God searches for believers, who will rise up, and dare to believe that the Word of God is more powerful than the lies of Satan. God searches for believers, who will realize, although the battle rages, the victory has been procured. God seeks for men and women, who refuse to allow their minds to be a playground for Satans's thoughts.
In Ephesians 6 Paul discusses the armor of God. God provided the armor needed to administer the victory that Jesus won at Calvary. One piece of armor is the helmet of salvation to protect your head from the lies of Satan. Another piece of armor is the shield of faith. Paul says to use that shield to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Often those flaming arrows are thoughts that attack your mind. But, God provided the shield of faith to foil every attack.
In the late 70's I was single, and the pastor of a small Baptist church in southwest Mississippi. During that time Satan attacked my mind with strong thoughts of fear in several areas. One thought, I remember particularly well, was the thought that I would never see my parents alive again. For a young man in his mid 20's, that thought was particularly troubling. That thought brought torment to me.
Over time I learned to take the Word of God and attack that thought, and to exercise the authority of the name of Jesus. I learned to live free from the torment of the fear of death. I refuse to allow the fear of someone dying tommorrow, to rob me of the joy of having them today.
Many of us have won such battles over Satan thoughts. But, even with the victories won in some areas, we sometimes give into his thoughts in other areas, and allow them to become strongholds of wrong thinking in our minds.
Paul said in II Corinthians 10:3-5, For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.
The victory of Jesus at the cross provides the church with every powerful weapon that we need to win the war of the mind.
Too many of us have allowed Satan to run roughshod over us in multiple areas of our thinking. But, today is the day to say, "No more!!"
Paul said in Ephesians 4:27, Do not give the devil a foothold.
Godly thinking yields peace. Isaiah 26:3, You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Today, make a fresh commitment to refuse to dwell on Satan's thoughts. Today, ask God to help you to bring down any strongholds of ungodly thinking in your mind. Make today a day of peace, rather than torment!
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org