Wednesday, July 30, 2014

JIM

Capturing thoughts is serious business. Jesus made it one of His top

priorities. Remember the thoughts that came Jesus’ way due to Peter’s

inability to control his tongue. Jesus had predicted His death, burial, and

resurrection, but Peter couldn’t stand the thought of it.  According to

Matthew 16:22-23, Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying,

“God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” 23 But He turned and

said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for

you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

See the decisiveness of Jesus? A trashy thought comes his way and he is

tempted to act on it. Skipping His crucifixion would be beneficial to His

health but what does Christ do?  He tells Peter, “Get away from Me” As if to

say, “You are not allowed to enter my mind. What if we did that? What if we

took every thought captive not allowing it to take up residence in our mind?

I’m guessing we’ve all had an impure thought at one time or another,

especially after someone leaves cash on the cafeteria table where everyone

was sitting or when someone slings an undeserved insult our way. How

hard is it for us to be as decisive as Jesus and vanquished the thought from

our minds immediately!