We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up
against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Satan’s perpetual aim is to infiltrate your thoughts with his
thoughts and to promote his lie in the face of God’s truth. If
Satan can control your thoughts, he can control your behavior. He
can introduce his thoughts, tempting you to act independently of
God, as if they were your own thoughts or even God’s thoughts, as
he did with David (1 Chronicles 21:1), Judas (John 13:2) and
Ananias (Acts 5:3).

One of my students exemplified how deceptive Satan’s thoughts can
be. Jay came into my office one day and said, “Dr. Anderson, I’m
in trouble. When I sit down to study, I get prickly sensations
all over my body, my arms involuntarily raise, my vision gets
blurry and I can’t concentrate.”

“Tell me about your walk with God,” I probed.

“I have a very close walk with God. When I leave school at noon
each day, I ask God where He wants me to go for lunch. If I hear
a thought that says Burger King, I go to Burger King. Then I ask
Him what He wants me to eat. If the thought comes to order a
Whopper, I order a Whopper.”

“What about your church attendance?” I continued.

“I go every Sunday wherever God tells me to go.” For the last
three Sundays “God” told him to go to a Mormon church!

Jay sincerely wanted to do what God wanted him to do. But he was
passively paying attention to a deceiving spirit (1 Timothy 4:1)
instead of “taking every thought captive to the obedience of
Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). In so doing he had opened himself
up to Satan’s activity in his life, resulting in the sabotage of
his theological studies.

We must assume our responsibility for choosing the truth. We
can’t always tell whether the thought comes from the TV set, our
memory bank, our imagination or a deceiving spirit. Regardless of
where a thought originates, examine it in the light of God’s Word
and choose the truth.

This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ . It is written by Neil Anderson at
http://www.freedominchrist.com/ .