The theme of today’s Pastor Joseph Prince daily devotional December 16 2023 is ”“Bring Every Thought into Captivity”
SCRIPTURE: Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. -2 Corinthians 10:5
Unfortunately, unbeknownst to many believers today, the enemy has launched malicious disinformation campaigns that have effectively enslaved them for years to low self-esteem, self-hatred, guilt, eating disorders, perversions, inordinate fears, and all kinds of crazy habits and addictions.
I want to expose the enemy’s lies and to help you see with pristine clarity the enemy’s deceptive and manipulative tactics. These lies will collapse like a house of cards the second you see your true identity in Christ.
Your weapons for this warfare are found in the truth of God’s Word, and they are mighty and have the power to overthrow and destroy every stronghold that has been built up through disinformation and wrong believing. And the way we can destroy these strongholds in our mind is by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
When I was a young believer, I was taught that it was my responsibility to bring my every thought into obedience to Christ. I tried and struggled with that for years and ended up with more mental oppression, stress, and guilt than I had started with.
One day God opened my eyes and said to me, “Son, keep your focus and your thoughts always on the obedience of Christ, and that will be a powerful weapon to pull down the devil’s strongholds in your mind.” When He said that to me, it felt like the lights were suddenly switched on in my head.
So what does it mean to capture every thought to the obedience of Christ? Simply this: to focus on Jesus’ obedience to the Father at the cross, through which we were all made forever righteous the moment we believed in Him.
Can you see that our obedience today under the new covenant begins with choosing to believe that we are made righteous by Christ’s obedience at the cross? The apostle Paul describes our obedience as “obedience to the faith” (Rom. 16:26)—believing right about what Jesus has done to make us righteous. And when we believe right like this, we will find His grace motivating and empowering us to think and live right.
God’s Word tells us, “The just [righteous] shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). You can say it like this: the righteous shall live by right believing. When you have right believing, you release the power of God to live right.
The next time you have negative thoughts, catch yourself and look toward the obedience of Christ. See the cross. See Jesus. See Him washing your mind with His precious blood.
When you believe the gospel, the true gospel that says you are righteous through Jesus’ obedience (Rom. 5:19), you will have right living. The right results will follow.
My friend, the more you believe right that you have been made righteous and blessed through Christ’s obedience, the more you will see the fruit of obedience in your life. Praise Jesus for His marvelous grace!
This devotional is taken from the book 100 Days of Right Believing—Daily Readings from The Power of Right Believing.