Thoughts: Part 2

Temptations

Temptation is NOT sin.  It has sometimes been difficult for me to buy into the truth of that statement.  I know this to be truth because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while He was here on earth was tempted just as we are, yet without sin.  The specific instance of His forty-day fasting and prayer session in the wilderness and then being tempted by Satan is well documented in the Scriptures (Matthew 4, Luke 4, etc.).  It only makes sense too that this was not the only instance in which Jesus was tempted.  I am sure he faced the same day-to-day temptations as we do.  He subjected Himself to temptations so He could experience fully what it is to be human, so He could be sympathetic in every way to what we experience in the flesh.


I know that in my struggle against sexual sin, the temptations can sometimes be so intense that it is easy to believe that I have committed a sin, but in reality it is simply a strong temptation, an urging to do something or think in a certain way, or to say something.  Where does this urging come from?  The intensity of the temptation can make me believe (and truly feel) that it emanates from my body.  I am tempted in the flesh but my body is simply the vehicle for the expression of sin.  The reality is that it is more accurately a mental obsession.  I find myself falling into an established pattern of faulty thinking and believing.  The temptation is in the mind long before it ever is enacted in my body.  I have proven this to myself on several occasions.  I am a very impatient driver.  There, I said it.  It is true.  When somebody cuts me off in traffic or does something stupid and dangerous, my mind goes into overdrive.  I immediately have a flood of thoughts and emotions that seem to take over my being.  I am angry, and have very vivid thoughts about how an interaction with that person might play out if I had the chance stop and talk with them.  Despite everything that is going on in my mind and emotions in that moment, if I for just a minute divert my thinking elsewhere, the intensity of feeling and the thoughts I am having dissipate.  It is as if it never happened.  But as soon as I turn my thoughts back to the crazy driver, the intense emotions come flooding back.  If this were something that originated in my body, then the intensity would be there all the time, not just when I am “thinking” about it.

When a tempting thought comes to my mind or when I find myself in the throes of an intense temptation, what I am thinking in my mind is very real.  It is almost as if it is happening already.   But a simple assertion in my own mind that it is simply a thought and trusting God to redirect my thoughts is almost always enough to put my mind right again.  I can let it go and surrender it to God for what it is.  It is simply a thought; a thought that simply doesn’t need to be acted on.  No matter how intense the thought, it is always simply just a thought.  I can feel like I am in bondage sometimes, held captive to my thoughts, but there is always a choice.  Do I choose to believe and act on the deceptive thought, or do I choose to believe the truth of God’s Word which tells me that “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Thoughts: Part 1

Everything I decide to do or to believe begins somewhere in the not so distant past with a single thought.  Multiple thoughts in succession together form a particular perception or understanding of a situation, or they come together to establish belief patterns that shape every aspect of my life.  If the thoughts I have are not based on Truth, then those perceptions, understanding, and belief patterns I have are not true.  The nature of my thoughts can range anywhere from a subtle suggestion in my mind, all the way to a conclusion I have drawn on the basis of deliberate reasoning.  Often it is the subtle suggestions that pass through my mind that are the most powerful (whether good or evil).  Sometimes even what I think is a well-reasoned conclusion, can be fraught with error if the reasoning is not based in Truth.  How very powerful are all our thoughts!  It’s no wonder that it is in our thoughts, in our mind, where the devil seeks to first, gain influence and then ultimately, control. 

I think it is very clear in Romans 12:1-2 that I am to learn to think how God thinks.  The more I train my mind to think like God thinks, the more I am able to discern His will.  It is also clear that changing the way I think is a process, not something that will happen instantaneously.  Nonetheless, it is a command, an instruction from God’s Word—do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

I have learned how to use several different tools in my quest to renew my mind and to change the way that I think.  The most important one of these tools is really a pair of ideas that work together—memorization of and meditation on Scripture.  There is absolutely no substitute for this dynamic duo if I am truly seeking to renew my mind.  Memorization gives the Truth a permanent home in my mind, while meditation gives me understanding of that Truth as the Holy Spirit of God brings it to my heart.

As for memorization, I have tried a lot of different ideas—Scripture written on note cards placed in strategic places like in the car, on the bathroom mirror, etc.  I have also simply compiled a list of scriptures in a document that I use during my quiet time.  If it is a particularly long passage, I will typically just memorize one short segment at a time.  Although very short, something as simple as “If God is for us, who is against us?” holds tremendous power!  I have been amazed at how often God will bring to mind those memorized passages in situations when I need that particular encouragement or reminder or strength.

Meditation is what makes memorization so effective.  It is one thing if I have an intellectual grasp of a passage from God’s Word, but it is an entirely different thing for God to reveal to me a personal Truth and give me understanding.  This is what meditation does.  I get quiet before the Lord and ask Him to speak to me through His Word, and a Scriptural passage “comes alive” in my heart.  I get wisdom, I understand.  My mind is being renewed.