Changing The Tape

At times my mind is a war zone. Random thoughts plague me and I find myself in a battle. I know that the enemy is seeking to destroy me with his lies.

The lies come in all kinds of forms. Lies about my past, the present and the future. Lies about who I am, how I look and what I do. Lies about God and my relationship with Him. Lies about my friendship and relationship. In fact I find the areas that the enemy wants to destroy most is our relationships. If he can cause problems with those we love and make us feel things that aren't true then he can isolate us, get us alone and then the lies come on in full force.

One of the ways I have learned to battle the war that often rages in my mind is to Change the pattern of what I am thinking. God's word says that I am to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". (2 Cor 10:5)

In order to take captive my thoughts sometimes I need to take out whatever "tape" is playing in my mind and put in a new one. Because the tape that is currently in there just keeps replaying the "whatever the enemy is whispering at that moment". The current "tape" is filled with lies that just keep replaying the same thing over and over. So I'll stop and say to myself "Sharon, you need to change the tape".

But Sometimes I must admit that I need my girlfriends to tell me that my thoughts are all wrong and I am believing lies. Especially when the same tape is playing over and over and somehow I've missed the fact that I have been playing the wrong one. :-)

So what do I fill the "new tape" filled with? The Truth of God's Word. It's the Word of God that speaks Truth to our minds. I think about whatever is true,noble,right, pure, lovely, whatever is admirable. I think about anything is excellent or praiseworthy, these are the thougths that I need to focus on. (phil 4:8) Theses are the things that need to be playing on my tape. So I fill the new tape with scripture, worship music...anything that keeps my focus on God, His Word, His character and off lies, me, suffering etc...

So next time you find that your mind is battling with the lies of the enemy-stop and change the tape! The more we get into the habit of "changing the tape' and refocusing our thoughts on Christ the greater the habit becomes to have a mind that is steadfast.

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he
trusts in you. Is 26:3

Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; Ps 26:2

Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus... Heb. 3:1