Taking every thought captive

I am downing the coffee today. 

Why? Because I am SO tired. Why am I so tired? I was up at 3 am.


No, not because Jackson needed me. And no, not because my husband was sleep talking (He's been known to yell humorous things in his sleep like "I don't want to be a Samuri."  HA! He will kill me for this when he reads this post) And no I wasn't awoken by a noisy neighbor, loud car, or helicopter flying over our house, and they do occasionally. 


I had a nightmare. Go on, you can chuckle. But in all seriousness, it was the SCARIEST DREAM I HAVE HAD IN YEARS.


It was the kind of nightmare that felt so real, that I woke up wondering if it really had happened. 


It's interesting how our minds can dream up false scenarios that illicit true emotions. I know my heart kept racing for at least an hour after the dream.  While I was lying there, I spent a good several minutes trying to think through why I would dream such a dream. (if you must know, the nightmare involved adam, a friend, a gun, and some shooting. That's all I will say). And all I could think of was the fact that there is sin in the world, and that there is sin in me, and yes, that there is sin in my mind. 


And I thought maybe I had entertained a fearful thought that had manifested itself into this nightmarish experience for me at 3 am. 


So what do you do when you know the enemy had made it into your thoughts? (Because I believe that's what he did in mine)  


³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6


Take your thoughts captive.


God has been teaching me over and over and over again about taking my thoughts captive. He is showing me how destructive my thoughts can/will be if I keep letting them do what they want. The enemy plants an idea in my mind and happily watches it grow. It's my job to monitor my thoughts and hold them up to the light of truth to see where they truly originate from. 

It's not an easy task to take your thoughts captive. It takes work. It takes effort and time. But not taking your thoughts captive can be incredibly destructive.  

When the sun made its appearance this morning, and I realized I had indeed fallen back asleep (thank goodness), I thought some more about my thoughts and how maybe the nightmare was indeed some sort of wake-up call. Was it fear or anxiety that I've just not dealt with, that manifested itself into this nightmare?  Maybe so. I'm working on it. 


Thank you Jesus for your word. And thank you for making me more than a conqueror. 


Are you taking your thoughts captive?


blessings,
Monica