The Delivered Mind

The Bible speaks frequently about freedom and deliverance. In both the Old and New Testaments, there are awe-inspiring stories about the power of God delivering His people from slavery, bondage, and oppression. God was in the business of deliverance back then, and He is still in the business of deliverance today!

That same delivering power resides within us as believers to enable ourselves and others to walk in complete and total freedom. With the Holy Spirit living inside us and the authority we carry in the name of Jesus, we should be thinking, living, and speaking with “power, love, and a sound mind” (see 2 Tim. 1:7). However, the enemy works diligently in these last days to bring fear, confusion, and oppression into the minds of God’s people. Having knowledge of, and operating in, the authority the Lord has given us is key to weaponizing ourselves against the enemy’s attacks on our minds.

First Corinthians 2:16 says, “For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [to be guided by His thoughts and purposes]” (AMP). How amazing it is to realize that we have the same mind as Jesus! When we allow our minds to be guided by the thoughts and purposes of the Lord, we are victorious inwardly and outwardly in all we think and do. The very fact that we have the mind of Jesus means that we never have to settle for a thought-life that is ensnared by the enemy’s voice or try to justify wandering thoughts that become vain imaginations. Why, then, do we so often find ourselves on the roller-coaster ride of a troubled mind and anxious thoughts?

The mind controls our will and emotions. As soon as a thought enters our mind, our emotions begin to align with that thought, whether good or bad. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth” (NKJV). When our minds are fixated on the Lord, we remember His goodness, His promises, and His faithfulness. Our thoughts and our knowledge about the Lord will begin to dictate our emotions, bringing us peace and driving out fear and anxiety. Remembering the goodness of God daily will renew our faith, confidence, and hope in Jesus, even in the worst of circumstances.

The enemy, however, seeks to bring our thought life into captivity, causing us to be unaware of the Holy Spirit’s daily working in and through us to accomplish His will. When we don’t have a clear distinction and discernment of the voice of the Holy Spirit, the enemy will use deception to make us feel like the Lord is condemning , rejecting , ignoring , and shaming us. Before long, we have a mind that is bound, frustrated, and confused. But God wants to bring deliverance to our minds. He wants to bring freedom and liberation to our way of thinking!

Second Corinthians 10:3-5 says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (NKJV).

The enemy does not build a stronghold in the minds of God’s people overnight. It’s a slow, gradual process that starts when they come into agreement with a lie he has told them. The enemy will speak lies (every high thing) contrary to the uniqueness and identity that God created them in (exalting itself against the knowledge of God), and he attempts to convince them to come into agreement with that lie. This usually results in a person speaking and living out that lie­; in essence, declaring those things over themselves. The enemy uses negative circumstances, words spoken by others, and a person’s own mistakes and failures to accuse, condemn, and build up strongholds of shame, guilt, and unworthiness. These strongholds keep people captive to their thoughts, becoming a heavy burden and a yoke around them.

But praise be to God, that through the power of Jesus we can tear down every stronghold that the enemy builds in our mind! Second Corinthians 10 tells us that we can take the weapons of our warfare and use them to put every lie of the enemy under our feet! (See vv. 3-5.) We have both the Word of God and the power of our decree to go from being captives to conquerors in the way we think, which then becomes the way we talk and live.

John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (NKJV).

When we know the truth—the Word of God—we are liberated and set free! There is deliverance taking place in our minds every time we read Scripture. When we fill our minds with the Word daily, that truth begins to shine a light on every lie and deception of the enemy. The Word­, which is “alive and active” (Heb. 4:12, NIV), goes to work in our thoughts to expose and bring into captivity every fiery dart the enemy has tried to throw at us. When the Word of God brings the exposure, we are able to grab hold of that thought, line it up with the Word, and cast it down and out of our minds. This won’t happen by reading one or two Scriptures and not picking up our Bible for days or weeks; this will only happen by reading the Bible daily until we know the truth, hide it in our hearts, and it makes us free!

The next way we tear down strongholds and bring deliverance to our minds is by prayer and the power of our words. The enemy understands how powerful our voices are. Scripture says that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21, NKJV). We were made in the image and likeness of God and given a voice to create, edify, and prophesy, as well as to legislate the Kingdom of heaven and demolish the works of the enemy. When the enemy begins to cloud our mind with lies, confusion, or anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, we need to use the most powerful tool we have against him; The Word of God in our mouths! We can rebuke the enemy with Scripture by speaking the Word of God over our life, family, job, marriage, and all our circumstances. We can prophesy God’s promises into our future, and as we do, God’s peace and love will consume our thoughts and minds. When we make this a daily habit, our words begin to bring our thoughts, will, and emotions into alignment with the Word of God that we have hidden in our hearts, and we will walk in freedom and victory, no matter what the enemy brings our way.

The presence of the Lord is a place of deliverance for your mind. Psalms 32:7 says, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance” (NKJV). There is no consuming thought or demonic stronghold that the presence of God will not bring you out of when you fix your mind on Him. Today, commit to filling your heart with His Word, decreeing and declaring His promises, and taking every thought captive, and you will go from captive to conqueror with a free and delivered mind! Victory is yours!