How to Control Your Thoughts: What the Bible Says 2 Corinthians 10:1-5
Light on Life Podcast artwork for “How to Control Your Thoughts: What the Bible Says,” featuring an open Bible radiating light into a human mind, symbolizing God’s Word overcoming negative thoughts and renewing the mind.
Have you ever noticed how one thought can change the direction of your entire day? Everything can be going along just fine, and then here comes a thought—a negative thought, a doubtful thought, a thought that challenges what God has said. Now, here's the question—what are you going to do with that thought? Are you going to entertain it, give it room to grow, and allow it to talk you out of believing God? Or are you going to take charge of your thinking? You see, believing God's Word is one thing, but holding on to what you've believed when contrary thoughts come knocking is another. And that's what we're going to look at today—how to control your thoughts so that doubt and unbelief don't gain a foothold in your life. So grab your Bible and let’s jump into How to Control Your Thoughts: What the Bible Says, all on this week’s Light on Life.
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This Week: Discover how to control doubtful thoughts, take them captive through God's Word, and stand firm in faith.
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Accept the Challenge
Examine Your Heart. Capture Your Thoughts.
Jesus knew what the scribes were thinking before they ever spoke a word. Their thoughts were contrary to the truth standing right in front of them.
Here's your challenge this week: Examine the thoughts you're allowing to occupy your heart. When a thought contradicts God's Word, don't entertain it. Go back to the Scripture, take that thought captive, and refuse to let doubt move you away from what God has said.
Cast it down. Stand your ground.
Scripture:
Matthew 9:2–4 (KJV)
2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.
3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
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Each week's podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week's question:
Join This Conversation
Question:
Have you ever had a doubtful thought challenge something you were believing God for? What did you do with it? Did you entertain it, or did you go back to God's Word?
Share:
What Scripture has helped you stand your ground when contrary thoughts tried to move you away from what God said? I'd like to hear from you. Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments.
Remember:
Your experience may help another Jesus follower stand firm in faith. We grow stronger together when we encourage one another to hear what God said, believe what God said, and take our stand on His Word.
About Emery and Sharon
For nearly five decades, Emery has devoted his life to helping people grow in Christ through the power of the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Together with his wife, Sharon — his partner in life and ministry for 44 years — he equipped believers to live Spirit-filled, practical lives of faith.
At the heart of the mission is this: helping believers apply God's words so faith becomes active and unstoppable.
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Podcast Notes:
Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray.
Father God, grant unto us today, a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know you better. May your Word run freely and fully through our lives in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
How Doubt and Unbelief Gain a Foothold in Your Thought Life
So in last week’s podcast, we focused our attention on how doubt and unbelief are not the same thing.
We established that from the Word of God.
Doubt wavers over what it believes, while unbelief refuses to believe what God has said in the first place.
Peter believed enough to walk on the water but then he doubted.
The people of Nazareth heard Jesus teach and rejected His words—that’s unbelief.
Even Jesus’ own disciples had pockets of unbelief that Jesus addressed.
But here is a question we need to answer—how do doubt and unbelief get a foothold in our lives?
That’s a great question—think about it.
Peter, in his moment of doubt, shifted his attention from Jesus to the wind and the waves.
The double-minded waverer in James chapter one entertained the raging wave train of ‘what ifs.’
The disciples heard Jesus talk about His death and resurrection three times, but only half-believed what He said.
Do you see the thread that runs through all these examples?
Their thought lives affected what they believed and what they were willing to cling to.
And that brings us to this piece of spiritual real estate—you cannot allow your thoughts to run wild while expecting your faith to stand.
Paul gives us some powerful insight into this in 2 Corinthians 10:1–5.
There he talks about pulling down strongholds, casting down imaginations, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
The controlled mind is part of the Jesus life.
So, if we are going to deal successfully with unbelief, refuse the vacillating life of the doubter, and cling to God’s Word, we must also deal with the thoughts that feed doubt and unbelief.
What you think matters.
What you refuse to think matters as well.
So—Cast it down. Stand your ground.
So, let’s jump into this today.
Thinking Starts in the Heart
Mark 11:23 (KJV) — 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Focus on the phrase ‘and shall not doubt in his heart.’
Now hear what Jesus says about thoughts and the heart.
Matthew 9:2–4 (KJV) — 2 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. 3 And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
The scribes Jesus encountered on this day were of the unbelieving variety.
They thought that Jesus was speaking blasphemy.
Really?—Jesus, the logos of God—the very Word of God wrapped in human flesh—the one whose words are spirit and life, speaking blasphemy?
What a serious contradictory inward thought.
To know how serious these words are, blasphemy is what the priests accused Jesus of at his trial before the religious world.
Their judgment for these words was the death penalty.
At its core, the word blasphemy [blasphēmeō] carries the idea of speaking against someone in such a way as to harm or injure his or her reputation.[1. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 433.]
So the scribes, purveyors of empty religion, accused Jesus of defaming God’s reputation by saying that the Son of Man could forgive sins.
Jesus called them on it by saying, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?”
The word evil [ponēros] is all that’s wrong with the world.
Here it is plural and so it means evil things.
Why are you thinking evil things in your heart?
Did you know that evil thinking comes from the heart?
We’ve already seen in Mark 11:23 that doubts come from the heart.
Listen to the Wuest translation of thinking evil in your heart.
**Matthew 9:3–4 (WUESTNT) — 3 And behold, certain of those men learned in the sacred scriptures said in themselves, This fellow is guilty of impious and reproachful speech injurious to the divine majesty of deity. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Why are you thinking pernicious (means evil) things in your hearts?…
What we are establishing from this is that thoughts don’t just come out of your head but from the heart.
So, controlling your thinking starts with the heart.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said.
Matthew 5:8 (NASB 2020) — 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
A heart that’s pure thinks pure.
A heart that thinks right—believes right.
So, thinking is an inside job.
When Wrong Thinking Attacks What Is Spiritual
2 Corinthians 10:1–2 (KJV) — 1 Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: 2 But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh.
In these first two verses, Paul sets the table for dealing with thoughts.
Notice the phrase, ‘wherewith I think to be bold against some.’
The idea behind the words I think [logizomai] is that of intention.
Paul is calculating out loud: “I intend to be bold if the need arises.”
Why is Paul thinking about being bold?
Because these so-called hyper-spiritual apostles were thinking [logizomai]—same Greek word—that Paul was walking according to the flesh.
I’m talking about thoughts now.
So whose thoughts were right?—Paul or these so-called super-apostles?
We’ll find out here in a minute.
Let’s pick up the rest of Paul’s statement—he said ‘I think to be bold.’
Being bold is not a loud verbal display.
Boldness [tharreō] here is confidence and certainty.
Paul’s boldness is bordered by meekness and gentleness.
You see, real boldness is never arrogance.
So in simple terms Paul says:
“Now, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“I intend to address this critical spirit of my adversaries.”
They were saying that Paul was walking according to the flesh.
Does the word blasphemy now come up in your thinking?
You see no one knew at that time that this letter that Paul was writing to the Corinthians was going to make the first edition of the New Testament.
The super-spiritual apostles were not so spiritual after all.
Paul’s writing was NOT of the flesh but of the Spirit.
For all Scripture has the inspiration or breath of God on it.
So the super-apostles, who were criticizing Paul were upsetting the Church with their slander.
If they had the spirituality they claimed, they would have recognized Paul.
Spiritual recognizes spiritual.
1 Corinthians 2:12–13 (NASB 2020) — 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
So you see, the Corinthians had a thinking problem.
They were listening to the wrong voices and reaching the wrong conclusions.
Now we are headed to verse three of 2 Corinthians 10.
Spiritual Warfare: The Battle and Its Weapons
2 Corinthians 10:3 (KJV) — 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:
Ah, here is some military language worth noting.
We war not after the flesh.
We means you—the Jesus follower.
Paul was involved in a war and so are you in your life and ministry.
The word war [strateuō], in 2 Corinthians 10:3, describes a soldier engaged in battle.
Now, ask yourself—“How serious is war?”
It’s very serious—it’s life or death serious.
Now, what’s all the commotion about?
I mean we are just Jesus followers going to church, aren’t we?
You’ll see the answer to this question in a moment.
Now there is no effective fighting without weapons.
Even when the children of Israel went out to battle against the enemy in 2 Chronicles 20 with the singers leading the way, they had weapons.
They were worship weapons—but they were weapons nonetheless.
Verse four speaks of the ‘weapons of our warfare.’
2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV) — 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
Weapons [hoplon] are instruments used for fighting or military engagement.
Warfare [strateia] is a military campaign designed to achieve a specific objective in a foreign country.
All of this battle—warfare-weapon imagery paints a picture of a siege.
A siege is what’s going on right now with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.
It’s where a blockade is put in place to cause an enemy to surrender with the passage of time.
Think of a castle being encircled if you want a historic image of a siege.
Nothing comes in—nothing goes out.
So, we’ve got the picture now— a military operation with distinct weapons.
Not earthbound weapons—no those are carnal human instruments of war.
The believers’ weapons are not of this world.
Now, we have yet to identify the enemy.
Who is this rascal that has garnered so much attention?
Identifying the Believer’s Enemy
2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) — 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
There it is—BANG—the enemy: imaginations, high things, and thoughts.
The unholy trinity of the mental realm.
And with that thought, here is the Illustration of the Day.
You must know who your enemy is to fight a winning battle.
On January 28, 2024, an enemy drone attacked an American military outpost called Tower 22 in Jordan.
At approximately the same time, an American surveillance drone was returning to the base.
The timing of the two drones contributed to confusion over the incoming threat.
The hostile drone got through.
It killed three American soldiers.
An Army investigation later identified failures in threat assessment, preparedness, and command decisions.
You cannot effectively fight an enemy you have failed to recognize.
So let’s identify these enemies of the Christian life.
Imaginations
Imaginations are first up in our military campaign.
We want to lay siege to these rascals of war.
Imaginations is a KJV word that gives the modern reader a wrong impression.
It was an appropriate translation for the 17th century, but 400 years later the word needs a refresh.
And with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
Behind the 400-year-old word imaginations stands the Greek word [logismos].
It carries the idea of reasonings based on cognitive reflection.
In this military context, the enemy we are laying siege against is the ‘citadel of reasoning.’
What’s wrong with reasoning?
Nothing, so long as yours is in line with God’s reasoning.
So Paul was ministering the Word of God to the Corinthians and these super-apostles, full of their own reasonings, took exception.
Mental reasoning is not Lord—Jesus is.
High Things
‘High Things’ are the next enemy a Jesus follower must confront.
‘High Things’ are proud things.
They rise up in opposition against the Word of God.
When you add pride to the calculated reasonings of the mind, you end up with arrogance.
If you know anything about the Scriptures, you understand that God is all out against prideful thinking.
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble—that’s a 1 Peter 5:5 fact.
Things are shaping up now, so let’s go to the last of the mental unholy trinity, thoughts.
Thoughts
Thoughts are the last enemy a Jesus follower has to deal with.
Thoughts [noēma] are the ideas, opinions, and conclusions produced by the mind.
You’ve probably heard that everyone has an opinion.
Just ask almost any person and they will tell you.
But when it comes to heaven and hell, the only opinion that counts is God’s.
When it comes to receiving from God, again, the only opinion that counts is His.
When it comes to living for God and what you should be doing with your time on earth, it’s not your opinion that counts—it’s God’s.
So, now we have the war—we have the weapons—and we have the enemy.
Now, just know that these three areas overlap each other.
We separated them so that we can look at each piece individually.
Now that we have done that, let’s see how we can be successful in our fight against this mental unholy trinity.
Let’s say it again—Cast it down. Stand your ground.
After You Believe You Receive: The Battle for Your Thoughts
Just to make sure that we are on the same page: we have been talking about the Prayer of Believing that You Receive.
We’ve looked at the example Jesus gave us of cursing the fig tree and how that applies to faith.
We saw Jesus apply that same lesson to the mountains in your life.
He said speak to the mountain and doubt not in your heart.
Now you understand what doubt is—what wavering looks and the instability it brings.
And you know how all of that concludes: ‘Let not that man think he will receive anything from the Lord.’
But here’s the thing—we want to receive from the Lord.
We want to believe that we receive, and once we do that, we have to stand against the thoughts that would cause us to give in, give up, or shut down.
To receive from the Lord, we must hold to His hand because, as Paul experienced, there are many enemies.
So there’s a problem in your life, and you have gone to God with the matter.
You have believed you received just like Jesus said.
Now you must stand against imaginations, high things, and thoughts.
Let’s get at this.
Cast Down Imaginations and High Things
Let’s read the Scripture again in 2 Corinthians 10.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) — 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God…
How do you deal with imaginations—those reasonings based on cognitive reflection?
What about high things—the pride that comes from these self-calculated reasonings?
The Scripture says that such things must be cast down [kathaireō].
There is nothing casual about this Greek word.
It is a violent word which means to destroy by tearing down or dismantling.
Remember that the context in these verses we have been looking at is war.
War is a violent matter.
Now Jesus followers are not to be violent—remember what Paul said, “By the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”
So Paul was not going to war with the super-apostles themselves.
He’s not going to beat them up or down.
Romans 13:10 (NASB 2020) — 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.
What Paul was going to destroy were the words that were coming out of their mouths.
Words are way more destructive than bombs, missiles, or any other kind of earth-bound weapons.
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, earthly or human, that’s for sure.
Now, here’s another nuance.
Paul was dealing with reasonings and the pride of other men.
But as we are dealing with receiving from God in the area of prayer, we are not dealing with others but ourselves.
We are dealing with the reasonings that arise within ourselves.
We are addressing the high things that we encounter in a world full of pride.
We are confronting the earth-bound wisdom paraded as common sense.
If there is anything that says to you that you will not receive the thing that you believed you received, just know—it’s a lie that must be destroyed.
Numbers 23:19 (NASB 2020) — 19 “God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
God never lies and that’s why it is so critical that you find scriptures that cover the thing you are asking.
In the Scriptures, the God that never lies has spoken.
So as you are standing on the Word in faith believing you receive, never allow a contrary mental picture to gain access to your thinking.
If reasonings manifest, take those calculations back to God’s Word.
Ask yourself—is my thinking in line with God’s Word?
Stop and think—Are human reasonings trying to gain access to my thought life and push out God’s Word?
Ponder the source of these calculated reasonings—where are they coming from?
Above all—Don’t hedge your bets.
Don’t reflect on reasonings.
Reflect instead on what the Lord said.
Think with the mind of Christ.
Keep your brain locked and loaded on God’s Word.
How do you do that?
Pay attention and incline your ear to God’s Word.
Proverbs 4:20–22 (NASB 2020) — 20 My son, pay attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 They are not to escape from your sight; Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.
These two phrases—pay attention to my words, incline your ear to my sayings are both commands that bring intensity to the idea of hearing.
The words pay attention [qāshab] means to attend.
Attending to something can mean giving something your full concentration.
So attending is not merely hearing a Scripture with your physical ears.
Attending to the Word means obeying the Word.
Why would you stand on the Word but not obey it?
It makes no sense.
Now, the word incline [nṭh] means to turn to.
When applied to the ear specifically, the verb means “to bend or turn (one’s ear) towards a speaker in order to listen well.”[2. Andrew E. Steinmann, Proverbs, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 143.]
Now in Hebrew, hearing and doing what you’re hearing are inseparable.
To hear a Scripture is to do it.
To do a Scripture is to have heard it.
Same deal either way.
So getting down to the heart of the matter: you are standing on a particular promise from God’s Word—you’ve heard it—you have obeyed it.
Now, some words contrary to what you’ve heard and are standing on flash across your mind.
What do you do?—cast down the thought—that means destroy it.
Do not entertain it.
If doubts persist—go back to the Scripture.
Do not try to fight in the mental realm—that is—do not fight thoughts with thoughts.
Fight thoughts with the Word.
Cast it down. Stand your ground.
Do not allow thoughts to linger.
Do not give them casual consideration.
Take it seriously.
These thoughts, whatever their source, are trying to talk you out of the promises of God.
They are trying to cause you to waver.
You already know, if you waver, you won’t receive.
Now, here’s the last piece.
Capturing Every Thought
2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) — 5 …and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
So now, the military imagery in our discussion of 2 Corinthians 10 reaches its climax in verse five.
The word captive [aichmalōtizō] brings us the idea of prisoners of war.
That’s exactly what the Greek word means.
Thoughts that contradict God’s Word must be jailed.
Wow!—what a concept.
Not only jailed, but how about throwing the key away?
Don’t let doubt loose—don’t allow it to make bail.
Keep negative thoughts locked up on death row.
Oh, if we could just get that, God’s fulfilled promises would flow into our lives.
Now the real key word here in this phrase is the word ‘every.’
Every means ‘all’ deflating, doubting, and discouraging thoughts.
Lock them up.
Again, do not allow a mental picture of failure to exist in your cranial cavity once you have believed God.
Look again at Abraham’s example.
I am going to give it to you out of Wuest’s translation.
This is really good!
Romans 4:19–21 (WUESTNT) — 19 And not being weak with respect to his faith, he attentively considered his own body permanently dead, he being about one hundred years old, also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Moreover, in view of the promise of God, he did not vacillate in the sphere of unbelief between two mutually exclusive expectations but was strengthened with respect to his faith, having given glory to God, and was fully persuaded that what He had promised with finality He was able also to do; wherefore also it was put down in his account, resulting in righteousness.
Abraham, the father of faith, is our example and your example for a successful prayer life.
He didn’t vacillate with respect to his faith.
You can go and do the same.
Cast it down. Stand your ground.
Putting Your Thoughts Under the Authority of God’s Word
So, how do we put all of this into practice?
I mean, it’s one thing to know that you should cast down imaginations and bring thoughts into captivity.
It’s another thing to actually do it when those thoughts come knocking on the door of your mind.
So, let’s make this practical.
You have a need in your life, and you’ve gone to God in prayer.
You’ve found the Scripture that covers your need.
You’ve believed that you received, just like Jesus said in Mark 11:24.
Now, here comes a thought—‘what if it doesn’t happen?’
Another thought comes—‘What if nothing changes?’
‘What if I missed God?’
Stop right there.
What did God say?
That’s the question you need to answer.
Not what your circumstances are saying.
Not what your feelings are telling you.
Not what your own mental calculations have concluded.
What did God say?
Go back to the Scripture you stood on when you prayed.
Give that Word your attention.
Incline your ear to what God has said.
And if the thought contradicts His Word, don’t invite it in for a cup of coffee.
Cast it down.
Don’t sit there and reason with doubt.
You already have God’s Word on the matter.
So take that contrary thought captive—lock it up.
Now, this is not something you do just once.
Every time a contrary thought presents itself, you have the same responsibility.
Bring your thinking back into agreement with God’s Word.
Start today.
Pay attention to the thoughts you’re allowing to occupy your mind.
Ask yourself—are these thoughts in line with what God has said?
If they are, wonderful—keep your attention on the Word.
If they’re not, you know what to do.
Cast it down. Stand your ground.
If this podcast helped you, consider sharing it with others.
You’ll find the Companion Study Guide and Teacher’s Guide for this episode on the Episode Resources page at emeryhorvath.com, as well.
Use those resources to go back through the Scriptures we covered today and get these truths down in your heart.
And remember the title of today’s podcast: “How to Control Your Thoughts: What the Bible Says.”
And join me next week as we continue to focus on the powerful realm of the thought life
So tune in next time.
You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.
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