Our minds constantly receive information from different sources that shape and influence our daily lives. If we don’t control and leverage this traffic of ideologies and knowledge, we will be unable to control and determine the outcome of our lives. One of the utmost responsibilities we have as human beings is to protect our mindsProverbs 4:23 (ESV) “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Whatever we allow in our minds will find expression in our lives. Not only affecting us but those around us. This shows us that depression starts as a thought. Now, the word “guard” is defensive, implying that there’s an offense. And indeed, there’s an ongoing attack against the mind launched by our adversary, satan.
In her book, “HEALING YOUR DEPRESSION,” Apostle L’Tanya C. Perry, MDiv. wrote, “Whatever gets the body begins from the mind; as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. A man can never be more prominent than his thoughts/belief system. If you want to end up big, work on your mind. The devil knows this, so he begins to fight us from our minds.
The devil places ideas in our minds that make us think we are less than what God says about us, and over time the person begins to accept defeating thoughts. In return, the person lives in a defeated mindsetlike it’s a normal state of being. The devil magnifies negative situations in our minds and makes us believe that we cannot overcome them.That is why the Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV), “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.” The natural human mind is contrary to God’s plans and will. It needs to be regenerated and transformed to align with God’s plan and will.
The believer that desires to live above the devastating and crippling effects of depression must learn to cast down imaginations. Our enemy doesn’t come to us in evident confrontation. He disguises his fiery darts of mass destruction in seemingly ordinary thoughts. But the Bible shows us how to identify the enemy’s assault.
Any thought that doesn’t glorify God is a weapon against your life. If it exalts itself against what you know about God, it needs to be attacked with prayer and the Word. For instance, thoughts of sickness and defeat are high thoughts that exalt themselves. Why? Because the Bible says you are healed by the stripes of Jesus and that you are more than a conqueror.
So, when you feel lonely and abandoned, arrest that thought with God’s Word. Make it bow before the ageless truth, which God will never leave you nor forsake you, and Christ is with you till the end of the age. This practice is important because thoughts that are not taken into captivity become satan’s strongholds in our lives.
Do you want to learn more about how to overcome depression and live a life full of laughter and fulfillment? Then get this life-transforming book, HEALING YOUR DEPRESSION by Apostle L’Tanya C. Perry, MDiv.