We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us…I have given you an amazing gift, the freedom to choose. You may choose to think about anything you wish. I am asking that you choose to think about Me. Today, let your goal be to capture every thought and bring it to Me. Wherever your mind wanders, lasso those thoughts and show them to Me. Having anxious thoughts? They shrivel up and disappear when My Light shines on them. Having confused thoughts? My Peace will untangle them. Starting to think you’re better than someone else? My unconditional Love will help you see that I love all My children, and so should you.
Jesus Concludes…Keep your thoughts focused on Me so that you can enjoy My Peace.
2 Corinthians 10:5; Psalm 8:5; Genesis 1:26-27; Isaiah 26:3
Footnotes 2 Corinthians 10:5 Paul uses military terminology to describe this warfare against sin and Satan. God must be the commander in chief, even our thoughts must be submitted to his control if we want to survive the spiritual warfare all around us. Spirit-empowered believers must capture every thought and yield it to Christ. When exposed to ideas or opportunities that might lead to wrong desires or harmful beliefs, we have a choice. We can recognize the danger and turn away, or we can allow unhealthy thoughts to take us captive. We capture our fantasies and desires when we honestly admit them to the Lord and ask him to redirect our thinking. Ask God to give you the discernment to keep your thoughts focused on his truth.
Passage Psalm 8:5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.
Footnotes Psalm 8:3-5 When we look at the vast expanse of creation, we wonder how God could show concern for people who constantly disappoint him. Yet God created us only a little lower than himself and the angels! The next time you question your worth as a person, remember that God considers you highly valuable. We have great worth, because we bear the stamp of the Creator. (See Genesis 1:26-27 for the extent of worth God has placed on all people.) Because God has already declared how valuable we are to him, we can be set free from feelings of worthlessness.
Passage Genesis 1:26-27 26Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them.
Footnotes Genesis 1:26-27 26 In what ways are we made in God’s image? God obviously did not create us exactly like himself, because God has no physical body. Instead, we are reflections of God’s glory and character. Some feel that our reason, creativity, moral capacity, speech, or self-determination is the image of God. More likely, “the image of God” describes our entire self, not just one part of us. We will never be totally like God, because he is our supreme creator. But we do have the ability to reflect his character in our love, patience, forgiveness, kindness, and faithfulness. Knowing that we are made in God’s image and thus share many of his characteristics provides a solid basis for self-worth. Human worth is not based on possessions, achievements, physical attractiveness, or public acclaim. Instead, it is based on being made in God’s image, which gives us an unshakeable reason to feel positive about ourselves. Criticizing or downgrading ourselves is criticizing what God has made and the abilities he has given us. Knowing that you are a person of worth, helps you love God, know him personally, and treat others as his image bearers. 27God made both man and woman in his image. Neither one is made more in the image of God than the other. From the beginning, the Bible places both man and woman at the pinnacle of God’s creation. Neither gender is exalted over the other, and neither is depreciated. Our identity is given to us by God. It is not defined by culture, experience, or environment, he has the prior claim to us. Thus, he is Lord of our gender and sexuality.
Passage Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Footnotes Isaiah 26:3 We can never avoid strife in the world around us, but when we fix our thoughts on God, we can experience perfect peace, even in turmoil. As we focus our minds on God and hold on to his Word, we become steady and stable. Supported by God’s unchanging love and mighty power, we are not shaken by the surrounding chaos (see Philippians 4:7). Do you long for peace? Keep your thoughts on God and your trust in him.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
In the Word and the World, we see His Story. Muhammed
Muhammed Circa 570-632
Sunset prayers at Mecca
Saudi Arabia, sunset prayers at the Sacred Mosque. In a volatile age there emerged a serene, strong leader, who bequeathed to his people a treatise so moving and wise, that it became the bedrock of one of the world’s great faiths, Islam. Muhammad said that he was merely the agent. The Koran was the word of Allah, offered to him by an angel. Who was Muhammad, and how did he come to be selected? He was descended from Abraham through Ishmael, in a line that included many prophets, but none after him, for he was destined to be the Seal of the Prophets. Muhammad was born nearly six centuries after another great philosopher, Jesus of Nazareth, had spawned a cult that bloomed into a durable religion. As with Jesus, there was little in Muhammad’s early years, except perhaps his name, which means “highly praised”, to indicate that this man would found a discipline for the ages.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
Mecca, a desert city in what is now Saudi Arabia, was a sea of strife in the late 6th century, and when Muhammad’s parents died while he was still a boy, he was adopted by an uncle. Muslim tradition tells us that Muhammad’s heart was infused in his youth with love, charity and all manner of virtuousness. A benign soul, working in the caravan trade, he married at age 25, it would be another 15 years before he began preaching in earnest. What happened in the interval is crucial. He went regularly to a cave outside Mecca to contemplate, to question the beliefs of his age and to pray. In the cave, an angel came to him and charged Muhammad to “Proclaim!”, which he did in the words Allah dictated to him for the remaining 22 years of his life. In Medina Muhammad built his following, and eventually challenged Mecca for the soul of Arabia and won. In the century after he died in 632, Muslim armies washed over Armenia, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Persia, Spain, Syria and most of North Africa, including Egypt. Muhammad gave the Arabs a religion, which today is the second largest in the world.
Source: https://www.life.com/history/lifes-100-people-who-changed-the-world/Page 22