Controlling Your Thoughts - Bridling Your Tongue Requirements to Ensure Your Salvation
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author
In order to know and to hear from God requires that we control our thoughts and our tongue.
2 Corinthians 10
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;
Satan is a liar. He will use any and all he can to lie to you, to deceive you, and to manipulate you so that you will not know or even believe in God. If Satan is successful you blame God for all that is bad or that goes wrong in your life.
Satan uses our thoughts against us. What we do not realize until we are taught (very few teach it) is that we get thoughts from only one of two sources. You can not have thoughts from both simultaneously. Either they are forced on us by what we hear, see, and read from the world (Satan), or we seek those thoughts that are of God.
Matthew 6
33. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Here is a composite of what I have received many times on the Net from different people:
"I've been down, cause I lost my father (brother, sister, mother) and it’s been hard for me to get over it, because I keep thinking about them. I miss them very much and I can't help feeling mad and hurt that God took them away. I even get mad at Him because I feel that He has let me down and doesn't seem to understand my feelings."
Satan has gotten it into many that it is God, who takes people away and causes bad or evil things to happen to us. This belief started by someone teaching one verse based on misunderstanding that verse:
Job 1
8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Most read the above as God pointing out Job to Satan for Satan to test him, but actually it is God asking Satan what his intention was for Job.
Here it is from the Literal:
8.
|0559| And said
|3068| Yahweh
|0000| to
|7854| Satan,
|7760| Have you set
|3824| your heart
|5650| on My servant
|0347| Job?
|3588| For
|0369| not is {any}
|0000| like him
|0776| in the earth,
|0376| a man
|8535| perfect
|3477| and upright,
|3373| revering
|0430| God
|5186| and turning away
|7451| from evil.
Those who teach this back it up with:
Job 1
21. And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
22. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
It was not God who did this, but Job was true in his statement that we enter with nothing and we leave with nothing. God gives us all we have and He could (does not mean He will) take it away.
Where Job messed up was in allowing in fear for Satan to mess with him and God had to allow it.
Job 3
25. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
What did Job fear?
Job 1
5. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Job sacrificed for his children out of fear that they had sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Job did not say he knew they had done it, just that he feared they had, because Satan planted the thought in his mind. Satan does this to get us to trip and fall as did Job.
The point is everything we learn, hear, read, or know is first of the world. For some it may only be 10-20 years of the world before they start getting the word. For others it can be 30, 40 or more years. The point is out of all those years we have been totally saturated with the lies and deceptions from Satan via thoughts either directly or via the teachings or word of others.
John 14
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Jesus said we are to be taught all things, not just the things of God or some things, but all things by the Holy Spirit (Ghost). Put that with what Paul said about casting down all imaginations (thoughts, ideas, imaginations) that go against the KNOWLEDGE of God, and taking the rest into captivity to the obedience of Christ (which is the Spirit in, on and through us).
So what we know is that we have to seek God's thoughts and knowledge or we are saturated in those of the world (Satan) then we have to overcome the thoughts and lies of the world. We are to be taught all things by God as we control our thoughts, cast down all that are not of God, and only allow those of God as He teaches us.
For those of you who are not sure or think this is a bunch of hog wash, think about this–what would make a woman abuse or kill the children she carried in her for nine months? It could be that the woman in question got a thought (one most would cast down any way) but for some reason she does not and she dwelt on it and in time acted. The thought was to kill the children, that they were better off dead. Or it could have been that she heard a voice that she thought was God and not knowing she must verify who she is hearing from (I John 4:1-3) to make sure it is God, she just took it as being God. So she tells the court that God told her to do it and she was just being obedient.
Remember–if it does not deal with love, is confusing, involves hate, racism, unforgiving, judging, condemning, anything but the love of God, then it is Satan.
What comes next is as important as controlling our thoughts and that is controlling our tongue.
Mark 11
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.
Many want Mark 11:23 to come to pass in their life and never realize it already has. If we go around professing that we are sick, we are then sick. If we go around professing that we are broke, then we are broke. Jesus said that what ever we believe and say we believe, we will have. The problem is that we have no trouble believing the negative over the positive, so we spend 99.9% professing the negative over the positive.
James 1:26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion [is] vain.
We can not listen, hear from God and control our thoughts unless we are controlling our tongue as well. That is because what we say is proof of what is in our heart. Until we replace all the doubt and unbelief with belief, faith, and the truth (which will take time) our tongue will undo all we are trying to do.
Proverbs 4
24. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Solomon said that this is a good doctrine, That means it is not something we learn and then move on to the next thing to learn, but it is part of our life 24/7.
Proverbs 4
2. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
Jesus even warned and told about those who give only lip service, meaning they believe one thing but say another, so they are lying.
Matthew 15
8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Below are a few verses from Proverbs. Remember Proverbs gives more insight into wisdom of God and the folly of man than any other book of the Bible.
Proverbs 18
7. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
Those who do not control their tongue, but allow it to go on as it always has, will show what a true fool he or she is in God.
Proverbs 18
21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
With our words we speak death and life. If you say enough times over a period of time that you are dead or dying you will die before your time.
Proverbs 16
23. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.
Wise are those who learn to control their thoughts and tongue, then wait until they have the words of life to speak are.
Proverbs 15
4. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Each of us has a spirit (man) in us and the older we get with nothing more than the world and its ways the more the spirit (man) becomes weaker and weaker so the flesh has control over both our soul and spirit (man).
John 4
30. Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31. In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
The words of God"s mouth are more filling than all the meat of the world, but until we learn that we need to fill our spirit (man) with food as well as our body, we will never understand this or anything else of God.
Matthew 4
4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
How long can your body go without food? 20, 30 maybe 40 days? Imagine your spirit (man) has only been fed once or twice in your first 10, 20 or more years and at best a morsel here and there. How healthy would your spirit be?
Since the beginning, man has rejected God for a man to be in authority over him. In the wilderness Israel asked Moses to hear from God and bring it to them instead of God talking directly to them. Then later when they entered the Promised Land they asked to have a man as king instead of God as king and ended up with Saul. Today men and women go to a man or woman of God to hear what the word says when they are supposed to be that man or woman of God.
Ephesians 2
8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.
We are saved by grace through faith, so if you have no faith, you have no salvation.
Hebrews 11
6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The only way to be saved is by grace through faith. The only way to please God is by faith, so if we do not have faith we are not saved and we are not pleasing to God.
Romans 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Faith is "absolute trust in, confidence in, and reliance on The Anointed (Christ) for salvation (saving from whatever it is you need saving)".
It should read as–Faith comes by listening, and understanding by Jesus (John 1:14–and the word became flesh) of God.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
The reason that you are not healed is because you profess your problem not the solution to your problem. You have forgotten that we are created in His image and that He spoke all things into creation. He gave us dominion over the earth so that even He had to come in the flesh to have authority here to save us. Once we realize the truth about this we realize He gave us the power by the words of our mouth, not just to show what is in our heart, but to speak life or death.
Those who have dedicated themselves to God started by seeking Him, His kingdom, His righteousness, His will, and His thoughts. They cast down all that is against Him and only accept that which is truth and of Him. They profess only that which is or will be of life and prosperity.
On the flip side there are those who go about professing that they are sick, broke, in debt, lacking, have issues dealing in all areas that are negative. By doing this they are showing that their spirit (man) is weak and their flesh is in control. They believe the reports of the world, doctors, etc over what God says.
If you do the above, in time you will be blessed in your relationship with Him and you will be healed, delivered, and prosperous not to mention saved.
Here is a way to start:
Understand that the more you do this the sooner you will hear and get control of your thoughts and tongue. That means instead of just once a day you do it twice or more a day.
While doing the above and until God can guide you so you will not have confusion, conflicting views, or beliefs you need to do the following:
What to avoid while doing this:
I know, I just eliminated most of the technology of today. By the way be sure not to listen to the news either.
Another one I recommend highly to avoid is church. Until you can hear from God and know what is true and what is not you can not afford to allow anything in that would stop you, set you back, or slow you down with their doubt, unbelief, or false teachings.
Before you say, "This is too much!" Can you honestly say you know what is in the heart of another? Those who followed Jim Jones to their deaths in Africa as well as those of Heaven’s Gate, or David Koresh in Waco thought they did.
This is not permanent. It is just until you are hearing well enough from God to be able to seek from Him what to indulge in or avoid.
Satan will try his best to get you back into your church, to talk to others, and share what you are learning. For the most part it will not seem to be of Satan and as such you can be confused into believing it is of God. Satan does this to distract us, to fill our time with other things so we do not have the time for this. Remember when you hear well from God, Satan knows he has lost you.
Romans 8
16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Isaiah 10
27. And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
Christ is a Greek word that, in English, means "The Anointed" or "The Anointing". In Isaiah 10:27 we saw what the Anointing will do, totally destroy the chains, and remove our burdens.
A sponge that is soaked in water when lifted will drip water, because it is anointed with water.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Jesus said He was anointed with the Spirit of God. So if He is the Christ, then those of Christ (Christian) are suppose to be anointed with the Spirit of God which means of God.
John 4
24. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Matthew 15
11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
Many still following the law are more concerned with what goes in than what comes out of the mouth.
Matthew 12
36. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.