Jesus paid the full redemption price on His Cross to release us from sin, sickness, satan, and the curse. He paid that price for ALL MEN and ALL OF MAN spirit, soul, and body. There is not one part of man’s being that was not covered. Freedom is ours in Christ Jesus. With that freedom comes a responsibility with regard to our soul (the mind, will, and emotions) that every Believer must participate in to fully experience their purchased freedom. We must control our thoughts and engage in the spiritual warfare that comes against us all in our thoughts. One area of this warfare is in learning to discern the SOURCE of our thoughts. There is a great example to illustrate this from Matthew 16:13-23.
Jesus asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that I am,” and then asked them who they said that He was. Peter by the revelation or unveiling by the Father had the right answer and said that, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God Matthew 16:13-17.” God revealed something to Peter, he heard it and spoke it out. Jesus discerned the source, even though Peter said it, was from the Father and not flesh and blood.
Moments later after Jesus explained how He must suffer, be killed, and resurrect Peter began to rebuke him and said, “Be it far from thee Lord.” Once again Peter heard something and spoke it out but it was satan’s whisper, satan’s lie and satan’s thought. Satan snuck his thought into Peter’s mind and he echoed it out. Jesus once again discerned its source, even though Peter spoke it, addressed satan.
Thoughts only come from living beings: human, heavenly, or hellish. Thoughts don’t come from inanimate objects like our clothes, the carpet, doors, lights, chairs…. We must discern the source of the thoughts that come to us. Just because we have a thought in our mind, it does not mean we should accept it or believe it is just our own thought. Every thought we think originates from a source and we MUST discern the SOURCE of all of our thoughts. The battle for our mind is won or lost right here in discerning the SOURCE. The more of God’s Word we have in our hearts the greater will be our discernment of thoughts (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is a discerner, a divider, a discriminator, and a separator of thoughts.
FOUR RESPONSIBILITIES WE HAVE OVER OUR THOUGHTS
We are to:
1. Discern the source of thoughts Matthew 16:13-23.
2. Bring into captivity every thought contrary to God’s Word 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
3. Sort thoughts Philippians 4:8.
4. Renew our minds with God’s thoughts Romans 12:1-3; Isaiah 55:8, 9.
Pastor John Rasicci is the founder and Pastor of Word of His Grace Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where we are building people who are building the Church. Pastor's ministry mission is to help people discover God's dream for their Life, the Local Church, and the Last Days' Harvest. With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
John Rasicci 
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