“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).
TEXT — Matthew 15:10-20
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies”
Message
Psychologists declare that ten thousand thoughts go through the human mind in one day. These approximate to three million, five hundred thousand a year. Robert H. Schuller asserts that “It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.”
The mind is Satan’s battleground. He knows how important it is to have a clean, renewed and victorious mind, and strives daily to prevent that from happening. The extent to which Satan can influence our thoughts is the extent to which he can control our actions, and hinder us from receiving from God. Many people are influenced by what they see, hear, feel, or think. Jesus pointedly affirms that what defiles a person before God is not the failure to follow some ceremonial law, but the willingness to incline towards depraved disposition in the heart such as evil thoughts, adulteries, fornication, murder, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, pride, and foolishness. The passage thus shows the seriousness of sin in the heart of man, and that can only be neutralised through regeneration and the cleansing by the blood of Jesus.
This age of the Internet and social media has increased the pressure that Satan exerts on the minds of the average person through the circulation of unsolicited negative videos, disinformation, misinformation, and concocted online stories capable of polluting the mind, enslaving our thoughts and weakening our faith in God. If we are to have and maintain the victory in this invisible warfare, the Bible challenges us to guide our hearts with all diligence because out of our hearts are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). Equally, we are expected to cast “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” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Make up your mind and pray for victory!
Thought for the day
Christ has since won the battle; we’re only administering the victory.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
1 comment
It’s been amazing since I started using the audio DM. This audio DM is indeed very helpful for everyone.
May God bless the team behind this innovation.
It’s been amazing since I started using the audio DM. This audio DM is indeed very helpful for everyone.
May God bless the team behind this innovation.