For it is written

"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: 'He will command the angels concerning you...'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" ~ Matthew 4:6-7

Have you ever been bombarded by too many thoughts? I've been trying to practice taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5), but I keep tripping over other scriptures. For example, I know that I have been healed and week to week, there is definite physical improvement, but sometimes day to day, I have more pain. So, am I "picking it back up," as some would say, or is this part of the healing process? Have I relinquished my healing because I'm still feeling physical symptoms, or is God growing my faith to see if I will be faithful to keep walking out what He promised me and declared over me, even though my body hasn't caught up to what's already happened in the spiritual realm? These are the thoughts that keep plaguing my mind, but I also keep tripping over scriptures. For example, Jesus said, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you," (Matthew 17:20). However, the Bible also says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts," (Isaiah 55:9), and "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" (Romans 11:34).

Our enemy, the devil, is crafty. The Bible says that he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour, (see 1 Peter 5:8). Lions are king of the wilderness, they are mighty hunters, and they are ferocious beasts. They lay quiet and wait, studying their prey before they make a move. That's what our enemy does. He studies us. He watches to see where we are weak, where we are vulnerable, and how he can trick us into thinking we are safe when we are really so ripe for the picking. The enemy tried that with Jesus. We read in Matthew 4 that the tempter did not approach Jesus until He had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and He was hungry, (vv 1-3). We, like Jesus, must be on our guard at all times. As soon as we think we are above temptation, that is when we so easily fall, and fall hard, (see 1 Corinthians 10:12).

So what do we do when the tempter, or anyone, says to us, "For it is written..."? We go back and study the Bible ourselves. It is our responsibility to take anything that is said to us and line it up against the Word of God. That's what "take every thought captive" means. It means we need to take the words that are being said to us and read the surrounding text to see if that's what God really meant by that. We're taught that concept in like third or fourth grade. We're taught to use the surrounding text to determine the definition of the word. The same is true here: What was God really saying to us? Anyone can use a line of scripture out of context. That's why it is so important for us to know and to study daily the Word of the Lord. If we don't, anyone can say anything to us and we will follow where they lead.