I once heard a Godly lady who had been confined in a mental hospital for years say the following: I may be crazy, but I am not possessed.
Where do thoughts in your head come from? Does you mind just wander around randomly connecting words together that create thoughts? Does God inspire your thoughts and put the words together for you? Do outside influences create the thoughts for you by what you see? Do demonic beings put thoughts in your mind?
That is the question I am looking for an answer to. Do demonic beings put thoughts in your mind? I’m told yes. I’m told no. There is but one truth. Which one is it? What do you think? Do you think with the help of God or do you think with the help of demons? Don’t you want to know?
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Hi Archie;
These are the questions popping into my mind as well.
Sometimes I have no clue why or where the stuff I write comes from and many times I do not recognize the stuff I wrote a few weeks after I wrote it.
Weird….
Comment by truthfromthehip on June 12, 2009 9:05 am
I absolutely believe angelic demons put thoughts into our mind. The mind is the battleground of our will. Our will leads to our actions. We see this taking place way back in the garden of Eden. Putting thoughts into man’s mind is what caused the fall. Satan planted the thought of disobedience into Eve’s mind when he said to her “You shall surely not die” (Genesis 3:4) when tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit after God had clearly told them in Genesis 2:17 that they would die. Of course we know that this was referring to not only spiritual death, which was immediate, but also to physical death which would come to pass over a period of time. When created, we were not designed to die, either spiritually or physically, and that’s why man clings so tightly to his life on earth.
The word used for “thought” in the New Testament is “noema” and is used interchangeably with the word “mind”, also the same Greek word. You will find this in 2 Corinthians 3:4, 4:4, 10:5, 11:3, and in Philippians 4:7.
The scripture that seals the deal for me is 2 Corinthians 10:5 where it states; “…bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
This portion of scripture deals with the fact that the warfare we fight has nothing to do with our flesh, but is spiritual. (Read 2 Corinthians 10:3-6)
The Word tells us that “spiritual” war is connected with our “thoughts”. The devil influences us through our thoughts hoping to manipulate us into acting on those thoughts and committing the sin associated with said thought or thoughts. There is no doubt we could tie in James 1:13-16 with this same teaching.
If we fail to “take out thoughts captive to Christ” we have a real good chance of falling into sin whether it be deception in our understanding of God’s Word or an act we carry out in our flesh.
This is lengthy, maybe should have been an E-pistle! But I hope it helps. Sorry all the emphasis is screwed up. I can’t figure out how to undo it.
Rich
Comment by 37stories on June 12, 2009 1:37 pm
Concerning demonic thoughts. I’m good to a point and please believe me I don’t waste my time arguing for a point of view. I spend my time seeking truth and hopefully ridding myself of ill conceived ideas and authenticating truthful ideas.
So with that said, I’m not ready to buy in totally. I believe in direct demonic influences from fallen angels. They can manipulate circumstance or communicate from the outside of our being. This refers to the garden. Satan was outside.
I’m not confident a demonic being can generate a thought from within our being. When we accept Jesus as LORD, totally, completely, we are encapsulted (engulfed) with His presence. There is no room for demonic possession.
I’ve been taught evil thoughts within come from our adamic nature, not from external sources.
I am ok with being wrong. I just don’t see it yet. I think most believe as you do, but doesn’t make it so. Any more Bible to back up your point of view?
archie
Hi Archie;
What if you accept Jesus as Lord and temptation still calls and you fall anyway?
It happened to me, so I am either weak, my acceptance wasn’t sincere or because of my fathers and his fathers sins I am screwed anyway?
That is the $64 question.
Ich, I know you are sincere. I had a boss early in my career say he was going to take credit for a patent of something I did. I asked why. He said, “Because people are basically no damn good.”. That kinda sums it up. I love the word kinda. I’m going to use it enough that it makes it into Webster.
Today, this is what I believe. With revelation, tomorrow I might believe something else. I believe you prayed the prayer and you went through the gate. On the other side of the gate is a narrow path. You choose to walk the path or not. It’s your choice.
There is much fruit to be picked and be nourished from along the way. What you eat is who you are.
“By your fruits you will be known”.
This applys to everyone regardless of race, social standing, preacher, priest or janitor. 🙂
Comment by truthfromthehip on June 12, 2009 2:15 pm
I’m alright with your viewpoint. I’ve always said that we are all a product of what we have been taught and this would be no exception. Yes, Satan may have been “outside” the garden but there can be no doubt Eve heard his voice from wherever he was at. And he no doubt planted a seed in her thoughts. A seed, or thought, that maybe God was lying or was somehow wrong about this issue of dying. The devil does that to us all the time. The Bible says “TAKE no thought…” See Matthew 6; 25, 28, 31, and 34 among other references. Starting with the 25th verse you can get the context here; the thought of God not caring for our every need was evidently planted in their thoughts, or at the very least “could” be planted into man’s thoughts, or why would Jesus have told us not to “take it”?
It doesn’t bother me when others disagree with my point of view. As long as they have scripture to back up their theology, and they’re comfortable with it, I’m good with that. But as long as I have scripture that I’m at peace with that supports my viewpoint then I’m good with that, too. My only concern is that we make sure what we’ve been led to believe is scripturally based and not something we heard or was told was true. I’ve talked with people who believe that demons will ultimately end up back in heaven when all is said and done. Please. I’ve always said “Show me the scriptures”. We all have a right to believe however we want. We will all stand before Him as individuals, not church groups. Besides, I love you just the way you are. We don’t have to agree on everything, only the essentials; Jesus is Lord and you must be born again!
I agree that Christians cannot be possessed, however, they certainly can be oppressed and tormented. Ask any Christian psychologist or psychiatrist. Oppression and torment are demonic spirits and they plague believers. How? In their thoughts. In their minds. It’s not real, it’s in their mind. And it certainly isn’t coming from heaven! I not only believe these spirits can be cast out, I’ve done it countless times. And the people I’ve prayed for have stayed free of these tormenting spirits to this day. Were they possessed? Nope, just demonized. And the problem was not in their spirit, it was in their soul: their mind, will and emotions.
Do I have more scripture to back it up? Are you kidding? Right now “someone” has me tied up with this series on Angels: Good and Bad, bless his heart! Take it easy on me! :^)
And concerning your statement that “just because a ton of people believe something, that it doesn’t mean it’s right”. I couldn’t agree with you more! That’s half of our problems as a church body right now. They believe things that have no Biblical basis for believing. But it’s all they’ve heard for years and so it must be “gospel”. Hello, it’s not in the Bible people! Here’s a good example; “everyone” (those obviously without an ear for music) is crazy over Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. The masses follow like deaf zombies. Why? Why? WHY? I’ll tell you why; because their friends are listening to them and buying their cd’s, that’s why. We become influenced by others and suddenly find ourselves following someone or something and not really sure why, but we keep doing it. Another insight: who is it that blindly follows these people? The immature. Those who are not yet mentally developed to where they can discern good from bad. Now with this analogy go over to spiritual things that concern the body of Christ. You’re right, just because the majority is believing a certain way does not mean it’s the truth. I think that if we would all study the Bible more we would find a lot of things that would make us think, “I wonder where I got that? Apparently that’s not true. Huh.”
You can post this stuff anywhere you like. Maybe we can get some people to start studying their Bibles! As you so aptly put it: “God can take care of Himself!” We’re good for each other. Iron sharpens iron.
As a parting caution; if I get any wacko comments from the “I don’t know what I’m talking about, but it sounds spiritual” crowd, I’m executing it from the site. That kind of bizzare-o-ville stuff does more harm than it does good. Please use scriptures, people!
Godspeed!
Rich
Perhaps, if you allow bad thoughts in. Its a welcome sign for evil things. I believe we have full control. At times, we may not. But this post is a good question to ask ourselves.
What thoughts do, we have going on in our heads?