Steven Furtick - Take Your Mind Back
This is an excerpt from: I Caught A Thought
What happens is the enemy deceives you. He can't take what God gave you. You know that, right? I need to make sure you know that. He can't take what God gave you. But if he can get you to catch a thought that opposes it, he can keep you so weak that you will not walk into it. And this is what he says to the church at Corinth, because they got spies running around introducing lies to the church. They got thoughts that oppose the knowledge of God.
In fact, that's how he phrases it. In 2 Corinthians 10:4, he says, "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds". What's the stronghold? In military terms is a place that you go to seek refuge, a stronghold, where you set up to do a battle where the enemy can get to you. Or it can become a place where the enemy traps you in. He says, what happens in a physical battle can happen mentally, spiritually, emotionally, to any one of us at any time.
See, because it is with the thought that I can experience God. I can catch a thought of Jesus and His grace for me and His love for me and His mercy toward me. And that thought can move me to worship Him in the beauty of holiness, in the splendor of His magnificence. In fact, I want to say this, one thought of Jesus can lift you above any wave of worry. One thought of Jesus. Have you been having trouble breathing this week? Get a thought on your mind of the goodness of God. You see that battle He brought you through? You see that way He made for you and just one thought of Jesus. How many know, one thought can lift me out of the pit? One thought.
But as a stronghold, can also ensnare you. A thought. "I'm not enough". Thought, "I wonder what they're thinking about me right now" - they're not. But that thought, "this isn't going to end well", that thought. "I'm not what they think I am". Here's one of my strongholds, "If they really knew you, they wouldn't like you". If they really knew, because all of us are bluffing, all of us are faking it. All your little cool friends are faking it. They all got acne, they all got issues. They all feel lonely, and none of y'all are cool. Everybody's faking it. Don't care how expensive your shoes are, you aren't perfect.
But Paul, they were coming in their church like, "Oh, he's an imposter. He's not a real one". They were introducing a thought to rob them. You know, the devil is a thief, right? He can't take your promise. So now he wants to steal your thoughts. Bob was reading something in Proverbs. Can I show you this real quick? I didn't get to show 'em last night. In Proverbs 6:30, it says, "People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his hunger when he's starving". A thief is just a thief. You know, the enemy is a thief. You can't blame him for trying to steal what he doesn't want you to have. But check the next verse. I love this Verse. Proverbs 6:31, "Yet if he is caught", yeah, if he is caught, "he must pay seven fold". So today we came into this service, to catch a thief and to let him know, give me my joy back, give me my peace back, give me my wisdom back, give me the joy of my salvation restores seven fold. I caught a thought.
I caught a thought. I realized that He loves me. And if He loves me, it doesn't matter if you like me. I caught a thought, I'm bold about it, I'm formed for it, I'm made for it, I'm called to it. And I believe I'll walk right forward into my future holding on to a thought of the favor of God. Some of y'all need to catch this. Come on, catch this favor, catch this word, catch this joy, catch this piece. You've been hanging around Facebook, but so came in here for some faith today, didn't you? Well, catch this. God is for you. He's more than the world against you. Kick those ten spies out of your head and listen to Caleb "we can, we should, we will. He is, I have, I am".
High five 'em and say, "I caught a thought". I caught a thought. I caught a thought. Just like I caught a cold last February, I caught a thought. I found out that He is able. I found out that He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it. I found out He is the bread of life. He is El-Shaddai, He is more than enough. I caught a thought of God. A thought brought me into depression, and a thought is going to bring me out. When I survey, the wondrous cross, on which the prince of glory died, my riches came, I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride. What's he saying? I caught a thought of the goodness of God. And it lifted me out of the pit of my despair.
You can't keep the thought from coming. But watch what Paul said. He said, we demolish strongholds. How do we destroy it? Verse five is important. He said, we demolish every spy that says we can't. And every pretension that self sets itself up against the knowledge of God. How many know something about God that is deeper than a feeling? I mean, you've known it since you were a child. You've known it in your soul. You've known it in your spirit, deep calls to deep. So when I have a thought, that opposes what I know about God, what you can do about it? I can't keep it from coming. But He said "We take captive every thought to make it obey Christ".
So when they say you seem different this week, you don't look so stressed this week. Tell them "oh yeah, it's the craziest thing". I caught a thought it was about this big. I found out God is about this. I caught a thought of His greatness and magnified Him in my mind. I began to rejoice in the rock of my salvation. This I recall to my mind therefore I have hope. I caught a thought. And it led me to a hope. Now, the thought that you hold on to, the one that you allow to dominate; that will be the stronghold of your life. If the Lord is your stronghold, if He is the place where you hide, if you catch a thought, a glimpse of your calling...
Okay, here it is. There was a woman who was bleeding on the inside. She heard Jesus coming through her part of town. She had done everything to fix it at the level of the symptom, but nothing worked. The condition that she had, was a deep one. It was causing her to hemorrhage and lose blood. Just like many of us hemorrhaging, emotionally, and losing energy and losing hope. When she heard Jesus passing through her desperation for a change caused her to do something dramatic in her life, because she had gotten a second opinion and a third opinion and a fourth opinion, and none of that worked, but here comes healing and here comes hope.
And the Bible says that she did what she had to do to get through all of the people who could have blocked her and to grab a hold, to catch Jesus as He was passing by to somebody else and is moving quickly. And Peter's backing everybody away. "Don't touch Him. He's in a hurry". But she reaches out, and the Bible says that she, is this verse 37, "she touched this cloak". She caught Him. She caught His cloak. She caught what could heal her. She caught a flow. She caught a miracle. She caught a change. Verse 38. Because she thought... Before I caught the answer, I caught a thought. Before I caught forgiveness, I caught a thought. Before I caught bitterness, I caught a thought. If I can catch a thought, I can catch His cloak. If I can touch Him, He can make me well.
With everyone standing, and your hands lifted to heaven, like you need to catch what heaven has today. I declare over your life, that faith and favor, are flowing from the person of Jesus, in the form of the Holy Spirit in this moment, across every location and our E-Fam around the world, catch this. You've been holding on to thoughts of low self worth and low self esteem, all to lead you to this moment in the presence of Jesus, that if you can catch a thought... the woman was made well, because she touched His cloak. She touched His cloak because she caught a thought. And there are great opportunities for love and for joy and for peace. And for provision, there is a great calling and assignment on your life. My sister, there is a tremendous promise in front of you. And there's Caleb saying, "you should, you can". And there's ten other spies saying "you can't". And I don't care if you're out numbered ten to two, if you will follow Caleb into Canaan, you can eat the fruit of the land.
You can experience the joy of the Lord, if you can catch this thought. This I recall to my mind, I caught a thought and it lifted me from my despair. I caught a thought and it lifted me from my addiction. I caught a thought of Jesus, and it lifted me from my shame, and I begin to rejoice and worship Him with gladness because I caught thought of victory for the battle belongs to the Lord. He is my stronghold. He is the strength of my life. And I will not be put to shame. For the joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on, catch this victory. Catch this wind. Lift your sails and catch this victory. Catch this one. Sing it over the people, Chris till they catch it. I'm gonna see it in the land of the living. I'm gonna see the goodness of God. I'm gonna sing it. I'm gonna see a victory Come on touch His garment. Touch His presence. Touch His healing. Touch His robe. Come on, you can catch faith. It's an impartation.