No Nests in Our Hair!

Not every thought that enters into our mind comes from God.  Throughout any given day we may have multiple thoughts or ideas that pop up which have been planted in our mind by Satan.  Usually, they are ideas of self-condemnation, judgment of ourselves and others, negativity, or even doom and gloom (as regularly reported on the television and through other forms of the media) that leave us feeling discouraged and even sometimes questioning of our salvation.  In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called the "accuser of the brethren."  The word accuse is defined as:  (1) to charge with a shortcoming or error  (2) to blame someone for wrongdoing  (3) to charge with a fault or crime  (4) to pronounce someone as guilty without evidence of the charge.  Satan regularly accuses believers in an attempt to convince them they do not have a righteous standing before God, and thereby introduce discouragement and self-condemnation into our daily walk.

Many years ago I found myself struggling with a thought that I knew was sinful, but it seemed that it continuously entered into my thinking.  After several weeks of the battle, I went to my pastor for counsel and confessed that I felt condemned and guilty for even thinking such thoughts.  In wisdom and compassion he made the statement, "Sister, we cannot always control whether or not a bird will fly over our head... but we can certainly determine whether or not we will allow it to make a nest in our hair."  The choice was mine.  Would I choose to embrace and believe and meditate on this sinful thought, or would I approach the throne of grace and claim the Truth of God through the Scriptures?  Whichever I chose to meditate upon (to think deeply about or focus on) would surely become a reality in my life.  I needed to develop the habit of listening to God, by reading and studying His Word, rather than listening to the lies of Satan.

When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, His immediate response was not to argue back, try to reason His way out of the temptation, or even to run in the opposite direction.  No... Christ's immediate response to Satan's temptations (lies) was to quote Scripture.  "It is written..." became the mantra of Jesus to battle the onslaught of the Enemy because Christ knew that no lie can stand in the face of the ultimate Truth in the Word of God.

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you]."

It should be clear to the believer that the daily battles we wage with our thought patterns, and the things which we meditate upon, are not battles against "flesh and blood."

"For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere."

(Ephesians 6:12, Amplified Bible)

To renew our mind means to make our thought life fresh, strong, and new again.  It means to think effectively in order to restore our mind to a good state, one that is reflective of the goodness of God Almighty.  It means to cast out the lies and negative thoughts that Satan tries to introduce to us.  We can only be as successful in doing that as we are in the time we spend reading, studying, and meditating on the Word (the Holy Bible).  Thoughts may enter into our minds at times when we do not have a Bible immediately available at our fingertips.  Only by knowing Scripture and committing it to memory can we rest assured that we will always possess the weapons we need to defend ourselves against such attack by the Adversary.  

Satan never attaches a warning label to his deceit.  The evil thoughts he introduces into our minds are veiled and covered up in such ways that a weak mind will not perceive them for what they are and may actually adopt them as its own.  Only when we have cultivated the habit of immersing ourselves regularly in the Truth of Scripture will we be able to quickly discern the trickery of our Enemy and call upon the power of the Word to drive him out of our minds and thoughts.

We may not be able to prevent a bird (or one of Satan's lies) from flying over our heads, but we surely have the power to determine whether or not we allow it to build a nest in our hair!

"For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."

(2 Corinthians 10:4-5, Amplified Bible)