It is essential for our life and our future that our thought life, our mind, is in God’s word and in the revelations that His word gives us. Paul urges the Corinthians to cast down all their exalted thoughts and take them captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. 10:5. We must therefore bind our thought life and our thoughts to God’s word if we are to be approved by God in life’s circumstances. And so, we must consistently purify our thought life. This can only be done by God’s word judging and dividing. Heb. 4:12. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” Mal. 3:2. If we are to stand before God when He comes, we realize that both fire and soap are needed when it concerns our thoughts, so that we are pleasing to God, because sin comes forth from our thoughts. Jesus makes this very plain: “And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemies, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” Mark 7:20-23. Therefore we need to hold fast to the word in all situations of life. Many people have a terrible struggle with their thoughts, also after they have come to faith, because they have entertained many bad, ugly, and unchaste thoughts, and these rise up in them and cause them much suffering. However, if you hold fast to the word, you will be saved and will never be put to shame! The righteousness of faith guarantees it! “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach); that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’” Rom. 10:8-11. You can also read 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” In other words, there is an inherent, invisible, tremendous power in God’s word. When you receive it as God’s word and not as the word of man, it begins to work powerfully in your inner man. Then old thoughts are cleaned out and you will receive a new thought life in covenant with God’s word. Here you must have a living hope if you have a difficult time with your thought life. Believe God that His word is a fire! This fire that is in the word will cleanse and purify these ugly images on the walls of your heart! Remaining in this purification process is a fight of faith! 1 Tim. 6:11-12. Soon you will receive new, beautiful images on your heart’s walls; good images of people you know will appear in your mind, people that you are glad to think about, etc. In other words, you sense that the word is being made alive in your spirit. Then you will begin to have a new thought life that can be reconciled to the mind of Christ. Phil. 2:5. Read 1 John 3:9: “Whoever has been born of God is not doing sin, for His seed remains in Him, and he can not be sinning, because he has been born of God” [Lit. Conc. Tr.]. Here you can see the mighty power that is in God’s word. The word is the seed that Jesus gave us. V. 22. When your mind is busy with God’s glory and the word remains in you when you are tempted, you will be victorious! Rom. 8:37-39. For example, when the word about patience remains in you when you are tempted to become impatient, you will not become impatient, but you will be victorious in the power that is inherent in the word about patience. This is because you see the glory of being obedient to the word as being far greater than giving in to the temptation of being impatient. In this way, you receive the strength to overcome through the word that is in you because you can do all things through Him who strengthens you. Phil. 4:13. Such is the power that is in God’s word. Therefore we must return to the testimony, to God’s word; we must return to God with our thoughts so that we experience a new thought life. Rev. 12:11. Thus the old, evil, and difficult thoughts become increasingly a thing of the past! You enter into a life with God, and His peace, which passes all understanding, will preserve your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7. And in verse 8 you can read about your new thoughts, which give you a wonderful life to live in fellowship with all the saints who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Tim. 2:22. This is the kind of life I wish for you with all of my heart; however, you must choose to follow Jesus yourself in order to arrive where He is. Col. 3:1-4; Luke 9:23, and John 14:4 and 6.Kåre J. Smith