1

Casting Down Imaginations 2001 by Arlo E. Moehlenpah 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds:) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." It is interesting to note that when the apostle Paul talks about spiritual warfare the first weapon he mentions is casting down imaginations. What are imaginations? Webster's New World Dictionary includes in the definition, "The act or power of forming mental images of what is not actually present." Also, "The act or power of creating mental images of what has never been actually experienced." Therefore imaginations are unreal and dreamed up. They have not been actually experienced. The truth is that most imaginations are lies. Almost every mention of imagination in the Bible has a negative connotation. Before the flood God saw that "every imagination of the thoughts of his (man's) heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). Also the Lord declared that -The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" (Genesis 8:20. One of the seven things that are an abomination to the Lord is "an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations" (Proverbs 6:18). Paul also wrote about ungodly men who "became vain in their imaginations," Roman 1:21). No wonder Paul wrote to "cast down imaginations." Imaginations can cause wars. When the children of Israel were about to occupy the promised land, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh desired to possess land west of the Jordan River. Joshua permitted this on the condition that these 21/2 tribes would cross over Jordan and help the other 91/2 tribes drive out the inhabitants of the land east of Jordan. After fulfilling this charge Joshua permitted them to return to their families west of Jordan. When they came to the borders of Jordan these 2 1/2 tribes built an altar. When the other tribes heard of it they decided to go to war against their own brethren. Why? Because they imagined they had trespassed and rebelled against the Lord. They even had their "sermon" comparing these 2 tribes to the iniquities of Peor and Achan. Fortunately the 2 1/2 tribes were able to explain that this altar was not for offerings or sacrifices but was for a witness to their children so they would not cease to fear the Lord. Communications caused the imaginations to be cast down and the war was prevented. Imaginations can ruin marriages. How many marriages have been ruined by a

wife imagining that a husband is having an affair with another woman or a husband imagining that his wife is seeing other men? I remember an incident during the early years of our marriage, when I found another man's tie in our bedroom closet. I imagined the worst for several days. How could my wife who had been faithful and a good mother to our children do such a thing? I confess to you that I was tortured by my imaginations until I finally confronted her and showed her the tie. She was also puzzled by the presence of a tie she had not seen before until we both remembered that several weeks previously we had hosted an evangelist and his wife and allowed them to stay in our bedroom while we slept in the children's bedroom. Sure enough, the tie belonged to the evangelist. Communication caused the imaginations to be cast down and we have been happily married for over thirty-two years. Hebrews 13:16 states, "...to do good and to communicate forget not... " Imaginations can damage family relationships. Have your teenage children ever been late for curfew and your imaginations began to work? Have they been involved in an auto accident? Are they being rebellious? Are they involved in wrong doing? All parents should be concerned about the welfare and well-being of their children, but parents must cast down imaginations. Love your children enough to trust them. Imaginations can destroy church relationships. Saints can imagine all sorts of things about the pastor and his motives. Pastors can imagine that when saints get together for any reason that they are promoting divisions in the church or plotting to remove him as pastor. Again, love enough to trust one another and cast down imaginations. Imaginations can also destroy fellowship between ministering brethren. Recently a brother promised to send me a check for money due from a transaction. I waited for several weeks but did not receive the check. Instead of letting my imaginations run wild I wrote him. He promptly called me and told me that he had mailed the check several weeks before. It turned out to have been sent to my former address from which I had moved a year and a half ago. When I contacted the present occupant they told me they didn't know where I had moved to and so they just threw away all mail sent to me at that address. My brother kindly wrote me another check which I have received. In case any of you have written me in the last year or so and have not received a reply, please cast down any imaginations that you might have against me. Your letter was probably thrown away! I can only wonder if some of the factions in our

districts could be eliminated if we cast down imagination. Let me summarize three ways to cast down imaginations: 1) Recognize that most imaginations are lies; 2) Communicate to expose the fallacy of the imaginations; 3) Love enough to trust one another, and "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen," (2 Thessalonians 3:18). This article first appeared in the Gospel Tidings, Western District of the United Pentecostal Church, April, 1991

March 27, 2010 How to Cast Down Strongholds and Vain Imaginations Recently someone asked me to expound on a reference that I make often about casting down vain imaginations. This truth is just too good not to share with all my internets. Paul wrote that we do not war according to the flesh (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Our warfare is not of this world; it is divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. That is, if you have a stronghold, which is a deeply embedded sinful habit pattern, you can pull it down and destroy it by appropriating the powerful spiritual warfare that is ours in Christ. We destroy "vain imaginations" (KJV), speculations and every lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, by casting down any thought that does not line up with the Word of God or what we know of the Son of God. We take the thought captive to the obedience of Christ. That is, we march the thought that we captured before we acted upon it, and present our captive thought to our Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ. We ask Him to crucify the thought and by faith thank Him for doing so. Then we continue our walk of faith. Great truth. Now how does it work? Thought-"I am such a bad Christian that God could never really love me." TruthThat thought does not line up with the Word of God. I John 4:10 says, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (See, this is why you must know the Word of God! How else will you recognize the vain imaginations that are lifted up against the knowledge of God?) Test-Can you capture the thought or do you get some kind of perverted pleasure from denigrating yourself? Do put-downs come easily? Has

your self-worth been so debased that you really believe the lies the enemy is shooting your way? Can you capture the thought before you act upon it (giving into depression or self-loathing) and turn to the Lord, marching the thought at gunpoint (mentally) to your Commander in Chief and asking Him to crucify the thought. Triumph-Yeah! You have taken your thought captive to the obedience of Christ, cast down the lies of the enemy, crucified self and exalted Christ in your life. God gets all the glory because our weapons are not of this world, but they are "other-worldly!" Sister-you rock! This process works for any lie of the enemy ("You are stupid", "You are worthless", "You are a bad mother" etc.) or any stronghold (anger, jealously, lust, envy, etc.) that has built a giant honking strong tower in your psyche. This, sisters, is how you pull it down...brick by brick...you are delivered as you repeat the process so many times that it becomes as natural to you as breathing. When you are successful, you put your foot on the neck of your enemy and he is forced to admit that Jesus is Lord! This is why we must put on the helmet of salvation-to guard our thought life-lest we allow the enemy to find a chink in our armor and exploit it or lest we allow a sinful habit pattern to remain unchecked and develop into a stronghold. So, my beloved internets, memorize Scriptures that will be useful when the enemy comes against you to your specific weakness and point of vulnerability. Hold forth the shield of faith, draw the sword of the spirit and fight the good fight of faith. Blessings.

Casting down IMAGINATIONS I would like to continue where we left off on our blog from yesterday. We looked at a question that Jesus asked his disciples. "Why don't you have faith?" Jesus had just calmed the sea in response to their question, "Don't you care?" I believe the answer to the question of, "Why don't you have faith?" is "we believe the lie instead of the truth." Today I want us to look a little deeper into this subject. What are these lies and where do they come from? They are thoughts contrary to the truth. About this concept Paul writes "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV). This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Let's notice a couple of things about it.

First, what is an imagination? An imagination is something that seems to be real but has no substance to it. Imaginations are in our mind and they are incorrect reasoning's or thoughts. They are against the knowledge of God. Not the knowledge about God but the knowledge that comes from God. Imaginations are the opposite of truth. This passage goes on to say that these imaginations "exalt itself against the knowledge of God." They pretend to be bigger or more powerful than our God. They are lies that are more real to us than the truth.

Lets take a moment and examine what that look like? Remember when Satan came to tempt Eve. "And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5 NAS). The lie became more real to Eve than the truth and so she sinned. The same can be true for you and me. Where are we believing a lie that is directly contrary to God' truth? "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you" (I Peter 5:7 NAS). The truth is that God cares for us. The result of believing the truth is we are not anxious. A companion verse is found in Philippians. "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6 NAS). The truth is that we can go to God about all our concerns. The result of believing this truth is that we are not anxious. What is anxiety? It is the result of not believing the truth. It is what believing the lie looks like. It is the evidence of the lie being bigger or more powerful than God. Where do these lies come from? "The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV). These lies are called "strongholds" They are strongholds in our mind, lies that are more real than the truth. The terminology here is that of spiritual warfare. We are fighting and there are weapons involved. Concerning this battle Paul wrote, "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Ephesians 6:10-11 NAS). We are fighting the schemes of the devil. To do this we must remember that Satan is a liar. He lied to himself, convincing himself that he was bigger and greater than God.

He lied to Adam and Eve, that they could be gods. And he lies to you and me. Satan doesn't tempt us to commit sins. He tempts us to not believe God, and then the sins automatically follow. When God says we can trust Him, Satan will tell us we can't. When God tells us to humble ourselves and He will exalt us in due time, Satan says no he won't, we have to promote ourselves now. When God says to forgive, Satan says no, he or she doesn't deserve it. Where is the battle? The primary battlefield is the mind. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV). Look at the words "imaginations, knowledge, and thoughts." These all speak of our mind. Our mind is a battlefield. The challenge for believers is to take back our thought life and take it captive to Christ instead. The way to influence behavior is to influence thinking. Who or what controls your mind controls your life. Satan is so effective in his lies that after a while he has built in us "strongholds" or fortresses of lies that we believe strongly. Think of it as a wall around a city. The wall is built one brick at a time until the wall is thick and high. These are lies that have been reinforced time and time again. The goal of spiritual warfare is to tear down these walls, fortresses of lies. What are our weapons? "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses" (2 Corinthians 10:3-4 NAS). They are not the weapons of the world. They are weapons that have divine power. Remember the purpose is to take back our thought life and make it captive to Christ, to real truth, instead of the lies we have believed. To do that we have the whole armor of God. "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17 NAS). There is only one weapon listed in this passage. It is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." How do we fight against a lie? By believing the truth of God's Word. There is nothing bigger or more powerful than the Word of God. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12 NKJ). It is powerful because it is living. Some translations have the word "active" for powerful. The Word of God is powerful because it is active. It does something. Be careful. It does not say that just knowing the word of God is powerful. Warning us to not be like the Israelites were, the writer of Hebrews wrote, "For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith" (Hebrews 4:2 NIV). Hearing the Word of God alone, doesn't make this weapon as powerful as it can be. It is believing the Word of God that is powerful. Faith is the catalyst that unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit. Believing the truth (the Word of God) is the power of God over Satan's lies. But wait, we have a second weapon. "For the weapons (plural) of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses" (2 Corinthians 10:4 NAS). What other weapon do we have? There are several, but the other one I would like for us to look at today is in the very next verse in Ephesians 6 after a list of the armor we read, "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18 NAS).

Our second weapon is praying at all times with all prayer. Most Christians have heard of the expression, "Prayer Warriors." These are people who do spiritual warfare in prayer. Obviously prayer is a weapon against Satan.

It also says to pray "in the Spirit." Praying in the spirit is to pray under control of the Holy Spirit. Spirit led, Spirit controlled prayer is "Spiritual Warfare." There is one man in the New Testament who is known for his prayer life. "Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that

you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God" (Colossians 4:12 NAS). The word "laboring" means wrestling. It is the same as in Eph. 6 "We wrestle not against flesh and blood." We wrestle the enemy when we pray. But not all prayers are effective. "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3 NKJ). God will not give us what we pray for when our motives are wrong. Now, when we put both of these weapons together we have overcoming power. There is nothing more formidable than a stronghold. Strongholds can't be swept away with a spiritual broom. We can't fuss at them and make the run away. We can't ignore them until the disappear. Stronghold are broken one way only. They have to be demolished. I have found that there is nothing more powerful in my life than praying the Word of God. When Satan comes with his lies, to pray the truth that contradicts the lie and affirm to God, in prayer, the truths that will defeat the lie. What does that look like? Let's say I am worrying about something. What is the lie? It could be "God doesn't care about me." Or it could be that I think I am supposed to be in control. Also it could be that I have believed the lie that nothing bad should happen to me. There are many lies of Satan that lead to us worrying. Once I have identified the lie, now I need the truth and the truth is in God's Word. Now I pray the truth with faith back to God. "God, I believe you care for me because your Word says so." Lord, I believe that since you are for me that no one can be against me and therefore I don't need to be in control." The Word of God, expressed in prayer by faith utilizes all of the elements of Spiritual warfare. The Holy Spirit is free to do His work within us. This is what demolishes strongholds of Satan in our minds. Jesus asked his disciples why they had no faith. The answer is they believed the lie instead of the truth. We need to believe the truth. We need to pray the truth. We need to use both of our offensive weapons against Satan. Blessings! Pastor Rusty

Casting Down the Imagination Kym Wright , Contributing Writer "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ..." 2 Corinthians 10:5 One of Adolf Hitlers more famous sayings is: If you tell a lie often enough, and loud enough, people will believe it. And, often, our spiritual enemy tries to use this very trick on us. Imaginations, as defined in the dictionary, is the formation of a mental image of something that is neither perceived as real nor present to the senses. It is an unrealistic idea or notion; a fancy. A plan or a scheme. It came on so very slowly, Im really not sure when it began. I was just disgruntled with being a mom. It wasnt fun anymore. The joy was gone, replaced by a sense of failure and a desire to succeed at anything outside the home. Put the children in school. Be a career woman. Be a somebody as if motherhood is for wimps and nobodies. I plodded through the homeschooling days. No joy, but doing the work nonetheless, committed to being home. In my mind I knew this was a wonderful calling, that I was doing a great work, that my time investment counted, and my occupation was worthy. But, the accusations and lies persisted. No joy. Do it anyway. Youre not doing well. So, Ill persist in a poor quality job. Youre doomed to failure. Probably, but Ive committed to staying home to raise and teach the children. One day, one of our older children came to me and said, Mom, thank you so much for spending your time teaching us. Wed never have made it so far without you. I was floored, astonished. My mind whirled with questions. Am I really doing an okay job? Are the children really turning out all right? At that moment, I recognized the enemys voice, and realized I had been believing not just one lie, but many lies. The foundation was an imagination something in

10

my mind, which wasnt true and my mind had allowed a larger plan of the enemy to discourage me. My failure was an unrealistic notion. My heart thrilled with the question, And just how far could I go if I believed this venture was a success? So, I followed the biblical example and cast down the imagination. I just tossed out this image which had exalted itself against Gods plan for me. And I replaced it with this new image: me enjoying my calling, The children doing well in life for indeed they were. Contentment and joy, Success in fulfilling my mission in life. So, I pose the question, What has the enemy stolen from you? What image is he trying to foist upon you, to steal the joy in finding Gods best and success for your life? Lets reclaim the joy. Challenge the lies in our minds. Declare war on the father of lies. Cast down those wrong images, and lets raise up the vision God has for us.