When it comes to capturing our thoughts and exercising our free will to choose what we entertain (or don’t) in our head and heart, there is an aspect of our relationship with the Lord that would be good to consider.

We are invited to be in him. We also invite him to be in us. The intimacy of this relationship is what grants us success in our endeavor. If it was just us, fixing us, we would be limited to our humanity. Because of the unique oneness the Lord invites us into, divinity is on our side. The more he is in us, the more we are in him, the better our discernment is in regarding earthly things. Our certainty of the higher things prompts us to lay aside those things which, in the past, have easily entangled us. The closer we become in friendship with him, the more hungry we become for more.

Does this thought lead me into his mystery? Does it remove me from fixing my mind on eternal things? What happens to me as I let this thought continue and expand? How do I feel after shifting from this thought into a different topic?

If you are not used to self inventory, a great way to start is to begin with external influences in your life. Noticing your interior after social media, or during it, can help you catch a lot of little foxes in your heart. Did I look at someone’s post with something other than the love? Did I judge? was I trying to justify myself? Did I gloat, or rejoice in another’s trouble? Using programs you listen to, or watch, can also be an aid as you learn the permission to navigate the nuances of your heart.

Immersing yourself in thoughts of praise, or good things, can increase your awareness of what feels ‘right’ and grows authentic positivity in you.

It is Jesus’ desire for you to be one with him as he is one with the Father. You are free from condemnation when you are in Christ. It is in him that we find the unity of the brethren. It is in him that we have peace. We ask and receive when in him. Living, moving, having our being is from that sacred space of in him.

What does that mean to you? For you? How can that be grown? Can you picture him in you? You in him? We are told in Scripture the righteous run in and are safe.

Maybe a better question is- how can intimacy be grown without this understanding?

I’ll pause here, but in pausing, I am extending the invitation-to taste and see that he is good- is the path to the victory he made available to us 2000 years ago, at the cross.

For thoughts I desire to tame, that come during my day, I have a couple of different strategies I use. I remember seeing a cartoon strip one time. A person had a runaway thought that grew in her mind. By the time it got voiced, she had convinced herself of its truth. I have learned that if I want to be in charge of my thoughts I need to be able to interrupt and evaluate them before they take on a life of their own. Like snowballs, thoughts get bigger with the movement of my focus. I learned that an electron will spin the way I think it will spin, if I am observing. And water will change at the molecular level by the energy I emit in its presence. So for me, recognizing when a thought is capturing me, instead of being a navigation where I am able to remain my best self, is a start to taking captive thoughts. The more I practice the easier it is. And times when my need to take captive my thoughts is more important (because of stress, or peace) are the training grounds where I grow the most fruit.

A simple barometer to start with is to decide if the thoughts are temporal or eternal. That activates my free will to choose, or not choose them. Not all temporal thoughts are bad, but the activity of evaluating them grants me more control over them.

Another fun tool is to stop and breathe. Noting how the thoughts change when I return to thinking about them can also help me evaluate them.

I have found social media to be a great tool for teaching me and testing me. Evaluating my start point, against my exit point, of any social media stream, yields loads of clues about thoughts in me that have hardened, or decided, or grown tender, or stolen peace, or judged, or where light has been added. It can also be useful for examining my motives. Sometimes the why -why did I spend so much time there, or why did I look at those pictures that left me feeling yukky thoughts – matters.

For some thoughts I have learned to just say no. I turn them away. They are not allowed to steal my thought space.

For others I use a strategy a friend taught me. Every time I think that thought, I use it as a trigger to remind me to pray about/for someone specific in my life. If there is any negative energy trying to torment me with that thought, this tactic sees more immediate change. My enemy does not like it when I pray.

Thoughts are constructs. Seeing them that way helps me be mindful of what I am building. Asking the Lord, at the end of my day, where he got honor and glory, helps establish me in the peace found in Philippians 4. When I struggling with judging someone, I ask the Lord to shine light on my heart and the places I fail. When I am struggling to love, I ask him to refresh me with his love for me. When I am struggling with someone’s immaturity, I ask him to show me how I look compared to him in that regard. I have not become perfect at this, but these are some tools I have found that help, and I am growing as I practice them.