Are you exercising Jesus' authority in you thought life?

As law enforcement officers we should all understand more than anyone else the power of delegated authority and how to effectively enforce that authority. This is the only profession, apart from the military, where you have the authority, if justified, to legally infringe on someone's 4th amendment right. If that individual decides to resist your authority we are legally justified to use force, even up to deadly force in the performance of our duties. Once we seize these individuals and have enough to place them under arrest we immediately take them before a magistrate who determines probably cause, and then later that same individual stands before a judge who determines guilt or innocence based on your testimony and the laws of the jurisdiction you're working in.

Knowing this, why don't we apply the same principles to our thought life. According to James 1 sin is conceived, or you could say birthed, in our minds. Before we ever act out any sin in the physical, it first starts out as a desire in our mind. That sinful desire comes from three places; the world, the flesh, or the devil. James 1:13-15 says, "Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away BY HIS OWN DESIRES and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death."

You might be asking, "Living in this world, with the technology that we have at our fingertips, how do we stop these desires/ sinful thoughts from entering our minds". The answer is found in 2 Cor. 10:3-6. The Apostle Paul writes the following, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, BRINGING EVERY THOUGHT INTO CAPTIVITY TO THE OBEDIENCE OF CHRIST, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled". In the King James Version of the Bible it says, "Casting down imaginations...". According to these verses God has equipped us through the weapons and authority that Jesus has delegated to us through the Holy Spirit to bring EVERY thought or vain imagination into captivity. Instead of captivity you could also say, "place under arrest". Once these thoughts have been placed under arrest we then bring them to the feet of Jesus and Judge them by His word. If you determine based on God's word that the source of that thought is from the world, the flesh, or the devil and doesn't glorify God then by the authority of the Holy Spirit you cast that thought down. In the Greek, the phrase "casting down", literally means to demolish. We demolish these thoughts by wielding the sword of the Spirit, speaking the truth of God's word out loud!

What does the police academy constantly pound into your head about enforcing your authority, making arrests, and using force? I should know after going through it twice. They constantly yell, "Verbalize! Tell them what you want them to do! Make Witnesses!" This is also true in the spiritual realm. We must verbalize the truth over the lie! We must take these evil thoughts, place them under arrest, and bring them before the Judge, Jesus Christ. You might ask, "how do we know when a thought is from the world, the flesh, or the devil." It won't line up with God's word. This is why it's so important to know His word and who you are in Christ. You must know and understand your authority in Him in order to effectively enforce the laws of the kingdom of God in your life.

We can't stop ungodly thoughts from entering our minds but what we can do is stop them from setting up strongholds. We can prevent them from taking root in our minds. These thoughts take root by meditating on them which eventually will lead to us acting out them out. We need to begin exercising our spiritual authority by placing those thoughts under arrest as soon as they enter your mind. The next time this happens I want you to get by yourself with nobody around and verbalize! Not just mentally but actually speak out loud so that you can hear yourself. Identify yourself, who you are in Christ, and place that thought under arrest. Then, verbally walk through taking that thought to the Judgement seat of Jesus and through the power of His Spirit DEMOLISH it! If you do this in faith, that evil thought or imagination will not take root within you mind and therefore will have no power over you. This is how we walk in Christ's victory and enforce His authority against temptation!