I am immersed in words, graphics, and book on an exciting project I am working on with my brother Dave. He preached a series of sermons in July based on 2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.“
Many asked for this to be made available in a format for group study, so we are teaming up to make that happen. The following is an excerpt from the beginning of this study.

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“Buy now, pay later.” “You are worth it.” “Just do it.”

According to this kind of thinking, what you think and feel, what you want right now, what you hold in your hand—these are the keys to finding happiness. What is the overwhelming pattern our culture uses to determine human identity, human happiness, and human destiny? It is the sum of our individual thoughts, current emotions, and the fulfillment of all our desires.

Three hundred years ago, Rene Descartes declared, “I think, therefore I am.” He designed proofs for the existence of God and challenged the world of science to use superior minds to figure things out and show them to God. Ever since then, man has taken the center stage in how we view the world. This leads us to believe that we alone are the determiner of our own identities. The world tells us that our thoughts and our feelings are who we are—this is our essence.

This, however, is completely contradictory to the Bible.

Scripture tells us that our identity comes directly from God. Our thoughts (mind), emotions (feelings), desires (physical bodies) and our will (choices), are all functions or parts of our identities. Each is part, but not the whole, of who we are. Our true essence contains all-of-the-parts-in-one, for we are created in the image of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Your thoughts and feelings are not you. They are simply a manifestation of one of your functions.

Taking charge of how we feel and how we think is not an impossible assignment that we can never accomplish. We know this is true because the Bible tells us that we can “take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). As we do so (with the Spirit’s help), we will be transformed.

We are not here to follow the patterns of the world, but we are set apart to be holy and pleasing to God. This is who we are—this is our essence, our full identity.

Coming Soon!
Taking Charge of Your Thoughts and Feelings
An Interactive Group Study and Discussion Guide
by Pastor Dave Huizenga and Kathleen Evenhouse
with video, study guide, one-page worksheet
and leader’s guide