Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

• Romans 8:5-8

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

• Psalm 107:13-16

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.

• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

The Boilerplate

My wife took a Bible Study in 2011.  (There was a note in the study guide that identified September 2 and that the study was being held on Friday mornings, or I might not have ever figured out what year.)  My wife had become a Christian in 2000. She greatly respected the pastor’s wife who was also a pastor.  The pastor’s wife spent time as the interim associate pastor, and this Bible study might have been during that time.

My wife passed away in March 2023, and I found this study guide as I was cleaning up.  It is a Beth Moore study guide.  Most of the questions are close-ended, mostly fill-in-the-blank.  But my wife was eager to learn.  She wrote her thoughts in the margins, sometimes encouraged to do so by Beth Moore.  I will use her comments as I did once before, calling this a “with a little help” series in that my wife contributes.  There is more to follow in that she wrote Scriptures and prayers in a notebook.  Probably what she found in her personal Bible study, giving her encouragement through the long illness that took her life.

So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I am going to write on my wife’s comments in the Study Guide.  It may follow the study guide topics, but it may not.

Discussion on this topic

Why doesn’t God simply remove our temptations?

“Your willingness to accept His freedom and confess our sin and praise Him for His help.”

• My wife’s response

In other words, with the temptation gone, we’d be a robot, following our programming, but God wants us to want Him, and that comes at a price.  We must be tempted and see His power and love to make it to the other side.

In reading Psalm 107:13-16, what should our response be as a former captive thinker?

“To give thanks to God for our freedom.  Whatever it might be.  Breaking the chains of slavery only through Him.”

• My wife’s response

Beth Moore spends a lot of time developing the practical aspects of controlling our thoughts without asking for interaction from those in the study.  We should search the Scriptures.  We should write these Scriptures down on note cards.  We should take these “Truth Cards” wherever we go.  And we should avoid as many forms of deception as possible.

What do we have when we have control of our thoughts?

“We’ve become strong and out of the box.”

• My wife’s response

The box was a series of illustrations used in the previous lessons about being captive of bad thoughts.  Now instead of being trapped in a box which has lies on all of the walls, we are outside the box, strengthened by the cross and our thoughts are inside the box protected by the truth.

What are the steps from being a captive of thoughts to the point of controlling our thoughts, in your words?

“1. Person is tortured and feels hopeless
2. Person has arms crossed.  I am not accepting this
3. Person tries to dig out of the prison
4. Person stands in awe because he’s made it out
5. Person has conquered and shares his strength.”

• My wife’s response

I think she meant shares in God’s strength.  We did not have the strength to dig out of the prison.  We did that trusting in God.

She underlined a sentence in the Study Guide.  “By the time you’re ready to invite God to take authority over your thought life, you’re serious.” – Beth Moore, Breaking Free

From Romans 8:5-8, contrast the mind that thinks according to the Spirit and the mind that thinks according to the flesh.

“According to the Spirit  –  Spirit’s desire     –  Life and Peace  –  Submit to God
“According to the flesh   –  Nature’s desire  –  Death                –  Hostility to God”

• My wife’s response

And what about forgiveness?

“God can’t work in your life if you don’t forgive and He frees you and gives you peace.”

• My wife’s response

And how do you respond to the past several lessons?

“To confess to Him.  Keep your mind filled with His word asking for deliverance, telling Satan to get behind you.”

• My wife’s response

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory