If you’ve ever read the verses “Take your thoughts captive” and “Think on things that are lovely” you may have wondered how to do it. I mean people are on medications, abusing drugs, anxiety stricken, hypertensive and alcoholic because they cannot do it. Suicide is only commited by those who cannot control their thoughts. If you could take your thoughts captive and cast down imaginations, (2 Cor 10:5) bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ, then you would conquer anxiety, depression, guilt, shame, lust, anger, loneliness, doubt and more. People would not be addicts, alcoholics, murderers, thieves and abusers. Sin is all in the heart and mind so if you could control your thinking, you’d be all set.

Well we can. I’ve been studying Dr Caroline Leaf’s teaching on the brain and although she has a wonderful way of explaining it, I have a whole different revelation on her information. It started a year ago for me. I had reached a place where anxiety was a part of my daily life, I couldn’t laugh much and problem solving was all I thought about. I couldn’t relax because of unsolved problems. Learning the facts of the brain about toxic thoughts really began a road to recovery for me and I figured out my own way to rewire my brain. God gives wisdom to all who ask. Thank God He helped me find a way out. I didn’t crawl out of the blackness the same pathway as Dr. Leaf describes but I used the information she gave and dug my own escape!

The science behind the verses on good health really helped me understand the Biblical principles On taking thoughts captive and casting down imaginations. The feelings attached to toxic thoughts help me identify when I’m entering THE TOXIC ZONE.  Now I avoid toxic thoughts by trusting God about things for which I have no answers. The first thing I began to understand was that good thoughts build physical veins or “branches” in your brain and bad thoughts also build branches. Dr Leaf calls the good thought branches “green trees.” The bad thoughts are based in fear or painful memories and those are called “black trees.” The green trees formed by happy thoughts, laughter, praise, thanksgiving, hope and success actually release health to our bodies. Endorphins are pleasant chemicals released during laughter and other activities that feel exciting and fun. What I didn’t know before was that thinking on these things is releasing health to my body. Black tree thoughts are fear-based and those actually release toxins into my body. So worrying and thinking on problems is actually worse than unhealthy food. What you eat plays a smaller part in health than what you think on. Words and thoughts will lead to life and death. It’s very Biblical. Jesus said “It’s not what goes INTO the body that defiles a man,” [meaning food doesn’t cause you to be healthy or sick as much as what you think and say!] “but what comes out of a man defiles him.” (Matt 5:11)

So I started making time for “green tree activities” in my day. Creativity is one way. Drawing, games, going to breakfast, blogging, talking with friends about spiritual truths. Bible verses that are uplifting are important, not ones that you feel condemned by. Grace teaching messages, shopping, giving, arts and crafts. Things you enjoy are green-tree activities. Not watching fear-based shows and depressing movies. Set time aside for purposely laughing; watch belly-laughing movies. (Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, comedies) Get those endorphins flowing with music, praise, thanksgiving.  Focusing on green-tree thoughts shrinks the black, toxic trees and memories. It changes how you feel and helps you think clearly and solve problems. I did a YouTube on  How To Take Thoughts Captive. Please watch! You can heal, lose weight, change addiction and live again by choosing to purposely spend time in thinking green and not black. You’ll solve problems by doing this. God will be able to speak to you more when you “think on things that are lovely” and enjoy life again.