Cole Phillips

The goal of renewed thinking isn’t simply to stop thinking about what we shouldn’t. God actually washes and renews our minds.

Ephesians 5:26 describes Christ cleansing the church through the Word.

Ephesians 4:22-24 calls you to put off the old self, renew your mind, and put on the new self created in true righteousness and holiness.

Psalm 119:9-11 points to hiding God's Word in your heart as the path to a guarded life.

This is the replacement principle at work. You don't just empty your mind of what is wrong. You fill it with what is right. Instead of dwelling on lies, we start meditating on the truth.

The battlefield isn't out there. It’s inside your head.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 reminds us that the weapons God gives us have divine power to demolish strongholds, tear down arguments, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Romans 12:2 calls you to stop being pressed into the mold of this world's thinking and instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

A thought doesn’t become true just because it feels good or because you’ve believed it for years. Familiar and true aren’t the same thing.

Examine every thought; don't just accept it.

Familiar words. Fresh encouragement. A Shepherd who knows your name.

Thanks, Daniel Freeman, for these thoughtful words about Psalm 23 and Me. My prayer is that this book helps you know the Good Shepherd more deeply and trust Him in whatever season you’re walking through.

Releasing October 12! Just one week away! https://a.co/d/06AvojoS

What has Psalm 23 meant to you? I’d love to hear your story in the comments.

Your identity isn’t determined by what you’ve accomplished or how well you performed this week.

Ephesians 2:8-9 declares that salvation comes totally by grace through faith, given as a gift, with no room left for boasting. That means your position before God isn’t built on your best day or destroyed by your worst one.

Romans 8:1 proclaims that there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ. When the enemy holds up an old picture of your life and tells you that this is still who you are, bring that thought to the truth of God’s Word.

Your past has been forgiven. Put on your helmet of salvation and guard your mind.

The Spartan Phalanx battle strategy was effective because no soldier stood alone. Your faith was never meant to be a solitary effort either. Lies grow louder in isolation.

When you’re alone on your devices, absorbing the world's arrows without anyone speaking truth beside you, the enemy gains ground. But when believers stay close, remind each other about what’s true, pray specifically for one another, and help each other walk in obedience, the shield wall holds strong.

Love doesn’t applaud what harms the people we care about. It speaks truth and stays present.

Connection isn’t optional for the Christian life. It is a battlefield necessity.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t play around with compromise in Daniel 3:16-18. They didn’t ask for more time to go over their options. They told the king plainly that God was able to deliver them and that even if He did not, their answer would stay the same. This is mature, costly faith.

The world will pressure you to bow to its ideologies, to go along with the crowd, and to call silence love. But true freedom in Christ isn’t the freedom to do whatever you want. It’s the freedom to do what is right, even when it’s dangerous.

You can stand without bowing because God stands with you.

Have you ever noticed how honest the father is in Mark 9:23-24? He says to Jesus, “I believe; help me with my unbelief.” He believes and doubts in the same breath, and Jesus doesn’t turn him away.

Doubt doesn’t cancel out faith. Instead, faith means trusting God in spite of your doubts.

You raise the shield of faith when you put your full weight on God even when you still have questions. Much like sitting down in a chair, the strength that holds you is not how certain you are, but in how powerful God is.

It’s not so much the size of your faith as it is the size of the One you are putting your faith in.