Have you ever had a song stuck in your head?
During a road trip a few summers ago, we got stuck in traffic, and I began to sing the most ridiculous songs I could think of to make us laugh and to pass the time. Occasionally, Julie would sing along if she knew the words. Crazy how we can remember lyrics to songs we haven’t heard in many years. One song got so stuck in our heads we still joke (and cringe) about it. It is, in my humble opinion, one of the worst songs ever:
Muskrat, muskrat, candlelight, doing the town and doing it right…
Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Sam, do the jitterbug out in muskrat land…
I’ll spare you all the lyrics to “Muskrat Love” because all they really tell us is that drugs and alcohol were likely involved in the song’s creation!
As we sang and laughed, we were appalled that we actually knew the words. But when I was young, the song played on the bus radio over and over, and even though I didn’t like it, it got stuck in my brain. To this day, if one of us says, MUSKRAT, the other yells “NO!!!!” to prevent the tune from starting up in our heads.
Truth is, lots of things get stuck in our heads—much of which is more than just irritating. The old “tapes” that play in our heads can be downright damaging. We may hate the tune, but one word from the enemy can trigger a whole “song” that gets stuck on repeat.
For example, it used to be that when I realized a mistake, the enemy would mutter, “you are SUCH a loser,” and my brain would remember the soul-crushing “lyrics” connected to every failure I’ve ever experienced. I’m not lovable, I’m worthless! People only hurt me. God loves others, but He can't possibly love me with all my flaws or answer my prayers.
Our brains tend to follow the path of least resistance like water down the side of a mountain. We get “stuck” in patterns of thinking, but we don’t have to stay there. Despite how it seems, we have the power of choice. Free will is an irrevocable gift from God. We cannot truly love without it. But with it, we have the power to choose who and what to think about, who and what to love. The gift of free will is like God giving us the deed to our own hearts. We get to choose what we do with it. We can sign it over to Him, put it into a safe deposit box of self-protection, or put it into the hands of the things we lust after.
Let’s look at the example of Herod, who had a mind stuck on repeat and a heart deeded over to the enemy. The full passage is in Matthew 14. Here we read that John the Baptist called out Herod and Herodias for sexual sin. Offended, Herodias wants to destroy John, and she does so by exploiting Herod’s weaknesses. After her daughter pleased Herod with a dance, he promised to give her whatever she asked for. Prompted by Herodias, she asks for John’s head on a platter.
The king was distressed, but because of his oaths, and because of his dinner guests,
he ordered it to be given her. (Mt. 14:9, NIV)
Herod was distressed because he knew John the Baptist was a man of God, and he did not want to kill him. But he did not own the deed to his heart. The spirits of lust and pride did.
The enemy used Herodias (who surely knew all about Herod’s lust problem) to silence John the Baptist. But Herod was not truly betrayed by Herodias. Rather, he was betrayed by his own free will. Herod said YES to lust and pride when he married Herodias, his brother’s wife. He said YES to lust in the dance of his stepdaughter. He said YES to pride by wanting to save face in front of his guests. A voice of truth was silenced because a rich and powerful man repeatedly said YES to the wrong kingdom.
The enemy still wants to silence the truth, and he will use what we allow to occupy our minds to take us out, just as he did with Herod.
What we continually think on we can so easily become.
This statement is a spiritual and physical reality that works both for good and for bad. We will eventually act on (and become) the things we allow to occupy our thinking! The enemy first plants thoughts in our heads and waits until they have been stuck on repeat so long that we are ripe for acting on them. Perhaps you have made choices you’re not proud of, choices that have resulted in your heart being given over to the wrong things. There is hope! It is never too late to renounce past agreements and transfer the deed of our hearts to the One who loves us completely.
How do we do this? Remember, we have free will. Choose your “yes” wisely. The more we say “yes” to the enemy, the more ground he gains and the more influence he has in our lives. The more we say YES to God the more He transforms us. We have been given the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16), and we can exercise mind over the enemy’s mutter.
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, NIV)
The Amplified Bible, translates verse five this way:
We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets
itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and
purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.
What are the exalted and proud arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God? Thoughts that accuse God and create unbelief, doubt, anger, shame, etc. Lyrics from old songs we hate that mutter, God is not really good. I used to believe that I was completely unlovable - by God and by people. Rejection ruled my heart and I unknowingly gave it free reign by allowing those lyrics of self-hatred to play continuously like background music in my soul. When I began to see in His word, who He says I am - loved, accepted, I had a choice to make... continue to allow myself to be tormented by thoughts completely contrary to the Bible, or to CHOOSE to believe who He says I am even if my FEELINGS didn't yet line up to the TRUTH (that came later as my mind was renewed by His thoughts for me!).
We are on to the enemy’s lies now. We CAN catch ourselves and yell “NO!” We CAN take that first note of unbelief and turn it into a song of praise that routes the enemy.
If it resonates in your heart, make this your repeated prayer:
Lord, show me where I have listened to the worst song ever: the song that says You are not TRULY and COMPLETELY good and the You love me FULLY!
Lord, reveal the mindless lyrics I have sung, lyrics of unbelief or anger or pride or self-rejection or shame because I wanted a different outcome or because the pain of the past still wells up inside me.
Lord, show me the judgments I have made toward You, toward others, and toward myself. Please show me where I have allowed an unloving spirit to blind me from seeing and receiving Your incredible love for me.
I submit my thoughts to You. Holy Spirit, I ask you to help me to line them up with Your word. Reveal to me anything in my thinking that needs to be destroyed, and I ask You to destroy it! Smash the record of lies and unbelief!
I repent and renounce the agreements I have made with the enemy that are against the true knowledge of who You are and who You say I am. I ask You to demolish any stronghold that has been set up because of the yeses I’ve given to the wrong kingdom. I choose this day to give You my YES. I CHOOSE YOU! I ask that You continue this work beyond this moment. Highlight any thought patterns that are not Your heart and replace them with truth. I ask You to bring Your healing to my heart and mind!
Help me to think on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy” help me think about such things (Phil 4:8). Holy Spirit, help me to think about myself, others, and You in these ways. Holy Spirit, I know that I can’t do this in my own strength, but I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. I ask for a fresh outpouring of Your Presence, of Your amazing love that changes everything! Thank You that You are so, so good.
Amen.
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