Battlefield of the Mind (16 page)

Send thoughts of love toward other people. Speak words of encouragement to them.

Vine's
An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
defines the Greek word
parakaleo,
which is translated
exhort,
as "primarily, to call to a person
(para
to the side,
kaleo,
to call). .to admonish, exhort, to urge one to pursue some course of conduct.. ."3 I interpret this definition to mean coming alongside a person and urging him to press forward in pursuing a course of action. The ministry gift of exhortation spoken of in Romans 12:8 can readily be seen in those who have it. They are always saying something encouraging or uplifting to everyone—something that makes others feel better and encourages them to press on.

We may not all have the ministry gift of exhortation, but anyone can learn to be encouraging. The simple rule is: if it's not good, then don't think it or say it.

Everyone has enough problems already, we don't need to add to their troubles by tearing them down. We should build up one another in love. (Ephesians 4:29.) 

Don't forget: love always believes the best of everyone. ( 1 Corinthians 13:7.)

As you begin to think lovely thoughts about people, you will find them behaving in a more lovely manner. Thoughts and words are containers or weapons for carrying creative or destructive power. They can be used against Satan and his works or they can actually help him in his plan of destruction.

Let's say you have a child who has some behavior problems and definitely needs to change. You pray for him and ask God to work in his life, making whatever changes are necessary. Now what do you do with your thoughts and words concerning him during the waiting period?

Many people never see the answer to their prayers because they negate what they have asked for with their own thoughts and words before God ever gets a chance to work in their behalf.

Do you pray for your child to change and then entertain all kinds of negative thoughts about him? Or, perhaps pray for change and then think and even say to others, "This kid will never change!" To live in victory, you must begin by lining up your thoughts with God's Word.

We are not walking in the Word i f our thoughts are opposite o f what it
says. We are not
walking in
the Word i f we are not thinking in the Word.

When you pray for someone, line up your thoughts and words with what you have prayed and you will begin to see a breakthrough.

I am not suggesting that you get out of balance. If your child has a behavior problem in school, and a friend asks how he is doing, what should you do if, in reality, no change has manifested? You can say,

"Well, we have not seen the breakthrough yet, but I believe God is working and that this child is a powerhouse for the Lord. We will see him change from glory to glory, little by little, day after day."

5. Develop a thankful mind.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and
into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and
affectionately praise His name! Psalm 100:4

A person flowing in the mind of Christ will find his thoughts filled with praise and thanksgiving.

Many doors are opened to the enemy through complaining. Some people are physically ill and live weak, powerless lives due to this disease called complaining that attacks the thoughts and conversations of people.

A powerful life cannot be lived without thanksgiving. The Bible instructs us over and over in the principle of thanksgiving. Complaining in thought or word is a death principle, but being thankful and saying so is a life principle.

If a person does not have a thankful heart (mind), thanksgiving will not come out of his mouth. When we are thankful, we will say so.

BE THANKFUL AT ALL TIMES

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up
to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully
acknowledge and confess and glorify His name. Hebrews 13:15

When do we offer thanksgiving? At all times—in every situation, in all things—and by so doing we enter into the victorious life where the devil cannot control us.

How can he control us if we are going to be joyful and thankful no matter what our circumstances are? Admittedly, this kind of lifestyle sometimes requires a sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving, but I would rather sacrifice my thanksgiving to God than sacrifice my joy to Satan. I have learned (the hard way) that if I get grumpy and refuse to give thanks, then I will end up giving up my joy. In other words, I will lose it to the spirit of complaining.

In Psalm 34:1 the psalmist says,
I will bless the Lord at all times; His
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
How can we be a blessing to the Lord? By letting His praise
continually
be in our thoughts and mouths.

Be a grateful person—one filled with gratitude not only toward God, but also toward people. When someone does something nice for you, let him know that you appreciate it.

Show appreciation in your family among the various members. So often, we take for granted the things that God has blessed us with. A sure way to lose something is not to appreciate it.

I appreciate my husband; we have been married a long time but I still tell him that I appreciate him. He is a very patient man in many ways and has a lot of other really good qualities. I know that it helps build and maintain good relationships to let people know that we appreciate them, even mentioning certain things specifically that we are thankful for.

I deal with many people, and it continues to amaze me how some people are so thankful for every little thing that is done for them, while others are never satisfied no matter how much is done on their behalf. I believe pride has something to do with this problem. Some people are so full of themselves that no matter what others do for them, they think they deserve not only that, but more! They seldom express appreciation.

Expressing appreciation is not only good for the other person, but it is good for us, because it releases joy in us.

Meditate daily on all the things you have to be thankful for. Rehearse them to the Lord in prayer, and as you do you will find your heart filling up with life and light.

OFFER THANKS ALWAYS FOR EVERYTHING

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever
be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit.

Speak out to one another (the King James Version says "speaking
to yourselves") in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, offering
praise with voices [and instruments] and making melody with all your
heart to the Lord,

At all times and for everything giving thanks in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Ephesians 5:18-20

What a powerful group of Scriptures!

How can you and I stay ever filled with the Holy Spirit? By speaking to ourselves (through our thoughts) or to others (through our words) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In other words, by keeping our thoughts and words on, and full of, the Word of God; by offering
praise at
all times and for everything, giving thanks.

6.
Be Word-minded.

And you have not His word (His thought) living in your hearts,
because you do not believe and adhere to and trust in and rely on Him
Whom He has sent. [That is why you do not keep His message living
in you, because you do not believe in the Messenger Whom He has
sent.] John 5:38

God's Word is His thoughts written down on paper for our study and consideration. His Word is how He thinks about every situation and subject.

In John 5:38 Jesus was chastising some unbelievers. We see from this translation that God's Word is a written expression of His thoughts and that people who want to believe and experience all the good results of believing must allow His Word to be a living message in their hearts. This is accomplished by meditating on the Word of God. This is how His thoughts can become our thoughts—the only way to develop the mind of Christ in us.

The Bible in John 1:14 says that Jesus was the Word made flesh. That would not have been possible had His mind not been filled with the Word of God continually.

Meditating on the Word of God is one of the most important life principles that we can learn. Vine's An
Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words
defines the two Greek words translated
meditate
as follows: ".. to care for," "to attend to, practise," to "be diligent in," "to practise is the prevalent sense of the word," "to ponder, imagine," "to premeditate.. . "4 Another resource adds "to murmur" or "to mutter" to the definition.5

I can't emphasize strongly enough how important this principle is. I call it a life principle because meditating on the Word of God will minister life to you and ultimately to those around you.

Many Christians have become fearful of the word "meditate" due to the meditation practices of pagan and occult religions. But I urge you to remember that Satan has really never had an original idea. He takes what belongs to the Kingdom of Light and perverts it for the kingdom of darkness. We must be wise enough to realize that if meditation produces such power for the side of evil, that it will also produce power for the cause of good. The principle of meditation comes straight out of the Word of God; let's take a look at what the Bible has to say about it.

MEDITATE AND PROSPER

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you
shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do
according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way
prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Joshua 1:8

In this verse, the Lord is telling us plainly that we will never put the Word into practice physically if we don't first practice it mentally.

Psalm 1:2,3 speaks of the godly man and says:
But his delight and
desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the
instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders
and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly
planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its
fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything
he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].

MEDITATE AND BE HEALED

My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them in the center of
your heart. For they are life to those who find them, healing and health to all
their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22

Remembering that one of the defining words for "meditate" is to attend, consider this passage of Scripture which says that the words of the Lord are a source of health and healing to the flesh.

Meditating (pondering, thinking about) the Word of God in our mind will actually affect our physical body. My appearance has been changed during the past eighteen years. People tell me that I actually look at least fifteen years younger today than I did when I first began to diligently study the Word and make it the central focus of my entire life.

HEAR AND HARVEST

And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The
measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be
the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and
more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

Mark 4:24

This is like the principle of sowing and reaping. The more we sow, the more we will reap at harvest time. The Lord is saying in Mark 4:24 that the greater the amount of time you and I personally put into thinking about and studying the Word we hear, the more we will get out of it.

READ AND REAP

[Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For
there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known. Mark 4:22

These two verses together are surely telling us that the Word has hidden in it tremendous treasures, powerful life-giving secrets that God wants to reveal to us. They are manifested to those who meditate on, ponder, study, think about, practice mentally and mutter the Word of God.

I know personally, as a teacher of God's Word, the truth of this principle. It seems there is no end to what God can show me out of one verse of Scripture. I will study it one time and get one thing, and another time see something new that I did not even notice before.

The Lord keeps revealing His secrets to those who are diligent about the Word. Don't be the kind of person who always wants to live off of someone else's revelation. Study the Word yourself and allow the Holy Spirit to bless your life with truth.

I could go on and on about the subject of meditating on God's Word.

As I have said, it is one of the most important things that you and I can learn to do. All day long, as you go about your daily affairs, ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of certain Scriptures so you can meditate on them.

You will be amazed at how much power will be released into your life from this practice. The more you meditate on the Word of God, the more you will be able to readily draw upon its strength in times of trouble.

Remember:
the power to do the Word comes from the practice of meditating on
it.

RECEIVE AND WELCOME THE WORD

So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of
wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and
welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. James 1:21