Battlefield of the Mind (2 page)

These "weapons" are the Word received through preaching, teaching, books, tapes, seminars and private Bible study. But we must "abide" continue) in the Word until it becomes revelation given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Continuing is important. In Mark 4:24 Jesus says, . .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 .. . I repeat, we must continue using the weapon of the Word.

Two other spiritual weapons available to us are praise and prayer.

Praise defeats the devil quicker than any other battle plan, but it must be genuine heart praise, not just lip service or a method being tried to see if it works. Also, praise and prayer both involve the Word. We praise God according to His Word and His goodness.

Prayer is relationship with the Godhead. It is coming and asking for help or talking to God about something that bothers us.

If you want to have an effective prayer life, develop a good personal relationship with the Father. Know that He loves you, that He is full of mercy, that He will help you. Get to know Jesus. He is your Friend. He died for you. Get to know the Holy Spirit. He is with you all the time as your Helper. Let Him help you.

Learn to fill your prayers with the Word of God. God's Word and our need is the basis on which we come to Him.

So, our weapons are the Word used in various ways. As Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians, our weapons are not carnal (fleshly) weapons; they are spiritual. We need spiritual weapons because we are fighting master spirits, yes, even the devil himself. Even Jesus used the weapon of the Word in the wilderness to defeat the devil. (Luke 4:1-13.) Each time the devil lied to Him, Jesus responded with, "It is written," and quoted him the Word.

As Mary learns to use her weapons, she will begin to tear down the strongholds that have been built in her mind. She will know the truth that will set her free. She will see that not all men are like her earthly father.

Some are, but many are not. Her husband, John, is not. John loves Mary very much.

JOHN'S SIDE

The other side of the story involves John. He, too, has problems that are a contributing factor to the situation he and Mary face in their marriage, home and family.

John should be taking his position as head of the family. God intends for him to be the priest of his home. John is also born again and knows the proper order for family life. He knows that he should not allow his wife to run the household, the finances, the children and him. He knows all this, but he doesn't do anything about it except feel defeated and retreat into TV and sports.

John is hiding from his responsibility because he hates confrontation.

He prefers to take a passive attitude, thinking, "Well, if I just leave this situation alone, perhaps it will work itself out." Or, he excuses himself from taking real action by saying, "I'll pray about it." Of course, prayer is good, but not if it is merely a way of avoiding responsibility.

Let me clarify what I mean when I say that John should assume his God-given position in the home. I don't mean that he should come on like

"Mr. Macho," ranting and raving about his authority. Ephesians 5:25 teaches that a man should love his wife as Christ loved the Church. John needs to take responsibility, and with responsibility comes authority. He should be firm with his wife—loving but firm. He should reassure Mary that even though she was hurt as a child, as she releases herself to God through trusting Him, she will gain confidence that not all men are like her father was.

John should be doing a lot of things; but like Mary, he also has "mindsets" that open the door for the devil to hold him captive. There is also a battle going on in John's mind. Like Mary, he was verbally abused in childhood. His domineering mother had a sharp tongue and frequently said hurtful things to him, things like: "John, you're such a mess; you'll never amount to anything."

John tried hard to please his mother because he craved her approval (as all children do); but the harder he tried, the more mistakes he made.

He had a habit of being clumsy, so his mother told him all the time what a "klutz" he was. Of course, he dropped things because he was trying so hard to please that it made him nervous, and so he defeated his purpose.

He also experienced some unfortunate rejection from children with whom he desired to be friends. This type of thing happens to most of us at some time in our lives, but it devastated John because he already felt rejected by his mother.

And there was a girl whom he really liked in his early high school years who rejected him for another boy. By the time all of these things had tallied up in John's life, and the devil had worked on him, building strongholds in his mind for years and years, John simply had no courage to be anything but quiet, shy and withdrawn.

John is a low-key type person who simply chooses not to make waves.

For years he has been having thoughts directed into him that go something like this: "There is no point in telling anyone what you think; they won't listen anyway. If you want people to accept you, you just need to go along with whatever they want."

The few times he tried to stand his ground on an issue, it seemed that he always ended up losing, so he finally decided that confrontation wasn't worth the effort.

"I'm going to lose anyway in the end," he reasoned, "so why even start anything?"

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel)
to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are
oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down
by calamity],

To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day
when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound]. Luke 4:18,19

With John and Mary's conflicting problems, it is not too hard to imagine what their home life is like. Remember, I said there was a lot of strife in it. Strife isn't always open warfare. Many times, strife is an angry undercurrent in the home that everyone knows is there, but nobody deals with The atmosphere in their home is terrible, and the devil loves it!

What will happen to John and Mary and their children? Will they make it? They are Christians—it would be a shame to see their marriage fail and their family ruined. Actually, though, it is up to them. John 8:31,32 will be a key Scripture passage in their decision. If they continue to study God's Word, they will know the truth, and acting on the truth will set them free.
But
they must each face the truth about themselves and their past as God reveals it to them.

The truth is always revealed through the Word; but sadly, people don't always accept it. It is a painful process to face our faults and deal with them. Generally speaking, people justify misbehavior. They allow their past and how they were raised to negatively affect the rest of their lives.

Our past may explain why we're suffering, but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage.

Everyone is without excuse because Jesus always stands ready to fulfill His promise to set the captives free. He will walk us across the finish line of victory in any area if we are willing to go all the way through it with Him.

THE WAY OUT

For no temptation (no trial regarded as enticing to sin, no matter
how it comes or where it leads) has overtaken you and laid hold on
you that is not common to man [that is, no temptation or trial has come
to you that is beyond human resistance and that is not adjusted and
adapted and belonging to human experience, and such as man can
bear]. But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate
nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried
and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power
to endure, but with the temptation He will [always] also provide the
way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be
capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently. 1 Corinthians 10:13

I hope you see from this parable-type example how Satan takes our circumstances and builds strongholds in our lives—how he wages war on the battlefield of the mind. But, thank God, we have weapons to tear down the strongholds. God doesn't abandon us and leave us helpless.

First Corinthians 10:13 promises us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but with every temptation He will also provide the way out, the escape.

Any one of us may be Mary or John. I am sure that most of us relate in some way to the scenario. Their problems are internal—in their thoughts and attitudes. Their outward behavior is only a result of their inner life.

Satan knows well that if he can control our thoughts, he can control our actions.

You may have some major strongholds in your life that need to be broken. Let me encourage you by saying, "God is on your side." There is a war going on, and your mind is the battlefield. But the good news is that God is fighting on your side.

Chapter 2

A Vital Necessity

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.... PROVERBS 23:7

This one Scripture alone lets us know how very important it is that we think properly. Thoughts are powerful, and  to affect what we become, then it should certainly be a priority that we think right thoughts.

I want to impress on you the absolute necessity of getting your thinking in line with God's Word.

You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.

THE MIND OF THE FLESH VERSUS THE MIND OF THE SPIRIT

For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its
unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which
gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are
controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek
those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit. Romans 8:5

In the
King James Version
the eighth chapter of Romans teaches us that if we "mind" the things of the flesh, we will walk in the flesh; but if we "mind" the things of the Spirit, we will walk in the Spirit.

Let me put it another way: If we think fleshly thoughts, wrong thoughts, negative thoughts, we cannot walk in the Spirit. It seems as if renewed, God-like thinking is a vital necessity to a successful Christian life.

There are times when we humans will be lazy about something if we don't realize how important it is to pay attention to it. But, when we realize it is a matter that will cause great problems if we let it go, then we get in gear and take care of it because we realize it is so important.

Let us say, for example, that the bank calls and tells you that your account is overdrawn by $850. You immediately look for the problem.

Perhaps in your search you discover that you failed to make a deposit that you thought you had made. You rush to the bank right away with the deposit, so you won't have any further problems.

I would like for you to consider this matter of getting the mind renewed in the same manner.

Your life may be in a state of chaos because of years of wrong thinking. If so, it is important for you to come to grips with the fact that
your life will not get straightened out until your mind does.
You should consider this area one of vital
necessity.
Be serious about tearing down the strongholds Satan has built in your mind. Use your weapons of the Word, praise and prayer.

BY THE SPIRIT

...Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit...says the Lord of
hosts. Zechariah 4:6

One of the best aids to freedom is asking God for a lot of help—and asking often.

One of your weapons is prayer (asking). You can't overcome your situation by determination alone. You do need to be determined, but determined in the Holy Spirit, not in the effort of your own flesh. The Holy Spirit is your Helper—seek His help. Lean on Him. You can't make it alone.

A VITAL NECESSITY

For the believer, right thinking is a vital necessity. A vital necessity is something that is so important that one simply cannot live without it—like a heart beat is vital, or blood pressure is vital. These are things without which there is no life.

The Lord impressed this truth on me years ago concerning personal fellowship with Him in prayer and the Word. I was having a terrible time disciplining myself to do these things until He showed me that they are a vital necessity. Just as my physical life is dependent upon my vital signs, so my spiritual life is dependent upon spending regular, quality time with God, Once I learned that fellowship with Him is vital, I gave it priority in my life.

In the same way, once I realized that right thinking is vital to victorious living, I got more serious about thinking about what I was thinking about, and choosing my thoughts carefully.

AS YOU THINK. SO A RE YOU

Either make the tree sound (healthy and good), and its fruit sound
(healthy and good), or make the tree rotten (diseased and bad), and its
fruit rotten (diseased and bad); for the tree is known and recognized
and judged by its fruit. Matthew 12:33

The Bible says that a tree is known by its fruit.

The same is true in our lives. Thoughts bear fruit. Think good thoughts, and the fruit in your life will be good. Think bad thoughts, and the fruit in your life will be bad.

Actually, you can look at a person's attitude and know what kind of thinking is prevalent in his life. A sweet, kind person does not have mean, vindictive thoughts. By the same token, a truly evil person does not have good, loving thoughts.