The Battlefield Of The Mind

 

Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind Meyer, Joyce on Amazon.com.FREE. shipping on qualifying offers. Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind. Battlefield of the Mind Chapter 1 1 THE MIND IS THE BATTLEFIELD 1. Our warfare is not with other human beings, but with the devil and his demons. Describe the different rankings of those demons, and the evil supernatural empire in. The battlefield is our mind, not our circumstances. As the Father of Lies, he knows that deception is an effective tactic. His goal is to influence our thoughts because how we think determines our attitudes, emotions, desires, and actions.


EXPOSE | Lose the Mind, Lose the Battle

“The fact is, the reason we have so many ineffective Christians today is that they do not know how to fight the battle[field] of the mind.” – Rick Warren

EXPLORE | Out of Sight, Out of Mind

No doubt, the mind is a battlefield. A lot is won and lost there. Mostly lost, it seems.

Not to go all ‘Matrix’ on you, but there are both “seen and unseen” forces on our lives. This fact is quite clear from verses like Ephesians 6:12. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The source of what we need to defend against is not visible, which is why I think we’re so easily deceived, and why “out of sight, out of mind” can be so deadly.

“…one of the most important things we need to learn… is how to guard, strengthen, and renew our minds, because the battle… always starts in the mind.” – Rick Warren

We face relentless attacks that require a mental rigor that successfully defends against enemies in the physical and spiritual realms.

EXECUTE | The Battlefield of the Mind Demands a Battle Plan

When you consider that this battle for the mind involves a persistent enemy, and the fact that there will never be peace, you’d better have a plan in order to remain sensitive to the “troop movement and changing tactics” of the enemy.

The Battle is real.

The battle is real, the enemy is real, and our need to be freed from ignorance and complacency is real. Sam Storm provides what he believes are 12 reasons why “Christians are tragically ignorant of and dangerously ill-prepared for spiritual warfare” in his article on confronting spiritual warfare. It is sobering, even embarrassing, to consider how easily we’ve been sidelined. Passivity in our consumption of the Bible, the distraction of our “western world-view”, pride, and “insulated life-styles” are just several of the issues. Storm suggests that we find the balanced understanding between 1 John 4:4 and 1 John 5:19 so as to prevent the extremes of “obsessive preoccupation (based on their focus on 1 John 5:19 to the neglect of 1 John 4:4), or complacent indifference (based on their focus on 1 John 4:4 to the neglect of 1 John 5:19).”

Avoid “complacent indifference” of: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4

Avoid “obsessive preoccupation” of: “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” – 1 John 5:19

We can’t lose sight of the fact that we’re in a battle, but, that there is every reason to hope. I like to describe it as “confident vigilance”. That is, we need to be careful, but we don’t have to be scared.

Seek and Destroy.

As it is in sports, so it is in battle. You need both a good offense and defense to be successful. We see this in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. In the first part of those verses, you see the offense, which is to destroy strongholds:

“For the weapons of our warfare… [are] divine power… to destroy strongholds… [to] destroy arguments and every lofty opinion… [that are] raised against the knowledge of God…” – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5a

Whether a worldview, an attitude or opinion–any thought or mindset that has taken residence and dug in deep that runs counter to the truth is to be destroyed.

Incoming!

Verse 5 closes with a defensive tactic: “…and take every thought captive to obey Christ.” We are to be diligent in capturing each and every thought and forcing right thinking.

“The Greek word aichmaløtizø [take captive] there means “to control, to conquer, to bring into submission.” – Rick Warren

Test every thought. Because of sin, our minds are “broken” and even pre-conditioned to not think correctly. We need to confirm alignment with the truth.

Strengthen the filter. Monitor everything you feed your brain. Prayer (without ceasing, and about everything) and fixation on God’s Word (what is right, true and pure) are two ways that we “tighten up the holes.”

Learn to love knowledge and wisdom. Frequent and consistent feeding of the mind until knowledge is developed into conviction, and conviction expressed through our character.

“The vast or great majority of all spiritual warfare never need go beyond the regular practice of living out your position in Christ by faith.” – Chip Ingram

Pray for discernment. Feeding on God’s Word fuels and guides our focus in prayer. It not only makes it effective and fruitful, but also particular to the cracks and crevices where the adversary seeps in.

“Prayer is like bringing a gun to a knife fight.” – Skip Heitzig

With our minds finely tuned, we’ll better know where to step, when to duck, or whether or not to charge in the battlefield of the mind.

Further Reading:

The Battlefield Of The Mind Quotes

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Ephesians 6:12

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Mind

Chapter 1 in the Battlefield of the Mind starts of with the passage from the bible written above, telling us that our mind is always being controlled by the powers of evil who determines to undermine our thoughts and deceive us into believing that we are condemned before God. Joyce wrote that in our darkest moments, Satan strives to set up strongholds in our minds in which we are imprisoned to our certain way of thinking that is often negative and condemning.

I could remember the first time I battled with the negativity of my thoughts, I was literally thrown into self-destruction. For years I have battled with the thoughts that nobody actually likes me nor accepts me for who I am. For years I have thought my life was a worthless piece of thrash that is not worthy of anyone’s love and acceptance, which you could read from the many accounts of how I fought this negativity in my mind and how defeated I am by my own condemnation. This “stronghold” has been set in my mind have held me “imprisoned” for many years. Changing my way of thinking was difficult and almost unattainable. It was like I thought that I would be doomed to be in this condition forever. This condemnation has also taken away my confidence that I am made perfect in God’s eyes, in a way that I would think that I am unlovable because I am useless, poor and utterly stupid in everyone’s eyes.

In Joyce’s book, she revealed that the apostle Paul has weapons that can help us overcome this stronghold and that weapon is God’s words. I remembered reading this passage from the bible with truths that truly set me free:

Romans 8:1 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

I am not useless, poor and stupid as my mind perceived me to be. God has made me perfect in His eyes and therefore I will walk bravely and confidently in His presence in this present life.

God’s words are powerful weapons that cannot be underestimated by those who read them. It is the beacon of hope that we can rely on to tear down this “stronghold” in our minds. Joyce also quoted two verses from the bible which I held dearly to my heart and to hold it as my only weapon to protect me from stumbling further in my faith.

John 8: 31-32

…. Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching [which means the words that God breathed], you are really my disciple. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

There is also one sentence in this chapter that hits me in my heart which says “Our past may explain why we’re suffering, but we must not use it as an excuse to stay in bondage”. It is without a doubt that my past sufferings of misery and nonacceptance by the people whom I had been seeking approval from has rendered me hopeless. I am not going to let that happen to me anymore this year as I resolved for it to be. God accepting me for who I am is sufficient for His grace is sufficient as He has promised in his word:

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

The verse above tells us that God’s power and love shine in the darkest moments of our lives and the way out of darkness is truly to rely on God’s words and His strength to help us pull through:

John 15:5-8

Battlefield Of The Mind Used

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

To end this chapter, Joyce wrote a reminder to us that God “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” and quoted from a verse in the bible:

The Battlefield Of The Mind Kenneth Copeland

1 Corinthians 10:13

The Battlefield Of The Mind Book

13 No temptation[a] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,[c] he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The Battlefield Of The Mind Devotional

This is another verse that bears hope in me and it reminds me of the fact that I am never alone in my walk with God. No matter what sins may come my way, God will always be there to set me free with His abiding love and words. Thank you Joyce for the reminder once again.