The Battlefield of the Mind!
All of us fight battles – for some, it’s the battle of the bulge, and for others, it’s the battle of the pocketbook. There’s a battle much more deadlier, it’s called the “Battle of the Mind!” A deadly war between God and Satan, played out on the battlefield of our minds!
How many times have you tried to convince yourself that something was to go wrong? Remember the phrase, “I can just feel it!” You just felt like you weren’t going to win that track meet; then the day of the race, you won going away. Or, your teenager borrowed your car, they’re late coming back home, and you just felt like they were in a car accident, because you heard several ambulances racing up the Beltway, with their sirens blaring; then they arrive home safely!
As time passed, we often looked back on various situations, like these and wondered why we were so worried: and as we grew in Christ, we simply came to the conclusion that our concerns were “ALL IN OUR HEADS!”
If you’re experiencing this [now] – God understands! Saints, we’re capable of imagining countless scenarios about relationships and bad things happening. So, God built into His Word instructions for recognizing and overcoming these thought patterns that run WILD in our minds.
Apostle Paul says, the battles taking place in our minds are a normal part of the Christian experience. He explains it to us in 2 Corinthians 10:3, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.”
The Apostle is saying that we live in physical bodies in a material world: and at the same time, we’re at war and this war is not being fought in a physical or material realm – but a spiritual realm – and we will discuss that starting with verse 4 a little later.
Saints, our ENEMY is not clothed in FLESH, we know this because of what the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 6:12, For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
The Devil has set himself up in high places to war against us. And there’s a deadly invisible army of demonic beings dedicated to the destruction of our thought life.
Satan’s desire is to sift us like wheat – to conquer and control our thought life, then make our minds a Headquarters for him to war against God. The Bible says that we’re not ignorant of his devices, because, when we’re sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, we know his every move. In Luke 22:31-32, Then the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has demanded to have you to sift you as wheat.But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have repented, strengthen your brothers.”
Remember Saints, when God saved us, He gave us the mind of Christ, 2 Corinthians 11:3, “ But I fear that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve through his trickery, so your minds might be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ.” The word “SIMPLICY” in the text simply means “PURITY”, now let’s go back and read it and see how much more that Scripture comes a live to us! [Devil gets YOUR mind – he knows he can pull you away from Christ!]
Let’s look at one of the fights we’re engaged in – it’s the weakness of our Flesh: We live in the flesh … therefore, our problems are Fleshly (sickness, Lust, Anger, unforgiveness, etc.), yet we don’t war against Flesh and Blood. Why? Because our battle is against the Devil himself: he’s been here for a while and knows us like a book – our strengths and our weaknesses. The Bible talks about how cunning he is: think about it, Adam & Eve were 2 perfect beings that God created, in a perfect garden called Eden, and yet, Satan was able to play with their minds.
So, how are we supposed to take the fight back to him? And we are supposed to, because in the Book of Ephesians 6:10-18, we’re to put on the whole armor of God and when you read it, you will see that there’s no piece of armor for your back, because Christians are NOT to retreat – but advance forward – to take this war to Satan and his army of demonic forces! [In other words, for a Christian, FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!]
So, what other weapons do we have to keep control of our minds?
* Sovereignty of God – He sent His son over 2,000 years ago to do battle with Satan: He defeated Him on Calvary’s Cross, as a result, in John 12:31, “Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
* Authority of Christ – In 2 Corinthians 3:8, “How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious?” This is simply saying that God has given us the authority of Christ here in the earth. The word “AUTHORITY” means the legal right to act on behalf of someone else. Remember He also told us to “OCCUPY” until I come. In Luke 10: 19-20, “Look, I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
* Courage – Holy Ghost Boldness [Say what God’s Word says]
* Fill our minds with Godly thoughts – Philippians 4:8-9
Note: We will pick up 2 Corinthians 10:4-8 later, from my teaching notes.