The Battle in our Mind

Hey! It's been a while since I've written something but finally, I found time to write over here. Anyway, I decided to get a note book recently. I always claim to have enough brain power to store up all my thoughts but I recently had an urge to get one and so I did. Not being much of a diary person most of my life, that night I thought very deeply about what to write and quite frankly, I stayed holding my pen for about two hours before I decided to jot my NAME down. The instrumental music playing in the background that was supposed to put me in this sort of "mood" to write didn't seem to have done much. And so I prayed. 

It was quite absurd that my ever thinking mind, that sometimes over thinks, suddenly had nothing to think about. (Not really, I thought about the act of thinking I guess). I finally decided to write about stories or verses in the Bible that I didn't seem to make sense of, like the story of Jacob (Genesis 32: 24). I didn't really understand how this guy fought with God and then later asked for a blessing. Using Through The Word as my chapter guide, Kris Langham says that there is a fire in a man that causes him to fight. I finally understood... Jacob had gone through so many frustrations over the course of His life that kept building up until it finally led to his fight with God.

I believe that every man must come to realize that all of his inward fire (anger, anxiety, fear, depression) is with God. Eventually, we must come to God and wrestle it out, just like Jacob did

There are two sides to life; The natural/ physical side and the spiritual side. When we understand these two dimensions, we can negotiate the war in our minds that occupies our life. It's very clear at this point that we are not fighting flesh and blood. 

Life is a battle, our mind is a battleground and faith is our shield.

Going through temptation can be challenging, but with a good fight, it can be rewarding. 

Jacob had a good fight and was blessed. He insisted that he will not let God go until he was blessed. He had battled with fear long enough and it was time to wholeheartedly seek for God's face.  And God revealed Himself to him. God changed Jacob's name to Israel and told him that it is because he had "struggled with both God and humans and has overcome". Jacob was then blessed.

At first, all he saw were his challenges and frustrations. This led him to have this fire inside of him which made him fearful, but eventually, he persistently fought it out with God and was free

What someone sees, physically, can influence your thoughts and actions. For example, if all someone sees are their challenges and frustrations, all they will think about is their challenges and frustrations which can eventually lead them to trying to seeking help from the wrong people or suicide attempts. 

Satan, anxiety, fear depression, the world wants to take hold of your mind. They basically want to take hold of your battlefield. By doing this, they can control the battle. They can control your life.

Hence, the best time to win the physical battle is to fight it spiritually before it physically begins.

Realizing that thoughts can have such a powerful influence in our lives, we have to bring them into captivity of the obedience of Christ, by having faith. The enemy wants believers to walk by sight and not by faith. A believer does not have strength in this battle as long as they operate in the natural. Those who rely on knowledge cannot see beyond now, but those who walk in spirit rely on the revelation from God. Looking at life's trouble from the human point of view, in this battle, is the enemy's way of taking you out of your focus

God is the Lamp unto our feet and the Light unto our path. He is Love. He loves us. God will never leave us or forsake us. The battle is His. We are victorious in Jesus Christ. In knowing all this, I know we can win the battle in our minds. We should follow and pay attention to what God says about our lives to help us through the battle. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:4 that the weapons we fight with are not weapons of this world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 

One of the best examples of the comparison of spiritual war is through the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 6:15: 

    When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh no my lord! What shall we do?" the servant asked. 

16.    "Do not be afraid," the prophet (Elisha) answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

17.    And Elisha prayed, "Open his eyes, Lord so that he may see." Then the Lord opened the servants' eyes, and he looked and saw hills full of horses and chariots full of fire all around Elisha. 

18.    As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, "Strike this army with blindness," so He struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.

Let's be real, our thoughts will eventually lead us to action. It will either lead you to success or failure. What happens in your heart will eventually happen in time because our life reflects what is in our hearts. God speaks to us though our hearts. And what is in our hearts is reflected by our thoughts. Your life will always go to the level of your thoughts. Great thoughts produce great decisions. The battle on the outside is merely a reflection of the battle on the inside 

Are you ready for battle?

We should walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the means of victory in this battle of our thoughts. If our mind is our everyday battleground, we should always occupy our minds with the Word of God. This is what meditation is. Meditation is influenced by the word of God. Thoughts, on the other hand, are influenced by our five senses. By knowing and meditating in the Word of God, we find our true worth. Our identity in Christ is who we really are. Identity leads to destiny. We cannot find our identity unless we find out who God is. When you know God's opinion about your situation, you will fear no more because it will impart a strength for you to stand

We have to stop being controlled by worry, fear and anxiety about school life, work life or the future. If we are meant for victory, we have to stop wrestling with all these little boxes that we try to fit ourselves into and wrestle with God to discover who we truly are

ARE YOU READY FOR BATTLE?

Anyways, through God's Word, I ended up writing three pages of the book! :)