If only many people realised that Satan's primary target for attack is their mind, they would focus more on that and not on prayers for health, wealth, protection, etc. Of course the aforementioned prayers are very important, but if we ignore our hearts and minds, and healing prosperity and other blessings come, we will not be able to receive them because our hearts and minds are not right.
The devil attacks our minds daily, it is his easiest playground and we are most ignorant of it. He tried to attack Jesus Christ in the same way (Matthew 4:1-11) but Jesus had something many of us don't (which I will come to) and so He could very easily extinguish those thoughts.
The way the enemy attacks our minds is to plant all sorts of negative thinking in there. Let us look at some scenarios:
#1 You started the new year extremely motivated about all your goals, things you want to achieve, how much closer you want to be with God but then in Week 3, those funny thoughts started coming:
"why should this year be any different from last year?"
"better give up now you know you are never consistent"
"look at the economy, hmmm you really have high hopes",
"you can write these things down like you normally do but you know they will never be possible, look at all the journals you have written in with no outcome, just forget it"
#2 You are in a job which at the start was fun but a lot of work! Along the way you have realised how stressful and hectic it is, you are never happy, no longer learning, have a non-existent prayer life and overall being treated unfairly by the organisation in terms of benefits, etc. You are being headhunted for another opportunity to have a more impactful position in a different industry, has an amazing work-life balance, great package and you will learn a lot, however you have only been in your current role for 9 months and moreover you have little experience for the new role you are considering. Then the funny thoughts come:
"what makes you think they will take somebody like you with no experience?"
"9 months in one job and then to another, your CV will make you look unserious and no one will hire you"
"what direction are you taking in life, do you even know?"
#3 You have been waiting on God for a life partner, or at least a boyfriend/girlfriend, someone to date, but it has been a long dry spell with no one in the picture. You have received all kinds of prophecies from left to right about how your time for breakthrough has come, this is your year, bla bla but you have not seen anyone and are getting tired, then the funny thoughts come:
"Does God even love me?"
"Maybe I don't deserve to be happy after everything I've done"
"There must be something about me repelling people away"
"I will probably be single forever which is the scary truth"
If we look at all of these cases, one consistent thing you can find is that for every funny thought (Joyce Meyer calls this Stinking Thinking), there is a counter thought. Yes - you can counter all those arguments not just with a difference in your opinion but with The Word a.k.a The Bible. There are tried and tested scriptures and promises for every thought and situation you are going through. But I find that I cannot use The Word if I don't know the Word or have faith in the Word.
Jesus, when He was tempted in the wilderness, leveraged the same Word and fought off every evil thought. Apart from using the Word as a weapon, He had faith - He trusted in the Word He was using. Faith comes when you continually spend time in God's Word. From doing so, you become used to God, have an unusual kind of peace in any situation and are able to recount His promises even from heart, like Jesus Christ when the funny thoughts come.
So:
Funny Thought: Maybe I don't deserve to be happy after everything I've done
Counter Thought (from The Word): There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
Funny Thought: What direction are you taking in life?
Counter Thought (From The Word): For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Funny Thought: Look at the economy you really have high hopes
Counter Thought (From The Word): There was a famine in the land (Genesis 26:1) ....But Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold and the Lord blessed him (Genesis 26:12)
I do not have counter-thoughts for all of my funny thoughts just yet, I am a work in progress, learning to know God more and spend more time in The Word.
You Should defintely do the same and your thoughts will turnaround, you will begin to inspire others (yes, you!) and most importantly your life will never be the same.
To conclude, the way we can extinguish all the flaming arrows (different attacks but mainly, attacks to our mind) from the evil one is by taking up the shield of faith. But you cannot have faith if you do not know the Word. So each day, ask God for His help and to give you a Word. Study the Word and build up your faith.
Memory Verses:
As a man thinketh, so is He (Proverbs 23:7)
Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23)
Watch: Stinking Thinking
[Also check out Power Thoughts - Joyce Meyer on YouTube]
Read: Battlefield of the mind
Reflection: Build up your faith - Can you find a counter thought in the Word for any negative thought in your mind right now?
1 comment:
Thank you for this!
Post a Comment