Battle of the Mind - The Battleground

Hello everyone,

Did you know that there is a constant battle going on over your life?  Scripture  tells us that our enemy the devil has a plan and strategy to steal, kill and destroy our lives (John 10:10).  God has declared a plan for our lives too, it’s a brilliant future, full of peace, joy and abundant goodness.  Scripture tells us that before the foundation of the world, God set that plan in motion, and nothing from the past, present or future can change it.  Through Jesus, this promise of a good, full, victorious life is secure.  A life of freedom and prosperity and power over the enemy, where we can live on purpose and experience the full extent of God’s blessing.  In this series, we will see how nothing is able to stop us from experiencing all God has prepared for us, not when we make a  personal decision to align our thoughts, words and actions to His way of doing things.

To begin with, in this letter we’re going to take a look at the battle ground of our minds, and God's strategic plan for us to gain victory over our thought lives.  This is extremely important because the way we train our minds to think will determine the very people we become.  

The Battle of the Mind Wages On!

As I’ve mentioned before, medical science has proven that all our thoughts originate from one of two sources, they are either negative, fear based thoughts or positive, faith based thoughts.   When a thought enters our minds, and we agree with that thought and believe it, it becomes what scientists call a constructed thought or a stronghold.  This thought now has the power to influence our very belief system and becomes a part of who we are.  Do you remember what Proverbs 23:7 says, “"As a man thinkers in his heart, so is he."  

Now, these constructed thoughts or strongholds that are formed in our minds have the power to affect everything about us.  They become what scientists call established memories, and the more attention we give to them, the more they determine the way we perceive things.  And our perceptions directly influence our decision making and ultimately our course in life.

What’s really interesting is something I learnt from Dr. Caroline Leaf and Dr. Michelle Strydom’s studies on the human mind and it’s connection to the body.  Every thought or established memory, has an emotion attached to it.  In fact, medical science calls them emotion chemicals.  If the thought or memory is positive, it will have a positive emotion attached to it, and every time we recall that memory, or ponder, or meditate on that thought, the emotion releases a chemical that positively affects our well-being.  Causing us to feel joy, peace, hope and contentment.  These chemical emotions actually have the power to heal our physical bodies, or keep them in health.

Now of course the negative side to this is just as powerful.  Any negative thought that is meditated on and made an established memory or stronghold, has a negative emotion attached to it, that releases toxins into our bodies.  Feelings of fear, stress, rejection, anger and bitterness release destructive chemicals into our bodies.  They attack our sense of well-being and it’s scientifically proven, they are often the source of disease and pain in our physical bodies.

Who’s the Master of Your Mind?

The question is what things are we setting our minds on?  The Bible clearly teaches us to guard our hearts with all diligence because the well spring of life flows from them.  The thoughts we have chosen to believe set the path for our lives.  

God's word is filled with His thoughts and the purposes of His heart.  It tells us how to live and love and stay in victory.  The more we invest in understanding the word, believing it and appropriating it to our lives, the more our minds become programmed or trained to think like God, speak like God and act according to His will.  This process is called renewing our minds to the word of God and it is the only way to defeat the destructive plan the enemy has concerning us, so we can live free and powerfully victorious.

The more time we spend in God's word, meditating on it, agreeing with it and making it part of our belief system, the more we establish biblical strongholds in our minds.  God's word is peace and it’s life.  The book of Proverbs says it brings healing to our bodies, and Hebrews says it makes us perfect and complete in character.  

As soon as a negative thought, or any thought that is contrary to God's word is agreed upon, the same process takes affect.  This time, instead of life, faith peace and healing being the fruit; bondage, bitterness and brokenness enters our lives, through incorrect thoughts and their destructive chemical emotions.

The Control Centre

The mind is the control centre of our lives.  It is the strategic battlefield where the war over our lives is either won or lost, depending on what we choose to keep our minds focused on.  

Romans 6:16 tells us that whoever we give our minds to, becomes our master.  Insinuating that when we allow our thoughts to indulge in and centre around negative things that are contrary to God's word, the carnal, sinful  nature becomes the mastermind of our future, which always leads to death.  However, should we choose to meditate on and fill our thoughts with the spiritual truth of God's word, his Devine will and plan for our lives becomes a sure path of life, peace, healing and victory for our future.

A Supernatural Way of Living

Because God is a Supernatural Being, and His word holds His Supernatural Nature, choosing to renew our minds to it gives us the dominion and authority to stand on His promises and override the natural facts in our lives.  Every natural fact and circumstance is subject to change when brought under the truth and authority of the word of God.

Next week we are going to look closely at the process of renewing our minds to God’s Word, and how keeping it in the centre of our hearts, and as the final authority of our lives, will cause us to form strong, healthy strongholds of truth that will keep the enemy at bay and our bodies healthy and at peace.

As for today, choose who the master mind behind your life will be.  Recognise how your lack of controlling your thought life could cause you to forfeit the life of freedom and victory Jesus secured for you on the cross.  It’s time to wise up and take back the control of your mind, setting it safely in the hands of the One Who loves you and created you for His purpose.

All my love,

Jenny