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God commanded us to move onto the battlefield of our minds and take back all the mental powers that Satan has stolen from us. To recognize the battlefield of the mind is essiential to overcoming all the powers of darkness in our thought life, and bringing us fully into the renewed mind of Christ through the power and the blood of Jesus Christ that is within us.
Romans 8: 6-7...For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Ephesians 5: 17-25...This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleaness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.
Matthew 6: 31-34...Therefore take no thought, saying , What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
1. We are engaged in a war.
2. Our enemy is satan.
3. The mind is the battlefield.
4. The devil works diligently to set up strongholds in our mind.
5. He does it through strategy and deceit. (Through well laid plans.)
6. He is in no hurry. He takes his time to work out his plan.
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. JOHN 8:31,32
Put on the armor of God! Ephesians 6:17 "Put on salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God".
The helmet protects our mind from doubting God's Word. The devil just loves to mess with our minds.
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I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:2-5)
Two truths in the above verses are very relevant to this discussion. The first is that some people (Christians and/or non-Christians) think that we live by the standards of this world. They may be the one who dismiss parts of the Bible as being culturally irrelevant, or they may be those who don't have a clear understanding of Biblical precepts or misapply certain principles. The second truth is that Christians are to "take every thought captive."
Unless we live in a vacuum, Christians are inundated with worldly thinking which comes through our peers, the educational system, and popular media (news, entertainment, music). It's very easy to fall into the trap that we live by the standards of this world and what the world is telling our itchy ears is correct, unless we know God's Words.
To combat the world's influence, Christians need to renew their minds:
Do not conform any longer 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. (Romans 12:2)
How do we renew our minds? We take every thought captive!
Bible teacher Kay Arthur once described Philippians 4:8 as a way to frisk our thoughts.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Christians needs to get in the habit of running everything that enters their minds through the Philippians 4:8 filter. Is it true? Noble? Right? Pure? Lovely? Admirable? Excellent? Praiseworthy? A word of caution: Our understanding of any of these criteria may be skewed if we don't define them according to God's Word. A particular problem, however, arises in discerning the very first one--truth.
Christians should always turn to the Word of God first to ascertain truth. Proverbs 30:5 says that every word of God is flawless/true. Furthermore, His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. If we know God's Word, we will more easily recognize the world's error.
In Philippians 4:9, Paul tells the Philippians to put what they had learned from him into practice. We, too, are to put God's Word into practice. As a result, "the God of peace will be with you."
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In today's society, it's often difficult to ascertain the truth of media presentations or news reports. Rather than blindly accepting what we're told, I believe it's prudent to get input from a wide variety of sources before making up our minds. Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6 (KJV) both state there is safety in a multitude of counsellors. A multitude of counsellors will exhibit a diversity of opinion and experience. However, their counsel will only be as valuable as their trustworthiness, so choose your counsellors wisely.
(The above paragraph pertains to ideas and events not directly found in the Bible. Christians should still filter such things through the precepts of Scripture.)
Amen to all the above....wonderful scripture, Verna, sandgirl, ILNC!
You know it is so awesome as one reads and studies the word of God, the mind is being renewed, the old way of thinking (carnal mind) is being changed and given to the nature of Christ within us. Love the scripture in Ephesians......
Ephesians 6:10-18
v.10 Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
v.11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you many be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
v.12 For our we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
v.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
v.14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
v.15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
v.16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which your will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
v.17 And the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
v.18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.
These verses call us to spiritual warfare, identify the enemy, describes our weapons and exhorts us to prayer.
We are to be strong in the Lord for the right and against evil. It is only in the power of His might that one can win against sin and Satan.
The whole armor of God provides complete armor to protect us from all kinds of evil and temptation.
The wiles of the devil are the result of superhuman craftiness, capable of drawing careless Christians into sin. We are to put on the whole armor of God and keep it on and use it with all prayer, that we may to the last stand complete in Christ and be more then conquerors through Him that has loved us.
Yes, our Christian life is a struggle; it requires decision and effort. Our real enemy is the devil and his hosts. These rulers of the darkness of this age have so blinded the world to spiritual values that unregenerate people cannot understand God or His will.
The forces of evil are so super human, but they are not all-powerful. God has adequate power for us.
The evil day may simply mean the day of our hardest battle against evil. When having done all we can do, by God's help we can stand firm in the Lord.
We must put on truth, a firm commitment to the revealed word of God. Righteousness is always seeking to do God's will. That life-style will protect us from evil.
We serve the Prince of Peace who gives us peace with God and this preparation makes us strong to stand against God's enemies and ours.
Our shield of faith is dependence on God's promises can and will protect us against the most fiery attacks of Satan.
Our salvation provided by God through Christ is our safety and our victory. The Holy Spirit enables us to use the Bible to become spiritually strong and to lead others to Christ.
We should always pray without ceasing, because we cannot win without God's help. We are to be watchful at all times in full commitment and best effort.
As one keeps reading and studying in the word, one can recognize the lies immediately of the enemy through false teachers, heresy, doctrines and so forth.
Yes, we need to plant the word of God in our hearts and minds, so the Holy Spirit can give us our weapon against the thoughts that are not of Him, the temptations, the fiery darts of the enemy.
He brings back the remembrance of that the Lord speaks and has taught us in His word.
To fight against the lies.....we can not do it alone, it is the word that destroys the lies of the flesh, Satan, and the world.
And then one has peace in God..... the assurance of that He will never leave us, nor forsake us to fight it on our own.
All fear and doubt is gone... one rests in the Father. Knowing with all their heart He will not let anything come between us and Him.
I can't emphasize this enough, stay in the word every day!
Col.3:15
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Phil.2:5
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
Phil.4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
One of the battles we are fighting now is the concept that everyone has their own 'interpretation'.
Lets take an example using the traffic laws:
If the sign says "STOP", how do you 'interpret it?
If the sign says "Speed Limit 55 MPH" , how do you 'interpret' it?
If the sign says "Detour", how do you 'interpret" it?
If the Railroad Crossing light is on red, how do you 'interpret' it?
All of the above can lead to consequences if ignored. Maybe only a ticket, but maybe injury or death!
One of the battles we are fighting now is the concept that everyone has their own 'interpretation'.
Lets take an example using the traffic laws:
If the sign says "STOP", how do you 'interpret it?
If the sign says "Speed Limit 55 MPH" , how do you 'interpret' it?
If the sign says "Detour", how do you 'interpret" it?
If the Railroad Crossing light is on red, how do you 'interpret' it?
All of the above can lead to consequences if ignored. Maybe only a ticket, but maybe injury or death!
So Marian let me ask you a quesstion. Trust me I'm being nice here.
There are countless denominations of Christianity in the world. Within some of those denominations there are countless families of that denomination.
Are you telling me.. that your church is the only one that gets it right?
I would love to join into this conversation. But, I'm afraid that if Ieven dare to mention Joyce Meyer's excellent book, The Battlefield of the Mind, that I'll be crucified -- and that no one will come to my rescue.
Last edited by World Citizen; 01-16-2009 at 09:37 AM..
I am saying that only the word of God gets it right!
I wish to add...I truely regret ever mentioning on these forums, what faith I am affilliated with. I have certainly had my eyes opened!
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.
Last edited by Towhee; 01-16-2009 at 10:22 AM..
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