Battlefield of the Mind (11 page)

We
must learn to seek God's face and not His hand!

Our heavenly Father delights in giving His children good things, but only if we are not seeking after them.

God knows what we need before we ask. If we will simply make our requests known to Him (Philippians 4:6 KJV), He will bring them to pass in His own good timing. Worry will not help our cause at all. It will, in fact, hinder our progress.

TAKE ONE DAY AT ATIME

So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its
own trouble. Matthew 6:34

I like to describe worry or anxiety as spending today trying to figure out tomorrow. Let's learn to use the time God has given to us for what He intended.

Life is to be lived - here and now!

Sadly, very few people know how to live each day to the fullest. But you can be one of them. Jesus said that Satan, the enemy, comes to steal your life. (John 10:10.) Don't allow him to do it any longer! Don't spend today worrying about tomorrow. You have enough things going on today; it needs all of your attention. God's grace is on you to handle whatever you need for today, but tomorrow's grace will not come until tomorrow comes—so don't waste today!

DON'T FRET OR HAVE ANXIETY

Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every
circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite
requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to
God. Philippians 4:6

This is another good Scripture to consider when a "worry attack" comes.

I highly recommend speaking the Word of God out of the mouth. It is the two-edged sword that must be wielded against the enemy. (Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17 KJV.) A sword in its sheath won't do any good during an attack.

God has given us His Word,
use it!
Learn Scriptures like this one and when the enemy attacks, counter his attack with the same weapon that Jesus used:
the Word!

CAST DOWN IMAGINATIONS

...refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty
thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and...lead every
thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah,
the Anointed One). 2 Corinthians 10:5

When the thoughts being offered you do not agree with God's Word, the best way to shut the devil up is to speak the Word.

The Word coming forth out of a believer's mouth, with faith to back it up, is the single most effective weapon that can be used to win the war against worry and anxiety.

CAST YOUR CARES UPON GOD

Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own
estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you,
Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all
your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately
 
and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:6,7

When the enemy tries to give us a problem, we have the privilege of casting it upon God. The word "cast" actually means to pitch or throw.

You and I can pitch or throw our problems to God and, believe me, He can catch them. He knows what to do with them.

This passage lets us know that to humble ourselves is not to worry. A person who worries still thinks that in some way he can solve his own problem. Worry is the mind racing around trying to find a solution to its situation. The proud man is full of himself, while the humble man is full of God. The proud man worries; the humble man waits.

Only God can deliver us, and He wants us to know that, so that in every situation our first response is to lean on Him and to enter His rest.

THE REST OF GOD

O our God, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we
have no might to stand against this great company that is coming
against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You. 2 Chronicles 20:12

I love this verse! The people in it had come to the place of realizing three things for certain:

1. They had no might against their enemies.

2. They did not know what to do.

3. They needed to have their eyes focused on God.

In verses 15 and 17 of that same passage, we see what the Lord said to them once they came to this realization and freely acknowledged it to Him:

...Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is
not yours, but God's....

You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand
still, and see the deliverance of the Lord....

What is our position? It is one of abiding in Jesus and entering the rest of God. It is one of waiting on the Lord continually with our eyes focused upon Him, doing what He directs us to do and otherwise having a "reverential fear" of moving in the flesh.

Concerning entering God's rest I would like to say this: there is no such thing as "the rest of God" without opposition.

To illustrate, let me share a story I once heard involving two artists who were asked to paint pictures of peace as they perceived it. One painted a quiet, still lake, far back in the mountains. The other painted a raging, rushing waterfall which had a birch tree leaning out over it with a bird resting in a nest on one of the branches.

Which one truly depicts peace? The second one does, because there is no such thing as peace without opposition. The first painting represents stagnation. The scene it sets forth may be serene; a person might be motivated to want to go there to recuperate. It may offer a pretty picture, but it does not depict "the rest of God."

Jesus said,
Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and
bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you...
(John 14:27).

His peace is a spiritual peace, and His rest is one that operates in the midst of the storm—not in its absence. Jesus did not come to remove all opposition from our lives, but rather to give us a different approach to the storms of life. We are to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him.

(Matthew 11:29). That means that we are to learn His ways, to approach life in the same way He did.

Jesus did not worry, and we do not have to worry either!

If you are waiting to have nothing to worry about before you stop worrying, then I probably should tell you that you will have to wait a long time, because that time may
never
come. I am not being negative. I am being honest!

Matthew 6:34 suggested that we not worry about tomorrow because each day will have sufficient trouble of its own. Jesus Himself said that, and He certainly was not negative. Being at peace, enjoying the rest of God in the midst of the storm, gives much glory to the Lord because it proves that His ways work.

WORRY. WORRY. WORRY!

I wasted many years of my life worrying about things that I could do nothing about. I would like to have those years back and be able to approach them in a different way. However, once you have spent the time God has given you, it is impossible to get it back and do things another way.

My husband, on the other hand, never worried. There was a time when I would get angry at him because he would not worry with me—and join me in talking about all the gloomy possibilities if God did not come through and meet our needs. I would sit in the kitchen, for example, and pore over the bills and checkbook, getting more upset by the moment, because the bills were more than the money. Dave would be in the next room playing with the children, watching television while they jumped up and down on his back and put rollers in his hair.

I can remember saying to him in an unpleasant tone, "Why don't you come out here and do something instead of playing while I try to figure this mess out!" When he responded with, "What would you like me to do?" I could never think of anything; it just made me angry that he would dare to enjoy himself while we were facing such a desperate financial situation.

Dave would calm me down by reminding me that God had always met our needs, that we were doing our part (which was tithing, giving offerings, praying and trusting) and that the Lord would continue to do His part. (I should clarify that Dave was trusting while I was worrying). I would go in the room with him and the children and a short while later the thoughts would creep back into my mind, "But what are we going to do? How are we going to pay these bills? What if.. "

And then I would see all these disasters on the movie screen of my imagination—foreclosure of the mortgage, repossession of the car, embarrassment in front of relatives and friends if we had to ask for financial help and on and on. Have you ever been to that "movie" or had those kinds of thoughts run through your mind constantly? Of course you have, otherwise you probably would not be reading this book.

After entertaining the thoughts the devil was offering me for a while, I would wander back out into the kitchen, get out all the bills, the calculator and the checkbook and start going over the whole mess again.

The more I would do so, the more upset I would become. Then we would repeat the same scene! I would yell at Dave and the children for having a good time while I was taking all the "responsibility"!

Actually what I was experiencing was not responsibility, it was care—something God had specifically told me to cast on Him.

I look back now and realize that I wasted all those evenings that God gave me in my early married life. The time He gives us is a precious gift.

But I gave it to the devil. Your time is your own. Use it wisely; you won't pass this way again.

God met all our needs, and He did it in a variety of ways. He never let us down—not one time. God is faithful!

DON'T WORRY—TRUST GOD

Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and
be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you
have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor
give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I
will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] Hebrews 13:5

This is an excellent Scripture to use to encourage yourself when you have concern about whether or not God will come through and meet your needs.

In this passage, the Lord is letting us know that we do not need to have our minds set on money, wondering how we are going to take care of ourselves, because He will take care of these things for us. He has promised never to fail us or forsake us.

Do your part, but do not try to do God's part. The load is too heavy to bear—and if you're not careful, you will break under the weight of it.

Don't worry. Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed (Psalm 37:3).

That's a promise!

Chapter 13

A Judgmental, Critical and Suspicious Mind

Judge not, that ye he not judged.

MATTHEW 7:1 KJV

Much torment comes to people's lives because of judgmental attitudes, criticism and suspicion. Multitudes of relationships are destroyed by these enemies.

Once again, the mind is the battlefield.

Thoughts—just "I think"—can be the tool the devil uses to keep a person lonely. People do not enjoy being around anyone who needs to voice an opinion about everything.

To illustrate, I once knew a woman whose husband was a very wealthy businessman. He was generally very quiet, and she wanted him to talk more. He knew a great deal about a lot of things. She would get angry at him when they were in a group of people and someone would start a conversation on a subject about which her husband could have knowledgeably contributed much insight. He could have told them everything he knew, but he wouldn't.

One evening after he and his wife had returned home from a party, she chastised him, saying, "Why didn't you speak up and tell those people what you knew about what they were talking about? You just sat there and acted as if you didn't know anything at all!"

"I already know what I know," he replied. "I try to be quiet and listen so I can find out what others know."

I would imagine that this was precisely why he was wealthy. He was also wise! Few people gain wealth without wisdom. And few people have friends without using wisdom in relationships.

Being judgmental, opinionated and critical are three sure ways to see relationships dissolve. Satan, of course, wants you and me to be lonely and rejected, so he attacks our minds in these areas. This chapter, hopefully, will help us recognize wrong thought patterns as well as learn how to deal with suspicion.

JUDGING DEFINED

In Vine's
An Expository Dictionary of New Testament
Words, one of the Greek words translated
judgment
is partially defined as "a decision passed on the faults of others" and is cross-referenced to the word "condemnation."1 According to this same source, one of the Greek words translated
judge
is partially defined as "to form an opinion" and is cross-referenced to the word "sentence."2

God is the only One Who has the right to condemn or sentence, therefore, when we pass judgment on another, we are, in a certain sense, setting ourselves up as God in his life.

I don't know about you, but that puts a little "godly fear" in me. I have a lot of nerve, but I am not interested in trying to be God! These areas were once a major problem in my personality, and I believe I will be able to share some things God has taught me that will help you.