The Battle for Your Mind

Do you talk to yourself? You might say sure, if I didn't, I would never hear from anyone. You might say sure, I have to, because I am the only one that agrees with me. You might say sure, I have to, because I am the smartest person in my life.

Sometimes loneliness, stubbornness, or arrogance gets in our way. You might say no  because you are embarrassed to admit it, but I think everyone talks to themselves occasionally. I talk to myself all the time and I am glad because it has enhanced my willingness to talk to God more and more. Some unfortunate souls are never alone or quiet long enough to talk to themselves or God. I do not enjoy the radio or music, I don't particularly enjoy the phone for gossipy conversation, I don't do social media; when I am home, I do enjoy the television, but I do not have it on for noise, I don't play video games on my phone or any place else, so I spend a lot of time alone in the car and at the office, and, now that Wanda works and coaches, and the kids have their own lives, I spend more time alone at home.

Through my willingness to talk to myself and all the time alone with no other occupation of my mind, I carry an ongoing conversation with God. It is a habit that has served me well. It is a habit that, I fear, might be difficult for our younger generations to develop. There is so much competition today for our time, energy, and mind.

So, in our quiet time, in our alone time, in our time purposefully talking to God, let’s use that time to take every thought captive unto the Lord. How do we do that? I can tell you how I do it: I talk to God about everything, constantly, throughout the day. Just everything that comes to my mind. Every issue, every decision. I share my concerns with Him, from finding the best parking spot and my personal temptations, to needs within my family and needs within our church. Just talk talk talk.

The Deacon Body of our church meets every Sunday and usually one night during the month. In our meetings over the last three months, there has been a renewed focus on God. This was the main motivation for me to issue the Twenty-One Day Challenge and to write the blogs.

Each man has told me that the blogs helped them and their focus is indeed renewed on Christ. I pray that is true for you. Several of our church family has shared that they are having devotions with God several times a week. I am thrilled!

Verse five concludes with this phrase: "bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." We must understand that we are in a battle. There is a war between God and Satan for our minds. The more your thoughts are centered in Christ, the easier this submission becomes. The challenge of being Christ-centered in your actions, let alone your thoughts, is that Satan does not want it, your natural flesh does not want it, and even your most staunch loved ones may say they want you to be Christ-centered, but, when it effects them in what they perceive is a negative way, they will not want it either.

Fulfilling this desire that Christ has implanted within you will be the most daunting challenge of your life. Every day, every decision, every thought, every moment submitted to Christ's Lordship in your life will not come by your determination or good intentions, but rather by the power of God's Spirit. We are told, therefore, "Be filled with the Spirit." The present aorist verb indicates that this must be a continuous action requested and desired by the believer.

In the blogs we covered what the wonderful, Spirit-filled life is all about. These verses here are both the how and the what. When you win, Satan loses. Strongholds in your life are destroyed when you win. When every thought is brought into captivity and checked to see if it pleases and honors God, you win the battle for your mind in that moment. The process must be repeated over and over again. You cannot take a decision off. It truly can be exhausting- that is, until the habit is formed and the reality is settled in your mind that you are in a war, but you have every weapon necessary to win the battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil for your mind.

Read Ephesians 6:10-18

If you have been born again, Christ has your soul. This battle is about honoring God and living the life He designed for just you. A life of victory.

Will you ask God right now to remind you to spend time with Him. Ask Him to search your life for an unconfessed sin that you need to repent of, then repent. Ask Him to free you from tyranny of the urgent. Ask Him to fill you with His Spirit that this warfare might be made plain to you and then please ask God to take control of your thoughts.

 Now, I'm going to ask you to unplug just a little from all that dominates your thoughts and give a little more of yourself to God every day. Practice, plan, pray, and hope that a habit forms that He may be able to affect you more readily.

I believe that these writings are giving people the resource of material they need to spend time with God. Going forward, we might deal with subjects that are not necessarily devotional in content or nature. I hope they will be helpful as well.
Please let me know if there is a subject you would like me to address.
Thank you for your time!

In Christ,
Pastor Todd