The Battlefield of the Mind

Romans 12:1–5 (ESV)

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Pray for The word.

NEW SERIES TODAY: MINDSET: RENEW YOUR MIND.

What if you could change your life, by changing the way you think? What if the answer to getting unstuck is a change of mind? What if the growth ahead for you could FLOOD into your life if you were just willing to take on a brand new approach of thinking....

The bible has much to say about our thoughts. A quick search through the entire bible you will find many verses and refeerences and instructions given to thoughts and thinking - The reason is that the person who CREATED the WORD also CREATED US and knows us better then we know ourselves/

we are made up of different parts: jesus makes reference to them as he is answering the Pharisee questions.

Matthew 22:37 (ESV)

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

our souls have a make up

MIND - WILL -EMOTIONS

And they are heavily linked together, but the MIND, the way we think its the portal for much of what happens in our lives. boiled down this way it comes to this: HOW WE THINK DETERMINES HOW WE LIVE

The apostle paul talks to a group of people, the church in rome, that they should not CONFORM to the World they LIVE in, but instead become TRANSFORMED

But we can only become TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF OUR MINDS.

and the renewing of our minds will GIVE us the ABILITY to LIVE In a certain way… the way of Christians… the way of JESUS

That by testing we will be able to do some supernatural things:

Discern what the will of God is for our lives

figure out what is GOOD for us

Learn what is acceotable in Gods eyes

and what is PERFECT - ie Gods best for us.

ALL THAT FROM THE POWER OF A RENEWED MIND!

So how do we get there? well by the power of the WORD and the HELP of the HOLY SPIRIT were going to go after, in the next four weeks, a new.... a renewed MIND. and not just once… but a CHANGED PERSPECTIVE… and a CHANGING PERSPECTIVE that is in ALIGNMENT with GOD ALMIGHTY.

Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Change your Thinking, Change your LIFE.

So why do i need to understand this?. Because there is a battle going on, and the battle RAGES in the MIND> AT times the WAR that rages is the war of the MIND.

& the Enemy has a plan to DE-RAIL your LIFE and one of the primary ways He will do it is through your thougths

We often make excuses for the way we think about things:

Thats how i was brought up

1.WE ARE CREATED TO THINK.

there are so many verses about our thoughts, about our minds, about how we should think - sometimes we dont often recognice then - But We are created to think.

Lexham Theological Wordbook Theological Overview

In the Bible the concept of thinking involves using the mind to generate plans, to judge and weigh matters, to recall memories, and to believe or reject ideas.

Phil 4:8 “8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Esther 4:13 “13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.”

James 1:5–8 (ESV)

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Romans 12:3 “3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

we are designed to think....

to weigh, and to have thoughts...

To Reason

To generate fresh ideas

To engage our minds on tasks (men can get obsessed on things - almost stuck)

to develop , in our mind, concepts mentally....

To make choices that affect literally the REST of our lives (in come cases)

use our minds to dream....

Experts estimate that the mind thinks between 60,000 – 80,000 thoughts a day. That's an average of 2500 – 3,300 thoughts per hour. That's incredible. Other experts estimate a smaller number, of 50,000 thoughts per day, which means about 2100 thoughts per hour.

The great designer, GOD, has formed you in a way - to be able to think your own way in and out of all the winding turns called life!

BUT REMEMBER WHERE ALL THIS COMES FROM? You were made in the Fathers image - WHich means HE HAS THOUGHTS ALSO. and there is much to say in the word about that - but here is a great reminder

Psalm 94:11 ESV

11 the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.

Isaiah 55:9 ESV

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

2.THE MIND IS A BATTLEFIELD

1 Peter 1:13 ESV

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

STRONGHOLDS are Places in our mind… our thinking where the enemy has developed a distinct advantage. a place of strength that is HOLDING US BACK from Gaining ground and overcoming in a AREA of our lives. Could be an addiction, it could be a lie thats been accepted as truth, could be many other things but the ever has a stronghold.

lets build this out a bit.....

How does this happen:

*THOUGHT: A thought comes / We think / You have a thought / This is not something that we can control here - Ever thougth something that was like “man what a crazy thought that is” - Thats evidence that you don' get to control that part the mind is a batlefield and there are arrows darts enemy fire coming at you -

.....

Once you have a thought....

then you have a

*THOUGHT PROCESS: We process that Thought - either in the RIGTH way.. or the WRONG way. For a second or a week you have some sort of process happening with that thought

Once you have a thought process, no matter what happens:

Opinions come in..... usually based off sub conscious kicking in with previous experience, or something from our past telling us about that / but regardless some sort of thought processing is happening but then....

*AND ATTITUDE IS FORMED - A disposition towards that thought - or almost like a mental resolution ....ATTITUDE FORMATION Develop an attitude about that. again that can ge a good thing or a BAD thing. but we are now in the terriorty of WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS ONE. We can camp out here on this + we make decisions about this

*EMOTIONS & FEELINGS ENGAGE

*HEART POSTURE DEVELOPS

And if we are NOT CAREFUL, if this hasn’t been filtered correctly, our emotions gert involved on it, our feelings are drawn in.. and everntually our HEARTS PILE INTO IT AS WELL.

SO NOW THERE IS A TETHER BETWEEN YOUR HEAD. AND YOUR HEART

*STRONG HOLD IS FORMED ----Thats how a STRONG HOLD IS FORMED.

You are NOW HELD BY THE HEART STRINGS - and THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS IS CONNECTED TO YOUR HEART - and WHEN YOU HEART IS INVOLVED, YOU ARE ALL IN!

Proverbs 4:23 “23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

and the enemy knows… if he can get you OUTRAGED, if He can get you STIRRED up emotionally, If He can get your HEART PRICKED in a certain area where a former stronghold exists / engage some negativity, some sarcasm, some cynicism.... Its off to the races…and this is HOW CYCLES or PATTERNS OF THINKINGS BEGIN TO RUN TOGETHER and before you KNOW IT we are OVERWHELMED, We are Withdrawn, We are OVERCOME

and it all started and finished in the MIND.

The MIND CAN SPIRAL DOWNWARD

wouldnt you agree, you can go to some dark places, REAAAL quick in the mind

BUT THE MIND CAN ALSO BE TRAINED TO CLIMB UPWARD

-This is the path to life. We can see what our thoughts are, but we can take control

THIS IS HOW WEDO IT - WE BEGIN BY UNDERSTANDING.

write this down: I cant control what comes in - but i can control what happens next

2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV)

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

to demolish strongholds. Strongholds is an allusion to the towers or raised ramparts used in ancient battles, but here it stands for arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. It was by the proclamation of the gospel (which involved reasoning and arguing in an effort to remove false barriers thrown up against the truth) that Paul sought to overcome people’s resistance and so to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. The imagery here is that of a stronghold breached and those sheltering behind its walls taken captive. Paul’s purpose is not only to demolish false arguments but also to bring people’s thoughts under the lordship of Christ.

Colin G. Kruse, “2 Corinthians,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1201.

3.WE CAN WIN WITH JESUS

On your own you might not make it - With Jesus - its a DONE DEAL.

we are going to become better at this & examine the word to get the tools

WE CAN TRAIN OUR MINDS TO THINK LIKE CHRIST DID.

Philippians 2:4–6 ESV

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

our Mission is to WALK LIKE JESUS

TALK LIKE JESUS

.... THINK LIKE JESUS.

Make your thoughts subject and submitted to the name and authority of JESUS CHRIST.

2 Corinthians 10:5 “5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,”

TO TAKE our thoughts, our nagative ones - and process them through the biblical lense we now have and we will know what is God and what is NOT.

Its going to take courage

its going to take strategy

… but here is whats most important

its going to take.... FAITH

Belief - that with Christ as your cornerstone, You are going to WIN the on the battlefield of your mind

You just have to believe you can - it may just take one battle at a time......

You can change the settings on your mind.

you know the settings symbol - You have one too, You just have to access it and continue to access it. Dont let the enemy run away with your settings

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SETTINGS… and YOu will begin to notice the change.

WHAT SETTING are we after

Well According to scripture - its a LITERAL SET-ING.

Colossians 3:1–3 (ESV)

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.