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What is Treasure

Treasure is something of great worth or value such as money, jewels, and precious metals. It can be wealth of any kind or any form; in a word—riches. But It can also be something non-material or not of a physical nature: conceptual or spiritual. So…what do you treasure?

What is your Purpose

What in your life makes you feel like it’s worth getting up in the morning? What keeps you going day after day? What do you really live for or what is your reason for living?

A Time of Despair

This pandemic we are experiencing has been a time of despair for many and the statistics are startling: income is cut off and unemployment is at a record high, businesses have been shut and some or many may not reopen, schools and places of worship are closed, in many places we are shut-in with no socializing, no sports, no concerts, no clubs, and no shopping (except for food).

Crimes are increasing. There an increase in drug abuse, strained relationships resulting in domestic violence, anxiety and alcoholism. Worst of all, there is an increase in suicides. This is indeed a time of despair with no real end in sight.

The Cause of Despair

The cause of the despair is what we depend on, what we trust in and our reason to exist has been slammed. Many are on the verge of losing everything they’ve hoped for. This is the cause of great despair.

But there is an answer. If you are a regular reader of this website, you know where I’m going…the Scriptures

The Bible is packed with wisdom and we are going to look at the wisdom of one individual in particular; King Solomon, Son of David.

When Solomon first became king, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he desired. Solomon asked for wisdom and it was granted, and God added riches and honor that no other king possessed. [1 Kings 3:5-15]

Solomon became the wisest of all men. [1 Kings 4:29-34] He is the major author of the book of Proverbs and is the author of the book of Ecclesiastes. Both books are packed with astounding wisdom. Ecclesiastes is basically an essay on life.

In the first chapter, Solomon addresses the vanity (emptiness) of life. The reason for this emptiness will be covered later. As a result of this discovery there is evidence of despondency as he wrote in Eccl 1:17-18

17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

Solomon realized that the more humanistic wisdom gained, the more sorrowful he became in his spirit. So he decided to pursue another route.

Next Solomon reveals what happened when he tested the true meaning of his great accomplishments in Eccl 2:1-17

1 I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

3 I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

4 I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

5 I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:

6 I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

7 I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

8 I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

9 So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

12 And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? even that which hath been already done.

13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

14 The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.

15 Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity.

16 For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise man? as the fool.

17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit. KJV

Solomon started out by seeking laughter and found it to be meaningless (vs. 2). He then turned to alcohol thinking that he could continue to pursue wisdom while indulging in wine (vs. 3).

Next, he went on to acquire material things (vss. 4-10).

In verse 11, he did an evaluation and looked at all he had accomplished only to discover that it was meaningless, with no profit; it was like chasing the wind and he was left with a feeling of emptiness.

In verse 12 we see that even though he was a king and on top of the world, he had a vexed spirit.

In verses 13 and 14 he discovered that wisdom is better than folly (foolishness) yet the wise and the foolish share the same outcome; “that one event” is death.

Since both will die, in verse 15 Solomon asks: since he will end up the same as the fool, what was the value of all his wisdom? He concluded that it was all so meaningless.

In verse 16 he also concluded that both the wise man and the fool would be forgotten and the wise man wouldn’t be remembered any longer than the fool.

In verse 17 King Solomon reached the drastic conclusion that he “hated life” because everything is meaningless. Imagine: the man that literally had it all—hated life!

Now this is a sad commentary on life isn’t it? Is it any wonder why there are so many miserable rich people in the world?

Now I mentioned earlier that the more humanistic wisdom Solomon gained, the more sorrowful he became in his spirit. There are two kinds of wisdom: Godly wisdom and the wisdom of the world. Humanistic wisdom is wisdom without God and it is the commonplace in the world today.

The world is very materialistic with the focus being on things and stuff; financial gain and the accumulation thereof. So much so that when this accumulation and this focus is halted, there’s nothing left but despair. We begin to hate life and some of us decide to end it.

So the reason for this despair, this desperation, this hopelessness; is life without God. Solomon came to the realization of this through his experience. Later he wrote in Eccl 3:11

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. NKJV

Solomon acknowledged that God has placed eternity in the hearts of man. Even though man lives in a world of time, we have Intimations or hints of eternity. Instinctively and unconsciously we think in terms of eternity or forever. But we just can’t figure it all out and when we limit our focus and place it entirely on the finite—the natural-material things we leave a void that cannot be filled. No amount of alcohol, drugs, sex, shopping, movies, television, videos, travel, or work can fill this void. When we focus on these things, it’s like chasing the wind. It’s “vanity and vexation of spirit.”

The Answer to Despair

Is there an answer? Of course there is! Scripture gives us sound advice how to avoid this empty state.

Solomon reached the conclusive answer. But before we get to that lets look at some more Scriptural wisdom.

2 Cor 4:18

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

So the things, the stuff that I listed above are temporal-temporary and have limited value. When we die, we can’t take them with us. Even while we are living their value is temporary. Material things don’t last and we often lose interest in them before they cease to exist. Temporal things also include hardships, trials and sufferings which are also not to be our main focus making them our demise. We are to deal with them and keep it moving.

But the things that are unseen-the eternal things, such as Christ and our eternal destination; those are the things we are to focus on. With this mindset, we will not despair when the temporal things are threatened. Therefore, this void that God has placed in our hearts need to be filled with Christ—our Savior

Let’s look at some advice from the wisest man that ever walked the earth—Jesus!

First, we have a warning.  Luke 12:14

Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

I could write an entire article on this one verse alone!  Anyway, contained in this Scripture is a stern warning against covetousness which is an intense craving and desire for more and includes both material things and fleshly indulgence.  Jesus wants us to realize that life isn’t measured by how much we own; our possessions—a beautiful home, the latest clothes, a new car, property, money and  wealth.  While these things are nice to have, they are not the whole of life.  There are happy poor folks who are probably happier than the rich—as we saw with King Solomon.

This Spirit of covetousness has infiltrated the world and is a principal instrument in Spiritual Warfare.  But just as we reboot our computers for a fresh start, we must reboot our minds and flush out this spirit.  For more on Spiritual Warfare, read the article: All About Spiritual Warfare.

Next we have some advice.

Matt 6:19-21

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Jesus is addressing the fact that there is no security in material things. Material things can be destroyed by elements of nature (moth or rust), weather, corona virus, etc. and are poor investments. The best investments are treasures in heaven because they are the only ones that are not subject to loss. The treasure we put our trust in is where our hearts are.

We must keep in mind that we cannot do both completely for Jesus said in Matt 6:24: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Mammon represents money and the natural things it buys. We cannot put our sole focus on both—period.

So after all was said and done, Solomon reached a conclusion and ended his essay on life.

Eccl 12:13-14

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

Bottom line: our duty is to fear God and keep His commandments. Our duty is to keep our focus on that.

And to conclude with a Word from our sponsor—Jesus Christ: Matt 6:31-33

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

So brothers and sisters let us not despair but pray; let us not devalue our lives to the point that we deem them worthless because of our earthly circumstances. We must be wise and not be fools as the worldly.  But let us keep our focus on the things above: the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and not on things of the earth and He will take care of us. Amen.

Questions comments or concerns are welcomed below.

Blessings!

 

 

We are living in difficult times.  In fact there have always been difficult times.  But they have reached a crescendo with the Covid19 pandemic we are currently experiencing.  However, Christians have an advantage over the rest of the world.  We have access to a source that enables us to look beyond this and every other encounter of adversity we may face.  We have Hope.  But what is the reason for our hope?

What is Hope

Well, there are two meanings: the world’s and the Biblical.  The world’s definition is to want something to happen or be true; it is basically a wish without any belief or confirmation that it will materialize.  The Biblical meaning however, according to the Nelson’s Bible Dictionary: a confident expectancy. In the Scriptures, the word hope stands for both the act of hoping

and the thing hoped for.  Biblical hope is not wishful thinking, but a firm assertion about things that are unseen and still in the future.

Hope sets apart the Christian from the unbeliever, who has no hope.  Scripture makes this clear when it references the prior state of individuals before accepting Christ in Eph 2:12

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Undeniably, a Christian is one in whom hope lives (1 Peter 3:15; 1 John 3:3). On the contrary to Old Testament hope, the Christian hope is far superior.  Heb 7:19 reads:

19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

The law is the Old Testament which was introductory in that it prepared us with having knowledge of sin and that we needed a savior.  The New covenant (New Testament) ushered in a”better hope” because it assures us complete redemption and brings us into the very presence of God.

What is the Reason for Our Hope

Now that we know what hope is, what is the reason for our hope?  Scripture says that we must always be ready to give an answer for the reason of the hope in us.  [1 Pet. 3:13]

Our hope is in Jesus Christ.  As pointed out in the Scripture above (Heb. 7:19), before Christ we only had the Law which made us guilty and separated from God because nobody can keep the Law perfectly.  But with the arrival, death and resurrection of Jesus, we now have hope because we have been reconciled with God.  Let’s look at one more Scriptural confirmation of this great truth.  Rom 3:20-25

20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

God sent forth Christ Jesus to be a propitiation (a sacrifice through an offering) for when we transgressed the Law in the past.  “all have sinned” everybody needs Christ.  But this hope only applies to, as verse 22 states: “upon all them that believe.” It’s all about faith.  For more on faith, read the article: What is Faith About.

The law condemns and convicts, it does not give the power to obey.  Only the Holy Spirit we receive by accepting Christ as Savior can give us the power to obey the law.

So it is by maintaining faith in Jesus that we have this hope, this expectation, this assurance, that we are free from the enslavement of sin and its consequences.

But, why?  Why do we need to be free from the enslavement sin?

What are We Hoping For

There are two things in our lives that are undeniable: death and taxes.  For the sake of this article, we are going to focus on the former: death.  For starters, death is certain and we need to cease being in denial of it.

Moving on, when death arrives, there is one destination: eternity (Heb 9:27).  But there are two directions to eternity: eternal life or eternal death (damnation).  Those of us who have faith in Jesus have the hope of eternal life with God.  Those who do not, the unbelievers, have the ultimate destiny of eternal death with Satan.  The former is heaven and the latter is hell.

Christians must keep their focus; their hope, on the ultimate destination—heaven.  We must keep this hope in spite of what is going on around us and what we may be going through.  In my observation, we do not maintain our focus on our ultimate destination.  Nowadays I rarely hear the word Heaven or hell for that matter.  Preachers and teachers aren’t preaching  and teaching it because it is not what people want to hear and they are becoming people pleasers instead messengers of God.  This has been prophesied in Scripture: 2 Tim 4:3 reads: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” Preachers and teachers need to take heed because there is a judgment awaiting those that lead the sheep astray (James 3:1).  That’s I’m going to say about that—for now—stay tuned.

There is an expression which says something to the effect: don’t be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.  But I also say: don’t be so earthly minded that you are no heavenly good.

The fact of the matter is we are so ingrained in our pasts (childhoods and experiences) and the present; the earthly things, that we totally lose our

focus on our heavenly destiny.  This is the work of Satan; to take us off course and it is so dangerous.  This is Spiritual Warfare.

Everything has a proper time and a proper place in our lives; including our trials and tribulations.  Scripture, as always, tells us the proper perspective we must have on our trials.

Let’s take a look: 2 Cor 4:14-18:

14 Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Paul begins this encouragement (vss. 14 & 15) by focusing on the resurrection and the fact that the same God that raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us up and all of this is to the glory of God.

In verse 16, in spite of our earthly experiences, we never give up.  Even though we are dying on the outside, our spirits are being renewed every day—our trials strengthen us.

Paul describes our afflictions as light and short in comparison to eternity and they result in earning us a glory that outweighs them forever.

We are not to focus on the things that are seen or the troubles we see now.  We walk by faith, not by sight. [cf. 2 Cor. 5:7] But we are to focus on the things that cannot be seen: the eternal because they last forever.  This is where our primary focus should be—our eternal destiny.

So for the balance of this article, the focus is going to be on our ultimate destiny—Heaven!

 Our Ultimate Hope

We are now going to take a look at the book of Revelations—Yes Revelations—that mysterious book that no one wants to tackle because of the judgment it contains.  Here again you probably don’t hear may sermons or teachings from the book of Revelations.

So for a brief background, Revelations was written by the apostle John who was exiled to the island of Patmos as a result of persecution.  At this time Christians were undergoing intense persecution.  While in exile, he experienced a series of visions that depicted the end of the present age and the coming of God’s future kingdom.  Its mystique is the result of the use of images, symbols, and numbers.

After the judgments were completed, an angel escorted John to see the New Jerusalem.

Rev 21:10-27

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

So we see that the New Jerusalem will be a glorious city for it will have the splendor of a jasper stone.  Jasper is a stone that excels in splendor.  It is a stone of physical force and power.

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

We see here that the New Jerusalem will be a walled city with gates guarded by angels.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The New Jerusalem will be a city of untold stability with twelve foundations—wow!

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

The angel that was escorting John had a golden measuring stick to measure the city, it gates and walls.  The measurement was twelve thousand furlongs which is 1,500 miles in all three directions (width, height, length).  This city will be enormous!  Just for some perspective.  The span is from Main to Florida, and the Atlantic (in the US) to 600 miles west of the Mississippi.  The walls-1500 miles high!

And note that this is only Jerusalem and doesn’t include the rest of the new earth.

Remember there will be no seas in the new earth (Rev. 21:1) so there will be plenty of land mass around.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Next, the angel measured the thickness of the walls and they were 144 cubits which is 216 feet.  Nothing will be able to penetrate these walls!

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

The city will be pure gold—so pure that it will be clear.  Imagine streets of pure gold!  No asphalt or concrete but gold—pure gold!

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Now remember in verse 14 there were twelve foundations and we see here that each foundation was made of a precious stone and they will be different colors.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

The high walls will have twelve gates made of pearls.  Each gate will consist of one huge pearl.  Talk about pearly gates!

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

There will be no temple for God and the lamb (the Son of God) will be present.  In the old earth, the temple represented the presence of the Lord, but with Him being present the temple won’t be needed.

Because of this presence of God and the lamb, their glory will provide plenty of light making the sun or the moonlight unnecessary.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

All of the righteous and the kings of the earth shall enter the city and no one of an impure nature shall enter the city but only the saved; the righteous which are written in the Lamb book of life.

This is a magnificent vision of what is to come.  Now just imagine, this is only the capital city; not the surrounding areas or where the righteous and “the kings of the earth” will reside.  After all Jesus said in John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”  I may not live in a mansion now, but I’m looking forward to the one in heaven!!

Let’s now go to 22:3 of revelations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

There will be no more curse. Remember the old earth was cursed because of the original sin which bought great trial to mankind.  But in the new earth, there will be no trials because there will be no more sin.  That means no more sickness, death (no more corona virus), crime, heartache or sorrow. There will be no further imperiling of the soul.  Everything will be perfect!

This is the reason of our hope; our heavenly hope.  To be able to witness this for ourselves; to be with and in the presence of our Lord—forever!

Scripture informs us that we (Christians) are strangers and pilgrims on earth. [1 Pet. 3:11]  Our citizenship is in heaven and we are only here for a short time.  Therefore we cannot allow what we experience here to be our main focus because our destiny is heaven—the new earth!

We must not allow Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) to

distract us and take our focus off of our ultimate destiny.  And above all, we who follow Christ, must follow the advice  given to us in the Scriptures in Col 3:1-11:

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.

5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. 7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. 9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. NLT

The Scripture says: “since you have been raised to new life with Christ.”  For any reader who has not accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, take note of verse 6.  I urge you to do so immediately!

So…be encouraged brothers and sisters!  We must hold on to our hope in spite of what is going on!

We must continually press on toward the prize: heaven!

Questions, comments and concerns are fully welcomed below.

Blessings!

 

 

 

Is God and Jesus the same?  Is Jesus God?  These are questions that engage a lot of discussion.  During these difficult times it is of particular importance to understand as much as we can about Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Most of us in our knowledge of Jesus have only scratched the surface about Him.

A discussion of this sort is futile without consulting the Scriptures.  Therefore that is exactly where we are going.

One of the clearest explanations of who Jesus is in found in John 1:1-3

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

The Scripture starts with: “In the beginning.”  So, when was the “beginning”?  This is a translation from the Greek word, En archē  [pronounced en ar-chay’] which means before there was a beginning. This is a statement of eternity; it doesn’t mean from the beginning but eternity past.  God is preexistent and has no beginning, He just was and just is
and just will be.

So “in the beginning was the Word.”
 The word “Was” in this passage is translated from the Greek word ēn [pronounced heyn] which is often used to express deity.  It means to be or I am. To be means everlasting existence, without commencement or basis.  God used this term as reference to Himself when He was commissioning Moses. [Exodus 3:14]

So we see that from eternity past, God who has always been in continuous existence was “the Word.”  The “word”
represents the course of action by which God makes Himself known, proclaims His will, and brings about His purposes.  It was the commanding Word of God that brought creation into existence (Genesis 1:3), and destroyed the world through the flood (Genesis 6:7), announced impending and future acts of judgment (Exodus 9:20-21, I Kings 2:27), as well as His commitments and promises to His blessings (Genesis 15: 1, 4) and even particular instructions (Joshua 8:27).

To sum this up, the “Word” is God’s expressed will.  Therefore this “Word was with God.” And “the Word was God.” The word “with” is translated from the Greek word pros [Pronounced: pros] and carries the meaning of both being with and acting toward.  Therefore (the Word) was both with God and acting with God in total agreement.

And verse 2 ties this thought up by saying “ The same was in the beginning with God.  The eternal God and the eternal Word existed from eternity past.

Verse3 addresses God’s sovereignty in creation.  “all things were made by him.”  If it isn’t verbalized by God’s Word; if it doesn’t come from the mouth of God it simply won’t exist.

Verses 4-13 go on to address the arrival of Christ and then we come to verse14 which reads:

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

So here we have it.  “The Word was made flesh.”  This is the manifestation of Christ.  “The Word;“ the same “Word” in verse 1 was made flesh and blood.  This is God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.   He became a man.  No greater message could ever be announced to man.

So we see that Christ is preexistent. This means He was there before creation. He has always existed with God.  He was and is face to face with God forever.  God’s speaking of His Word reached a pinnacle in the sending forth of His Son.

Here we witness in Scripture how God and Jesus is the same.  But Scripture confirms itself so we’ll look at more confirmation of this fact.  Col 1:12-15

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

In this passage, Paul is encouraging the Colossians to be thankful to God for the gospel of His Son Jesus that has delivered redemption trough the shedding of His blood which allows for the forgiveness of our sins.

Next he addresses Christ’s preeminence.  Verses 15-18 reads:

15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

The Greek word translated “image” eikōn [pronounced i-kone’] means the exact image, the very person of God. It means that Jesus Christ was the very depiction of God—God in every respect. It means that Jesus Christ was the perfect manifestation or revelation of God.  God is unseen, but Jesus has revealed God to the world. He reveals God by being the exact image, as the perfect depiction of God.

He is the “firstborn of every creature.”  There are teachings that use this phase to base the doctrine that Jesus was a created being.  However that is baseless since John 1:1 states: “…and the Word was God.” And John 1:14 states:  “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”  

Firstborn means: priority, superiority, preeminence, supremacy. Firstborn in this context is Jesus Christ is above all things. Therefore the word “firstborn” does not mean that Jesus Christ was the first created being of the universe. It means that He was in existence before all creation and is the Supreme Being of the universe.

Verse 16 confirms Jesus’ sovereignty in creation: “all things created” “were created by him, and for him.”  This is the same proclamation stated in John 1:3 in reference to God.  Therefore, Jesus in conjunction with God is the creator of “all things.”  This illuminates Genesis 1:26 where it reads: “And God said, Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…: 

So, who was He speaking to? God was speaking to Christ His Son, and to the Holy Spirit.  This is the Godhead; the Trinity.  For more on the trinity click the article: All About the Trinity.

There are more revelations in this passage (perhaps in a future article) but the point for now: Jesus is the perfect revelation of God because He is the Word and He is God.

Phil 2:5-8

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This passage illuminates the humility of God.  Jesus Christ is the supreme example of humility. To sum up this up, the passage says that Jesus Christ is God, nevertheless He humbled Himself and became Man to save humanity.  Jesus Christ is the Person who dwelt in all the glory of perfection, but He humbled Himself and came to this corruptible world.

Just think of the enormous step down that Jesus had to take to become a Man. It is utterly impossible for us to comprehend the humility it took.  However, this is exactly what He did.

Let’s look at some acknowledgements Christ Himself made of His deity.

John 10:30:

I and my Father are one.

Here Jesus was staking His claim before the Jews.  The claim of Jesus was that He is “One” with God, specifically, He is God Himself. But Jesus was not claiming to be the same person as God. The word “one.” means thing, not person.  Jesus is of the very same thing, of the very same substance as God.  He was claiming to have the same nature of God, to be One with God…in nature, substance, essence, being, power and glory.

There is no doubt  that this is exactly what Jesus was claiming.  His claim was perfectly understood by those standing around Him as indicated in the verses that follow (vss. 32-33). They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy.

Col 2:8-10

8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

This was Paul’s warning to the Colossians to not be influenced the false teachings of men instead of Christ’s.  Because in Christ was God and we are complete in our union with Him because He is the head of every ruler authority.

One more: John 14:8-11

8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?

10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

Anyone having problems understanding the union of God and Christ should not despair.  The disciples didn’t either until they were indwelt with the Holy Spirit.  But here we have the unmistakable testimony from the Man Himself: “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.”

Jesus Christ is not the same Person as God the Father, but He has the same perfect nature. Jesus Christ is God the Son, the second person in the trinity. Therefore, the person who has seen Jesus Christ has seen the Father in all the fullness of the Father’s nature—that person has seen in Jesus the very embodiment of perfection, the perfect embodiment of Being, both perfect love and perfect righteousness.

God was inside Jesus, and Jesus was inside God. This can be called the joint Indwelling Presence of God and Christ, each dwelling in the other. This simply means that each has the nature and being, the Spirit and Mind of the other. Each has the Presence, the very Being and Spirit of the other dwelling within Him perfectly.

Note the point Jesus was making. The proof that He was the manifestation of God, that He was the One who came to earth to reveal God, is clear: God’s presence is not only with
Him; God’s presence is in Him. He Himself is God. He Himself; His Person, His Being, His nature, His character, His love, His care, His just dealings, all that He was—revealed exactly what God is. Note also that Jesus asked Philip a question: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?”

The conclusion: Jesus Christ is the express image, the exact representation, the perfect manifestation, the very Person of God Himself. There is no other person who can bring us near God nor any other life-style to follow in

reaching God. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Majesty of the universe who came to earth as God to save men.  And as Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 [cf. 1 John 5:20]

Amen!

All questions, comments and concerns are welcomed below.  I am waiting to answer and address them.

Blessings!

 

 

 

This is the final article ending the series on Spiritual Warfare.  The previous (6) articles focused on the fact that when we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior war is declared on the soul through the mind.  They defined spiritual warfare and covered the manifestations that result.  Now this article explains how we fight and win this war.  This article is about Battling Spiritual Warfare.

The Christian’s life is a battlefield. Immediately upon receiving Christ, Christians find themselves in a constant struggle. We are therefore engaged in an unceasing fight; an unending war. We are combatants, a soldier in conflict. Our calling is not to a life of enjoyment and ease, but to a life of hard conflict. There are foes within and foes without. From the cradle to the grave there is constant struggle against the corruptible lusts of the flesh and the imposing temptations offered by the world and Satan—a struggle against an excessive corruption that inevitably leads to death if we surrender.

Let’s look at this conflict in Scripture: Gal 5:17, “ For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

The flesh in the Scripture represents our sinful fleshly, lustful desires of the world and the Spirit represents the righteousness prompted by the Holy Spirit.  These are the only two forces in existence and we are influenced by one or the other. [Matt. 6:24] These two powerful forces battle against one another and this battle takes place in the mind.  The mind is the battlefield.

We are born with a sinful nature that was passed down from Adam.  In David’s psalm of repentance he stated: Ps. 51:5, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  NIV.  So when we are born, we automatically arrive in the enemy’s camp.  This is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin and not from the seed of sinful man in order for Him to be the perfect sacrifice.  It is also the reason why we must be “born again”  to be acceptable for “the kingdom of God.” [John 3:3]

Take note:  because of this, if we’re not struggling, that indicates something is wrong in our spiritual walk and we’re not fighting the battle.  If we don’t fight we can’t win.  If you’re not fighting the enemy then you’re part of the enemies camp. The enemy will not fight its own soldiers.  If you’re not struggling against some worldly temptation, you’re really aren’t fighting.

Therefore, the question becomes: how do we fight and win this battle?  Although this may seem to be an impossible feat, it is not.

The very first step is to recognize that we cannot fight this battle on our own.  It is impossible for us to fight and win the battle against Satan and his wiles (schemes).  Therefore we must humble ourselves before our Lord and Savior and He will give us the strength to fight and win this battle.

Scripture says in 1 Peter 5:6, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”

We must humble ourselves under God and He will lift us up in honor and victoriously.

By humbling ourselves under God, we gain wisdom.  Ps 111:10 reads: “The fear of the Lord [reverence, respect and obedience] is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.

This wisdom yields us the understanding of how and what we must do to fight and win the battle in Spiritual Warfare.  A huge amount of this wisdom comes from the Scriptures. But without the wisdom and Spirit of God in us, it is merely a bunch of words.  It is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to receive from the Scriptures.  Therefore this article and all of the others on this website are based on the Scriptures; not feelings or opinions.

The next step in this battle is knowing exactly who the enemy is.  Scripture makes this clear in Eph 6:12:

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

So the war isn’t with other humans.  Humans are simply tools used by rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.  When persecution comes from our families, co-workers, friends, etc. they are unwittingly being used by the enemy and that’s only one part of the war.  The enemy uses many other tools which is another article altogether.

Knowing our enemy is important to know for the sake of knowing what kind of weaponry must be used.  You can’t defend yourself against a lion with a beebe gun!  But Scripture is clear as to the kind of weapons must be used against our enemy.  2 Cor 10:3-4 reads:

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Carnal—worldly weaponry is futile against this enemy.  Guns, tanks, canons, bow and arrow, sling shots are all insignificant against this enemy.  But we do have the proper weapons available to us.  We must use God’s mighty weaponry to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning.

Strongholds are fortified places that the enemy sets up in our minds that affect our thinking and behavior.  The enemy sets these up in our minds and are manifested in pride, lawlessness, rebellion, wrong thoughts and lies that may have been perpetuated in our minds for weeks, months, or even years. These are entrenched in a variety of wrong beliefs that can cause an individual to live in bondage to:  addictions, fear, guilt, anxiety, or chronic depression. For more on these conditions, read the article:Spiritual Warfare: Conditions of the Mind.

Verse 5 tells us what to do with these strongholds:

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

With God’s weaponry, we destroy every proud stumbling block that keeps us from knowing God.  We capture these rebellious thoughts and force them to obey Christ. We simply take control with God’s weapons.

So, what is this weaponry that is so effective against our unseen enemy?  Once again, we look at the Scriptures for the answer.  So we continue with Ephesians 10 and verse 10.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

We’ve already covered verse 12

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Verse 10 confirms the first point made: we can only be strong in the Lord and His power.  We cannot fight this enemy on our own.

Verses 11 and 13 tell us that we must put on the full armor of God to stand against our enemy (the devil).

We have next in verse 14, the first pieces of this armor—the belt of truth.  In order to effectively fight this enemy, we must have the truth.  We must know the truth before we can know what is wrong.  Jesus said: “you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” [John 8:32] The truth will set us free from the strongholds that Satan has placed in our minds.

The belt is what holds a soldier’s armor in place and is therefore foundational.  Just as the belt forms the foundation of the soldier’s armor, the truth is the foundation of the Christian life. This “truth” refers to the truth of God’s Word and his message in the gospel.  We must be sure of our faith.  If we cannot be absolutely sure of our faith, and if we are not sure that Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6), then there would be no use for the rest of the armor or in attempting to fight any battle.  God’s truth, as revealed to us through Jesus, forms the foundation of the victorious Christian life.  [Don’t leave home without it!]

The next piece of a soldier’s armor is the breastplate of righteousness.   The breastplate was a large leather, bronze, or chain-mail piece that protected the body from the neck to the thighs of a Roman soldier.  Protecting the vital organs, the breastplate was a vital piece in the soldier’s armor. No soldier in his right mind would go into battle without his breastplate. It frequently had a back piece as well, protecting the body from hits from behind.  This provided full protection of the body.  Satan is ready for battle at every turn, willing to hit us unfairly from behind if given the chance.  Therefore the body must be fully protected.

“Righteousness”— grants a substantial defense; it demonstrates that we have been made right with God and that this righteousness has been given to us by the Holy Spirit.  Christians have been made righteous through the blood of Christ. Because of this, the Christian believers want to live in uprightness and integrity, desiring to please the One who saved them. Yet that won’t be easy. Satan is ready for battle  and is willing to hit us hard to crack this breastplate. After all,  righteousness is the opposite of Satan’s complete wickedness and threatens His kingdom. Therefore he seeks to impede righteous living.  This is the heart of the struggle.

Next in verse 15, we have for the soldier’s feet.  Ephesians 6:14

A soldier wore special sandals or military shoes that protected his feet without slowing him down deeming them ready for rapid battle.

Christians also need special shoes — the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. The Word of God is the gospel, or Good News, that yields peace and calm.  Christians are ready for battle because “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard [their] hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7 NKJV).  A panicked soldier cannot fight effectively.  But we can stand firm, with peace, even in hand-to-hand combat, because we know that we are doing right and that we are on the winning side.  Christians are in the battle with both the inner peace Christ has already granted and the yearning to generate that peace in the hearts of others.  This happens only as they share this “gospel of peace” with those who have not yet heard and accepted it.

In verse 16 the shield of faith.  In addition to all of the pieces of armor mentioned above, the soldier needed to carry extra protection in the form of a shield. For Christians, this shield is faith which is complete reliance on God. Faith is total dependence on God and willingness to do his will.  It is believing in His promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet.  Faith is: “the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1]  God gives faith to strengthen the Christian.

When the enemy, the ruler of this world (John 12:31), sends his flaming arrows of temptation, doubt, wrath, lust, despair, vengeance, problems, and trials into our lives, we can hold up our shields and quench them. We are confident that “whatever is born of God conquers the world.” And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our faith” (1 John 5:4 NRSV). We must take hold of God’s full resources. Faith gives us the strength to stand against Satan with firm courage, even when he uses his most fearsome weapons, the fiery darts. If you want to read more on faith, read the article on this site: What is Faith About.

In verse 17 we have the helmet of salvation.  The helmet protects a soldier’s head.  Christians, with the assurance of salvation protecting our minds, can stand against Satan’s attacks. As a blow to the head often means death, so is a person without the hope of salvation will be easily defeated by the enemy.

When the enemy, the devil (1 Peter 5:8), seeks to devour and destroy God’s people with empty or evil thoughts, in an attempt to get us to doubt our salvation, we can trust in the protection of the helmet. Our salvation will be complete, for God has assured it. “Hope does not disappoint us” (Rom 5:5 NIV) because “our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed” (Rom 13:11 NIV).

Last but certainly not least,  the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  Lastly, the soldier grasps the sword of the Spirit — the only forceful

weapon. The Word of God is the Spirit’s sword (Isa 11:4-5; 2 Thess 2:8; Heb 4:12). The Spirit makes the Word of God authentic as we speak it and receive it. The Spirit gives the Word its penetrating power and sharp edge. [Heb. 4:12] Jesus’ use of God’s Word in his temptation prompts our use of it against Satan (Matt 4:4,7,10). With the Holy Spirit within, Christians have the constant reminder of God’s Word to use against Satan’s temptations.

Scripture says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” [James 4:7] Therefore when the enemy, the tempter Satan (Matt 4:3-4; 1 Thess 3:5), tries to tempt us to do evil, with the Word of God, we have the ability to send him running. The Spirit will bring the words to mind, for Jesus promised, “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” [John 14:26]

There are three things that are certain for a Christian: death, taxes, and

spiritual warfare.  Therefore we must as the Scripture says: in 1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

We must be vigilant because this is a constant battle and an ongoing struggle.  So, if you’re professing Christianity and the devil isn’t after you and you’re not struggling, check your walk!  To quote Frederick Douglass, “where there is no struggle there is no progress.”

This concludes the seven (7) part series on Spiritual Warfare.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns regarding spiritual warfare, feel free to leave your comments below.

Blessings!

 

 

 

This is the sixth article in a series of articles about spiritual warfare. In the last article, Spiritual Warfare: Conditions of the Mind 3, I covered the conditions: the judgmental, critical and suspicious mind, and the passive mind. In this article: Spiritual Warfare: Conditions of the Mind 4, I will be covering the final condition.

I’ve covered of late, the conditions of the mind.  The conditions of the mind that manifest themselves as a result of Satan’s spiritual attacks when we don’t fight successfully or we don’t fight at all.  Therefore, these conditions have all been negative.  Anything that comes from Satan is negative.  His purpose and plan is to destroy the bretheren in any way that he can.  But all is not lost!  [Praise God!]

The last area of this segment is positive.  It is a condition of the mind that results in our being sober and vigilant warriors against our enemy—Satan in the battle for our minds.  It is a condition of the mind that results from the renewing our minds, as the scripture commands us to.  This condition of the mind is: the Mind of Christ!

So what exactly is the mind of Christ?  The mind of Christ is: the views, feelings, and disposition of Christ.  This is the direct result of what happens when we are influenced by his Spirit.  This is the Holy Spirit He promised us

in John 15:26 which reads: “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.”  niv

When we receive this Spirit and open our minds to it we develop the mind of Christ.

Now this is a condition of the mind that is available to everyone who accepts Christ as Lord and Saviour.  Now notice I said: is available to.  There are many who have accepted Jesus, but don’t have his mind because they simply have not allowed themselves to be influenced by his Spirit.  They are still walking in their flesh.  Let’s look at a passage of scripture that explains this in detail.  Romans 8:1-11

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Moving to verse 3

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who [walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.]

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Now this goes back to what I mentioned earlier.  Those who have accepted Christ as Lord and savior but haven’t renewed their minds, and think fleshly.  But those who are influenced by the spirit of Christ mind the things of Christ—have the mind of Christ.  Now the rest of this passage tells the results of these two conditions of the mind.

6 For to be carnally [or fleshly] minded is death; but to be spiritually minded [to have the mind of Christ] is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Verse 7 says: the carnal or natural mind never did obey God’s law and it never will.  Let’s see why.  Let’s temporally move to 1 Corinthians 2:14

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The point here: the things of the spirit simply bounce off of a natural mind.  [Like a bullet proof vest]  This happens because the natural mind is

spiritually discerned or spiritually separated.  So even if we have accepted Christ, if we are walking around, continuing in our natural selves—in our naturalness, we cannot receive the things of the spirit.  We’re no better off than the natural man, if we’re going to maintain a natural mind.  Satan knows this, so this is why our mind is the battlefield.  This is what spiritual warfare is all about.  Once Satan is controlling our minds—pulling the strings of our thoughts, we are in serious trouble as we see in Romans 8.  Let’s go back there to verse 8

8 So then they that are in the flesh [cannot please God.]

We simply cannot please God if we’re in the flesh.  It says: they.  So there are no exceptions.  Now the balance of this passage states the results of being in the spirit, or having the mind of Christ.

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

Now notice it says: “any man.”  So this includes those that profess Christ but don’t have His Spirit.

10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  [cf. 2 Cor. 4:14]

So whatever state of mind we may be in; whatever negative condition of the mind we may have, if we allow the spirit of God that raised Christ from the dead to dwell in us, we will have the mind of Christ, and our mortal bodies will be quickened, or given new life.  This is what being born again is truly about.  But it is a constant battle and we Christians must constantly be on the defensive to keep our mind of Christ.  [1 pet 5:8]

Now what is behind God giving us the mind of Christ?  Well Just as God is a God of judgment, He is also a God of love; and with His love comes mercy and grace, that results in restoration.  This is why He sent His son:
to redeem us, and restore us.  So we’re going to take a look into the mind of God, and see what His restoration is all about.  We’re going into the Old Testament first, and then confirmation in the New Testament.

Ezekiel 36: this chapter contains prophesy that concerned the restoration of Israel.  But it contains principals that apply to Christians—today.

Let’s look at verses 21-27

21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.

23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

God sent the word to Israel straight up: that He wasn’t restoring them because they deserved it, but to protect His Holy name.

God is concerned about His name, so He must keep His promises.  He is not a man that he should lie.  [Num 23:19]  He made a covenant with Abraham that through him, “all families of the earth be blessed.”  [Gen 12:3]  That was why God moved Israel out of Egyptian bondage in the first place.  Let’s look at Deuteronomy 7:7-8.  This is Moses to Israelites

7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:

8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Therefore it’s all about God and none of us.  Now for us today, the same applies.  Now although we are God’s creation, many of us before we came to Christ, profaned, or dishonored God’s name by the things that we said and did.  So the fact is: God didn’t send His son to redeem us because we deserved it, but because He loved us, and His mercy and grace, and His covenantal promises.

Now back to Ezekiel 36:

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Before Christ, God’s people, Israel had become entrenched in ungodliness.  But God wasn’t only concerned about His people, but the whole world.  To allow His people to remain in sin, and be permanently destroyed by their enemies, would lead the other nations to conclude, that their pagan gods were more powerful than Israel’s God.  [Isa. 48:11]  So to again protect his holy name, God would return a remnant of his people to their land.  Now this is what we today call sanctification, separated unto God.  When we accept Christ we become part of God’s remnant, separated from ungodliness and paganism.  Let’s look further:

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.

Now this is God’s principal of restoration.

Now let’s look at New Testament confirmation of this: 1 Corinthians 2:10-16.  Now this has to do with spiritual wisdom.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now watch verse 12

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Moving to verse 16

16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

So by receiving the spirit of God, we receive the things of God through Christ, giving us the mind of Christ.  This is the result of God’s principal of restoration.

If we accept God’s spirit, we will have to Mind of Christ.  After all the scriptures tell us in Romans 8:29: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”  It is God’s desire for us to be changed to the image of His son Christ.  The only way for us to accomplish this is to have the mind of Christ.  Therefore, we must learn to discern life and death within ourselves.  Jesus has made arrangements for us to be filled with life, by putting His own mind in us.  We can choose to flow in the mind of Christ which is life, or a mind in the flesh, which is death.

So now that we’ve look into the mind of God regarding restoration, how do we benefit from it?  By moving in the mind of Christ.

So once we have the mind of Christ, how do we move and flow in this positive condition of the mind?  What is the life application for us today?

The first and foremost thing we must do is think positive.  Let’s look at what God says in His word about this: Philippians 4:8

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

I addressed this in an earlier article regarding the conditions of the mind; the importance of positive thinking.  But enough can never be said about the power of being positive.  God through His prophet Amos said: “Can two walk

together, except they agreed?”  [Amos 3:3]  God is positive, and if we want to flow with Him, we must get on the same wave length, by thinking and being positive also.  So we must have a positive outlook and attitude.  Maintain positive thoughts and expectations.  Engage in positive conversations.

Jesus endured many difficulties including personal attacks—being lied about, deserted by His disciples when He needed them the most, being lonely, misunderstood and a host of other discouraging things.  Yet, in the midst of all these negatives, He remained positive.  He continued to display a positive outlook and attitude.

The mind of Christ in us is positive; therefore, anytime we get negative, we are not operating with the mind of Christ.  Psalm 3:3 tells us that God is our glory, and the lifter of our heads.  He wants to lift everything: our hopes, our attitudes, our moods, our heads, hands and heart.  Our whole life!  He is our divine lifter! 

God want to lift us up, and the devil wants to press us down.  Satan uses the negative events and situations in our lives, to depress us.  The dictionary definition of the word depress is: to lower in spirits: sadden.  Something that is depressed is: something that is sunk below the surrounding region

—hollow.

Now we regularly have the opportunity to think negative thoughts.  Satan sees to that.  One of the easiest things for us to do is think negative—to have negative thoughts.  But we must realize that they will only press us down further.  Being negative won’t solve our problems; it will only add to them.

The second way to move in the mind of Christ is: to be God minded.  Now let’s first look at this in scripture: Isaiah 26:3

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Now what this verse is saying is: no matter what is going on with us, or around us, if we keep our mind on God and Christ, we will be in perfect peace.  This—
is moving in the mind of Christ.  Jesus had a continual fellowship with His heavenly father.  It is impossible for us to have full fellowship with anyone, without having our mind on that individual.  So if we want to have fellowship with Christ, if we want to move in the mind of Christ, then we must be God or Christ minded.  Another thing that this scripture points out is: if we can shift our mind off of our situations, and onto the Lord, that means we trust Him.  Nothing pleases God more than for His children to trust Him.

Another way to be God minded is to meditate on God and His works.  Now we find this in the psalms.  Let’s look at Psalms 63:5-6.  This passage is about meditating on God.

5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

6 When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Let’s now look at Psalms 77: the focus here is on God’s works.  Verse 12

12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

Let’s now move to Psalms 143:5

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.

Let’s look at one more: Psalms 104:33-34

33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34 My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

So we see that the psalmist David wrote frequently about meditating on God, His goodness, and His works.  It is tremendously uplifting to think on the goodness of God, and all the marvelous works of His hands.

Meditating on God, and His ways and works, will have to become a regular part of our thought life if we want to experience victory.

The third way to move in the mind of Christ is: to know
that God loves us.  Now let’s look at this in scripture: 1 John 4:16

16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.  God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Now the scripture says: “we have known.”  This is to understand, recognize, and be conscious of by observance and by experience.  It goes on to say: “and believed.”  This is to adhere to, and put faith in, as well as rely on, the love that God has for us.

Now the same thing that hold true of God’s presence, is true of His love.  If we never meditate on His love, we will never experience it.  Now this is very easy to say and acknowledge.  But the fact is, very few of us really know how much God loves us.  Because if we did we would act a lot differently than we do.  We must be conscious of God’s love which means not just lip service, but it should be something that we are actively aware of.

All of us know John 3:16 and that’s fine.  But it goes beyond that—it’s a little deeper.  God did and does love the world, but He also loves us as individuals.  Many of us—too many of us have an unconscious and vague understanding of the fact that God loves us.  But the love of God is meant to be a powerful force in our lives; one that will take us through even the most difficult trials into victory.

One of the advantages of accepting God’s perfect love is the lack of fear.  Let’s look a verse 17 of 1 john chapter 4

17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

The word perfect in this scripture is translated from the Greek word that means to complete.  That is to say: accomplish or consummate; to mature.  Once we know and acknowledge—have faith in God’s love, our love is made perfect.  This gives us boldness and confidence, as we anticipate Christ’s judgment of the world.  [1 John 4:4]  There is no fear in a Christian who is walking in God’s love.  Let’s move on to verse 18:

18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

So there is no fear in love.  We can’t love God and accept His love, and be fearful—be tormented by fear.  After all, Scripture clearly tells us in 2 Tim 1:7: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  This is what God has given us. Therefore, fear comes straight from Satan.  After all, fear is: False Evidence Appearing Real.

I’m going to close this segment of accepting God’s love as part as having the mind of Christ with a passage of scripture.  Romans 8:

Now this is a passage amongst others that we should review when trials come upon us.  Verses 35-39

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Moving to verse 37:

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God and Christ come in a package-a most dynamic package.  You can’t have one without the other.  So in order for us to have the mind of Christ, we must accept the love of God.

Moving into our third way to move in the mind of Christ is: to have an exhortative mind.  To exhort is to encourage.  The person with the mind of Christ thinks positive, uplifting, edifying thoughts about others
as well as about himself, and his own circumstances.

The ministry of exhortation is greatly needed in the world today, especially after 911 and even more with the new Corona Virus.  Everybody needs to be encouraged.  The scriptures tell us in Heb 3:13: “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”  You see, this is why having the mind of Christ is needed to defeat Satan.  Because he moves in the deceitfulness of sin and anybody can get caught up.  So we must send thoughts of love toward other people, and speak words of encouragement to them.

Now everybody doesn’t have the ministry gift of exhortation, but anybody can learn to be encouraging.  The simple rule is: if it’s not good, don’t think or say it.  In other words: if you don’t have anything good to say to somebody, don’t say anything at all.  Thoughts and words are containers, or weapons, for carrying creative or destructive power.  The scriptures say that: “life and death are in the power of the tongue.”  [prov. 18:21]  So words can be used against Satan and his works, or they can actually help him in his plan of destruction.  I’m going to close this point with a scripture.  Ephesians 4:29

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

So we are to speak communication that exhorts, or builds one another up in the body.

A fifth method for moving in the mind of Christ is: to develop a thankful mind.  A person flowing in the mind of Christ will find his thoughts filled with praise and thanksgiving.

Many doors are opened to the enemy through complaining.  Some people are physically ill and, live weak, powerless lives because of complaining.  Complaining is a disease that attacks the thoughts and conversations of people.  Again: “life and death are in the power of the tongue!”

We cannot live a powerful life without thanksgiving.  Complaining in thought or word is a death principle, but being thankful and saying so is a life
principle.  The Scriptures instructs us over and over in the principle of thanksgiving.  Let’s look at a few.  Psalms 100:4

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

When we enter into the presence of the Lord, we are to enter with thanksgiving and praise—not complaining and grumbling.  Let’s now look at Hebrews 13:15

15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Again we are to continually, from the fruit of our lips, give thanks unto God.  Let’s look at one more Ephesians 5:20

20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Now the scripture says: “giving thanks always for all things unto God.”  We are Christians: the Christians of God are to be a grateful people.  We are to be filled with gratitude not only toward God, but also toward people.  When someone does something nice for us, let them know that you appreciate it.  We must show appreciation in our families, among the various members.  Now I know this isn’t easy, but so often we take the things that God has blessed us with for granted.  As bad as things may seem to us, they can always get worse.  A sure way to lose something is to not appreciate it—taking it for granted.

Now again the scripture says: “giving thanks always for all things unto God.”  So we should meditate daily on what we have to be thankful for, and recite them to the Lord in prayer.  When God knows that we appreciate Him, he’ll do even more.

The final area that I’m going to cover for moving in the mind of Christ is: be word minded.

God’s Word is His thoughts written down on paper for our study and reflection.  His Word is how he thinks about every situation and subject.

Let’s look at John 5:38

38 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

Now let’s look at this same scripture from the Amplified Translation.  It reads:

And you have not His word (His thought) living in your hearts, because you do not believe and adhere to and trust in and rely Him whom He has sent.  [That is why you do not keep His message living in you, because you do not believe in the messenger whom He has sent]

Now in this scripture, Jesus was reprimanding  some unbelievers.  In this amplified translation, it’s clear that God’s Word is a written expression of His thoughts; and that people who want to believe and experience all the good results of believing, must allow His word to be a living message in their hearts.  This is accomplished by meditating on the Word of God.  This is how His thoughts become our thoughts—the only way to develop the mind of Christ in us.  Remember the Bible says in John 1:14: that Jesus was the Word made flesh.  This would not have been possible had His mind not been filled with the Word of God continually.

Meditating on the Word of God is one of the most important life principals that we can learn.  I can’t emphasize enough how important this principal is.  It is a life principle because meditating on the Word of God will minister life to us, and ultimately to those around us.  Let’s look at this in scripture.

Joshua 1:8

8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

In this verse, the Lord is telling us plainly that we will never put the word into practice physically, if we don’t first practice it mentally.  It says:” but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein.”  Meditate first, and then do.  When we meditate on God’s word, we receive the mind of Christ, allowing us to live victorious and productive lives.

In conclusion, in order for us to be sober and vigilant Christians, we must have the mind of Christ.  We must: think positive, be God minded, truly recognize God’s love, be thankful, and, be Word minded.

The only way to accomplish this is to change our minds.  The Scripture

informs us in Rom 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  kjv
So the moral of the story is: we must renew our minds, fight the good fight; and move in the mind of Christ and God!

Questions, comments, and concerns are welcomed below

Blessings!!

 

 

 

It is time to recognize—God is speaking and trying to get our attention.  The majority of the world has no idea of what is really going on with covid19.  The purpose of this article is to take a good look at covid19 and God.

God is calling a time out!

God has taken complete control from man.

Let’s just take a look: the world, especially the major centers has come to a screeching halt.  Practically all of commerce is shut down.  The only

businesses that are operating are the ones that supply essential needs.  The stock market has all but collapsed, schools are closed, no malls-no unnecessary shopping, no entertainment-Hollywood is shut down-no theater-no movies-no sporting events-no hanging out with friends, and for the majority no work.  Outside of necessary errands (i.e. groceries and medical appointments) we must stay indoors (as was with the Passover).  Last but certainly not least, there’s no worship: no temple, no mosque, and no church.  The people of God cannot gather together to worship on this most holy week of the year.  Sadly, people all over the world are dying by the tens of thousands.  At the moment, man cannot control this occurrence.

Simply put: God is trying to get our attention. Because He is being ignored because of the influence of “the Prince of the Power of the air”, Satan [Eph 2:2.  I am currently writing a series of articles on Spiritual Warfare and I am pausing that series because we are witnessing this warfare right before our eyes.  The political leaders are even acknowledging this event as war with an unseen enemy!  But they still aren’t acknowledging God.

These are frightening times (for some).  But no so for the true people of God.  For the people of God these are serious times but there is nothing to be afraid of.  Because we understand what is going on.  We simply must keep our focus on God and be a peace.  The Scripture says in Isa 26:3, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Therefore, we are not to be afraid.  Only the ungodly, the worldly, are to be fearful.  God’s Word also says: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.“[Isa 41:10]

In that Scripture God is encouraging His people not to be afraid because no matter what happens He will uphold us with His right hand.  The right hand is a symbolic term for strength.  God upholds us with all of His strength.

The world has become far too distant from God; ignoring Him and His Commandments.  We are a stiffnecked people. [Acts 7:51] God is trying to get our attention!  But are we listening?  Are we paying attention?  Are we heeding the warning?

We aren’t even listening to each other.  Citizens have been ignoring the warnings and advisories of the government concerning the virus: to stay in place, to keep distances from one another.  So they have to be enforced by the authorities simply because they aren’t listening or refuse to listen.

But this is right in line with what Jesus prophesied concerning His return.  In Luke 17:27-30

27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

30 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.  NIV

People insist on carrying on with life totally oblivious to the things of God, even His return. As a result, many will be blindsided when He returns as was the case with covid19.

The almighty dollar is the new religion.  It is the total focus of the world these days.  It is hard for me to fathom that there was actually a conversation on sacrificing the most vulnerable of the population for the sake of the economy! Do we value the dollar over human life?  Have we any moral conscience at all anymore?  Is this supposed to be wise thinking?  What Paul wrote to the Romans applies to us today.  In Rom 1:22 he wrote: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”  We have become so blinded, and so single minded when it comes to the dollar.

A Sign of the last days

Covid19 is just another sign of the end times.  In Matthew 24, the disciples asked Jesus what would be a sign of His return and the end of the world.  In verse 7 it He said: For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

Covid19 is a pestilence.  Pestilences are deadly diseases, viruses, plagues, and epidemics/pandemics.  These have been occurring from time to time but they are becoming more frequent and deadlier.  The same applies to earthquakes.

In verse 8 He said: “ All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

Additionally, the book of Revelations Chapter 4 contain prophesies of the mayhem to come

For more on the end times see the article: https://thechristianadvocate.org/the-bible-and-end-times/

God is not to be blamed

Scripture reads in Rom 8:22: “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

The trials of the world are the result of the sin entered into the world through man.  The curse of sin upon all creation has brought much suffering.  Had sin not entered the human race there would be no suffering.  This suffering will continue and intensify until the return of Christ.  The complete coverage of this consequence is found in verses 19-23.

Closing

I am going to close with two Scriptures.  First, 2 Chron 7:14,

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

It would be a glorious time if the nations would humble themselves and pray, seeking the face of God and repenting so that He can heal the lands.

Second, Ps 46:10

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

It is time to be still and acknowledge God.  It is time to acknowledge Him and His Son our Lord and Savior.  It is time to turn from the wickedness that is so pervasive among us.  It is time to “be still” and know God.

 

 

 

This is the fifth in a series of articles about spiritual warfare.  In the last article, SPIRITUAL WARFARE: CONDITIONS OF THE MIND 2, I covered the conditions: the doubtful and unbelieving mind, the anxious and worried mind.  In this article: Spiritual Warfare: Conditions of the Mind 3, I will be covering the judgmental, critical and suspicious mind, and the passive mind.

Much torment lands in people’s lives because of judgmental attitudes, criticism and suspicion.  Many relationships are destroyed by these enemies.  Once again, THE MIND IS THE BATTLEFIELD.  So we must keep in

mind that our actions won’t change until we change our minds because it is up to us to control our thinking.

Being judgmental, opinionated, and critical are three sure ways to see relationships dissolve.  Satan of course, wants us to be isolated, so he attacks our minds in these areas.  So the goal of covering these conditions, is to help us recognize wrong thought patterns, as well as learn how to deal with suspicion.

So to begin we’re going to first look at judgment.  What is judgment?  Judgment according to Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary is:

Discernment or separation between good and evil.  It goes on to say: God judges among people and their actions according to the standards of His LAW.  Judgment can refer either to this process of discernment, or to the punishment meted out to those who fall under His wrath and condemnation (John 5:24).  In the Bible the most important judgment is the final judgment, the ultimate separation of good and evil at the end of history.

So from what I can see, 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 their life.  I personally don’t want this responsibility.  God is the only perfect judge, so in my humanness—in our humanness, we can’t possible be qualified to judge another with much accuracy.

Criticism, opinions, and judgment, all seem to be related, and can easily be addressed as one big problem.

We all have different personalities that can range from one end of the spectrum to the other.  On one end we have the jovial personality, which care not to see anything but the happy or the fun things in life—to a fault, and pay little or no attention to anything that would interfere with their bliss.  On the other hand, we have the melancholy personality, or the controlling personality, who immediately sees what is wrong first.  This personality is being addressed at present.  These individuals usually have no problem expressing their negative opinions, and outlook with others.

Now we all know the Ten Commandments.  But in areas where there is no defined commandment in the scriptures, what is known as non absolutes, or as the scriptures states: doubtful disputations, [Rom. 14:1] it’s left up to an individual to determine in his own heart—his own conscience, what is right.  Let’s look at

Hebrews 9:13-14

13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:

14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God?

Now basically what this passage tells us is that the Old Testament sacrifices cleansed the flesh.  But the sacrifice of Christ’s blood is much better because it transforms our lives and hearts and makes us clean on the inside, because it purges our consciences.  Christ’s blood cleanses his followers from dead works.

But because we are all on different levels in our walks, so are our consciences.  So there will be, differing of opinions.  Satan uses this, as one of his tools to produce havoc amongst the people of God.

But while the issue is doubtful things, the scriptures are clear as to how to handle such matters.  Let’s turn to Romans 14:1-4

1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations

Now in this verse we have the expression doubtful disputations (in the King James Version).  It renders
two Greek words that mean “judging” and “opinions,” “disputes,” or “doubts.”  (The NIV simply translates it disputable matters.)  [Gray areas]  What Paul is prohibiting here, is the apparent response to one who is weak in the faith, for the purpose of passing judgment based on his or her opinions.  The fact is: Christians who are Young and weak in the faith need love and acceptance, not criticism #1

2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

At issue here is the matter of Christian liberty.  From the very beginning, Christians have had to make decisions about how their Christian faith applies in their culture.  To repeat what I said earlier: since Christians have not always come to the same conclusions about these differences, disagreements and even conflicts have followed.

The one whose faith is weak takes a narrow, limited view of freedom.  He or she interprets Scripture in such a way as to limit liberty.  This does not pose a problem as long as these limitations are applied only to one’s own life.  But when the person seeks to bind others to these restrictions, conflict is likely to follow.  I’m going to temporarily move to Galatians 5:13

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Let’s now look at 1 Peter 2:16

16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.

So what we see here is that the scriptures address both issues of liberty; the over restrictive as well as the undisciplined use of our liberty.  We can either be too tight or too lose with liberty.

Now back to our passage in Romans 14

Paul illustrates his point with a specific example: the eating of meat.  Some people today choose a vegetarian diet for health reasons, but in Paul’s day the issue was religious.  Some Gentile Christians had come from pagan religions that involved animal sacrifices.  Much of the meat sold in the market, came from these sacrifices, and eating it seemed to these people to involve them in the paganism they had just left.  Jewish Christians, who had been taught to avoid eating meat from unclean animals, or from animals not killed according to the Law of Moses, often refused to eat meat also.

3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.

Looking at verse 3, Eating meat or not eating meat was not a moral issue, but a matter of opinion.  Since God accepts both groups, they are urged to accept one another.  The strong, those who ate, were not to look down on those who did not.  Those who did not eat were not to judge or condemn those who did.  What verses 2 and 3 bring out is:  Allowing minor despites to fester may manifest severed relationships in the church.

4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant?  to his own master he standeth or falleth.  Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.

In this verse, Paul basically asks: who are you to judge?  Every believer will be judged by God alone [14:10] therefore, believers have no right to judge one another.  Each believer is someone else’s servant, that is, God’s servant.  And before God, he or she stands or falls.  Each person is accountable to Christ, not to others.  [Matt 7:3-5; Luke 6:37, 41-42; 1 Cor 4:3-5]  While the church must be uncompromising in its stand against activities that are expressly forbidden by Scripture (such as adultery; homosexuality, murder, theft, etc.), it should not create additional rules and regulations and give them equal standing with God’s law.  That’s not to say that the church shouldn’t have rules, but they must be kept in proper perspective.  Often Christians base their moral judgments on opinions, personal dislikes, or cultural bias, rather than on the Word of God.  When they do this, they show that their own faith is weak, and they demonstrate that they do not think God is powerful enough to guide each of his children.  When we stand before God’s judgment seat [14:10], we won’t be worried about what our Christian neighbor has done [2 Cor 5:10]

He will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.  No matter what one believer thinks of another believer’s sense of right and wrong in some matters, the Lord, as Judge, will oversee each person. What matters is each believer’s individual accountability before God.  So the moral to the story is: God is better able than we are to settle discord among His people.

Now to moving on: Judgment and criticism are fruit of a deeper problem – pride.  Let’s look at this also in Romans 12:3

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Whenever we excel in an area, it is only because God has given us a gift of grace for it.  If we are high-minded, or have an exaggerated opinion of ourselves, then it causes us to look down on others and value them as less than we are.  This type of attitude or thinking is extremely detestable to the Lord, and it opens many doors for the devil to enter into our lives.

Now it is important to know, that Scripture also reveals to us, how we are to respond to the weakness we observe in others.  It sets forth the mental attitude we are to maintain within ourselves.  We must have such a fear of the Lord with regard to pride, that we are very careful of judging others or of being critical of them.

One important point to remember regarding the faults and the judgment of others: while we aren’t to pass judgment, we are to recognize when our brothers and sisters are straying from the path of righteousness, in one way or another; and attempt to steer them back on track.  This applies especially spiritual leaders.  But it must be done in the proper way, according to the scriptures. [It’s not what we do, but how we do it]

Let’s look at this in Galatians 6:1-3

1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

The scripture reads: “ye which are spiritual.”  That is those who are mature, feeding on meat and not milk, must restore a fallen one with meekness—gently and lovingly.  They must not be heavy handed or domineering, but should watch out for their own lives, realizing that they also can be tempted to fall in the same direction.

2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

We are all engaged in spiritual warfare—individually and collectively.  So we must help each other when the going gets rough.  Therefore, we step in to carry each other burdens, whenever we see that the load has become more than a brother or sister can bear.  Not gloat, rejoice or judge.  As the scriptures read in Romans 15:1: “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”  When we follow this, we are fulfilling the law of Christ as it states in the latter part of this verse 2.

3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Now here again, the issue of pride is addressed.  We are simply nothing.  The bible tells us why in 1 Corinthians 1:25.  It reads: “Because the [foolishness]
of God is [wiser] than men; and the [weakness] of God is [stronger]
than men.”  So in comparison we are in a word: nothing!

One of the areas that must be addressed when approaching the area of judging is: what about ourselves?  Are we as willing to be judged, as we are to judge?  In most cases no.  Matthew 7:1-6 contain some of the classic Scriptures on the subject of judgment and criticism.  Whenever we are having trouble in our minds in this area, it might be a good idea to read them through.  Let’s look at Matthew 7:1-6

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

Now these Scriptures tell us that we will reap what we sow.  The principal of sowing and reaping not only applies to the agricultural and financial realms, but it also applies to the mental realm.  Scripture tells us that if we sow to the flesh that we will of the flesh reap corruption.  When we sow to the flesh, it is manifested in our attitudes.  Therefore, we can sow and reap an attitude, as well as a crop, or an investment.  So when we hear of someone talking about us, we may ask ourselves: are they sowing, or are we reaping what we, have sown?

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Now the observation here is that Satan loves to keep us busy mentally judging the faults of others.  His methodology is to keep us from seeing or dealing with what is wrong with ourselves.

What we must realize is that we cannot change others; only God can.  We can’t change ourselves either.  But we can cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and allow Him to do the work.

When our thoughts and conversations are dominated by what is wrong with everybody else, we are usually being deceived by our own conduct.  Therefore in this passage, Jesus commanded that we not concern ourselves with what is wrong with others, when we have so much wrong with ourselves.  So we must allow God to deal with us first, and then, we will learn the scriptural way of helping our brothers and sisters grow in their spiritual walk.  Let’s look at Ephesians 4:32

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

We all make mistakes.  We all have weaknesses.  This scripture says that we are not to have a hard-hearted, critical spirit toward each other, but instead to forgive one another, just as God for Christ’s sake, has done for us.

We’re now going to move into the last condition of the mind in this article: the Passive Mind.

The passive mind is a result of an activity called passivity.   Passivity is the opposite of activity.  It is a lack of feeling, lack of desire, general apathy, lukewarmness, and out right laziness.

Not only is passivity the opposite of activity, but it is also the opposite of what the scriptures instruct us.  In 1 Peter 5:8 we are instructed to be alert, cautious and active. [“Vigilant”]  In 2nd Timothy 1:6, we are instructed to fan the flame, and stir up the gifts within us.  Christianity is a belief of action, not non-action.  So since passivity is not condoned in the scriptures, it must [not be of God] and anything that is not of God is [of the Devil] Evil spirits are behind passivity.  The devil knows that inactivity, failure to exercise the will, will bring the believers ultimate defeat.

As long as a person is moving against the devil by using their will against him, the enemy will not win the war.  The bible says: “resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  However, if an individual enters into a state of passivity, they are in serious trouble because they lack the motivation to resist.

It is extremely important for Christian believers to exercise their wills.  Because when we don’t, we operate exclusively on our feelings.  We praise & pray
if we feel like it; read the scriptures, if we feel like it;

give, if we feel like it; keep our word, if we feel like it; and if we don’t feel like it, we don’t do it.  So we depend on external actions—something other than ourselves to motivate us.  If the music isn’t a certain way, we don’t want to praise; if the preacher isn’t doing acts of an acrobatic nature, we don’t receive the word.  Many believers are so emotionally led, that an absence of feeling is all that is needed to stop us from doing what we’ve been taught to do. This is extremely dangerous.  For the simple reason that, just because we don’t feel like doing something, doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be done.  We must Press forward.  As Paul said: “I press toward the mark for the prize.”  [Phil 3:14]

There is a familiar expression which states: the devil enters an idle mind.  A passive mind is an idle mind.  It is empty, leaving it open as Satan’s playground, allowing him to fill it with all kinds of wrong thoughts.

In the natural, results rely on actions.  For example: it takes speed for a plane to remain in flight.  Once it begins to slow down, gravity takes over.  The slower it moves, the stronger the pull of gravity, to the point of stall and crash.  We must remember that what applies in the natural, applies in the spiritual.  So the way to avoid wrong thoughts from entering our minds is to fill our minds with right thoughts. Phil 4:8 reads: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Once we become saved—once we accept salvation, crucifying our flesh, and removing old thoughts, they must be replaced with good thoughts.  Otherwise the old thoughts will return, greater than they were before.

The condition of passivity can be overcome.  So how do we overcome passivity?  The first step in overcoming passivity in actions is to overcome passivity in the mind.  The prescription is same as it has been throughout this series, and is found in Romans 12:2.  This time I’m taking it from the amplified translation: do not be conformed to this world (this age),
[fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by it’s new ideals and it’s new attitude]… 

Notice that it said: the entire renewal of your mind.  Now what we see in this scripture, is a dynamic principal of God.  Which is: Right action follows right thinking.  Let’s look at the rest of the scripture: So that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].  Now here’s the blessing: the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for our lives.  But only after our minds are renewed—our thinking is changed.

It is impossible to get from wrong behavior to right behavior
without first: changing our thoughts.  A passive person may want to do the

right thing, but will never do so unless he or she purposely activates their mind, and line it up with God’s Word and will.

So if we truly desire to have victory over our problems; if we truly want to live the resurrection life, we must have backbone and not just wishbone.  We must be active—not passive.  Keep in mind that right action begins with right thinking.

Let us not be passive in our minds, and start immediately choosing right thoughts.

AMEN!

The next article will cover the final condition of the mind which is a positive one—The Mind of Christ.

Please feel free to leave any question, comment or concern below

Blessings!

 

 

 

With this article I am going to continue with the series on Spiritual Warfare.  This is the fourth article in the series.  In the last article I began to address the conditions of the mind that are often manifested because of spiritual warfare.  The conditions covered were the wandering mind, the wondering mind, and the confused mind.  So now I’m going to move on and cover more of these conditions of the mind as is the title: Spiritual Warfare: the conditions of the Mind 2.  This is the second article on the conditions of the mind.

The first condition is, the doubtful and unbelieving mind.  Doubt and unbelief are two words that can be connected, but mean different things.  To doubt is to waiver between two opinions, to stand in two ways with uncertainty, as to which one to accept.  The result in a believer is small faith.  As Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 14:31 “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Unbelief on the other hand is not little faith, but none at all, and the result is always disobedience.  But the connection is: doubt can often lead to unbelief.

Let’s go back and take a look at doubt.  Doubt is not something that God puts in us.  The bible says that God gives every man a … “measure of faith.”  [Rom 12:3]

God has placed faith in our hearts, but Satan tries to negate our faith, by attacking us with doubt.  But once again I say: it’s very subtle!

Doubt comes in the form of thoughts that are in opposition to the Word of God.  That is why it is so important for us to know the Word of God.  If we know the Word, then we can recognize when the devil is lying to us.  Be assured that he lies to us in order to steal what Jesus purchased for us on the cross.

You see, when God tells us something, or asks us to do something, the faith to believe it, or to obey it comes with the Word from God.  God wouldn’t expect us to do something, and not give us the ability to believe that we can do it.  Satan knows how dangerous we will be with absolute faith, so he attacks us with doubt and unbelief.  So it’s not that we don’t have faith, it’s simply Satan trying to destroy our faith with deception and lies.

Faith is a product of the spirit; it is a spiritual force.  Satan doesn’t want us to get our mind in agreement with the spirit.  He knows that if God places faith in us and we start to consistently exercise that faith,  we would do considerable damage to his kingdom.

Satan brings storms into our lives to intimidate us.  But we must hold on to the fact, that all storms blow over, they don’t last forever.  So we must dig in with both heels, and be determined in the Holy Spirit.

We must remember during a storm that the mind is the battlefield.  We can’t make our decisions based on our thoughts or feelings, but tune into our spirits, which are led by the Holy Spirit (or at least supposed to be [Eph 3:16]).  When we do this, we will find that the same vision that God has given us, is still there after the storm.

One very important thing for us to remember is: doubt is a choice.  I’ve already mentioned that faith is the gift of God, so we know that we have faith, but let’s look at this in scripture so that you may refer to it later.  Romans 12:3

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

So again, doubt is a choice.  It is Satan’s spiritual warfare tactic against our minds.  Now I’ve covered in an earlier article of this series, how we are in control of our thoughts, so we must learn to recognize it for what it is, cast it (doubt) out in the name of Jesus, and keep on believing.  The choice is ours

Now to look at unbelief:  Unbelief as I said earlier, leads to disobedience.  Let’s look at this in Matthew 17:14-20

14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Now apparently Jesus had taught them certain things to do in these cases, but because of their unbelief, they weren’t able to obey Him.  Their unbelief caused them to disobey.  Therefore they were unsuccessful in carrying out God’s will.

Unbelief can also keep us from doing what God has called, and anointed us to accomplish in life.  It will also keep us from experiencing the sense of peace that He wants us to enjoy, as we find rest for our souls in Him.  Let’s look at this in Matthew 11:28-29

28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Jesus commands all to have faith in Him, to trust Him, to believe in Him.  But if we have unbelief, we cannot follow this command in a word—disobedience.

The fourth chapter of Hebrews deals with the Sabbath rest that is available to God’s people.  Under the old covenant, the Sabbath was observed as a day of rest.  Under the New Covenant, this Sabbath spoken of  is a spiritual place of rest.  It is the privilege of every Christian believer to refuse to worry, or have anxiety.  As Christians, all of us can enter the rest of the Lord.  But it doesn’t happen by accident.  For example in verse 11 of Hebrews 4 [amplified] it reads: “Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell] 

Now those in the wilderness refer to the Israelites.  They fell because they disobeyed God, and refused to go into Canaan why?  Because of their unbelief.  So verse 11 of Hebrew 4 brings out the point that we will never enter our privileged rest unless we believe—diligently, laboriously.    Not only that, but we will forfeit our rest through unbelief and disobedience just as Israel did.  This is no game!  Unbelief will keep us living in the wilderness.  But Jesus has provided a permanent place of rest, one that can be inhabited only through living by faith.

Let’s look at what it says in Romans 1:17

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Now faith to faith means, that faith is at the beginning of the salvation process; we receive Christ by faith; and faith is the goal as well.  When a person first exercises faith in Christ, that person is saved from the penalty of sin, and declared righteous.  (But) also, as the believer lives by faith, God continues to save him or her from the power of sin, to live righteously.  Now how does God do this?  Let’s look at the answer in Romans 15:13

13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

As we believe by faith and begin to exercise faith—living righteous lives, we receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that God accomplishes his care for his people–giving us endurance, encouragement, unity (15:5), hope, joy, and peace. Hope comes as a by-product of the Holy Spirit’s work. It does not come from our own senses or experiences.

Now to wrap up this segment, the whole problem is doubt and unbelief—even for us Christians.  We make ourselves unhappy by believing the Devil’s lies; and we become negative because we have no peace, and no joy,
and end up living in unbelief.  Instead of living faith to faith as the scripture says, many of us are on a see saw.  We live a life of going from faith, to doubt, to disbelief.  Then back to faith, only to later go back to doubt and unbelief.  We end up being miserable roller-coaster Christians, allowing our faith to take swells and dips.  Many of us are double minded in our faith.  One day, we’re a child of God and a disciple of Christ, and the next day, we’re cursing people out.  The Scripture says: “from faith to faith.”  “that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”  But if we have doubt and unbelief, we will quench the Holy Ghost, and will not receive from God.  The bible tell us in Hebrews 11:6: “but without faith it is impossible to please Him.”  If God is not pleased, we can’t receive from Him.  Now we’ve look at this in scripture from the front side—faith and hope, let’s now look at it with scripture from the back side—with wavering faith—doubt..  James 1:6-8

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 

We simply can’t receive from God when we approach him with doubt and unbelief.  Verse 8 goes on to say:

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Now remember what Elijah asked Israel in 1 Kings 18:21: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.

The point, we need to make up our minds that we will not live in a state of double mindedness.  We will not live in
disbelief and doubt; we will not walk in disobedience.  God has a plan for each and every one of us, and we can’t let the Devil steal it away from us with his lies.  We must rebuke him!  The bible says that we are to: cast down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
[2 Cor. 10:5]   The high things are in the spiritual realm where the battle of the mind is ongoing.

Now to move into our next condition, we’re going to look at the anxious and worried mind.

Anxiety and worry are both attacks on the mind, intended to distract us from serving the Lord.  Satan uses both of these torments to press our faith down, so that it cannot rise up, and help us live in victory.

Peace and worry are opposites of each other.  It is absolutely impossible to worry, and live in peace at the same time.  Peace is an ingredient of the fruit of the spirit, and fruit is the result of abiding in the vine(which in our case is Jesus).

Worry is definitely an attack from Satan upon the mind.  There are certain things the Christian is instructed to do with his or her mind, and the enemy wants to make certain that they are never accomplished.  So the devil attempts to keep the mental arena busy enough, with the wrong kinds of thinking, so that the mind never gets around to being used for the purpose for which God designed it.  There’s an expression that sums this up which states: “the devil enters an empty mind.”

In the Sermon on the Mount, there is a passage that we should read when we feel a spell of worry coming upon us.  Let’s look at Matthew 6:

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

We are to enjoy life.  Jesus said in John 10:10: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  But old Satan (the thief) attempts to steal that life from us in many ways—one of them being worry.  Back to Matthew 6:25, Jesus is teaching that there is nothing in life that we are to worry about—not any aspect of it.  The quality of life that God has provided for us, is great enough to include all of these other things, so we aren’t to worry about them.  But if we do, then we lose the life that He intended us to have.  Let’s look at verse 26:

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Jesus used the birds as an example of His provision.  They don’t plant, so they don’t harvest.  Nor do they store any food.  They literally don’t know where there next meal is coming from.  But you never see them worrying, and God feeds them.  We are God’s highest creation; so Jesus asks: aren’t we much better than they are?  Of course we are.  So if He provides for the birds, He will certainly provide for us!  So for those of us who may be suffering from a poor self-image, can read this verse, and know just how valuable to God we are.  Looking at verse 27:

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Taking thought means worrying and Jesus is asking: What do you gain by worrying?  The point: worry is useless!  It does not accomplish anything.  If that is so, then why worry and why be anxious.  Let’s move to verses 28-30:

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

Jesus asks: why worry about raiment or clothing, and again refers to one of His creations.  He makes the point that if a flower which does nothing, can look better than the great king Solomon in all of his splendor, surely we will be provided for as well.  Now the job of Satan and His demons, is to continuously pump into our minds the question: what are you going to do? What’s going to happen to me or any other difficult question pertaining to our present circumstances.  And we spend and waste precious time trying to answer them; in a word—worry.  Satan is constantly waging war on the battlefield—our minds, with the hopes of engaging us in a long drawn out, and costly combat.  It’s costly because it takes our minds off of God, and onto our circumstances. Now the rest of the passage contains Jesus’ solution.  Verse 31 reads:

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Now in this verse, Jesus again instructs us not to worry or be anxious about these things.  Let’s look at verses 32 & 33

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Now we know that God’s children are not to be like the world!  The world seeks after things,
but we are to seek the Lord.  He has promised that if we will do that, He will add to us all these things He knows we need.  We must learn to seek God’s face,  and not His hand!  Our father delights in giving His children good things, but we must seek Him, and not them.

The bible tells us in Philippians 4:6  “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  God knows what we need before we ask.  If we will simply make our requests known to Him, He will bring them to pass in His own good timing.  Worry will not help our cause at all, but it will in fact hinder our progress.  Looking at verse 34

34 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.

Now one way to describe worry or anxiety is: spending today trying to figure out tomorrow.  Let’s learn to use the time God has given us, for what He intended: to Give glory and honor to Him! 

When Satan attacks and temp us with worry, anxiety, doubt or unbelief, we must remember what Jesus did.  He didn’t have a conversation with him, he countered his attack with scripture.  We must do the same: speak scripture out of our mouths.  Hebrews 4:12 says: “ For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,”  and Paul addressing spiritual warfare in Ephesians 6:17 wrote: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”  But take note, a sword is no good in its sheath during an attack!  God has given us His word—use it! Just like Jesus did.  Remember when Jesus finished throwing God’s Word at Satan, he left him alone.  But it also says for only a season.  So we must be vigilant and ready to use the Word of God in an instant.

Now we went through the passage in Matthew 6.  That’s good to meditate on when needed.  But let’s look at some more scriptures that you may want to remember and keep on hand for attack.

Now we’ve already gone through Philippians 4:6.  Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 10:5

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Let’s now look at 1 Peter 5:6-7

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

When Satan tries to give us a problem, we have the privilege of casting it upon God.  The word cast actually means to pitch or throw.  So we can pitch or throw our problems to God, and He will know 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.

Speaking of rest:  There is a passage that clearly illustrates the principle of resting on God.  Let’s look at one final passage: 2 Chronicles 20:  This chapter contains the battle against Jehoshaphat and Moab.  This situation tested Jehoshaphat’s faith.  In verse 5 he begins to pray to God when confronted by the enemy, and in verse 12 it reads:

12 O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

Now in this passage, we see that Jehoshaphat realized three things:

1. The he and his army had no might against this enemy.
2.  He did not know what to do.
3.  That they needed to have their eyes focused on God.

Now in verses 15-17, we see what the Lord said to them, once they came to this realization, and freely acknowledged it to Him.

15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 

16 To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. 

17 Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. 

So  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 on Him, doing what He directs us to do, and otherwise having a reverent fear of moving in the flesh.

So we are not to doubt, not believe or be anxious and worry.  We are to rest in the Lord, to trust Him, and as the scripture reads: “be still and know that I am God.”  [Ps. 46:10]                           Amen!

The next article will address more conditions of the mind resulting from Spiritual Warfare.

Please leave any question, comment, or concern regarding spiritual warfare below.

Blessings!

 

 

 

This is the third part of the series on Spiritual warfare.  This segment is entitled, Spiritual Warfare: The Conditions of the mind

For a brief review:  I addressed the fact that we were all born with a sinful

nature, contrary to God—separated from God; that because of God’s mercy and grace, he established a way for us to be rejoined with Him, through His son Jesus.  Therefore making a way for us to have a spiritual renewal or rebirth: in other words—born again.  I also established the fact that because of our spiritual rebirth, we have been placed in a war—a spiritual war; a war that is ongoing, and fierce.  That we need to be aware of this war, who is at the helm of the opposing force, and how to fight, and win, this battle.

In the last article, I addressed the fact that it is in the mind where Spiritual Warfare takes place.  Satan attacks the mind—he sends his fiery darts, his evil-negative thoughts directly into our minds.  But we must learn to dispel those thoughts—to cast them out, in the name of Jesus.  One of scriptures

that I covered was what Jesus said in Matthew 12:33: “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.”  Now to repeat He said: make the tree good: now how do we make the tree good?  By feeding it with good fertilizer.  We must feed our trees—our minds with good fertilizer—good thoughts in order to bear good fruit, or a positive life.  So we must dispel Satan’s evil thoughts

Satan’s attacks, if allowed to nest in our minds can manifest themselves in numerous ways, causing any number of conditions.  So in this article I am going to begin to address the various conditions of the mind.

Let’s first look at the normal mind of a Christian.  What makes a Christian’s mind tick?  1 Corinthians 2: 13-16

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The normal mind of a Christian is a mind that is led by the Spirit of Christ.

Let’s review a passage that I covered in the last article.  Romans 8: 9

9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

The scripture says that we are not to be in the flesh, but in the spirit.  If we don’t have the spirit of Christ in us, then we aren’t his—we aren’t Christians.  So again, the normal Christian mind is one that is led by the spirit of Christ.

What we must understand regarding the mind of a Christian is that the mind and the spirit work together.  Let’s look at this in 1 Corinthians 2: 11

11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now what this scripture is saying is that no one knows the thoughts and plans of man, other than himself—his spirit.  The only way anyone else will know, our thoughts, is if we reveal them.  By the same token, no one knows the things—the thoughts, the mind of God other than His spirit.  So the mind and the spirit work together.  The spirit knows what in the mind.

Now when a person receives Christ as His personal Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in him.  As we have just seen in scripture, the Holy Spirit knows the mind of God.  Now let’s take this a little further and look at Ephesians 1: verses 15-23 contain Paul’s prayer of revelation for the Ephesians: and in verses 17-18, it reads:

17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Now Paul is praying that God would impart to them (the Ephesians) His Holy Spirit so that He would be revealed to them and they would know more of Him.  Continuing with verse 18:

18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

The eye of your understanding is the mind.  The NIV translation actually reads, “the eyes of your Heart” and as I mentioned in the last article, I mentioned that the word translated as heart and soul [leb] (labe)], is also translated as mind.

Since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and since He knows the mind of God, one of His purposes is to reveal to us, God’s wisdom and revelation.  That wisdom and revelation is imparted to our spirit, and our spirit then enlightens the eyes of our hearts—or our minds.

Take a car for example: you have the engine, the transmission, and the wheels.  The power starts with the engine—that’s where the power is produced; the power then goes to the transmission; and from the transmission to the wheels, and the wheels move the car.

Now taking this divinely: the engine is God—that’s where the power comes

from; it then goes to the Holy Spirit—which is the transmission; and from the transmission, the power goes to the mind—which is the wheels, which moves-controls the body.  The body reacts to the mind accordingly.

Now, if our power comes from God, then our transmission is the Holy Spirit, sending our wheels (our minds) in the right direction; but if our power comes from Satan, our transmission is the flesh, and will send our wheels spinning in the complete opposite direction.

As Born Again Christians, we are both spiritual, and natural.  As I mentioned during the introduction of the series, before we were born again, our flesh-our natural self did the leading.  What ever our flesh wanted, that’s what we set out to satisfy.  Whether it was sex, drugs, alcohol, or any overindulgence to appease our flesh, we did it.  But as Christians, our spirits connected to the Holy Spirit is to do the leading But the natural doesn’t always understand the spiritual.  So the mind often misses what the spirit is trying to reveal to us, because it’s too busy.  A mind that is too occupied is not normal, but abnormal.  The mind is normal when it is at rest.  That doesn’t mean that we should have blank minds, but they should be at peace.

Our minds should not be filled with what I call mental junk food.  If we feed our bodies with a constant diet of junk food, and fast food, our bodies will

eventually break down.  But this also holds true of the mind. Junk food for the mind consists of: excessive reasoning, worry, anxiety, fears, and so forth.  The mind shouldn’t be filled with this junk food, but should be quite, calm and serene as much as possible.  But if filled with mental junk food, the mind just as the body will break down.  I’m sure that we’ve all heard of the condition: a nervous breakdown.  A condition that results when the mind has had so much of a diet of mental junk food, it becomes so overloaded that it just snaps; breaks down—it simply can’t take anymore.  Our minds simply become—a junk yard.  Other conditions include: depression, anxiousness, and anguish.

In addition to being at peace, the mind of a Christian believer should also be alert.  The bible says: “be sober, be vigilant.”  That doesn’t only mean don’t drink.  It means, be alert, clear headed—on the lookout, and on the defensive.

Now this isn’t easy because Satan makes it difficult—on purpose—it’s his job.  Satan is addressed by several names in the scriptures: For example: The Prince of this world, and the prince of the power of the air. [John 12:31, Ephesians 2:2]  But if there was such a thing as rewriting the bible, one of the names I would give Satan is The King of Junk.  He is the King of Mental Junk Food—the chief distributor, clogging our minds.  He attacks us, wagering a war against our minds.  He attacks us by attempting to overload and overwork our minds by filling it with every kind of wrong thought—junk, so it cannot be free and available to the Holy Spirit working through our own human spirit.  And Christians are yielding.  There are Christians claiming to walk in Christ’s spirit, when in fact they are walking in the flesh.  Why?  Simply because we’re feeding their minds with the junk of this world.  [that’s future article]  This is why we hear so very little from God.  The reason we hear so little from God is because we can’t receive His spirit which leaves us lacking in wisdom and revelation.  Therefore, it is impossible to have a healthy mind when it is loaded down with things it was never intended to carry.  To close on the normal mind, we’re going to look at one last scripture: Isaiah 26:3—Isaiah writes concerning the Lord:

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

In order to keep our minds at peace, we must keep our minds on God, and trusting God.  We must visualize ourselves obeying God and being greatly

blessed by Him.

Let’s now to look at some conditions of the abnormal mind: minds that get clogged with mental junk food.  This junk food manifests itself in ways that cause various ill conditions in the mind.  Much like junk food can do to our bodies.

The first condition is a wandering [waundering] mind.  To wander [waunder] is to move or go about aimlessly, without a plan or fixed destination.  So a wandering mind is a mind that doesn’t stay focused on a fixed topic or plan.  Now in childhood, this is one of the leading causes of learning disabilities.  It causes a lack of concentration.  The inability of one to stay focused on a topic or task.  Now to some this is involuntary—they can’t help themselves while others do this voluntarily.  I’m sure that most of us can remember daydreaming in class or even in a meeting.  Not because we couldn’t help ourselves, we simply wanted to be somewhere else (I know I did).  It was a means of escape to some place, or somewhere else we wanted to be.  But if we do anything long enough, it will become a habit—good or bad.  If we allow ourselves to form a habit of this it can reach near uncontrollable instances, when we should and want to concentrate, but can’t.

If our minds are filled with enough anxiety, worry, and confusion—mental junk food, it becomes impossible to concentrate leaving our minds to wander.  Satan loves it!  It prevents Christians from listening to sermons, teachings, Bible studies and receiving from them. While our bodies may be in church, our minds are have drifted to some far place or circumstance.  It can also prevent us from reading and receiving from the Word.  Unable to concentrate, we can just drift off to sleep; and it can cause havoc on our jobs and places of businesses, affecting our communications and sound judgments.

This can be a very subtle process, like all of Satan’s destructive works.  It can happen gradually with age.  As we progress further and further into adulthood, our responsibilities increase, putting a greater load on our minds.  And if we aren’t careful we’ll become complete scatter brains, unable to accomplish anything.

Now the scriptures instruct us on this issue of the wandering [waundering] mind.  Let’s look at 1 Peter 1:13

13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

Now the people in biblical times would gather up their long robes and tie them around their waists so that they could move more freely and quickly.  We Christians today must also tie up the robes in our minds that can keep them from moving or operating freely.  We need to do whatever it takes to focus our thoughts on those things, that allow us to serve our God successfully; all while eliminating any thoughts that would tie or bind us up.

Let’s look at another warning against a wandering [waundering] mind:

Ecclesiastes 5:1

1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.

Now to keep your foot means in this case, to be alert as to not slip and loose our balance, and get off track when we go to God’s house.  We are to do this, rather than give the sacrifice of a fool.  When we sit in church and allow our minds to wander, to the point that we receive nothing for being there, It’s useless to go.  We may make the sacrifice to be there, but it is a useless sacrifice—we’re only taking up space.  It is the sacrifice— of a fool.

Now a fool is an individual who has no good sense—to the point that they do evil, and don’t even know it.  Now for clarity, here is same scripture from the New Living Translation.  It reads:

1 As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don’t be a fool who doesn’t realize that mindless offerings to God are evil. Is that to the point or what?

Now to not receive from God is evil.  To be a mindless offering is evil.  God has given us His spirit and we are to use it for our benefit.  He has also given us free will: and we are to willfully keep our minds from wandering [waundering] to the point of self-destruction.

Now how do we do this?  How do we obey this Scripture?  Only Through prayer and discipline.  If concentrating becomes difficult for us, we must make more of an effort to focus.  If we’re reading and find that we’re not focusing and receiving: Stop—go back and read it again.  If we miss spaces in conversations, apologize and ask the person to repeat themselves.  By the end of the Sunday message, we know whether our minds have wandered and we missed what was said; so, buy the tape.  Take a quiet moment and listen to it; and if we miss parts of that, rewind it play it back.  Sometimes when I have a lot on my mind, I’ll have to reverse a segment of a video 2 or three times.  I simply refuse to let Satan steal anything from me that I’m going to benefit from.  The Bible says: “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” [James 4:7]

The Devil will give up, if he sees that we won’t: give in. But only for a season; he’s tenacious so we must always be on guard.  In addition, when we have numerous tasks to complete, prioritize them.  This enables us to focus on what’s most important.  Then, instead of having our minds aimlessly buzzing around on numerous tasks, we can then concentrate on one to completion.  Of course it always helps to eat and rest properly.

The next condition I want to address is the wondering mind.  To wonder is to be filled with puzzlement and doubt.  When one has a wondering mind they’re never really sure about anything—unstable.  Anyone who has a wondering mind, can’t pray properly, can’t get answers to their prayers because they have too much doubt in their minds—their hearts Let’s review the familiar passage in

James 1:5-8

5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

We can’t approach God wondering if He’s going to answer our prayers.  We are to approach him in faith, knowing that He’s going to answer them.

Christians, who are walking in the Spirit of Christ, should never wonder, but walk victoriously.  Remember what Jesus said in Mark 11:24: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Now with a promise like that from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus, whose spirit we’re to walk in, how can we allow Satan to give us a wandering [waundering]—wondering, mind?  We must replace our doubtful thoughts with positive thoughts.  Instead of asking: I wonder if God’s going to answer my prayer?  We should be declaring: I know God is going to answer my prayer, and when He answers it, and how He answers it, is up to Him.  Period!

Looking at one more condition, next we’re going to look at: the confused mind.  Now the wondering mind and the confused mind are first cousins.  They are very closely related.  James 1:5-8 covers both conditions.  When we have a mind full of doubt—a wondering mind, we are confused about everything.  From what we believe to what we’re going to wear.  We want to live single, but we want to be married.  We want to be saved, but we want to live like the world.  We want to be secure, but the fact is we’re very insecure.  Do we see a pattern here?  It’s a double mind.  A wondering—confused mind is in a word: a mess.  Unstable in all it does.

Now in the case of the confused mind, here is where Satan can really strut his stuff.  If you’ll remember back to my last article, I mentioned that one of the functions of the mind is to reason.  Now what does it mean to reason?  It is the ability to think, form judgments, and draw
conclusions.  This is a power that God gave man when he created him.  Remember in Genesis 1:26 God said

“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” God gave man the ability to think and reason, and create like Him, but on a much more limited basis.  But remember along came Satan, who twisted God’s words and confused
man’s reasoning.

Now the scriptures tell us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. [Heb 13:8] But also, we must always remember that Satan is the same yesterday, today, and from now on, until his time is up.  And he’s using the same schemes today that he used, yesterday.  He is still interfering with man’s reasoning today, leaving many Christians with confused minds.  Now let’s examine how this works.

Reasoning is when a person tries to figure out the how and why behind

something like: an issue, event, or a situation, trying to figure out all of the intricate parts of it.  If it is logical and makes sense, we accept it.  If it doesn’t, we reject it. But reasoning must be grounded in the right spirit.

Satan often steals the will of God from a Christian, because of reasoning.  We can literally reason ourselves right out of the will of God.  God may speak something to our spirits, but if it doesn’t make sense to us, we’ll reject it.  What God leads us to do does not always make logical sense to our minds.  While our spirits may affirm it, our minds will reject it.

For example: God’s Word in James 1:2 reads:”My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.” [or various trails]  Now to our reasoning mind, this makes absolutely no sense what so ever.  How can anybody possibly have joy when going through a trial? A trial involves some form of adversity; some form of resistance.  There’s no such thing as a happy trial; or a joyous trial; and in our natural reasoning, a trial is something to be avoided at all cost.

But in the mind of God, a trial is a good thing.  It proves us, and tests us, and He knows that when we come through the trial, that we are tried and true unto Him.  So we must turn our reasoning—our minds—our spirits over to God’s spirit who knows the mind of God.  So for the Christian to encounter adversity, is to undergo a trial in which his or her faith is proved either true or false before God, the highest judge. Since many positive things come about through such trials, Christians are urged in this scripture, to rejoice at their occurrence.  It’s the complete opposite of our natural reasoning.  Another more literal example is what it says in Luke 4:1 which is: “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.”  Now in Matthew 4:1 it says: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be [tempted of the devil].”  Now natural reasoning may wonder: Why would God lead Jesus to the devil?  It just doesn’t make sense to natural reasoning, and when we try to apply natural reasoning to spiritual things, it leads to confusion.

The same goes with tithing.  Natural reasoning cannot comprehend the principles of tithing.  It can never understand that a blessed 90%
is far better than an unblessed 100%.  Natural reasoning will never comprehend the three T’s of Christianity: trials, tribulations, and tithes.  Now this is Satan’s game!

That’s why if you look at the ways of the world, and the ways of God with the teachings of Christ, they are the complete opposite of one another.

It’s Satan’s objective to keep our reasoning in the natural, instead of the spiritual.  Remember what Satan said to Eve: “”Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”[Gen 3:1 NIV]  He interfered with her reasoning; turned it away from God—the spiritual, and switched it to the natural.  Now she had already received the instructions from God, and accepted them in the spirit.  But after listening to Satan, she switched to the natural.  The scriptures read: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [Genesis 3:6]

Once she switched to the natural reasoning, she saw all of the natural
benefits and totally forgot about the spiritual—what God said.

This is why one of the worst things we can ever do, is have a conversation with Satan.  Once we open up a dialog with him, it gives him the opportunity to step in with his reasoning, unleashing havoc and confusion in our minds.  However, the best thing we can ever do, is give him the hand (to stop), and keep on walking in Christ’s spirit.  We must recognize him for what he is a deceiver and a liar.

Now again, reasoning is a natural God given ability.  But Satan comes along with temptation.  Now I’m going to cover temptation later on in this series.  But temptation is when we are enticed to take our God given abilities beyond God’s boundaries.  And this is what Satan does with our reasoning.  This is a very serious component regarding the battle in the mind.  This is a very serious aspect of Spiritual Warfare.  So we need to look at some solutions, which of course are in the scriptures.  Let’s first look go back to 1 Corinthians 2:14

14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  [separated]

You see, the natural man cannot receive from God’s spirit.  The Scripture says that the natural man is spiritually separated.  Why? Because he’s stuck in his own reasoning, therefore the things of the spirit are simply foolishness, as far as he’s concerned.  So he remains stuck in his own, limited wisdom.  That’s why when addressing the ungodly, the bible says in Romans 1:22 “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” They are fools because they are stuck in the world’s wisdom which is nothing in comparison to the wisdom of God.  The bible confirms this by saying: “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” [1 Cor 1:25, cf. vss. 18-27]  So the natural man simply cannot receive any wisdom from God.

Now this is no accident:  Let’s look at this in 2 Corinthians 4:4

4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

The god of the world is Satan.  Satan is blinding the mind of man today by causing confusion, just as he did in the Garden of Eden.

So this goes back to what I’ve been addressing all along.  Walk in the spirit of God and Christ, and that will help us to understand God’s will for us.  This is what renewing our minds is about, which was addressed in my article. It’s about hooking up—with the spirit of God.  That’s why God said in His word:  “be still and know that I am God. [Ps. 46:10]  So we must learn to not always reason in our minds, but just obey the spirit.  Let’s now go back to James 1:22

22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

We simply must obey God’s Word.  Not just listen to it, but do what it says.  If we listen to the Word, but don’t obey it: we’re only deceiving ourselves.  This goes back to what I said earlier about sitting in church, and not receiving.  We may look like we’re listening and receiving, fooling others, but in essence, we’re only fooling ourselves.  It’s like cheating on a test: in the long run we’ve only cheated ourselves.  We must not only listen and study the word, but we must also receive it, and apply it to our lives.  We can’t always reason and rationalize everything God’s says to us.  We are to just obey.  How many times have we heard bosses say: just
do it! And what happens?  We do it!

You see, a leader—a boss, sees things from a different perspective, a bigger picture, and has to answer to somebody higher than he is.  So we may not understand why they ask us to do, or not to do certain things. But nevertheless, we must do what they tell us: and it’s biblical. [Eph 6:5-7]

In addition, we must always remember what applies in the natural, applies in the spiritual.  God also see the bigger picture—a much bigger picture.  So we must just do what the spirit of God leads us to do.  Now we’re going to look at another scripture that deals with trusting God.  Proverbs 3:5

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Again, trust God and not human reasoning.  Reasoning opens the door for deception and brings much confusion, leading to a confused mind.  So Girding up the loins of our minds and trusting God, is the only way to win—The Battle of the Mind.

Please feel free to leave any question, comment, or concern regarding Spiritual Warfare below.

Blessings!

 

 

I would like to take a few moments to review the key points covered in the previous article, ‘All About Spiritual Warfare.’ I addressed the fact that we were all born with a sinful nature, contrary to God—separated from God; that because of God’s mercy and grace, he established a way for us to be rejoined with Him, through His son Jesus, therefore making a way for us to have a spiritual renewal, or rebirth—for us to be born again. I also established the fact that as a result of our spiritual rebirth, we have been placed in a war—a spiritual war; a war that is ongoing, and fierce. Also, we need to be aware of this war, who is at the helm of this opposing force, how to fight, and win, this battle.

So moving on into today’s segment, we’re going to look at a specific aspect of this battle. We’re going to address the mind. So the fact of the matter is: The Mind is the battlefield. Now, the last article (part one) was foundational to the series on All About Spiritual Warfare. This article is foundational for our addressing the mind because I’ll be spending a substantial amount of time on the mind.

I just want to mention that you absolutely may leave any questions or comments at the end of this article.

To begin, what is the mind? First of all, the mind is contained in the brain, which is the portion of the central nervous system contained within the skull. The brain is the control center for movement, sleep, hunger, thirst, and virtually every other vital activity necessary to survival. Therefore, I deem it accurate to state that the brain is the most important organ in the body. All human emotions—including love, hate, fear, anger, elation, and sadness—are all controlled by the brain. It also receives and interprets the countless signals that are sent to it from other parts of the body, and from the external environment. The brain is the supervisor (if you will) of the body. Nothing gets done—nothing gets processed, without passing across the desk of the brain. The brain makes us conscious, emotional, and intelligent, and tucked away in the brain is the mind.

So what is the mind? According to the secular dictionary, the mind is that which thinks, perceives, feels, and wills; the seat or subject of

consciousness b) the thinking and perceiving part of consciousness; intellect or intelligence c) attention; notice d) all of an individual‘s conscious experiences e) the conscious and the unconscious together as a unit. So in other words, the mind is the part of a person that thinks and reasons.

The brain controls two types of functions: Voluntary and involuntary. For example, the brain regulates breathing and the heartbeat. These are involuntary actions—we normally don’t have to think about these functions; they occur automatically. Other actions, such as walking, talking, and thinking, are voluntary. We perform these functions as we will. Therefore, the mind for the most part falls under the voluntary category. Our thinking and our reasoning are voluntary. We basically choose what we think about, and what we reason, or rationalize. God has given us free will, and we exercise our will through our minds.

Your mind is often your greatest tool, but as anyone who has been taken over by fear, frustration, or worry knows all too well that it can also be your greatest enemy. 

Now, what is the spiritual or biblical application of the mind? As for the Old Testament, although the Hebrew language had no specific word for mind, several Hebrew words are sometimes translated as “mind.” For example: The word for heart frequently means “mind”; as is true for the word for soul, which is sometimes used similarly, as is also the word for spirit. Let’s look at some usages of the mind in the Scriptures:

Deuteronomy 30:1

1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to [mind] among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,

So here Moses, bringing forth prophecy, was reminding the Israelites that when they were among the pagan nations, and when they committed apostasies which caused the curses among them, they should call to mind, or remember the blessings and the curses that were set before them.

Let’s now look at Jer 19:5

5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

Here God is addressing Israel’s apostasy, and He mentions that they had committed acts that He’d never commanded, nor had it even crossed His mind to command such a thing! He would never consider such detestable actions.

Let’s look at one more Ezekiel 11:5

5 And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.

God was letting Israel know through His prophet Ezekiel that He knew exactly what was going on in their minds—what they were thinking.

So here in the scriptures, we see that the usage of the word mind was to indicate voluntary thinking

Moving into the New Testament, four separate Greek words account for nearly all references of “mind”. They all mean much the same thing. They are: understanding, thought, mind, reason. While today we think of a person’s mind in a morally neutral way, in the New Testament the mind was clearly thought of as either good or evil. Now in the negative sense, the mind may be “hardened.”

Let’s look at this in Heb 3:13

13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

The mind can also be blinded. Let’s look at this in

2 Corinthians 3:14

14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

Moving on, the mind can be corrupt and debased 2 Timothy 3:8

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

Now, on the positive side, humans may have minds that are renewed

Let’s look at the familiar scripture Romans 12:2

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

In addition to having renewed minds, they can also be pure. Let’ look at this in

2 Peter 3:1

1 This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

And after having renewed and pure minds, they may love God with all their minds. Let’s look at Matthew 22:37

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

And in addition, they can have God’s laws implanted in their minds Hebrews 8:10

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

And lastly since Christians have “the mind of Christ,” [1 Cor 2:16] they are instructed to be united in mind. 1 Peter 3:8

8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

Now just to note: No Hebrew word is translated as brain in English versions of the Bible.

So we’ve looked at the natural and the spiritual application of the mind.

Now, what we’ve covered so far is that the mind is the part of a person that thinks and reasons. It is a voluntary function of the brain, controlled by the individual, and it can operate in the positive or the negative frames.

Now, because our thinking and our reasoning is voluntary, we basically choose what we think about, and what we rationalize. One of the most important things for us as Christians to realize is the importance of our thoughts. Now as I mentioned in the beginning, the brain is the most important organ in the body, simply because it controls the whole body—all of the bodily functions. The mind is located in the brain, and therefore plays an extremely crucial role in the body as well. Since it is a voluntary function of the brain, we can voluntarily control its actions. Therefore, our thoughts are powerful. We can become imprisoned with our own thoughts. So much so that they can even control the involuntary functions of the brain, and it’s scriptural. Let’s look at this in Proverbs 23:7

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

Now remember I mentioned previously that the word for heart in the Scriptures frequently means mind, and the word thinketh means think, which applies to the mind. So as a man thinks, so is he. Regardless of what he may say. Therefore, our actions are the result of our thoughts. So if we think positively or have a positive mind, we will have a positive life. But if we think negatively or have a negative mind, we will have a negative life. All this means is that we must control our thoughts:

Let’s look at what it reads in Matthew 12:33

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

Now, here Jesus says that a tree is known by its fruit. The same is true in our lives. Thoughts bear fruit. Think good thoughts, and the fruit in your life will be good. Think bad-negative thoughts, and the fruit of your life will be bad. Bottom line: as we think, so are we. Now this is powerful, as are our thoughts.

When I say that our voluntary mind affects our involuntary functions, one example is illness. We can make ourselves sick simply by thinking sick.

If we think about a heart attack long enough, we’ll have one (I have personal knowledge of this). A large percentage of illnesses are self-inflicted. Not by stabbing ourselves, or shooting ourselves: not by taking poison, or overdosing on some drug. But simply because of our thoughts: the thoughts that we allow to enter and dwell in our minds. For example: worry. We can worry ourselves into a host of various illnesses, and that’s just one example. [Anger, grief, loneliness, jealousy] But Jesus specifically warned us against worry. [Matt. 6:25-31] But moving on, if we want to die badly enough, we’ll die. We can literally think ourselves—right off the face of the earth.

Now, as I mentioned in the previous article, we were born with a sinful nature—in the flesh, satisfying the lusts of the flesh, until we were reborn spiritually. But that’s not all.

Let’s look at Ephesians 2: 3

3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

So not only were we fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, but also of the mind. So once we are born again, if we renew our minds according to the scriptures (namely Romans 12:2), we will have a positive life. Because as that scripture says: “…that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Once we find the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God for our lives, we can’t help but have a positive life.

Now, think not that Satan doesn’t know this. He knows this better than we’ll ever know. Now, as I mentioned in the previous article, Satan’s main tool is deception. Satan is crafty. He is the greatest salesman in the universe. If we aren’t sober and vigilant, he’ll convince Christians, that because we’re Christians, not following the course of the world, that we are just good for nothing individuals, forcing us into a state of self condemnation, and self pity, placing us on a downward spiral that will deem us absolutely useless to ourselves and anyone else, and worse of all to God.

Now again, I want to emphasize that the activity that we dwell on in our minds is voluntary. But Satan has Christians believing that it’s not. That we can’t control what we think about, therefore have us also believe that we can’t control our actions. But nothing could be further from the truth. Now as we know from the previous article, there is a war—a spiritual war going on. But what this article is about—is where this war takes place. Because this war is spiritual, we can’t see it with our natural eyes. Neither can we see where it takes place. It is imperative to understand that it’s not Desert Storm in the desert. It’s not in the mountains of Afghanistan, Vietnam, Ukraine, Gaza, or any other battlefield in the natural. But that place is in our very own minds. So the fact of the matter is—the mind is the battlefield.

It is in the mind where Satan unleashes his fiery darts. The mind is his playground.

Now let’s look at this in the scriptures: 2 Corinthians 11:

In this scripture, Paul expresses his concern regarding the Corinthians’ faithfulness with a warning that if another teaching—a false teaching- came along, they would be corrupted. And in verse 3 it reads:

3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Paul was concerned that their minds would be corrupted by Satan as he corrupted Eve’s in the Garden. Satan’s operation functions in the mind. He invites us (which is all he can do) to think about desires, evil thoughts, and evil deeds. He takes our natural curiosity and carries it beyond God’s intentions, until we cross His line of disobedience.

He operates in our minds by injecting his thoughts into us. It’s up to us to accept or reject these thoughts. Again, I want to emphasize that Satan uses the mind as his playground. Therefore, we must keep our thoughts under control. The bible says that we are to cast evil thoughts down.

Let’s look at this in 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5:

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 [Casting down] imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Verse 5 is regarding the control of negative thoughts in our minds. We are to cast down any thought, argument, theory, reasoning, or anything contrary to God. We are simply to flush them out. Christians are to bring their thoughts into submission so that they fall under the laws of Christ. We as Christians must often take an inventory of our thoughts. In other words, we must think about what we’re thinking about.

Now, the insertion of these negative thoughts is a very subtle, but effective, trick of Satan, causing us to have strongholds. So we have to be sober and vigilant.

Now, what is a stronghold? A strong hold properly means a fastness, a fortress, or strong fortification. The bible refers to David’s hiding places as strongholds [1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22] It is used in this scripture, however, to symbolize the various obstacles resembling a fortress that exists in our minds. A stronghold is an area in which we are held in bondage due to a certain way of thinking. These are caused by mind-binding spirits. Satan establishes these to interrupt our destiny as Christians. Now we’ll get back to the weaponry later.

Let’s go back to positive and negative thinking. Remember what I mentioned earlier about this? That if we think positive thoughts, we’ll have a positive life; and if we think negative thoughts, we’ll have a negative life? As true as this is, it’s a statement in the natural. But remember, we’re talking about Spiritual warfare, so let’s take this spiritually. You see, we can set our minds on one of two paths: in the natural realm, it’s either positive or negative; or in the spiritual realm, it’s either on the flesh or on the spirit. Now, in the natural, we know that we can’t have both a positive mind and a negative mind. But we must remember that the same principles that apply in the natural apply in the spiritual. Therefore, we can’t have a spiritual mind and a fleshly mind; we either have one or the other. So let’s look at a couple of passages of scripture that deal with this issue of: the mind of the flesh, verses the mind of the spirit. Turn if you will to Romans 8:1

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Let’s go down to verse 5

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

So if we allow fleshly thoughts to enter and dwell
in our minds, we will have a mind of the flesh: saved or unsaved.
The scripture doesn’t differentiate. We very often feed our minds with the wrong material. Some Christians think that they can receive fleshly, negative material into their minds, and that it doesn’t affect them, because they’re saved (born again). That’s merely another form of Satan’s deception at work. We simply can’t feed our minds with negativity and expect to have a positive life. It won’t work. Again, Scripture says: “for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” So if we’re feeding on negativity, how can we think positively, and if we can’t think positively, how can we live a positive life? But we’ll get to that later on in the series. On the other hand, if we feed our minds with spiritual things, we’ll have the mind of the spirit. Let’s look at another passage regarding this: Galatians 5:16-17

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

In verse 16, Paul writes the prescription: “walk in the spirit” and we will have the mind of the spirit.

In verse 17, he addresses the warring of the two forces: the spirit and the flesh. Again—spiritual warfare.

Let’s look at another scripture regarding our minds and their thoughts. Let’s take a look at Philippians 4: 8

8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

So as Paul begins to close his letter to the Philippians, he encourages them to think positively, to focus on good things. He says,” If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” In other words, think about anything: that’s good!

As the well-known advertising slogan says: “the mind is a terrible thing to waste.”  To fill our minds with negativity is simply a waste. We need to think positive things. We need to visualize ourselves, obeying God and being blessed by Him.

To summarize this point, if we think fleshly thoughts, wrong and negative thoughts, we cannot walk in the spirit. It deems it safe to say, therefore, that God-like thinking is a vital necessity to a successful God-like Christian life. For the Christian believer, right thinking is a vital necessity. A vital necessity is something so important that one simply cannot live without it. It’s the same as breathing air is vital, and eating wholesome food is vital; for without these things, there is no life. So the goal is to keep our minds clear of negative and evil thoughts.

Now you may have noticed earlier that several times, I incorporated the phrase “dwell in our minds,” regarding negative-evil thoughts. The reason for that is the fact that we can’t stop negative-evil thoughts from entering our minds. That’s just Satan doing his work—his job. Nor should we feel bad or guilty when these thoughts come upon us. Again—that’s Satan doing his job. The problem is, and the damage is done, when we allow them to dwell in our minds. How do we do this? By reasoning with them.

Remember, the function of our minds is to think and reason. Once a thought enters our minds, and we begin to reason with it, ponder it, and entertain it with visualization, it will manifest itself. That’s how powerful the mind is. Remember what I just suggested: what we need to visualize is obeying God and being richly blessed by Him.

We just don’t realize what power we’re walking around with. This is to the point that we are using this power against ourselves. Our thoughts can become a cancer, which is when basically, the body turns on itself.

So we can’t stop the thoughts—just get ready, because they’re coming, and will continue. We can, however, control the volume of the thoughts—we can minimize them. But that’s all (perhaps a future article). So don’t try to stop them, just let them enter in one side, and send them out the other. You see, we can’t stop birds from flying over our heads, but we can certainly, without a doubt, keep them from nesting on our heads!

Now I’m no Paul by any means, but I encourage you today, Christians: if you haven’t done so already, watch your thoughts. Be careful what you allow yourselves to contain in your minds. Follow the scriptures: one in particular; Romans 12:2. Now I know that most of us know this by heart, but I want to close with our physically looking at this scripture again. It reads:

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

As long as we entertain the thoughts and thinking of this world, we will always be conformed, or fit the mold of the world; and we will never be renewed in our minds, but will remain carnal-minded. And if our minds aren’t renewed, neither will the rest of our bodies be. Also, we will never know the perfect will of God, because we will remain in the flesh.

We’re going to look at another passage: let’s go back to Romans 8: 6-8

6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

So, therefore, we must renew our minds and our thinking to win the battle of the mind.

Now how to we renew our minds? Let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 10:4

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

Now let’s look at these weapons: let’s now look at John 8:31-32

31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Here Jesus tells us how we are to win the victory over the lies of Satan. We must get the knowledge of God’s truth in us and renew our minds with His Word to tear down strongholds. These weapons are the Word received through preaching, teaching, books, tapes, seminars and private Bible study. But we must abide or continue in the Word, until it becomes revelation given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now continuing is important. Remember what Jesus said in Mark 4:24: “And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.” I’m going to repeat this in another translation: “Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more.

So Again I say, we must continue using the weapon of the Word.

Two other spiritual weapons available to us are praise and prayer. Praise

defeats the devil quicker than any other battle plan, but it must be genuine heart praise, not just lip service. Also prayer and praise both involve the Word. We praise God according to His word, and His goodness.

Prayer is relationship with the Godhead. It is coming and asking for help or talking to God about something that bothers us.

If we are to have an effective prayer life, we must develop a good personal relationship with the Father. Know that he loves us, that He is full of mercy, that He will help us—in a word: faith. Get to know Jesus. He is our friend. He died for us. Get to know the Holy Spirit. He is with us all the time to help us. So we must let Him help us.

We must learn to full our prayers with the Word of God. God’s word and our need is the basis on which we come to Him.

One of the best aids to freedom is asking God for a lot of help, and to ask often. Prayer is not a life jacket, it’s a lifestyle. And always remember what Zechariah 4:6 says: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” It is only by the spirit of God that we are able to win: The Battle of the Mind.  AMEN.

Please feel free to leave any question, comment or concern below.

Blessings!