Battlefield of The Mind chapters 1-2

The Mind is the battlefield

John 8:44 satan is the father of lies and of all that is false

I think this part is important to understand how satan works.
He tells us things about ourselves about other people and about circumstances
that are just not true.
He begins by bombarding our mind with cleverly devised pattern of little nagging thoughts, suspicions, doubts fears, wonderings, reasonings and theories. He moves slowly and cautiously ( after all well laid plans take time) Remember he has a strategy for his warefare. He has stuidied us for a long time.

He is willing to invest any amount of time it takes to defeat us. One of satan's strong points is patience.

This should be at the top but, excuse the brain fog. We talk about God and what he is in our lives but do we ever give much thought to how satan effects us? I have talked to many people who never really think about satan and how he can influence us in our daily lives.

As I read this I really had to think what it meant in my life. How does he do this to me, it is different with everyone because we are different. We may share things common to humans, but what does he do in your life, what is your weaknesses, this is where he attacks.

mine would be my anxieties, and that would cover worries about everything. Satan is like a dog nipping at our heals, why do we beat ourselves up rather than kick the dog off?

If you don't want to share here your personal stuff, thats fine but as we read these words think about how satan works in your life and maybe write some of those down.

Tearing Down Strongholds
For the weapons of our warefare are not physical, weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, (inasmuch as we) refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God, and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ.
2Corinthians 10:4,5

Through careful strategy and cunning deceit, satan attempts to set up strongholds in our mind. A stronghold is an area in which we are held in bondage (in prison) due to a certain way of thinking.

What is it for you? Where has he got you in your own prison? The Mind is the battlefield

 

Charisse I just wanted to thank you again for suggesting this book. It has taught me so much and really opened my eyes. For example, I have heard people talk about fiery darts before but I never knew what they where until I read this book.

After reading the first 2 chapters, I started paying attention to what was running though my mind on a daily bases and some of the lies became very evident very quickly. I noticed that in certain circumstances I became very skeptical and/or resistant to information I was receiving. My feelings were stronger then the situation warranted and I had to stop and ask myself why I was so worked up. For example, my Church has a bible school on Tuesday evening. Over the last 3 weeks we have been watching a film series call Amazing Creature that Defy Evolution. As I watched the films I became very critical of almost every thing that was said. So many thoughts when through my head. Everything from "Oh well I could explain that one by evolution" to "Well I don't know enough about that creature to make an informed decision" to "This guy is not giving enough information to prove his point". I even went so far as to looking-up some of the scientific experiments the film talked about which were suppose to support evolution but have been proven by the scientific community to be fraudulent. I ended up on a website which gave me the scientific journal references were the research was proven fraud but there was other information on the site too. The site had information on every major religion and all the Christian denominations and why they were false. According to the site the movement of the Holy Spirit (tongues, miracles, healing, etc.) stopped occurring about 100 years after the death of Christ and we as Christians should simple accepted Jesus' resurrection and sit and wait for the end. Of coarse such information played to my weaknesses. I have never experienced tongues nor have I seen any miracles or healings. Think I went to far? I do. I don't even believe that we came from primordial goo so what was I searching for. Working in the scientific field myself, I already know that the theory of evolution is just that a theory. Some people try to put it forth as truth but anyone with a scientific back ground knows it is only a theory and like all other theories it serves as a tool to anticipate what is expected to happen. All theories have holes in them and do not hold up in all situations (ie. not truth) if a theory was provable and always held up in all situations it would be a law (ie. truth) just like the laws of physics. Now when I start feeling these strong emotions about information or people, I stop and ask myself where is this resistance coming from. Time and again it is lies and deceit running through my mind.

Gwen

 

Gwen,

When I read your post it reminds me of the verse in Chorinthains
It talks about refuting arguments and theories that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Doubt is one of the biggest hurdles to overcome. My daughter went to college and that is when she started to wrestle with doubt because of what is taught there.

 

I remember when I was younger, the one thing I prayed most was for a strong faith. I was new in my beliefs and kept thinking this was the one thing I could think that would be the thing I needed most. I would pray for outcomes and such but always in all my prayers I would end with please increase my faith.
It just seems logical that having a strong faith is the first thing we need, everything else comes after that. I still pray that prayer because I know I am being attacked all the time.

 

How does Satan affect me?

Charisse, thank you for doing this study. I re-read chapters 1 and 2 last week to get ready. Are you doing two chapters every week? Let us know, so I can keep up, okay?

Back to the question: Satan affects me by my critical thinking of other people, especially coworkers. There are days when one really gets on my nerves, and by the end of the week, I am okay with her, but another is getting on my nerves. God has shown me this week how on the days I am feeling critical (or even downright nasty) by talking about someone, then I am drawing away from Him. I experienced this on Wednesday, and I felt depressed and down because I was grieving the Holy Spririt with my thoughts and words. That is an awful feeling! I crave the love of Jesus. I am like a junkie and need my fix every moment of every day. I am learning that when I fall in Satan's trap, if I will humble myself and go to the Father in prayer, He will forgive me and lift me up. I love Him so much.

 

Cathy,

We are doing 2 chapters a week. I like what Joyce says in chapter 2.

You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind. It seems so simple but oh how we forget.
Its the same thing as viewing ourselves with contempt. Those of us living with an illness seem to be caught in this trap. I can't work anymore, so I am useless, I can't keep up with my children, so I'm a bad mother/ father. I can't do the things I use to, I am worth nothing. My friends have left me, I am not worthy of friends or its my fault. Satan tempts us and than acuses us, see, you don't have a strong faith look how your acting. Its a cycle that plays in our lives if we don't break it.

 

I think the biggest truth I got out of the first two chapters is that we can't do it alone. We are simply brainwashed "in the flesh" or "by the world's way" into believing we can rise above adversity and be overcomers. We cannot win a spiritual war unless we enlist God's help. HE is our weapon. HIS word and prayers to HIM are our preparation.

This goes totally against what I learned in graduate school psychology. Of course, the enemy wasn't satan, it was our throughts. But, as we know from being Christians, satan can poison our thoughts and that's what spiritual warfare is all about.

That's why we are asked to be humble. Humility is necessary so we can elevate God to a position in our lives where we rely on Him to fight our fight. Our part is yielding to His will in this battle. Being sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and recognize the devil is a very convincing liar.

 

John 8:44 satan is the father of lies and of all that is false

So true. I find myself being attacked and accused by satan all the time and let it eat me up for awhile before I really step back and think, wait a minute, why am I falling for this?? Satan has no hold on me, I am a child of God and will never be useless or worthless in His eyes. Just today I went out shopping (I feel much better today) and I was looking at some clothes for work and in the back of my mind I was thinking, why should I buy these clothes? My ears are never gonna get better and I won't be working much longer anyway. I won't need any new clothes. That was a suggestion from satan, not my own and certainly not God's. But that one suggestion brought me down in the dumps so fast that I didn't enjoy the rest of my time shopping. It was the same thing while we were looking at Christmas decorations. I would be looking and planning on what I was gonna do ( I love to decorate for Christmas) but in the back of my mind I'm thinking I wonder if I'll be hearing better by Christmas, will I enjoy it, will I be sick? All suggestions of satan. Now I always catch on to this after awhile and rebuke him and he leaves me alone for a time but why don't we as Christians notice this little gouges from him immediately?? For me this MM is a big stronghold in my life and as was mentioned, satan has studied us for a long time and knows what bothers and confuses us most. I am a very meticulous person. I like my job, I like my routine. I like to keep my house a certain way and I like to be involved in things. I was always involved in something at church. I am a doer. With this disease, I can't do like I used to. I am hardly able to go to church anymore at all. Satan uses that against me. He says well, you just can't do things like you used to, your useless. He makes me feel guilty when I am too sick to work, I feel guilty when I can't get up and clean the house, when I can't work in the yard, when I can't communicate with my family because I can't understand what they're saying and on and on and on. We need to be on our toes, people. He can worm his way in and grab hold before we know what's happening and once he's in he eats away at us a little at a time until he's got us where he wants us. Then you know what he does? He laughs and laughs and laughs. The last thing I want is satan laughing at me. I want him running for cover. I want him to flee in fear from a warrior of God. A very useful one I might add.

 

blessed,

Its something how fast a thought can go through our minds. Feelings are worse, they happen faster. For some reason I can feel afraid, or sad and not even know why. Joyce talks about praying and praise the two best things to overcome those thoughts. When I do those things I feel so much better.

 

I always feel better after prayer and praise as well. Although, I am ashamed to admit how long I will let the bad feelings go on before I "remember" to do those things. Surrender is a hard thing for me for some reason. I don't know why because I know that a tremendous load will be lifted from me once I do. There was a time when I felt that I was growing in the Lord constantly. I hungered for and craved Him all the time. I feel that I have became somewhat stagnant over the last few months. Partly from not being in church I suppose and partly from plain old self pity, I guess. When it all comes down to it, I can count on one hand all the "bad" things in my life ( and are they really all that bad?) but could never name all the good things because there are so many. I find myself confessing things that I shouldn't. Later on in the book Joyce talks about being careful of what we are thinking about. Oh how true that is. If only it were that easy. We should be thinking about prayer and praise at all times, not what if or if only, or why me? Well, why not me? It is going to be my goal this coming week to ignore all those little jabs from satan and concentrate on praising God for my blessings.

 

blessed,

I know how you feel about being really up for God for a time and then down the next. I was very active in my church teaching bible studies and many other things. Being at home alot really got me down. Being able to come here has helped alot. It nice to be able to fellowship with others here, I would rather do it in person but I'll take anything.

 

The enemy can't stand to hear our voices lift up in praise for the King of Kings.

 

I think it will help me alot to be here too, Charisse. Although, like you, I truly miss being with people "in person".

I am actually going to try and go to church in the morning. Depending on how I feel. I have felt really good today and my speech recognition is back to "normal". I have taken enough Prednisone to choke a horse, though. After a few days they start making me very moody. Today was my second day of them. I am planning on going with a friend to a church that I have never been to before. That is always awkward because people are talking to me and I am hearing about half of what they say. My friend is wonderful though and she watches me closely to see if I am understanding them or not. She notices immediately if I am not and instantly repeats what they say. She is such a blessing to me. I try to take her with me everywhere I go. Too bad she can't go to work with me Anyway, I hope I get to go and enjoy it.

 

Good for you blessed, I will be praying that you will feel good and the experience lifts your spirits :-*

 

Thanks Charisse,

I am gonna go for tonight. Who knows, I may be back later. I usually don't run around as much as I did today and I am kind of beat.

Good night and God Bless,

Trina

BTW, I am just curious what your hearing situation is. I don't remember reading it before. Do you wear hearing aids?

 

blessed,

I'm so glad you have come and joined us. I will be praying for you tomorrow.

So true Kim.

 

We're at war. It's a battle as soon as you open your eyes. Don't get up, don't go out the door, without your armor on!

 

Wow! I haven't been here for a little over 24 hours, and this thread is on Page 2! That is so wonderful! Yes, praise Him even when we don't feel like it. and He will turn our mood or attitude around (towards Him).

 

Cathy, You're so right. I bought some exercise DVD tapes that have Christian music. Now I can praise Him when I'm walking.

 

I was thinking about strong holds this morning. We go through our days with so many thoughts and interactions with people. Do we take time to see what these strong holds are? Its important to be able to see where we are weak. We can be decieved when it comes to looking at ourselves, it may come from pride or just self protection. We are quick to identify these in another person, but what about us?

I have had some things pointed out to me which really hurt sometimes, but if I look at myself I could say yes I do that. I was told one time I was a know it all I viewed it as I was trying to help. Once I got over the pride in the situation, I was able to see that it was true. I still have to watch the advice I give as I don't know it all. Illness has handled that one, I'm too sick many days to give an opinion Has someone pointed out something in you and later you said to yourself, thats really true?

I now pray about those things which I cannot see in myself, its really something how my mind comes around when the pride is taken out of it.