Battlefield of the Mind 1 by Phil Kinney
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
When we became Christians we entered into a battle. Not a physical battle with swords and guns that look to kill and destroy others, but a spiritual battle. The battle is the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of darkness. It isn’t fought on a physical plain, but rather a spiritual one.
Yet the battle for each of us personally is fought in one area of our being – our minds. Proverbs tells us “As we think, so we are”. If we look at today’s reading out of 2 Corinthians – we see our weapons deal in the realm of “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”.
The battle is fought in our minds, and is played out by the choices we make. You see satan loves to come and speak into our minds and convince us against doing the will of God, but rather gratifying the “lusts of the flesh”. And if we then follow our own will we feel guilt, which satan then seems quite happy to magnify for us, letting us know we are not good enough for God. This sucks faith out of our lives and we don’t see ourselves as worthy. This can result in not spending time in prayer and reading the Word, not looking for opportunities to do good and bring the life of God into those around us because we don’t feel God can use us because we are sinners.
Satan will also point out areas in the past and use this to create that unworthy feeling in us. These can be too painful to deal with so we push them down, yet in doing this we carry them into our everyday lives. You might express our frustration at your husband or wife, ridiculing them or your kids or co worker or maybe even friends and people at church. In doing this you push a gap between you and those who love you which allows you to be safe holding onto our past. Maybe you don’t want to say these things and hurt others, but they seem to flow out of you like you almost can’t stop them
But the result is you feel lonely and alone. And it gives room for the enemy to access our lives and keep you down, maybe even negative.
But God wants you to be free, to be overcomers, to be above and not beneath, the head and not the tail, to be victors in life – we are to be the ones casting down everything that sets itself against Christ, yet so often we can feel like the ones being cast down.
The key is in the next part of the verse – where we are told to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We need to make ourselves open and vulnerable to the leading and healing of the Holy Spirit. He wants to take the wounds and failures in our lives and pour out his healing ointment. It is like when we have a cut or a wound, the first step is to pour out healing ointment to clean the wound kill off any bad bugs to stop the wound becoming septic. Only then can the wound be dressed and healing begin.
It is the same in our lives. We need to allow the healing ointment of the Holy Spirit into our lives to clean the wound of our past and get rid of the bugs of guilt and shame. It may hurt a little (or even a lot) but this is only temporary. As the soothing oil of the Holy Spirit washes over the wound the pain will start to decrease, and the healing will begin.
Romans 12:2 tells us.. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
It is only as we allow the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in our lives that healing can come. And as He heals us we will find our thinking changing from one of feeling hurt and pain to one of thinking joy and peace. Then we can know God’s perfect will and purpose in life. We need to receive this healing if we are going to be effective in the battlefield. We are called to walk in the fruits of the Spirit...love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22
We can only do this as we allow the healing of the Holy Spirit into our lives. The verse goes on to say And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." Galatians 5:22-26
How do we crucify the flesh? It all begins in the mind, the choices we make. It comes from daily communion and walking with Christ. It comes from submission to God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring healing and restoration. When we are in extreme pain it affects our judgement – it is often off centre and we often don’t hear others around us. So it is with spiritual pain – it affects our judgement and we don’t hear the leading of the Spirit. But as we allow the healing of the Spirit to wash over us and put our trust in Him to restore us, we then are ready to stand up and become warriors in His army. And how do we become warriors. Through prayer, through good works, through living out and sharing the fruits of the Spirit so badly needed in the world today. But we cannot share what we don’t have, and satan lies to us to stop us dealing with our pain. Yet as we allow the healing of the Spirit and face the painful situation, peace and healing and wholeness washes over us.
Talk About
Do you think about what you think about?
What areas do you battle with in your mind?
What does the enemy use or do to trap you?
Take time as a group to pray for each other, and ask God for something to share with each other or the group. This could be an image, an impression, a Scripture verse, a word. The could be helpful in healing past occurrences.
Remember - Read through the NT starts 27th September. Take the challenge on as a group
