Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer Read Free Book Online
Authors: Joyce Meyer
attend to my words; consent and submit to my sayings. If we put Proverbs 4:20 together with these definitions of the word "meditate," we see that we attend to God's Word by meditating on it, by pondering on it, by contemplating it, by rehearsing or practicing it in our thinking. The basic idea is that if we want to do what the Word of God says, we must spend time thinking about it.
Remember the old saying, "Practice makes perfect"? We really do not expect to be experts at anything in life without a lot of practice, so why would we expect Christianity to be any different?
MEDITATION PRODUCES SUCCESS
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Joshua 1:8
If you want to be a success and prosper in all your dealings, the Bible says you must meditate on the Word of God day and night.
How much time do you spend thinking about the Word of God? If you are having problems in any area of your life, an honest answer to this question may disclose the reason why.
For most of my life, I didn't think about what I was thinking about. I simply thought whatever fell into my head. I had no revelation that Satan could inject thoughts into my mind. Much of what was in my head was either lies that Satan was telling me or just plain nonsense—things that really were not worth spending my time thinking about. The devil was controlling my life because he was controlling my thoughts.
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!
Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind.... Ephesians 2:3
Paul warns us here that we are not to be governed by our sensual nature or to obey the impulses of our flesh, the thoughts of our carnal mind.
Although I was a Christian, I was having trouble because I had not learned to control my thoughts. I thought about things that kept my mind busy but were not productive in a positive way.
I needed to change my thinking!
One thing the Lord told me when He began to teach me about the battlefield of the mind became a major turning point for me. He said,
"Think about what you're thinking about." As I began to do so, it was not long before I began to see why I was having so much trouble in my life.
My mind was a mess!
I was thinking all the wrong things.
I went to church, and had done so for years, but I never actually thought about what I heard. It went in one ear and out the other, so to speak. I read some Scriptures in the Bible every day, but never thought about what I was reading. I was not attending to the Word. I was not giving any thought and study to what I was hearing. Therefore, no virtue or knowledge was coming back to me.
MEDITATE ON THE WORKS OF GOD
We have thought of Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple. Psalm 48:9
The psalmist David talked frequently about meditating on all the wonderful works of the Lord—the mighty acts of God. He said that he thought on the name of the Lord, the mercy of God and many other such things.
When he was feeling depressed, he wrote in Psalm 143:4,5: Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed and faints within me [wrapped in gloom]; my heart within my bosom grows numb. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder the work of Your hands.
We see from this passage that David's response to his feelings of depression and gloom was not to meditate on the problem. Instead, he literally came against the problem by choosing to remember the good times of past days—pondering the doings of God and the works of His hands. In other words, he thought on something good, and it helped him overcome depression.
Never forget this: your mind plays an important
Remember the old saying, "Practice makes perfect"? We really do not expect to be experts at anything in life without a lot of practice, so why would we expect Christianity to be any different?
MEDITATION PRODUCES SUCCESS
This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Joshua 1:8
If you want to be a success and prosper in all your dealings, the Bible says you must meditate on the Word of God day and night.
How much time do you spend thinking about the Word of God? If you are having problems in any area of your life, an honest answer to this question may disclose the reason why.
For most of my life, I didn't think about what I was thinking about. I simply thought whatever fell into my head. I had no revelation that Satan could inject thoughts into my mind. Much of what was in my head was either lies that Satan was telling me or just plain nonsense—things that really were not worth spending my time thinking about. The devil was controlling my life because he was controlling my thoughts.
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT!
Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind.... Ephesians 2:3
Paul warns us here that we are not to be governed by our sensual nature or to obey the impulses of our flesh, the thoughts of our carnal mind.
Although I was a Christian, I was having trouble because I had not learned to control my thoughts. I thought about things that kept my mind busy but were not productive in a positive way.
I needed to change my thinking!
One thing the Lord told me when He began to teach me about the battlefield of the mind became a major turning point for me. He said,
"Think about what you're thinking about." As I began to do so, it was not long before I began to see why I was having so much trouble in my life.
My mind was a mess!
I was thinking all the wrong things.
I went to church, and had done so for years, but I never actually thought about what I heard. It went in one ear and out the other, so to speak. I read some Scriptures in the Bible every day, but never thought about what I was reading. I was not attending to the Word. I was not giving any thought and study to what I was hearing. Therefore, no virtue or knowledge was coming back to me.
MEDITATE ON THE WORKS OF GOD
We have thought of Your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of Your temple. Psalm 48:9
The psalmist David talked frequently about meditating on all the wonderful works of the Lord—the mighty acts of God. He said that he thought on the name of the Lord, the mercy of God and many other such things.
When he was feeling depressed, he wrote in Psalm 143:4,5: Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed and faints within me [wrapped in gloom]; my heart within my bosom grows numb. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder the work of Your hands.
We see from this passage that David's response to his feelings of depression and gloom was not to meditate on the problem. Instead, he literally came against the problem by choosing to remember the good times of past days—pondering the doings of God and the works of His hands. In other words, he thought on something good, and it helped him overcome depression.
Never forget this: your mind plays an important
Similar Books
Bootstrap Colony
Chris Hechtl
Trusting A Sheikh (Playgrounds of Power 1)
Rosie Pike
Stranger on Raven's Ridge
Jenna Ryan
Breaker
Richard Thomas
Rough Likeness: Essays
Lia Purpura
The Red Men
Matthew De Abaitua
Planting Dandelions
Kyran Pittman
Vengeance: A Reece Culver Thriller - Book 1
Bryan Koepke
Delicious
Susan Mallery