The Battle for the Mind

I wanted to repost this once again as a new year begins. Realizing that the onslaught and the battle for the mind has not decreased, but instead, has intensified, I felt the need to once again focus on the "front lines" of the fight.
Our society is gravely ill and in a wretched condition. On every hand, every day, we are awash in depravity, the images and words that feed the lusts of the flesh and turn the mind away from Godliness! Satan knows us well, he knows that if he can conquer and direct the mind, he has the victory.

My prayer in this new year is that our minds will be dedicated to our Lord in adoration and service and that the destroyer will find no place in them to establish a stronghold!



"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." (Mat.22:37)

A Battle rages! The Battlefield is the mind. The objective of this battle is to conquer and occupy the part of us that is to be wholly devoted to the love of God and His glory.

It appears, many times, that this battle is very one sided. The losses seem to far outnumber the wins. Since the fall of man, the mind has become a willing sympathizer with the invading thoughts and attitudes of ungodliness.
The "carnal mind" is fertile ground for the seeds of the adversaries! (Rom.8:7)

We are bombarded daily by attacks on our eyes and ears that call to us and say..."look here" or "listen to me" or "think about this."
These subtle, and sometimes not so subtle calls, seek to draw us away from the source of peace and bring us into captivity and defeat! (Isa.26:3)

They relentlessly work to overthrow that which we have received as the regenerated people of God. That is, a renewed, holy mind that delights in the law and righteousness of God.
According to Paul we have been given a "sound mind"! (2Tim.1:7) What a contrast this is in comparison to the madness and negativity of the world and it's corruptible offerings!

This battle is wearisome and exhausting and the saints are often found groaning within themselves as the onslaught never ceases in this life. But there is a safe haven, a city of refuge! God has given us this place of peace in the midst of our fight.
What is it? Is it not the exhortation, that is not only found in Isa. 26:3 but also in the words of Phil.4:6-8?

Here I find my tower and bulwark of protection from the enemy.

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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."

And when I meditate upon Christ in an attitude of love and thanfulness all of the above are comprehended!

This is War!!

"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." (Rom.8:22)

We live in bodies, in an environment, in a world, at war!

Since the fall, war has raged in every part of the created order that was affected by Adam's rebellion.

From volcanoes and hurricanes that are great visible illustrations of something terribly amiss to that which is not even visible to the naked eye. Physically, we can be quickly and devastatingly affected by germs, viruses, and diseases that, though indiscernable to the human eye, wreak havoc in our bodies. Our immune system quickly responds to this foreign invasion! There is war going on at the microscopic level!

But there is also war going on where microscopes, regardless of their magnification power, avail nothing. This is the spiritual "front" in this world of war. In this battle the opposing forces clash with relentless and determined ferocity as they seek dominion over the great object of the struggle.....the very heart of the Christian in this war torn world!

"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom.7:23)

"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." (Gal.5:17)

"From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" (James 4:1)

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;" (1Pet.2:11)

Think of it! Every aspect of this world, both physically and spiritually, is and has been at war since sin entered the world!

Individuals and nations rise against each other, storms and droughts ravage the earth, diseases attack the body, wild animals struggle for survival, and the flesh wars against the Spirit!

If this present world were all that I had to hope in.....I would have no hope.......I would be sorrowful, even unto death!

But, my hope is not in this warring world and this vulnerable body, no, my hope is in God's promise through His Son, that one day all of creation will be at perfect peace!

Now, think of this! No more war in nature, in our bodies, among men, or in our spirits!
This war torn life does have an end. What a day that will be when that last enemy....death, will be destroyed and the Prince of Peace reigns forever and the former wars will be remembered no more!

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Rom.8:18-21)