A Passive Mind

    Chapter 14  

 

Joyce Meyers defined "Passivity" as a lack of feeling, a lack of desire, general apathy, lukewarmness, and laziness. She also stated that "The devil knows that inactivity, failure to exercise the will, will spell the believers ultimate defeat." She went on to say that so many believers are emotionally ruled that an absence of feeling is all that is needed to stop them (Us) from doing what they (we) have been taught to do. They (We) praise when we feel like it, give when we feel like it, keep our word when we feel like it, and we don't FEEL like it, we DON'T.

 

I have been guilty of being ruled by my emotions that it produced an absence of feeling. If I didn't FEEL like doing something, I DIDN'T! The whole time I was just giving place to the enemy as it relates to building ministry. With that absence of feeling I was giving the enemy an EMPTY SPACE to fill my mind with all the wrong thoughts. I did not even realize I was being defeated in MY OWN MIND! I was too PASSIVE in MY OWN MIND! I should control what enters my mind and what doesn't!! I gave place to the enemy with the wrong mindset; he was WINNING without me even realizing it. As Joyce Meyers stated "An individual can cast down imaginations repeatedly but they will ALWAYS come right back until he/she learns to fill up the empty space with RIGHT thinking." I first had to learn what was considered RIGHT THINKING according to the Word of God. This is the importance in reading & knowing the Word. It was in Philippians 4:8 (NIV) where I found, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things." And since I realized that the wrong thoughts can lead to the wrong spirits, I had to go over to Galatians 5: 19-23 to learn more about my flesh & the fruit of a HOLY & PURE SPIRIT, ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

As Joyce Meyers stated in this chapter, "Right action follows right thinking…..A passive person may want to do the right thing, but he will never do so unless he purposely activates his mind and lines it up with God's Word and will" This chapter helped me realize that I cannot give place to the enemy- (Ephesians 4:27). My behavior changes after my thoughts have changed. I cannot make room or play around with sin in my mind. I have to be in control of my thoughts at all times and not allow "passivity" to build a playground in my head. I can have the most anointed person pray for me but I must still hold my own self accountable for MY OWN THOUGHTS. Choose NOT to be PASSIVE in your OWN MIND!!! You have the VICTORY through God's Word and with HIS SPIRIT!!! YOU WIN!!!!!!!! Checkmate!!!!!!

Shawanna Vester

 

 

 

 

Chapter 13

A Judgmental, Critical, and Suspicious Mind

CHAPTER 13

The text reads, "Much torment comes to people's lives because of judgmental attitudes, criticism, and suspicion. Multitudes of relationships are destroyed by these enemies."

This is so true. I can honestly say I am guilty of this and have been the majority of my life. These issues developed within me at an early age due to some things that happened in my life. After certain circumstances, I became judgmental, but mostly suspicious of everybody I came into contact with. I just knew something was behind them, whether it was that they were smiling in my face and would talk behind my back, get close to me and then leave, try to take advantage of me or whatever. I suspected everyone.

Matthew 7:1 KJV "Judge not, that ye be not judged.

I have been in relationships where the friendship ended or was about to end because either me or my friend were too judgmental, opinionated or critical about me or I was about them. I've experienced both. Joyce Meyer lets us know that "being judgmental, opinionated, and critical are three sure ways to see relationships dissolve." She also lets us know that "judgment and criticism are fruit of a deeper problem….pride.

I have to remind myself often to not judge others when I hear various things because I have flaws and am not perfect nor ever will be. God did not command us to judge, but to love. Romans 2:1 let us know that "judging brings condemnation". Joyce Meyer reminds us that a judgmental mind is an offshoot of a negative mind----thinking about what is wrong with an individual instead of what is right….Be positive and not negative.

 Audrey McCollum

 

Battlefield of the Mind - Chapter 12

WORRY WORRY WORRY (AND MORE WORRY)   ....and let's not forget Worry's faithful cohort – Anxiety!   There's an old question that is grammatically incorrect, but is / was so commonly used:   "What is we gon' do now???"   I am guilty of asking that question to myself on many occasions until God and my various spiritual leaders taught me to think differently. Joyce Meyer explained that she was a worrier, and I can certainly testify to same. She worried about her family issues, so did I.  She worried about others and their issues, so did I.    Chapter 12 of Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer deals totally with the Worry and Anxiety that we seem to hold on to in our everyday lives.  It is amazing to me how we seemingly commit ourselves more to "worry," than we do to our trust in God, our faith, our Christian beliefs and our downright common sense sometimes.   Joyce Meyers reminds us that the enemy uses worry to torment us, and that some are addicted to worry. You cannot have peace if you worry, and if you worry, there's no peace in the mind.  "Peace is not something that can be put on a person; it is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), and the fruit is the result of abiding in the vine (John 15:4) … [and] abiding relates to entering the 'rest of God.'"   If we are a habitual worrier or worry wart, one should find themselves resting in scriptures that teach us to fret not (Ps. 37:8), take no thought (Matt. 6:25), be careful for nothing (Phil. 4:6); and one of the most important ones for me is casting … all of MY cares (I Pet. 5:7).  The read goes on with the definition of worrying…it brings out "snapping" and "nagging" – this reminds me of a relationship gone sour.  Why would I want that?  Why would I want my relationship with the Lord to be sour because I'm going totally adverse to what He has said in His Word? If my mind is filled with worry or anxiety, which takes up a lot of room, where is the room for my thoughts on the Lord? Am I keeping my mind stayed on Him? The people referenced in II Chron. 20:12 had to REST in the Lord…for they had no strength against the enemy….they did not know what to do…and God was not in their focus!    I love how Joyce Meyer ends with "Do your part, but do not try to do God's part."  So many of us do that…like God does not know what he is doing. Sometimes, he will ALLOW your part come to fruition (His permissive will), when you could have waited / rested on Him and waited again (His divine will).   Trust in the Lord and do good….so you can feed surely on his faithfulness.  (Ps. 37:3).   Just like Pastor told us Sunday, speak to the enemy of your mind.  TELL HIM TO GO – DON'T ASK! Speak the Word of God aloud!  Read the Word of God aloud!  Take no thought for the morrow…it'll take care of itself.  (Matt. 6:34).   Even with issues I may have now, my thoughts and perceptions are not in worry mode.  I cannot fret, worry or be anxious about NOTHING that I CANNOT change.    Thanks be to God our Saviour for victory over worry…victory over anxiety! God has assured us that we are not a people who have no hope or help – for we SHO 'NUFF KNOW that God is our HELP and our HOPE! God can and will extract worry and anxiety from us if we ask Him, and let Him do the work! If you are reading this, and you feel someone in your circle needs victory over worry and anxiety, bring victory in with you when you arrive in their presence. We are a people who can TALK VICTORIOUSLY!  WALK VICTORIOUSLY! and LIVE VICTORIOUSLY with the help of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!    Shelia Riley

Chp 11- A Doubtful and Unbelieving Mind

I chose this chapter without knowing the title but boy, did this hit home!! The definition given for doubt is "to stand in two ways"; while unbelief is rendered disobedience.

Pastor Mike prayed this past Sunday rebuking doubt in our minds, rebuking our minds from wavering between two opinions. God has given each of us a measure of faith but as stated by Joyce Meyer "the devil tries to negate our faith by attacking us with doubt".

We must be grounded and rooted in the Word so when the lies or things opposite of what God has said comes, we can stand with confidence, knowing what God has promised.

What really stuck with me in this chapter is Peter walking on water. When Jesus spoke, Peter got out the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. While walking, Peter felt a strong wind and got scared, lost focus on Jesus and began sinking. But when he got back in the boat, the winds stopped.
In my natural life, I saw just that with me! The Lord speaks a word and I am "out the boat" walking towards Jesus. The winds start blowing, (not every wind would scare me) but I encountered some boisterous winds and doubt immediately set in. I would say things like; "Lord, did you really say that?!", "Let me pray some more to be sure that's what you REALLY said God"; not realizing that the devil sends storms to intimidate us.

Unbelief leads to disobedience. I can see this plainly in natural life as well. I told my son when he was younger that if he touched the "eye" on the stove even though it was turned off, you can get burned because it takes time for the metal to cool. Well, because he didn't believe me completely, he touched it and got burned. He didn't realize that I had the overall picture of it, I was experienced enough to know when it could be touched or not. God has the overall picture! He has set different things for us to do, some to avoid because He has our best interest at heart! He doesn't withold from us or have us wait for nothing. It's something we should be doing and learning in the process.

My final point, is when she mentioned to learn to live from faith to faith and explained how she lived from faith to doubt to unbelief and then go back to faith a while. In doing that she had so much trouble and misery in her life (a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways). That made me think of the palm tree. The palm tree is very tall and they can endure hurricane strength winds and still stand. They can do so because their roots are as long as the tree is tall because it tries to get to a water source. Also, you can cut the palm tree and it not die! I want to be so grounded and close to the Source that when the storms come, I may bend and sway but won't break and even if I'm cut, I won't die because I'm living from faith to faith!

Ralphlia

Chapter 10 synopsis

As I was reading in chapter 10 I noticed and discovered that this really hit home. Parents or even those without children but can relate to this...How many times have you been riding along or your at home and your child ask you a question because they're "confused"about something you told them, and the 1 question they KEEP asking is WHY! And they ask over and over again! And when it's all said and done, your final answer to them asking why is because I SAID SO!!!

 

This is how we do God! It doesn't make sense at all, and we ask or second guess God! He'll tell us to do something that at First doesn't make sense, so we say God is this you, and WONT let up with asking Him over and over again. How many times has 1 of us been sitting in service and God will give us a person to go pray for and we'll say God they are just sitting there, they look ok, so we sit there. And later on in the service the Lord will let someone else pray for that person. Then in your mind you feel like you've let God down (I know I do). 1st Corinthians 14:33 says, For God is Not a God of confusion but of peace....so that tells me, God knows what he's doing, but we MUST BELIEVE! I am too guilty of asking God why, and then 2 or 3 weeks later, the light bulb in my mind goes off and I say if I would've done what God said do Long time ago I wouldn't have to go thru all this extra...don't second guess JUST DO IT!!!

Anthony

Battlefield of the Mind

Chapter 4 - Little By Little

Therefore, there is now no condemnation. . . . .for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit. Romans 8:1

"Don't receive condemnation when you have setbacks of bad days. Just get back up, dust yourself off and start over again. When a baby is learning to walk, he falls many, many times before he enjoys confidence in walking. He may cry awhile after he has fallen, he always gets right back up and tries again. The devil will try his hardest in this area of renewing your mind. He will attempt to stop you through discouragement and condemnation. When you fail, that doesn't mean that you are a failure. It simply means that you don't do everything right."

Gandhi said: “Your beliefs become your thoughts, 
Your thoughts become your words, 
Your words become your actions, 
Your actions become your habits, 
Your habits become your values, 
Your values become your destiny.” 

- Beliefs become thoughts:
Do I believe the word of God or those things contrary to His word?

- Thoughts become words
Am I speaking God's word out of my mouth or the negativity that the enemy tells me?

- Our words become our actions.
Are my actions led by the spirit of by my flesh?

- Our actions become habits
What am I practicing daily?

- Our habits become our values
What drives me? Romans 8:5

- Our values become our destiny.
Eternal life of Eternal Damnation?

I Didn't Bring You This Far To Leave You: (Excerpts from my sermon last Sunday)

Exodus 14:10-15
¹⁰ As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. ¹¹ They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? ¹² Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" ¹³But Moses answered, " Don't be afraid! Be brave, and you will see the LORD save you today. These Egyptians will never bother you again. ¹⁴The LORD will fight for you, and you won't have to do a thing." ¹⁵The LORD said to Moses, " Why do you keep calling out to me for help?

My wife stays on me for being overly sarcastic (as she calls it).  She encourages me to be patient with people who ask the same question in a different form when my answer has not and will not change.  So I can only imagine and I like to imagine what God was thinking when he asked Moses in verse 15: "Why do you keep calling out to me for help"?  You would think that Moses would have enough trust in God by now to know that even when it looks bad. . . . . . if God has anything to do with it. . . .. it's going to work for my good.  The children of Israel, God's chosen people, had experienced a miracle by being released from bondage and had witnessed God working even while in Egypt, but that wasn't enough.  They witnessed plaque after plaque.  From frogs, lice, boils and locust, to the decree that the first male child of all the Egyptians would die. . . . . but that still wasn't enough.

The word says that when they looked up and saw the Egyptians coming after them, they were terrified and cried out.  And I can imagine the Lord could have said what I am saying to you today: He didn't bring you this far to leave you!

All of us are facing challenges in our lives and oft times these challenges cause us to loose our focus and forget where God has brought us from or what He has already done in our lives.  We become overwhelmed with the issues of life and if we are not careful, we will forget the wonders that God has already performed in our lives. That's the enemy's job.  He will have us living in fear and we'll get a bad case of spiritual amnesia - a disorder which cause a believer to forget.  And we will become so consumed with our present circumstances that we forget where He's already brought us from.  God has brought us too far to leave us now.  He didn't bring you through your last crisis for you to be consumed with your next one.  He didn't deliver you out of one bad relationship for you to get caught up in another one.  He didn't heal you of cancer for you to die of heart disease.  He did not bless you to get in school for you to have to drop out.  He did not bring you this far to leave you now.  He did not deliver you from sin for you to have to resort back to your old sinful ways.  He didn't save your child (family member) for you to lose them again to the enemy.  He didn't bring you this far to leave you.  Don't believe the lie! 

I know you may be having it hard right now.  I know it's uncomfortable right now.  I know the enemy has suggested that you resort back to who you were and what you used to do because it doesn't look like God is concerned and you were better off doing it your own way.  "It was easier" said the Isrealites. . . "we were better off in Egypt".  Do you see how the devil will have us speak foolishly and make foolish decisions right before our next miracle?

If he was going to leave you, he would have left you when everybody else walked off.  If He was going to leave you, he could have left you when you were worse off than you are now.  If he was going to leave you, he would not have brought you through all the other junk, but would have let you lose your mind after the last ordeal.  So I speak to you as God spoke to Moses: Why do you keep whining to me?  He didn't bring you this far to leave you!  You've been in tougher situations than this.  You will complete your God given task.  You will prevail.  You shall not die and you will not loose your mind.  You will move forward.  He did not bring you out to let you go back.  He brought you to where you are now to position you for your next miracle.  You see, it's not a miracle if you can make it happen of your own strength or cognizance.  Remember that!

I receive calls and emails about how people forward these inspirational words to friends or family members that are in their address book.  And I am grateful for that.  But I ask you today before you forward it to anyone, go ahead and speak to the enemy of your mind that has imparted fear and then speak to the enemy of your situation.  And let the enemy know that God did not bring you this far to leave you now.  Declare to the enemy that you are already Victorious.  Declare to the enemy that you will go forward just as the Israelites did and although it may look like the enemy is gaining on you. . . . .know that you are just right for your next miracle. 

Be blessed,
Pastor Mike