Victory in Jesus!

In my downtime this month from OCC, I have been trying to catch up on some reading and set some new personal goals for 2012.  One of the best books that I have begun reading is “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer.  So far I have a lot of things underlined and highlighted and I am only up to chapter 6.

While reading I came across a verse that I have read hundreds of times and could probably almost quote word for word, yet it has never spoken to me as it did the other day.  I started really looking at the words and wondering how I could get these thoughts, these things God wants me to think on, really into my head.  You see, our minds are the battlefield.  What we think is what we do and what we say! If God doesn’t have control of my mind and what I think, then how can I expect Him to show through me?  

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brothers and sisters, 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 about such things."

Hmmm, yeah I get that, but what does it all mean?  I decided to dig a little deeper and get out the ole Webster’s Dictionary and pick the words apart. (My preacher friends and professors in college would be so proud!)

Phil. 4:8

true - in accordance with fact or reality; without deviation

noble - possessing very high or excellent qualities

right - being in accordance with what is just, good and proper

pure - free from moral fault or guilt

lovely - delightful for beauty, harmony and grace

admirable - deserving of highest esteem

excellent - superior, eminently good

praiseworthy - laudable, commendable, to recommend as worthy of confidence or notice

So now here is what Philippians 4:8 is saying: Instead of listening to the lies of the world, this is what God wants us to think about - Whatever is in accordance with fact, without deviation; whatever is possessing very high qualities; whatever is in accordance with what is just, good and proper; whatever is free from moral fault or guilt; whatever is delightful for beauty, harmony and grace; whatever is deserving of the highest esteem; whatever is superior or eminently good; and whatever is laudable, commendable, or recommended as worthy of your confidence of notice.

God gives us so much to be thinking about that there shouldn’t be time for the devil to interject his lies.  Is this an easy task?  Of course not, it takes practice. It takes time. It takes grace for ourselves! It takes effort.  Moment by moment; day by day; thought by thought.  Hey, I'm just starting ...  

We have an ace in the hole, though! God knows we cannot do this on our own! He is just waiting, patiently, for us to ask for His help. He want us to be thinking on Him and the things that please Him, for He knows the freedom that awaits us, the victory!  He’s is chomping at the bit to help, to guild, to speak, to comfort, to counsel us.  All we have to do is ask. That’s it! No conditions, no trials, no tests, no hurtles … just ask.

One of the biggest lies that I have discovered satan has been working on me for years and years, since my childhood, has already been shown to me by God through this process.  That is in the area of prayer.  The stronghold that satan has had over me has gone something like this, “Your prayers are not good enough. You haven’t asked forgiveness for your sins enough or in the correct way. Your theology is all wrong so your prayers can’t reach God, He won’t listen. You prayed in the wrong order and your attitude is not perfect. Why bother? You know you’re going to just commit that same sin again so why should God believe that you are sorry and forgive you? You’re not feeling God, so He’s not listening. You are such a mess and so full on imperfections that God just can’t be reached by you. You’re on your own!” 

This has been the conversation in my mind, little by little, since I was a child kneeling every night in prayer with my family.  I remember vividly being about 10 years old or so and having one of those nightly family prayer times.  I said something when it was my turn to pray that my father thought was not theologically correct.  He stopped me mid prayer and lectured for 20 minutes … all of us still kneeling … before I was forced to continue and finish my time “talking” to God.  This happened over and over! I was a child! Why would I want to pray as an adult if I can't do it perfectly?

Thus began the lies of the devil.  Those lies have built up thought by thought since that time.  Satan doesn't hit us, wham, with his lies. He's very clever and he is very, very patient.  He is willing to invest the time it takes, years, to make us ineffective, unusable and unhappy children of God.  I know it will take God reminding me over and over and over to come to Him as a child - not the child kneeling in fear of being wrong - but the child as He created me. He just wants to hear from me. He just wants me to speak to Him and then listen so He can speak to me because He has so much He’s been dying to tell me!!

What lies have you been listening to?

No more lies. It is time to find victory in Jesus. Because, my friends, once you do, once you surrender and start believing in the Truth, satan can no longer follow.  God WILL take us through the door where He alone can reach us! Will we have setbacks? Sure - we are human and we do live in the world. BUT we won’t believe the lie that we have failed! 

Victory in Jesus - not just a song to me anymore.