Battlefield of the Mind (15 page)

Depression oppresses a person's spiritual freedom and power.

Our spirit (empowered and encouraged by God's Spirit) is powerful and free. Therefore, Satan seeks to oppress its power and liberty by filling our mind with darkness and gloom. Please realize that it is vital to resist the feeling called "depression" immediately upon sensing its arrival. The longer it is allowed to remain, the harder it becomes to resist.

3. Remember the good times.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder
the work of Your hands. Psalm 143:5

In this verse we see the psalmist's response to his condition.

Remembering, meditating and pondering are all functions of the mind.

He obviously knows that his thoughts will affect his feelings, so he gets busy thinking about the kind of things that will help him overcome the attack upon his mind.

4. Praise the Lord in the midst of the problem.

I spread forth my hands to You; my soul thirsts after You like a
thirsty land [for water]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]! Psalm 143:6

The psalmist knows the importance of praise; he lifts his hands in worship. He declares what his need truly is—he needs God. Only the Lord can cause him to feel satisfied.

Far too often when people get depressed, it is because they are in need of something, and they seek it in the wrong place, which only adds to their problems.

In Jeremiah 2:13 the Lord said, For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.

God alone can water a thirsty soul. Don't be deceived into thinking that anything else can satisfy you fully and completely. Chasing after the wrong thing will always leave you disappointed, and disappointment opens the door for depression.

5. Ask for God's help.

Answer me speedily, O Lord, for my spirit fails; hide not Your face
from me, lest I become like those who go down into the pit (the grave). Psalm 143:7

The psalmist asks for help. He is basically saying, "Hurry up, God, because I am not going to be able to hold on very much longer without You."

6. Listen to the Lord.

Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for on You
do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I
should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You. Psalm 143:8

The psalmist knows that he needs to hear from God. He needs to be assured of God's love and kindness. He needs God's attention and direction.

7. Pray for deliverance.

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I flee to You to hide me. Psalm 143:9

Once again the psalmist is declaring that it is only God Who can help him.

Please notice that throughout this discourse he is keeping his mind on God and not on the problem.

8. Seek God's wisdom, knowledge and leadership.

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit
lead me into a level country and into the land of uprightness. Psalm 143:10

erhaps the psalmist is indicating that he has gotten out of the will of God and thus opened the door for the attack on his soul. He wants to be in God's will for he now realizes that it is the only safe place to be.

Then he requests that God help him to be stable. I believe his phrase,

"Lead me into a level country," refers to his unsettled emotions. He wants to be level—not up and down.

USE YOUR WEAPONS

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh
and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and
destruction of strongholds,

[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings
and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true]

knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away
captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

Satan uses depression to drag millions into the pit of darkness and despair. Suicide is often the result of depression. A suicidal person is usually one who has become so negative that he sees absolutely no hope for the future.

Remember:
negative feelings come from negative thoughts.

The mind is the battlefield, the place where the battle is won or lost.

Choose today to be positive—casting down every negative imagination—and bringing your thoughts into the obedience of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV.)

2.
Be God-minded.

You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace
whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You,
because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes
confidently in You. Isaiah 26:3

Jesus had a continual fellowship with His heavenly Father. It is impossible to have full fellowship with anyone without having your mind on that individual. If my husband and I are in the car together, and he is talking to me, but I have my mind on something else, we are not really fellowshipping because I am not giving him my full attention. Therefore, I believe we can safely say that the thoughts of a person functioning in the mind of Christ would be on God and on all His mighty work.

MEDITATE ON GOD AND HIS WORKS

My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and
my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the
night watches. Psalm 63:5,6

I will meditate also upon all Your works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds. Psalm 77:12

I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law]. Psalm 119:15

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder
the work of Your hands. Psalm 143:5

The psalmist David spoke frequently about meditating on God, His goodness and His works and ways. It is tremendously uplifting to think on the goodness of God and all the marvelous works of His hands.

I enjoy watching television shows about nature, animals, ocean life, etc., because they depict the greatness, the awesome-ness of God, His infinite creativity and how He is upholding all things by the might of His power. (Hebrews 1:3.)

Meditating on God and His ways and works will need to become a regular part of your thought life if you want to experience victory.

One of my favorite verses of Scripture is Psalm 17:15 in which the psalmist says of the Lord, .. I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].

I spent a lot of unhappy days because I started thinking about all the wrong things the minute I awoke each morning. I can truly say that I 141

BATTLEFIELD OF THE MIND

have been fully satisfied since the Holy Spirit has helped me operate out of the mind of Christ (the mind of the Spirit) that is within me.

Fellowshipping with God early in the morning is one sure way to begin enjoying life.

F E LLOWSHIP WITH THE L

O RD

...If I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate,
Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you [into close
fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him to you [to be in
close fellowship with you].

John 16:7

These words were spoken by Jesus just before He departed into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father in glory. It is obvious from this Scripture that it is God's will that we be in close fellowship with Him.

Nothing is closer to us than our own thoughts. Therefore, if we will fill our mind with the Lord, it will bring Him into our consciousness and we will begin to enjoy a fellowship with Him that will bring joy, peace and victory to our everyday life.

He is always with us just as He promised He would be. (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5.) But we will not be conscious of His Presence unless we think about Him. I can be in a room with someone and if I have my mind on lots of other things, I can leave and never even know that person was there. This is the way it is with our fellowship privileges with the Lord. He is always with us, but we need to think on Him and be aware of His presence.

3. Be
"God-Loves-Me" Minded.

And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by
observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in
and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who
dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God
dwells and continues in him.

1 John 4:16

I have learned that the same thing is true of God's love that is true of His presence. If we never meditate on His love for us, we will not experience it.

Paul prayed in Ephesians 3 that the people would experience the love of God for themselves. The Bible says that He loves us. But how many of God's children still lack a revelation concerning God's love?

I remember when I began Life In The Word Ministries. The first week I was to conduct a meeting, I asked the Lord what He wanted me to teach and He responded, "Tell My people that I love them."

"They know that," I said. "I want to teach them something really powerful, not a Sunday school lesson out of John 3:16."

The Lord said to me, "Very few of my people really know how much I love them. If they did, they would act differently."

As I began to study the subject of receiving God's love, I realized that I was in desperate need myself. The Lord led me in my study to 1 John 4:16 which states that we should be conscious of God's love. That means it should be something we are actively aware of.

I had an unconscious, vague sort of understanding that God loved me, but the love of God is meant to be a powerful force in our lives, one that will take us through even the most difficult trials into victory.

In Romans 8:35 the Apostle Paul exhorts us, Who shall ever separate us from Christ's love? Shall suffering and affliction and tribulation? Or calamity and distress? Or persecution or hunger or destitution or peril or sword? Then in verse 37 he goes on to say, Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.

I studied in this area for a long time, and I became conscious and aware of God's love for me through thinking about His love and by confessing it out loud. I learned Scriptures about the love of God, and I meditated on them and confessed them out of my mouth. I did this over and over for months, and all the time the revelation of His unconditional love for me was becoming more and more of a reality to me.

Now, His love is so real to me that even in hard times, I am comforted by the "conscious knowing" that He loves me and that I no longer have to live in fear.

FEAR NOT

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.... 1 John 4:18 KJV

God loves us perfectly, just as we are. Romans 5:8 (KJV) tells us that.. God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Believers operating out of the mind of Christ are not going to think about how terrible they are. They will have righteousness-based thoughts. You should have a righteousness-consciousness, meditating regularly on who you are "in Christ."

BE RIGHTEOUSNESS-CONSCIOUS. NOT SIN-CONSCIOUS

For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin,
so that in and through Him we might become [endued with, viewed as
being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to
be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by
His goodness]. 2 Corinthians 5:21

A large number of believers are tormented by negative thinking about themselves. Thoughts about how God must be so displeased with them because of all their weaknesses and failures.

How much time do you waste living under guilt and condemnation?

Notice I said how much time do you waste, because that is exactly what all that kind of thinking is, a waste of time!

Don't think about how terrible you were before you came to Christ.

Instead, think about how you have been made the righteousness of God in Him. Remember:
thoughts turn into actions.
If you ever want to behave any better, you have to change your thinking first. Keep thinking about how terrible you are, and you will only act worse. Every time a negative, condemning thought comes to your mind, remind yourself that God loves you, that you have been made the righteousness of God in Christ.

You are changing for the better all the time. Every day you're growing spiritually. God has a glorious plan for your life. These are the truths you must think on.

This is what you are supposed to he doing with your mind!

Think deliberately according to the Word of God; don't just think whatever falls into your head, receiving it as your own thought.

 Rebuke the devil and start going forward by thinking right thoughts.

4.
Have an exhortative mind.

He who exhorts (encourages), to his exhortation.... Romans 12:8

The person with the mind of Christ thinks positive, uplifting, edifying thoughts about other people as well as about himself and his own circumstances.

The ministry of exhortation is greatly needed in the world today. You will never exhort anyone with your words if you have not first had kind thoughts about that individual. Remember that whatever is in your heart will come out of your mouth. Do some "love thinking" on purpose.