Power Thoughts: 12 Strategies to Win the Battle of the Mind (12 page)

Think about It

In what specific situation do you need to believe you are more than a conqueror?

Make It Work for You

In the Old Testament, a prophet named Habakkuk was complaining to God about the conditions of the world during his time. God told him to write down his vision, or what he wanted, plainly, so everyone passing by could read it easily and quickly (see Habakkuk 2:1, 2). Habakkuk and the Israelites needed to have their minds renewed. They had looked at the way things were for too long and needed to be reminded of the way things could be if they trusted God and obeyed Him. They needed to have words of vision and hope in front of them to remind them not to be overly impressed with their circumstances.

As you renew your mind and become established in the fact that you can do whatever you need to do in life, you will also need to be deliberate about getting that truth ingrained in your mind. I encourage you to write Philippians 4:13 from the
Amplified Bible
or one of the Scriptures from the Power Pack at the end of this chapter on a cardboard sign or sheet of paper and make it large enough to see even if you’re just passing by. Each time you do, say, “I am able.” Also, several times each day I encourage you to say aloud, “I am able to do whatever I need to do in life through Christ Who strengthens me.” I believe that some of you who feel physically tired most of the time will find that this more positive approach to life actually energizes you. Remember, moods and physical body functions are connected at least in part to our thoughts and words.

If we think about negative circumstances too long, they can easily overwhelm us. No wonder the Bible says we should look away from those things that distract us unto Jesus Who is the Author and Finisher of our faith (see Hebrews 12:2). Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]” (Matthew 11:28). We must remember that He is the one Who empowers us to do all things, and look to Him regularly throughout each day. With His help, there’s nothing you can’t do!

Power Pack

“I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency].”

Philippians 4:13

“Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.”

Romans 8:37

“Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

POWER THOUGHT

2

God loves me unconditionally!

“Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.”

Ephesians 1:4

W
hat is wrong with me?” If you are like most people, you have asked yourself that question many times throughout your life. I know I asked myself that for many years and it’s a common question the enemy plants in people’s minds. It is designed to make you feel like you are not what you need to be and to prevent you from enjoying yourself. It encourages insecurity and all kinds of fear. We frequently compare ourselves with other people and if we are not what they are, we assume something is wrong with us. There is, however, an antidote for this type of thinking that poisons our life. It is thinking frequently
God loves me unconditionally!
Not only does God love us but He chooses to view us as being right with Him, accepted and blameless. This all comes through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. So we can accurately say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ. I am chosen in Christ, and in Him I am blameless before God.” This is our inherited position with God through our faith in Jesus and it is not based on our own works of right or wrong, but entirely on faith. God wants us to learn proper behavior, but He accepts and loves us first and once we are rooted and grounded in the knowledge of His unconditional love then He can begin the work of transforming our character into the image of His Son. The truth is that if you want your behavior to improve, then your knowledge of the unconditional love of God must be the foundation for the “new you.” The more we experience God’s love, the more we desire to do what pleases Him.

Knowing God loves us unconditionally is an absolute necessity in order to make progress in our walk with Him. Jesus didn’t die so we could be religious; Jesus died so we could have deep, intimate, personal relationships with God through Him. Religion offers us rules and regulations to follow in order to be close to God. But relationship lets us know we can be close to Him because He has chosen us. We will not draw near to God if we are afraid He is displeased with us. It is vital that you learn how to separate how important “you” are to God from what you do right or wrong. How can we hope to have an intimate relationship with God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit if we are not confident that we are loved unconditionally?

Good relationships must be based on love and acceptance, not on fear. All too often we are deceived into thinking that our acceptance is based on our performance, and this is totally unscriptural. We are loved and accepted by God, and made right with Him because we place our faith in Jesus Christ and the work He accomplished for us on the cross. He paid for our sins and misdeeds. He absolved us from guilt and reconciled us to God. Now, when we stand before God, we have “rightness,” not “wrongness.” And we have it because He gave it as a gift, not because we have earned it. Blessed is the man who knows he has right standing with God apart from the works he does.

Think about It

In your own words, how do you believe God feels about you?

Now say, “God loves me unconditionally!”

The World Is Wrong

Something about the culture in which we live often makes us feel that we are always the ones who are “wrong.” Modern societies are full of messages that say to us, “Something is wrong with you because you are not like I am. Something is wrong with you because you like that and I don’t. Something is wrong with you because you can’t do this as well as I can.” So we repeatedly hear the message, “what’s wrong with me?” “What’s wrong with me?” “What’s wrong with me?” After hearing it long enough, we get convinced something is desperately wrong with us and we become disabled emotionally. This wrong thinking negatively affects all relationships and everything we try to do.

People can find all kinds of reasons to say, “Something is wrong with you.” The world tells us how we need to look, how we need to behave, and what we should find entertaining. People seem to have an opinion on everything we think, say, and do. When we don’t agree with the world or accept its standards and values, we begin to wonder what’s wrong with us and questions begin to run through our minds about our abilities. These thoughts nag and haunt us, and even though we may not verbalize them, they often play like broken records in our minds. Same song, different verses:

•
My spouse hardly speaks to me anymore. What’s wrong with me?

•
I don’t like the same things my friends like. What’s wrong with me?

•
My parents didn’t want me. What’s wrong with me?

•
My parents abused me. What’s wrong with me?

•
People in my class don’t like me. What’s wrong with me?

•
I wasn’t chosen to serve on the committee. What’s wrong with me?

•
I haven’t had a date in five years. What’s wrong with me?

•
My teenage children treat me terribly. What’s wrong with me?

•
I have never received a promotion at work. What’s wrong with me?

•
My business failed. What’s wrong with me?

•
My grades in school are not as good as my brother’s. What’s wrong with me?

The enemy wants us to become self-focused by making us try to figure out what’s wrong with ourselves. When we ask ourselves questions such as these, we are playing along with his plan. God, on the other hand, does not want us to be tormented by questions such as these and the feelings that accompany them. He wants us to know how much He loves us and to understand in the depths of our hearts that we are in right relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. When we really believe we are right with God and accepted by Him, the enemy will no longer be successful in his attempts to make us feel bad about ourselves.

Think about It

List five things that are right or good about you. You may find this difficult if you have never done it, but be bold.

You’re Expensive!

Obviously, Satan works hard to give us what I call “wrong-ness.” He wants us to continually feel and believe that we just don’t measure up to what we should be and that something is inherently wrong with us. God gives us “right-ness” through Jesus Christ, or as the Bible says, “we are now justified, (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right relationship with God) by Christ’s blood” (Romans 5:9).

The fact that God sent His only beloved Son to die a painful death in our place assigns value to us and lets us know God loves us immensely. The Bible says we are bought with a price, a price that is precious—the blood of Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:19). He paid for our misdeeds, secured our justification, made our account with God balance and absolved us from all guilt (see Romans 4:25). Jesus is our substitute. He stood in our place taking what we deserved (punishment as sinners), and freely giving us what He deserves (every kind of blessing).

This is huge! We immediately are transferred from a state of being wrong to a state of being viewed by God as right through faith in Jesus and the work He did on the cross. We are transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light (see 1 Peter 2:9 and Colossians 1:1). We might also say we go from death to life as far as our
quality
of life is concerned. The grace of God purchased our freedom and faith is the hand that reaches out and receives it.

Though nothing ever done on Earth could match or even come close to the awesome gift Jesus gave us on the cross, I once heard a story that provides a good illustration to help us begin to understand what He did for us.

One winter’s night in 1935, it is told, Fiorello LaGuardia, the irrepressible mayor of New York City, showed up at a night court in the poorest ward of the city. He dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench. That night a tattered old woman, charged with stealing a loaf of bread, was brought before him. She defended herself by saying, “My daughter’s husband has deserted her. She is sick, and her children are starving.”

The shopkeeper refused to drop the charges, saying, “It’s a bad neighborhood, your honor, and she’s got to be punished to teach other people a lesson.”

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the old woman and said, “I’ve got to punish you; the law makes no exceptions. Ten dollars or ten days in jail.” However, while pronouncing the sentence, LaGuardia reached into his pocket, took out a ten dollar bill, and threw it into his hat with these famous words: “Here’s the ten dollar fine, which I now remit, and furthermore, I’m going to fine everyone in the courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant.”

The following day, a New York newspaper reported: “Forty-seven dollars and fifty cents was turned over to a bewildered old grandmother who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren. Making forced donations were a red-faced storekeeper, seventy petty criminals, and a few New York policemen.”
¹

Mayor LaGuardia made an important point when he said she must be punished and then paid her fine. His example reminds us that God’s justice required that our sins be paid for and Jesus paid for them.

When the mayor took up money from everyone in the courtroom to help the grandmother buy food, his point was: Something is wrong with a world in which a grandmother has to steal! Something is wrong with a place where children don’t have anything to eat. He refused to allow the “wrongness” of the world to affect that grandmother. I think his message was that we all need to help those who are less fortunate than we are. He stepped in and made the situation right for her—he did not ask if she deserved it; he simply helped her.

Think about It

Do you regularly receive God’s grace and freely give it to others?

Performance Canceled