{"id":3769,"date":"2015-03-11T06:00:44","date_gmt":"2015-03-11T10:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/?p=3769"},"modified":"2015-03-17T08:52:45","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T12:52:45","slug":"the-battlefield-of-the-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/2015\/03\/11\/the-battlefield-of-the-mind\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battlefield of The Mind"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cDo you really think you\u2019ll EVER be able to do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you really think that will be successful?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou ALWAYS keep messing up!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re not qualified.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHmm, maybe you should scale that idea back. It won\u2019t work anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The battlefield of the mind<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s Wellness Wednesday here at Inspired Life and most Wednesdays I share something related to physical wellness, but my friends today it is heavy on my heart to talk about the war we wage in the <strong>MIND<\/strong>. Total wellness requires nurturing the spirit, body and the mind. We cannot achieve optimal wellness without embracing mental wellness. To neglect one area is to neglect the others so let\u2019s put on our armor and commence to wage war.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The battlefield is indeed in the mind.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I tend to think of myself as someone who does what the scripture says:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy\u2014meditate on these things. Phil 4:8<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But somewhere, somehow, the enemy wormed his way into my mind with some of the lies stated above. I realize when feel hard pressed on every side, I\u2019ve prone to believe these lies and accept them as truth. And that fool has been kind of slick with it too, he knows he cannot attack me with ridiculous, outlandish lies so he\u2019s planted these little ones which I\u2019ve come to accept.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As a young child, week after week I expected my father to rescue me from a home and community filled with drug abuse, violence, and poverty but that didn&#8217;t happen. Elementary school and middle school I expected my mother to show up at my graduations but that didn\u2019t happen. These and many other disappointments caused me to \u201cexpect nothing\u201d. That was really a defense mechanism to shield myself from further hurt. I came to see that I was projecting that same small thinking on God, \u201cexpect little to nothing so you won\u2019t be hurt or disappointed\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>But God says<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><em>I am able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>My plans are to give you a future and a hope. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You will not be put to shame.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>When God has wired you to be a cautious person then couple that with uncontrollable life circumstances thrust on you during childhood, one can become overly cautious as a means of self-preservation. And that has continued but the enemy uses it against me and distorts it. And I\u2019ve come to accept his lie that I have to tread cautiously, calculate every move, wear a life vest, diving suit, and scuba gear for a swim on the shore.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>But God says<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><em>Blessed is the man that trusts in me. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Trust in the name of the Lord. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I will never leave nor forsake you. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Be strong and of good courage for I am with you where ever you go. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Believe in me. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Come to me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Again in my small expectation thinking, I\u2019m afraid to ask for much. And the much I\u2019m talking about is NOT, \u201cGod give me a fly ride and new clothes\u201d. I\u2019m talking about basic needs like food and shelter and an opportunity to grow in ministry for His namesake. But that part of me that\u2019s afraid of disappointment, of the potential of it NOT happening is afraid to ask because if what I ask for doesn\u2019t come to pass, then what will I believe about MY GOD?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>But God says<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p><em>I am able to make all grace abound toward you so that you have all sufficiency for every good work. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Your expectation is from Me not from people.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>If you obey and heed my commands you will prosper and have good success.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Give and it will be given to you pressed down, shaken together, running over.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I had accepted these lies, but no more! I do not desire to be double minded for the doubled minded person is unstable. I find stability in Christ. He is the stable, strong rock and fortress around which I erect my thoughts. And I urge you friends to take your thoughts captive to obey Christ. By the power of the Spirit at work in you, take back your mind.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is so critical to manage our thought life because what we think is what we become.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So how do we nourish a healthy thought life? How do we renew our minds?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Helmet<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Put on the mind of Christ. Put on the helmet of salvation; deflecting any blows to the confidence we have in Christ.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Confession<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Confess the truth of what God says about you, your family, or any situation you may encounter. Meditate on the things mentioned in Philippians 4:8<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Give Thanks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>God\u2019s grace abounds towards me and towards you. Every second we are presented with an abundance of gifts from Him. He is constantly showing me how much He loves me and for that I give thanks. From the beauty of the sunrise to the squinty-eyed grin of my two year old, I am presented with gift after gift. The onus is on me to recognize the gift, accept the gift, be grateful for the gift and treasure the gift.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Embrace the Now Moment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Continuously redirect your attention to all that is real and truthful in THIS MOMENT. Take your eyes off what could have, should have, might have happened and focus on what is. At present my lungs expand and contract as I breathe in the breath of life, my children are safely nestled in their beds, my belly is full, I have the peace of God, His love fills my heart, I am safe, I am warm.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This quote has been attributed to several different people. I\u2019m not sure who truly ought to get the credit, but it&#8217;s a good one,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h4><em>\u201cSow a thought, and you reap an act;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Sow an act, and you reap a habit;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Sow a habit, and you reap a character;<\/em><\/h4>\n<h4><em>Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.\u201d<\/em><\/h4>\n<p>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Your destiny hinges on the every thought you are thinking right now. Surrender your thought life to Him. Give room for His thoughts to become your thoughts. By the power of the spirit at work in you, you are more than a conqueror. You are the victor on the battlefield of the mind.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>You have the mind of Christ!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As always, it is my prayer that you\u2019ve been <em>Inspired To Live Fully<\/em>!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/aboutmodafinil.com\">Photo Credit<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Happy to connect with friends at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.purposefulfaith.com\">Purposeful Faith<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanbmead.com\">Dance With Jesus<\/a>&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.equippinggodlywomen.com\">Equipping Godly Women<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.suedetweiler.com\">&nbsp;Life Giving Linkup<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cDo you really think you\u2019ll EVER be able to do that?\u201d &nbsp; \u201cDo you really think that will be successful?\u201d &nbsp; \u201cYou ALWAYS keep messing up!\u201d &nbsp; \u201cYou\u2019re not qualified.\u201d &nbsp; \u201cHmm, maybe you should scale that idea back. It won\u2019t work anyway.\u201d &nbsp; The battlefield of the mind &nbsp; It\u2019s Wellness Wednesday here at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,1,14],"tags":[339,342,338,72,340,196,195,341,198],"class_list":["post-3769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nourishing-life","category-real-life","category-spiritual-life","tag-battlefield-of-the-mind","tag-lies","tag-meditate","tag-mind","tag-now-moment","tag-right-believing","tag-right-thinking","tag-thinking","tag-thoughts"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3769"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3786,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769\/revisions\/3786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inspiredtolivefully.com\/staging\/4119\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}