battlefield of the mind

Feel a bit anxious about moving over to SPH. Have been in a dilemma about the pay, contract basis, distance from my home to the workplace, prospects, etc...

But it's really amazing how God works in our lives. Felt really lost over the past few days about making the right decision and i chanced upon this article which i found in one of the computers in my present workplace.

So now i know whether i stay or i move, He is with me. My part is to remain positive and know that all things will work for good. He has wonderful plans for me.

SERMON NOTES
“The Battle for the Mind”
Intro:
• Today: beginning of a sermon series: Jesus the Healer of Your Soul / The Healing Power of Christ’s
Grace, Truth and Church
--dealing with issues of spiritual / emotional / relational and mental health
• Almost all health issues are vitally connected to the state of our mind and our thought life
• The mind is capable of making us sick or making us well
• Winning the battle of the mind is foundational to mental, emotional and spiritual health and marital
and family health and often physical health as well
• So today we’ll be taking a look at the Mind
• I read somewhere that the average man has 67 pounds of muscle, 40 pounds of bone, and three and a
half pounds of brain – which probably explains a lot
• And it is said that the average girl needs more beauty than brains because the average man can see
better than he can think.
• And then there are those people who get lost in thought – they get lost in thought because it’s such
unfamiliar territory.
I. THE INFLUENCE OF THE M IND
• The mind exercises considerable influence over the body
• Worry, fear, insecurity, anxiety, uncertainty, excitement and a host of other thoughts and emotions can
influence the body in a variety of ways, including: heart attacks / migraine headaches / hypertension /
ulcers / colitis / diabetes / allergies / cancer / backaches / arthritis – and perhaps accident proneness – are
all more likely to occur in people whose minds are under emotional stress
• The mind can bring healing to the body – but the mind can also make the body sick
• Of course, there are some purely physical causes for many physical maladies – but it is estimated, for
example, that 90% of all headaches – including migraine headaches – occur when the person is
experiencing feelings of anxiety, tension, anger, frustration, fear or powerlessness
• And the body’s immune system – which helps us to fight disease, bacteria and viruses – also works in
conjunction with the mind and the central nervous system
• When we are under emotional and mental stress – or are feeling depressed -- the immune system is
weakened, and we are more likely to get sick
• There is even a connection between the state of the mind and some forms of cancer
• Of course, It’s a lot easier to say that I have a tension headache or am sick because of a virus that is
going around or have some other malady due to purely physical causes than to say: my thought life is
making me sick
• And, of course – not all headaches // not all high blood pressure // not all ulcers – are caused by mental
and emotional stress
• Often there are multiple factors in our physical ailments – including genetic, physiological and
environmental factors / lifestyle choices & habits / diet and exercise / etc.
• Some people just seem to have healthier genes and a stronger constitution than others through no merit
or effort of their own

• And surely there are many people who suffer with serious injuries or dis abilities or diseases
through no fault of their own simply due to living in a fallen world in mortal bodies
• But one factor that is often overlooked or ignored in terms of our health is the influence of our state of
mind
• Most of us prefer to blame our health problems on external factors that are outside of our control
• Yet in reality we have more control over our health than many of us realize
• What we eat or drink or take into our bodies // how much we eat // our exercise habits // our sleep habits
// the health of our relationships / our sexual behavior – all of these lifestyle choices can significantly
affect our physical health
• It is a physical as well as spiritual law that we reap what we sow – and the wages of sin is death –
not only in the spiritual sense but also in the literal physical sense
• Some people spend the first 50 years of life abusing and neglecting their bodies – and the last 20 or 30
years of life feeling sorry for themselves and complaining about their poor health – as if it’s all a matter
of bad luck
• The connection between smoking or alcohol & drug abuse or sexual promiscuity or overeating or poor
nutrit ion or lack of exercise – and health problems later in life should be pretty obvious
• But the connection between the state of your mind and your physical health is less apparent to most
• Some people take pretty good care of their bodies and yet ruin their he alth by the way they think
• Some Christians are careful not to smoke or drink or become gluttons or engage in sexual immorality –
and yet they poison their mind, soul – and body – with angry thoughts / resentful thoughts / negative
thoughts / self-pitying thoughts / condemning thoughts / anxious thoughts / depressing thoughts / jealous
thoughts
• Our bodies respond to internal stimuli in our minds as well as to external stimuli around us
• For example, if we are in a situation where are being physically threatened or endangered or attacked
or verbally assaulted or falsely accused or unfairly criticized or misjudged – we will get angry
• And that anger serves a useful purpose at the moment of attack or danger – it stimulates the production
of hormones such as adrenalin that prepare and equip our bodies to fight back or to flee from danger or
to verbally defend ourselves
• But often, our angry thoughts and feelings occur when there is no external cause or stimuli
• For example, you come home from work – and there is nothing dangerous or threatening in your home
environment – your spouse and children are glad to see you -- and yet you are angry and in a foul mood
– because of something that someone at work said or did hours ago
• No present external stimuli – and yet you are angry because of the internal stimuli of your mind and
your thought life – and the body will respond to the internal stimuli of your angry thoughts as though
you were being physically attacked
• But since you don’t need all that adrenalin at the moment because there is no danger or threat at the
moment – all those hormones become toxins in your body
• Or sometimes it is not just a few hours – but weeks or months or years – since the external stimuli or
hurtful or traumatic event occurred – and yet you are still dwelling on angry and resentful thoughts
because of what someone did to hurt or offend you years ago – and the internal stimuli of the angry
thoughts in your mind continue to produce unneeded hormones that become toxins in your body
• Painful experiences in the past can wound us deeply at the time – and sometimes bring long-lasting and
far-reaching consequences – but unless that painful experience is kept alive by faulty and unhealthy
thinking on our part – that past event can only harm us for a limited time – after that – it is our own
mind and unhealthy thoughts that are making us miserable
• For example, my parents’ divorce was a very painful experience for me and my sisters

• And the whole process lasted several months and the consequences for our family lasted much longer
than that
• But my parents’ divorce has been finalized for nearly 25 years now – and my dad was remarried a long
time ago – and my dad died a little over a year ago
• My parents’ divorce – though painful at the time – does not have the power to ruin my life or make me
miserable today – unless I would choose to dwell on thoughts of anger and resentment and self-pity in
my own mind
• And then it would not be my parents’ divorce that was making me miserable – but my own thought life
that was making me miserable today
• Forgiveness sets us free from continuing bondage to past painful experiences
• Nothing in your past can doom you to unhappiness the rest of your life
• Only your own thought life has the power to make you chronically miserable because of something
that happened in the past
• People often blame their job or their boss or their income level or their spouse or their parents or their
children or someone at church to explain why they are so stressed-out or unhappy or frustrated or angry
or depressed
• But it would often be a truer statement to say: My thought life is stressing me out // my thought life is
making me miserable // my thought life is messing me up // my thought life is driving me to drink //
my thought life is making me hard to live with and ruining my marriage // my thought life is making
me sick // my thought life is draining my life of all joy and vitality
• The internal stimuli of our thought life can influence our feelings, emotions, decisions, behavior,
and physical, mental and spiritual health as much as external stimuli, circumstances and past
traumatic events
II. THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND
• The mind is the strategic battlefield in which decisive spiritual battles are won and lost
• The mind is the battlefield where Satan and his evil spirits contend against the Truth and against the
believer’s will and emotions and actions
• Adam and Eve were defeated by Satan in the Garden of Eden by believing and acting upon satanic lies
• Since the Fall, our minds are prone to wander from the truth and embrace the devil’s lies
• Through our surrounding culture // our educational system // the media and entertainment industry //
false religions and false belief systems // and through the sinful desires and lusts of our own flesh –
Satan introduces his lies into our minds and thoughts in order to influence our decisions and actions
• Our human condition prior to salvation is described by Paul:
Ephesians 2:1 - 3 (NLT) 1Once you were (spiritually) dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. 2You
used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air.
He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3All of us used to live that way, following
the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger
just like everyone else.
• But the Good News is that through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Christ enters our
inner being to give us new life and He begins the process of restoring our mind, heart, will, emotions,
affections and desires to what God designed them to be
• The Bible even says that we are given the mind of Christ – and the Holy Spirit uses the Word of
God to rebuild and transform our minds so that we can know and do the will of God

• This renewing of our mind is a life-long process in which we are progressively being conformed to the
likeness of Christ as we submit our mind, soul and body to the Lordship of Christ and yield to the
control and filling of the Holy Spirit
• However, Satan and his evil spirits still have access to our minds – to plant lies and evil thoughts and
temptations in our mind so that we would turn away from God and His truth and become enslaved to sin
once again
• We grow in holiness and Christlikeness in the context of a battle for the mind that will largely determine
our decisions and actions
• Our minds are battlegrounds between light and darkness – truth and lies
• Many Christians do not fully understand this battle for the mind
• They assume that all thoughts in their mind are their thoughts
• And they assume that their thoughts are a reflection of who they are and the way life is and therefore
there’s not much that can be done to change them
• They assume their thought life is kind of like your eye color --and there’s no more sense in trying to
change your thought life than there is in trying to change from being left-handed into right-handed
• “All my thoughts are my own – coming from my own heart and my own mind -- and are just something I
need to live with and put up with and accept as part of who I am” – that is the false assumption under
which many people live
• They don’t see negative thinking as negative thinking, or anxious thinking as anxious thinking, or
depressed thinking as depressed thinking – they see it all as normal thinking – realistic thinking --that’s
just how they see life and that’s just how their mind works – and there’s nothing that can be done about
it
• Some of you already understand what I’m about to say – but for some of you this will possibly be a lifechanging
truth if you accept it and live by it:
• Not all your thoughts are yours – some are lies planted by the devil and can – and must be -decisively
rejected and replaced with truth
• For example: many of you have some of these kinds of thoughts swimming around in your head much
of the time:
• I’m no good and will never be successful
• Nobody likes me
• God doesn’t care about me
• I’m a failure
• It’s my fault that my parents got divorced
• I have these vile thoughts because I am a vile person
• God is disgusted with me because of these vile thoughts that enter my mind
• I work so hard to serve God and provide for my family that I’m entitled to a little self -indulgence once
in a while
• God doesn’t have my best interests in mind so I need to do what’s right in my own eyes
• This sexual relationship won’t harm anyone and how can it be wrong if we really love each other?
• Our marriage and family problems are all my spouse’s fault
• I cannot trust God to be there for me when I need Him the most
• God wouldn’t have allowed this to happen to me if He really loved me
• Nothing good ever happens to me
• I must get even with th at person who hurt me so deeply
• I’m entitled to hold on to my anger and resentment because that person hurt me so deeply

• I’m trapped in a hopeless situation
• I would be better off dead – and so would those I love
• God could never forgive me for what I have done
• I am who I am and will never change
• Lies – lies – all lies
• Some lies come from the world around us
• Some lies comes from our own sinful nature
• Some lies come from our parents or influential friends
• Some lies and vile thoughts come straight from the devil
• Wherever the lies come from – they have the power to destroy you and the relationships in your
life
• When we believe the enemy’s lies – we give the devil a foothold in our lives – a base of operations from
which he can work to deceive us and turn us away from God and distort our thinking and damage our
relationships
• Why is it that some people recover so well from tragic circumstances and painful experiences and
traumatic events – whereas other people are debilitated by similar painful experiences for life?
• Satan gains a stronghold in our lives when he attaches a lie to a painful experience and we believe
the lie
• The lie damages us more in the long run than the painful experience itself
• What kinds of lies get attached to painful and traumatic and abusive experiences?
• This happened because you are a defective person who is not worthy of being treated any better
• You are damaged goods and no decent and kind person will ever be interested in you
• This proves that God doesn’t love you and cannot be counted on to be there for you when you need Him
• You brought this on yourself
• If you ever want someone to love you, then you’d better give your body to the first guy who shows an
interest in you
• You have a right to be habitually angry or depressed because of what you suffered
• You can’t trust anyone or let yourself get close to anyone because this is what people do – they let you
down and hurt you
• No one would ever love you if they knew this about you
• I don’t want to minimize the impact or severity of the abuse or painful experience – but 20 years later
much more damage will be done by the lies than by the painful event itself
• I certainly don’t cla im to know why such bad things happen to some children – child abuse /
abandonment by a parent / molestation / incest / broken families / custody battles / alcoholism and drug
abuse in the home
• But I do know this: when these traumatic experiences occur – Satan is right there to whisper lies in the
ears of those children – and to keep planting those lies in their minds as they grow up:
• You’re no good / it’s your fault / you’re damaged goods / you deserve nothing better / no one loves
you / God has abandoned you / don’t ever trust anyone / you’ll grow up to be just like the one who
abused you / you’re doomed to a life of misery / you’ll never be happy or have healthy relationships
• It is these lies – more than the actual abuse itself – that ruin lives and destroy relationships and enslave
people to sin and spiritual bondage for years to come
• But here is the Good News side of that coin:

• You can’t change your past – but you can change your mind // you can change your thinking // you can
replace the lies with truth – and by changing your thinking – you can change your present life and
your future
III. WINNING THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND
• Winning the battle for the mind is a process of Recognize / Reject & Rebuke / and Replace the lies
with Scriptural truth
(1) Recognize that the thought in your mind is not from God – it is a lie – it may not even originate in your
own mind or heart – it may have been planted in your mind by the devil or an evil spirit
--not all your thoughts are yours – some are lies planted by the devil
--the First Step is to Recognize those lies for what they are – they are not just a normal and natural
part of your thinking process – they are LIES
(2) Reject & Rebuke that lie
--Once you recognize a certain thought as being false – a lie – something evil or sinful that is not from
God – then you have a decision to make
--you can either dwell on that thought // play with that thought // accept that thought // believe that lie –
or you can Reject that thought
--you do not need to accept every thought that come s into your head!
--You are the Gatekeeper to your mind – it is only by your permission that a particular thought can
stay in your mind
--if a thought enters your mind that is false or unclean or sinful or vile – then reject that thought and
cast it out of your mind
It is not a sin to have an unclean thought enter your mind – it is a sin to allow that unclean thought to
stay in your mind for any length of time
--As Martin Luther once said: You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head – but you can stop it
from building a nest there
And if you sense that thought was planted there by the devil or an evil spirit – you not only reject it but
you rebuke it and renounce it --You want nothing to do with any thoughts inspired or planted by the
Evil One – you take authority over that evil spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and command
that evil spirit to flee from your mind and from your presence
If it is a sinful thought you have entertained before, or a lie you have previously believed – then you
confess that as a sin – and ask God to cleanse with the blood of Christ any ground or foothold given to
the enemy by believing his lies – and then command the enemy spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ to leave you
--Not all thoughts are yours – some are lies planted by the devil and must be decisively rejected and
rebuked and replaced with the truth
(3) Replace lies with Scriptural truth
--Just as light dispels darkness – so also truth must be stated and believed in order to dispel lies
--having rejected the lies and evil thoughts and having cast them out of your mind – you must now
replace the lies with biblical truth
--you must occupy your mind with good thoughts or else the enemy will return with bad thoughts
• Recognize // Reject & Rebuke // Replace the lies with Scriptural truth
· This is what Paul means when he talks about taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ
2 Corinthians 10:3 - 5 (NIV) 3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish

strongholds. 5We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,
and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
• We monitor and evaluate every thought that enters our mind // We recognize all lies and sinful
thoughts and false beliefs that do not come from God // We refute all lies that enter our minds –
any thought that is contrary to the true knowledge of God // we take every thought and every idea
captive to make it obedient to the truth and authority of Jesus Christ
• In other words, we actively and aggressively guard our minds to keep our minds focused on what is
true and right and pure and excellent and edifying
• If our mind begins to drift off course – into paths that are false or impure or anxious or vindictive or
negative or self-defeating – then we stop – “I’m not going down that path” – and we change the
direction of our thoughts
• That’s called repentance – changing our mind – redirecting and refocusing our thoughts on what is true
and right and pure
• And we do that many times a day – actively guarding and cleansing and protecting and redirecting and
refocusing our mind
• Many Christians are way too passive about their thought life – but the enemy is not passive – and so we
must be on the alert – on guard – at all times
1 Peter 1:13 (NIV) 13Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the
grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
• Get your minds ready for battle – stay alert and sharp
• In the battle for the mind – the best defense is a continuous offense
• A passive or blank or apathetic mind is the devil’s playground
• The Bible commands us to maintain a battle mentality – stay alert and on guard
• Keep your mind focused on Jesus Christ and on His truth
Philippians 4:8 (NLT) Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are
pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Colossians 3:1 - 2 (NIV) 1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
• This is one of the primary means by which we grow in Christlikeness – by setting our minds on what is
true and right and pure and spiritual and eternal and godly – and by actively rejecting what is untrue
and wrong and impure and worldly
• For many of us who have been Christians for awhile – this is the primary form that repentance will take
in our lives
• Our outward behavior and lifestyle have already been cleaned up -•
But our thought life needs daily cleansing and changing and refocusing and renewal
• Whether we continue to progress in spiritual maturity and holiness – or whether we stay stuck on a
plateau of arrested spiritual development – will largely be determined by how well we discipline our
thought life
• II Timothy 1:7 (Amplified) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity – but He has given us a spirit of
power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self -control
• A “sound mind” as the KJV puts it

• A sound mind – a healthy mind – a well-balanced mind --- a mind that can bring healing and
wholeness and peace and can lead to Christlikeness – a healthy and health-giving mind is a welldisciplined
mind
• It is a discriminating mind // a discerning mind // a mind that carefully and actively and continuously is
distinguishing between right and wrong – between true and false – between pure and unclean – between
healthy and unhealthy
• It is a mind that Recognizes lies and evil thoughts / that Rejects and Rebukes lies and evil thoughts
// and that Replaces lies with Scriptural Truth
(Conclusion):
• Right now some of you are thinking: I can’t do that – I can’t control my thought life that way – my
thought life is what it is and there’s no changing it
• That’s a lie – it is contrary to God’s Word
• God’s Word teaches that you have the mind of Christ // that your mind is being renewed by the Word of
God and the power of the Indwelling Holy Spirit – that you can do all things through Christ who
strengthens you
• What do you do with lies?
• Recognize // Reject & Rebuke // Replace with Truth
• Start right now by rejecting the Lie: I can’t do that – and replace it with the Truth: I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me
• Replace it with the Truth: God has given me a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline
• And then rely on the Holy Spirit for the power to discipline your mind and focus your mind on Christ
and what is true
Isaiah 26:3 says: You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon You, because he trusts in
You.
• That is a sound mind // a healthy mind // a health -giving mind that can bring healing to our damaged
emotions // that can bring healing to our damaged relationships // that can transform us into the
likeness of Christ
• Just as un unhealthy mind can make us sick --A healthy mind can produce healing in the power
of the Holy Spirit
• As we keep our minds focused on Christ and His grace and His truth – then the peace of God will guard
our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
• We’re going to sing a hymn in a minute that will put that into practice – focusing our minds and hearts
on Christ and His love and His peace
• Altar Call – some of you are in the midst of a serious battle for your mind – and you feel like your losing
more than winning
• We invite you to come to the altar during our closing song – and a deacon or deaconess or prayer team
member will pray with you
• They will also give you a card with some Scriptures on it that will help you to win the battle for the mind
• Hymn # 503 “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting”