I read something today that has almost haunted me.
I can't get these words out of my mind, how spot on they are and how much they make so much make sense.
Words and verses that in another day, another situation may have been like, yeah I've read/heard that before, but today we vastly profound.
They illuminated the reality of an issue the Enemy doesn't want us to talk about or get.
What struck me even more about running into these words today was how much they have fallen in line with various parts of scripture I've run into lately and the narrative of 3-4 different books I've opened and read parts of in the last couple weeks.
All not coincidence or accident, if there is anything I know about our God, He will stop at nothing to make a point and make sure we hear it loud and clear.
Reading these words today was like the icing on the cake.
Yes, the weapons and forces with face and fight are not of this world, they require those which possess the divine power to demolish strongholds.
Strongholds. Let's just pause and talk about that word for a minute.
I've been declaring this the year he will break every chain.
I can't tell you why, I can't tell you how, but mark my word, this year will be profound in the lives of a handful of friends and I, possibly more.
A year He will break EVERY chain, not some.
The Lord has told me EVERY.
And for my life right now, that proposes some good news.
News that is only rooted in my hope in Him, the chains broken may not be something I realize or see come to pass till I am at home with my Father in heaven, a day that before I would be somewhat torn on sadness and excitement, but after what I can only describe as an encounter with Him, my fear of death and dying has been taken away. I long to be at Home with my Father, not that I want to leave my husband and family and friends, but for just a few moments, a few moments that felt like several, I was able to experience Home and let me tell you, it is worth the wait.
Literally just like that, within I flash, all of this world was taken away, there was a bright light that was like a flash of lightening and then boom, as if no time had passed, I was there, walking into the next moment, seamlessly, as if nothing had every happened. Then I stepped into the greatest party I have ever experienced, with a throng of people from various points of my life all standing around cheering and clapping as we danced and sang and cried tears of joy and rejoiced.
But, alas, I can't believe I'm talking about this right now, I've vowed I wasn't going to write or talk about this yet. It's too much to explain right now.
All of this to say, I have tasted and I have seen and my life will never be the same.
I was talking about chains, and big things happening, and the battlefield of our minds.
It's important stuff, because if Satan can convince us and win the battle in our minds, the myriads of battles you and face daily, moment to moment about our identity, who we are, where we're headed, what our lives are about, what we're here for, he knows he's won more than the battle.
He's stopped the myriad of ways that your life, your story, who you are and what you were made to do is a force to be reckoned with, a force that he knows he can't reckon with once unleashed and joined with the power of our God, which is why he has to work extra hard in the place it all begins: our minds.
I'm going to have to go back to the intro later. For now, as my physical and emotional strength for the day are winding down, I've gotta process just one chunk of what I read today, the first page of Chapter 1: "The Mind Is the Battlefield."
For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
- EPHESIANS 6:12
::
"FROM THIS SCRIPTURE WE SEE THAT WE ARE IN A WAR. A careful study of this verse informs us that our warfare is not with other human beings but with the devil and his demons. Our enemy, Satan, attempts to defeat us with strategy and deceit, through well-laid plans and deliberate deception.
The devil is a liar, Jesus called him 'the father of lies and all that is false' (John 8:44). He lies to you and me. He tells us things about ourselves, about other people, about our circumstances that are just not true. He does not, however, tell us the entire lie all at one time.
Let's stop right now.
So much truth wow.
1. The devil is a liar. We can just stop right there.2. He lies to you and me. He tells us things about ourselves, about other people, about our circumstances that are just not true.3. He does not, however, tell us the entire lie all at one time.
How TRUE are these and how applicable.
I'll writing more soon about the millions of ways this applies to my life right now, but for now, I think we can all say we are on common ground with these here.
"He begins by bombarding our mind with a cleverly devised pattern of little nagging thoughts, suspicions, doubts, fears, wonderings, reasonings, and theories. He moves slowly and cautiously (after all, well-laid plans take time). Remember, he has a strategy for his warfare. He has studied us for a long time."
Okay, pause.
Can we just go back to,
"He begins by BOMBARDING our mind with a cleverly devised pattern of little nagging thoughts, suspicions, doubts, fears, wonderings, reasonings and theories... He moves slowly and cautiously... he has studied us for a long time."
Wow, yes, okay, that would explain some things.
It goes on to say,
"He knows what we like and what we don't like. He knows our insecurities, our weaknesses, and our fears. He knows what bothers us most. He is willing to invest any amount of time it takes to defeat s. One of the devil's strong points is patience."
Wow, pause. Highlight, underline everything.
That's what I wanted to do with this entire paragraph as I had done with the one above it I already took apart.
I can't tell you how much of a reality this is, I feel like in coming face-to-face with the very real nature of the glory of heaven, I also came face-to-face with the very gates of hell.
These words could not be more true.
It goes on to talk about demolishing strongholds, but that's a story for a different day.
Man, if only we all knew and believed all of these truths about who our enemy is and how he works.
It could change everything.
I don't know about you but the battle raging in my mind has been going on for far too long. It's time to fully claim the power that belongs to us a children of God, sons and daughters of the Most High King.
We've been lied to for far too long.
And not in the ways that are easy for us to pick up, in ways that for years have flown beneath the radar, seeped into our very psyche and worked to move us further and further away from the life that God has for us, if he can keep us believing seeds and pieces and pockets of these seemingly little lies, he knows before we do anything, he can thwart that mission and those plans in the place where they are born in the first place. (Sidenote, something I plan to write about more later, but I believe this is where prevalence of mental illness lies in the realm of the church, the enemy is now waging war with one of the most dreadful diseases of the mind of our time: mental illness.)
Yet, he's way smarter than we have given him credit to.
I love the line that says he is patient, he has studied us for a long time, he knows our weaknesses, he knows how to push every button that will keep us shackled, imprisoned, and ineffective.
But take heart,
we don't have to fight or wage this battle on our won.
We have a God who is far more powerful, capable and cunning than the one He has named the father of lies.
The battle is raging and it starts in our minds.
Which is why we must fight not with the weapons of this world, but the ones that possess the divine power to demolish strongholds and it begins with the daily renewal of our minds.
- Excerpts from Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer
