THE BATTLE FOR THE MIND (1)

 

Session 12

 

Read Romans 8: 5-17.

 

The Scripture teaches that men & women are tri-partite beings – spirit, soul & body  (Gen.2:7; 1 Thess.5:23; Hebrews 4:12).

 

The spirit is that part of us that is intuition, insight & conscience.  The soul is mind, will and emotions.  God’s will is that we learn to be controlled by our spirits (now controlled by the Holy Spirit) and not by our souls.  We have to learn to subject our souls & bodies (their thoughts, feelings and desires) to our spirits.

 

God speaks to our spirits (1 Cor.2:10-14) – that’s where we discern God’s truth.  Our minds respond to that truth and examine it, and our wills (volition) make the decision as to what we do with it.

 

That’s why the mind is such a battlefield.  Our minds and wills are the two most powerful parts of our humanity.  The powers of darkness do not want us to think in Godly ways.

 

The devil attacks our minds like nothing else  (2 Cor.10:3-5; 4:4; 3:14; Rom.8:7).  Look at how the first sin was to do with knowing  (Gen.3:1-6)  and how sin comes about  (James 1:14,15).

 

The attacks on our minds:

Ø     thoughts that do not honour God                                                     )  ‘doing’ thoughts

Ø     thoughts inconsistent with a Christian lifestyle                               )

 

Ø     thoughts that contradict God’s word to us                          )

Ø     thoughts that cause feelings of inadequacy, inferiority                 )  ‘being’ thoughts

                                                                           & low self-worth )

 

 

Remember, all God’s thoughts to us are precious  (Ps.139:17,18)

 

How are we to be victorious in our thought life?  The answer is found in Romans 12:2,

“..be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” 

 

We’ll explore that in the next session.

 

M.o.T. Check Points:

36        learn the difference between soul & spirit 

37        is your mind under control?

38        are there still thoughts in particular areas of your life which assail you all too often?

38        how do you deal with them?

 

Exercise

Ø          each day write down 3 of God’s thoughts/promises to you

Ø          find them in the Bible and meditate on them  

 

 

 

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