~from 2/24/03 (Monday)
THE BATTLE OF THE MIND
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! . . . There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 7:25; 8:1).
Romans 7:22, 23, pinpoints the battleground for the contest between me and sin: "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members."
Where does my desire to do what's right reside? Paul uses the phrase "the inner man," referring to my new self where my spirit and God's Spirit are in union. This is the eternal part of me. And where does sin wage its war to keep me from doing what I really want to do? In the physical members of my body (James 4:1). Sin operates through my flesh, that learned independence that continues to promote rebellion against God. This is the temporal part of me. Where then do these two opponents wage war (Galatians 5:17)? The battleground is my mind. That's why it is
so important that we learn how to renew our minds (Romans 12:2) and to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Paul concluded his description of the contest between sin and the new self with the exclamation: "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:24). Notice that he didn't say, "Sinful man that I am !" Wretched means miserable, and there is no one more miserable than the person who has allowed sin to reign in his mortal body. If we use our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness, we give the devil an
opportunity in our lives, and he brings only misery.
The good news is that Romans 7:24 is followed by Romans 7:25 and Romans 8:1: "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! . . There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The battle for the mind is a winnable war.
Thank You, Jesus, for knowing me, understanding me, and providing for me a way of escape for every possible temptation.
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how do we win that war? How, by taking every thought captive? I also always thought wretched meant horrible, worthless etc... I didn't know that it meant miserable. I can relate to that, I thought it was saying that we are worthless. Goodness... was I wrong. He didn't say he was even a sinful man, he said he was miserable because of the sin in him..... I need to think of it that way, not the other way.
I am finding that I am having a battle of the mind so much more in the last couple days, is that because I am fighting the negative thoughts rather than giving in to them and actually leaning on them? Or is the devil fighting harder for my mind than it was? Or could it be a combination of both? I did give in for a bit today when I felt like all I ever do is wrong things. I did do something wrong and I need to learn to not do those things... but it didn't make me a bad person because of it right? That is what I felt... that I was bad and horrible and not worthy of anything good... that I was evil and don't even deserve to live.... I let those things float in my mind a bit, but then I discussed some of what I was thinking with my "onsite technician" and he helped me to see the light.... and since then I have been working at thinking positive thoughts... it is hard when it is something new for me... not that thinking positively is hard, but thinking positively about me is hard. I am scared to think positively about my situation with Eli and his visitations though because I am scared that my hopes will be dashed one more time and I don't know that I can take that again.... it has happened way to many times.... Eli and I never win when it comes to the court things...
Please continue to pray for the situation and also for my positive thoughts about myself so that I can help Eli to heal and think good things about himself.
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