The Mind is One of the Most Common Battlegrounds in Which the Enemy Wages His War:

Do you struggle in your mind with unwanted thoughts? Do intrusive thoughts ruminate in your mind over and over again like they are on spin cycle? Do you find that anxious and fearful thoughts make their way into your mind throughout the day, robbing you of your peace? Do random evil thoughts pop into your mind, leaving you feeling distressed? Do thoughts of temptation make it difficult to stay focused on what you need to do for the day?

Why does it seem like you are in one frame of mind one minute, only to have it shift the next minute when an unwanted thought enters in? The mind is one of the most common battlegrounds in which the enemy wages his war and he knows that the mind controls how we speak and how we act.

The Best Mind Without Christ Is Corrupt:

Before Jesus became your Savior and The Holy Spirit came into you, making you born again spiritually, your mind was carnal and fleshly and full of death. Like tar spewing out, there was no truly pure thoughts that your mind could dwell on because they were tainted by sin. Even if you were a "good" person, the best-behaved person is still bent towards sin, making those thoughts dark when compared with the goodness of Jesus Christ.

Imagine you are standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon next to a professional jumper and you both try to jump to the other side. The professional jumper might be able to get closer than you do to the other side, but you will both inevitably fall into the canyon because the divide of the chasm is too large and it's impossible in your own strength to perform such a feat.

But when you surrender your life to Jesus and become saved, it's like Jesus lays down His cross from one side of the canyon to the other and you are able to walk across. He makes it possible for you to do what you cannot do on your own.

Before you knew Christ, or rather, Christ knew you, your mind was bent on sin. Romans 8:5-8:

"Those who live according to the flesh have their minds SET on what the flesh desires...The mind GOVERNED by the flesh is death...The mind GOVERNED by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God."

The Value of Your Mind:

Why does the enemy attack your mind so fiercely?

Why does Ephesians 6:17 exhort Christians to put on the helmet of salvation to cover the mind?

Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as a he thinketh in his heart, so is he." The thoughts you think and dwell on start to affect the way you speak and act.

Transformation Begins In the Mind:

Transformation comes through renewing your mind and changing the thoughts that you think: Romans 12:2 says, "Do not confirm to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Before you were born again, you couldn't resist evil thoughts. If the enemy tempted you with the thought of doing something evil, his evil intentions worked in tandem with your free will and you in turn, spoke and did things that were against God's will.

But now that you have been born again in Jesus, you have The Holy Spirit living inside of you and He makes it possible for you to live, not according to the flesh, but according to His ways of doing things.

Romans 8:12-13 says:

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

You now can walk in victory because of what Christ has done for you and with The Holy Spirit's help.

Why Does It Still Feel Like Such a Struggle, Then?:

It can feel like a wrestle, because, even though your spirit man has been made alive in Christ by the power of The Holy Spirit, your body is still dead because of sin:

-Romans 7:25 says, "So then, I myself serve the law of God with my MIND, but with my FLESH, I serve the law of sin."

-Romans 8:10 says, "But if Christ is in you, although the body is DEAD because of sin, The Spirit is LIFE because of righteousness." 

Because your body is where your spirit is housed for now until God gives you a transformed body, you are still susceptible to the temptations to sin. Imagine a house with broken doors and broken windows. Without Christ, your mind was left open to the infiltration of the enemy whenever he willed it. If he wanted to break into your mind, he could do so because there were no defenses to stop him.

Once you surrendered your life to Jesus and The Holy Spirit came to live inside of you, the door was locked by the Savior, but the enemy still stands outside the door and at the windows and speaks, directing things towards you.

He can no longer come into the house of your heart and cause havoc because he has lost that access. But he can still try to influence you, taunting you like a bad criminal standing outside your home and saying all kinds of horrible things, to try and get you to keep his picture up on the mantle. But, as we teach the children at our church, "Jesus has the keys and the robber must flee!"

Flipping The Magnet:

Have you ever tried bringing two magnets together? If you place one side of the magnet towards another, there is an irresistible pull for the one magnet to be connected to the other one. But if you flip the magnet, suddenly there is a repelling away from it.

It's like that with our minds.

As an unsaved person, your flesh acted like that first magnet and was instantly attracted to sin and unrighteousness. The appeal of sin was so strong and the draw was so lucrative to your flesh, that you gave into sin over and over again. 

You thought the anxious thoughts.

You dwelt on sexual desires.

You contemplated revenge.

You looked disdainfully on that girl you were angry at.

But, when you became born again, it's like The Holy Spirit flipped the magnet inside of your mind and you started to to feel a force inside pushing us away from sin. The Spirit creates resistance in you towards sin and you are repelled away from it when you are choosing to walk in Him.

In the past, you had no resistance. The reason you feel resistance now is because you have the ability to turn the magnet of your mind one way or another. While you are still in the body, you have the ABILITY to sin or not to sin, but you now also have the CHOICE to sin or not to sin.

You no longer have any obligation to the flesh but can now put to death the misdeeds of the body by walking in The Spirit.

Remember how Romans 8:5 talked about the mind set on the flesh? There is a flipside to that verse that talks about the reverse side of the "magnet:" "...Those who live according to The Spirit SET their minds on the things of The Spirit...the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."

The ability to resist those thoughts wasn't there before you surrendered to Jesus, but now it is. The Lord gives you the ability to say no to the things of the world (including evil thoughts that the enemy tempts you with) and the choice is now in you to walk in The Spirit.

Being Transformed by the Renewing Of Your Mind:

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but BE transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will."

God gives you the tools to be successful in conquering the evil thoughts that come into your mind and He wants and expects you to use them. 

There is a pattern that the world follows. You see the pattern in culture. You see it in mindsets of those who do not know Jesus. It feels like a pulling on the inside to believe a way that is contrary to God's Word. You followed that pattern without hesitation before becoming born again.

But God gives a command to be transformed. How can you be transformed? Is it looking more holy than you have been? Is it doing more things for God? Is it putting money in the offering bucket as it goes by? 

It goes deeper than that. God gave you The Holy Spirit to clean the "inside of the cup" (your mind) so the outside (your actions) could be clean too. If you clean the "outside of the cup" and do good things without letting your thoughts be conquered on the inside by Christ, then you will still find yourself repeating the same habitual sins over and over again.

Romans 8:12-13 says, "Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is NOT to the flesh, to live according to it. For IF you live according to the flesh, you will die; but IF by the Spirit YOU put to death the misdeeds of the BODY, you WILL live."

"Hinge" words in the Bible are really important to pay attention to because they speak loudly.

Notice what is said here:

You have an obligation--but it is not to the flesh.

IF: "IF you live according to the flesh." You now have the ability to choose one way or another.

IF: "IF by The Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body." You have a choice to put the misdeeds of the body to death.

YOU: "If by The Spirit by The Spirit YOU put to death the misdeeds of the body." The Spirit is giving you the responsibility to activate the tools He has given you to be transformed.

BODY: "If by The Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the BODY." The misdeeds come from the BODY, not from your spirit man. Your flesh is the bad side of the magnet, putting a pulling on you to do wrong. The Spirit is the good side of the magnet, putting a repelling in you to want to turn away from sin.

Jesus won you the victory. Now, in faith, you need to walk out the victory that He has won for you to have a transformed mind that is influenced by The Holy Spirit living inside of you.

Anything less is a stunting of your spiritual growth.

Growing By the Influence of Jesus In Your Life:

Because Matthew 26:41 says to, "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," it's imperative that you are "alert and sober-minded" against the plots to "steal, kill and destroy" by the enemy who "prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour." (John 10:10 and 1 Peter 5:8)

Jesus promised in John 10:10 that He came that you may have life, and have it to the full. He also said in John 15:5 that apart from Him, "you can do nothing." You, as the branch, need to stay connected to The Vine (Jesus) and stay connected with The Holy Spirit, putting to death the misdeeds of the body so that your spirit can walk in the victory that Jesus has won and provided for you.

Don't Let the Thoughts Stick--Flip The Magnet!:

Martin Luther has been quoted as saying, "You cannot prevent the birds from flying in the air over your head, but you can certainly prevent them from building a nest in your hair.” Just because thoughts come into your mind, doesn't mean that you have to allow them to stay.

The quickest way to "flip the magnet" on evil thoughts is to replace them with good ones. If you have an anxious thought come into your mind, for example, the pull towards that thought becomes stronger when you say, "I feel so anxious right now. Why does it feel like God has left me? I wonder if God hates me. I won't allow that thought in my mind."

Nice try, but it more than likely will feel like it's grown into a monster that won't let you out of its grip.

Instead, replace that thought with a thought of truth: "God, I'm so thankful that You said I haven't been given a spirit of fear. I'm so thankful that I have a spirit of power and love and that I have a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

You could also say, "God, I thank You that Jesus said He will never leave me or forsake me. (Hebrews 13:5) I thank You that I am brave because You're right here with me."

Instead of focusing on the feelings of fear, you can say (preferably out loud), "God, I thank You that I can cast all these anxious feelings on You because You care for me. You said You notice the sparrows, some of the smallest and most insignificant of Your creation and that You care even more for me, so I know I'm going to be okay because You have Your watchful and caring eye on me." (1 Peter 5:7 and Matthew 6:26)

What thoughts are you struggling with? Flip the magnet of your mind and FIX your thoughts on what Philippians 4:8 says to focus on: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

Flip the magnet of your mind and walk in victory!