MIND GAMES … MIND AIMS
It’s been said that the Mind is the “Citadel” of the Soul … what is a “Citadel?” It is a Fortress, a place of authority, the “throne” … so, it’s obvious that this would be the target of any enemy to defeat and control the “Seat Of Government”
Until we come to Christ our minds are in disarray our minds are constantly attacked sometimes with subtlety, sometimes our minds are stormed by an onslaught of thoughts, pressured to yield and become susceptible to any, and all influences from both God, Man, the World and the Devil himself.
We need to understand our own minds and identify its strengths, its weaknesses and its “warps”, tendencies to succumb to the shaping its already received in our upbringing. Let’s look at some of the aspects of the Human Mind.
The Mind is … FERTILE (Impressionable) Our Creator designed us to have an enquiring and “thirsty” mind, governed by The Spirit of God that will lead us to lofty truths Psalm 111, verse 2. This scripture refutes the view that God is against higher education in the Sciences etc. They speak of His Glory and Splendour, Psalm 145:10
The Mind is … FERMENTING (Thinking) Because it’s fertile the mind searches, stews, meditates according to the disposition of the heart.
The Mind is … FAULTY and FALSE. The “wages of sin” is a wound, and certainly a warp in our thinking, a bias to whatever our appetite has been trained and taught to feed on, or is aroused by and experienced in.
The Mind is … FASHIONED and often, FASHIONABLE: The Mind is never, ever dormant, it is always embracing suggestions from a variety of sources and adopts those thoughts as its own. Fashioned by the whims and designs of the Age … “the god of this age has blinded our minds” and so we are easy prey to the enemy of God’s philosophies, something we are warned against in Romans 12;2-3, 2 Corinthians 10; 3-7
The Mind is … FEARFUL. Fear of the unknown isn’t all bad if it leads to a dependency on the Word and Wisdom of God and a desire for The Spirit of God to “lead into all Truth” John 16; 13. The Apostle was convinced that all of us need continuing Revelation to comprehend the magnitude of our salvation/redemption and all of its ramifications Ephesians 1;15-21, 3;14-21. The Psalmist says “in The Light we see Light”, tremendous potential to have “the Light of Life” governing our lives and walk rather than stumbling along, only learning from bitter experiences.
The Mind can become … FRANTIC. Hezekiah and Jehoshaphat showed quiet determination when attacked by the heathen armies they sort God for His Direction and guidance. We often, when under pressure or, under fire panic and lose so quickly our equilibrium and then become prone to defeat.
The Mind is … FURTIVE (Deceitful) One of the saddest, and true indictments against the human heart and mind is found in Jeremiah 17;9-10. The human heart unsanctified is prone to doing anything but own one’s sin … our first Father and Mother in Eden, under the scrutiny of God wriggled with guilt and shame and covered not only their bodies but also their misdeeds by blaming each other and the Serpent. We are still guilty of “duck shovelling” … diverting our attention from acknowledging our responsibility in Sin. And yet we can walk with God if we confess our sin and receive forgiveness 1 John 1;7-9.
The Mind is … FEEDING (Hungry) Your mind is full of potential for understanding, storing and drawing from its storehouse in amazing ways … we are told that we use such a small portion of the potential our minds have, we have become a lazy generation letting others feed us with their “doctrines of devils” if we are worldly. There is an awful laziness in Believers too, who are content to take at face value all they hear without question. The Commission to the Church’s first Pastor, Peter was to feed the flock entrusted to him, he later challenges the churches of Asia Minor, and all of us to do that, “feed”. It’s so easy to chide those caught up in wild doctrines, false doctrines when the Church itself is in famine as regards teaching.
The Mind is … FRETFUL. A mind without answers churns over and over the circumstances it is in, or, more correctly the believer is in and becomes fretful … “anxious” because there is apparently no understood solution to the given dilemma, and then comes the Enemy to sow hideous thoughts and distortions that ultimately lead to a distrust of God and a refutation of His care and faithfulness. Psalm 37 begins with forbidding fretfulness, then immediately builds the believer to act positively in God. Look at that psalm and meditate on the steps to governing the mind and preventing it from dangerous speculation which is fretting.
The Mind is … FRUITFUL. Whatever the seeds, the mind will bear fruit … “if you sow to the flesh” or, to “The Spirit” you will harvest fruit … examine your fruit, is it good? Does your fruit glorify God There will always be fruit! The nature of that fruit will be determined by the soil of your head and mind!
The Mind is … FORTIFIED (by Choice and Care or, by Influence) Choice, the key to most of our dilemmas or glories, what we yield to, we are His servants, Romans 6;16 and you will notice you become a “servant” to the one you choose either truth or error.
The Mind is … FUTILE (in grasping and understanding Divine realities) It was a quickening that brought us a knowledge of our redemption, and it is a continuing quickening that keeps us in direction and discipline, as I become older I can see the total futility of a life without reliance on the Spirit of God.
The Mind is … FRIENDLY (Easily Led and beguiled) We know that the mind is quickly captivated, charmed and beguiled. We saw it first in Eden and continually in the history of Man. The Spirit of Babylon is one of Earthly Grandeur and Glory and our minds are so led astray, led away from the simplicity which in Christ. This is evidenced in the early Church and this influence is in the end time Church, and all the eras in between. We are “suckers” for a story that will glorify and satisfy us. Satan tried the beguile Jesus to no avail … a heart of purity and a mind, garrisoned by the Word of God is our best security.
The Mind is … FORMED AND TRANSFORMED. In conclusion, your heart, your mind and mine are being formed, transformed every day, every hour … experience by experience, situation by situation. The key to stability, strength, continued security spiritually is to be found only in “growing in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus …” 2 Peter 3;18, (2 Peter 1;3-8 & 2:20)
My prayer for you is, the same prayer for myself, that our mind and heart will be steadfast through boundaries … Biblical boundaries and that we will have the mind of Christ … His outlook, His values, His Will, His Nature.