THE BATTLEFIELD IS YOUR MIND

THE BATTLEFIELD IS YOUR MIND
By Cindy Trimm

The most precious commodity in the earth realm is your mind. Not only is God vying for your mind, but the enemy is vying for your mind as well. Revelation 18:11-16 states that in the last days the intellectual property of the soul will be one of the commodities bought and sold in the marketplace and used to drive entire economies.

The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32 is a compelling story that shows how the enemy works against us through our thoughts. In this story, we see how the god of this world seduced an uninformed young boy into wasting his substance (time, talent, treasure, gifts, ability, inheritance, anointing, experience, etc.). When the average person thinks of warfare, images of war-stricken places are conjured up. Very seldom does a person think of the mind as being the battleground. There are a couple realities that this story brings out about spiritual warfare.

1. The battle is not with flesh and blood. Spiritual warfare in its purest form is the council of the human mind by any other spirit other than the Sprit of the Lord. You must discern the spirit that is at work either overtly or covertly.

2. The mind is the greatest battlefield. Within it the fate of man's eternity is decided, souls are lost and won, and destinies are fulfilled or fizzled out.

Eventually the prodigal came home. The Bible says that "'he came to himself'" (Luke 15:17, NKJV). He finally came to his senses. His mind was restored. His soul was redeemed. The battlefield of the mind was reclaimed for the kingdom.

Achieving the kind of victory that was won in the previous story requires discipline. To get this discipline, the first thing is to know what thoughts qualify to legitimately be in your mind.

Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things" (KJV). If your thoughts are not true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy, do not allow those thoughts to take root in your mind.

The second thing is to remove the thoughts that should not be in your mind. According to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, we have the power in Jesus Christ to pull down the strongholds Satan tries to erect in our minds and cast down "imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Let us break down the divine strategies that God gives us in the above text:

1. You must pull down thoughts that do not qualify.
2. You must eradicate strongholds—spiritual fortresses where Satan hides.
3. You must cast down imaginations—engraved impressions.
4. You must bring thoughts into captivity—they must conform to Christ's teachings.
5. You must renew your mind—by reading and studying God's Word.

The mind is the greatest battlefield because our minds occupy a large place in our lives, and our thoughts easily influence our actions. It is difficult to estimate how much of the world's philosophy, ethics, knowledge, research, and science flows from the powers of darkness. But of one point we are certain: All arguments and proud obstacles against the knowledge of God are the fortresses of the enemy.

It is true that Satan uses the mind to secure our consent to set up strongholds, and with each enticement the enemy gains more ground in our battlefield. We cannot separate temptation and thought; temptations are offered us in the form of thoughts. Since our thoughts are so exposed to the power of darkness, we need to learn how to guard them. This work begins the day we accept Jesus into our lives and repent for all of the mess that we allow to reign over us. The original definition of repentance is a "change of mind." Because our minds have been so united with the devil, it is vital for us to receive from God a change of mind before we can receive a new heart (see Acts 11:18).

With this new heart we must understand that we still have the choice to allow evil spirits the opportunity to attack, and unless we voluntarily give him this ground, he has no right to encroach on our freedom. We have it within our power through Christ to oppose every tempting thought, and by our word it shall be stopped. Our Commander has more than adequately trained and briefed us for victory.

Adapted from The Rules of Engagement by Cindy Trimm, copyright 2008, published by Charisma House. This book will help you recognize the spirits that operate in the kingdom of darkness and gives you declarations for engaging them armed with God's power and authority. If you want to learn how to stand against the enemy, order this book by clicking

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