Battlefield of Thoughts :: by Don McReynolds

Wisdom is priceless, so I have learned in my walk with my Maker. Of all things to pray for and receive from God, I count this as number one. I think some of us who make that initial step into salvation and relationship with our eternal Father can’t make the connection of personal responsibility in standing their ground in the super highway of thoughts flying through our minds.

I confess this of myself, most assuredly of my ignorance in being on constant guard of my mental thought life. This is absolutely critical my friends, and I say this with a tone of absolute seriousness, even choked up a bit in retrospect of how I have absolutely left myself wide open for attack and capture. I think my only saving grace is that God chose me to conclude Christ as Lord.

As soon as we actually become the born-again believer it’s all out warfare. I am sounding the trumpet to alarm the Christians that we have to engage the enemy in the already present battle.

I intend on being literal and precise in my explanation as in the past I didn’t fully understand this almost metaphoric and dramatized clarification. I find myself more concerned for the individuals engaged in endless battles in isolation in the battlefield of the mind, more than I am of any other battle a Christ follower will ever face.

In realization that this repetitive dream I kept having in which I was just simply trying to read the Word of God, and every time I engaged in the act of any pursuit of Jesus I would be attacked physically until I was knocked unconscious. This dream spoke to me finally when it was coupled with God’s gift of wisdom.

The three main points of the dream I pointed out for myself: First, I see myself pursuing Jesus Christ. Second, at the last second before impact I see the enemy approach with weapons flying before I even have a chance to respond. Third, I comprehended the actual pure hatred the enemy has toward me and it was expressed in his brutality until I reached unconsciousness.

I am sure I have had this dream for many years but never fully understanding its meaning, then something huge happened, “The wisdom of God.” It’s so crazy how you can read and even take advice, but it just seems to never really sink in. You can almost endlessly keep reading the actual words from the Bible that you need to apply to yourself for victory, yet never connect the dots to make actual application of its command.

I have pondered the human mind very much; moreover I just couldn’t understand what was wrong with me in that my indifference was absolutely deafening, opposed to people with passions and excitement in this life.

I remembered a different mind I possessed before I knew the Lord, one of not necessarily better quality but quiet and undisturbed. My mind seemed to flow with such ease. I knew what I wanted and I just went for it. Until the deliverance through God’s wisdom my mind had a mind of its own. This mind which always had the ability to press pause was always on super overdrive instead, by force feeding ideas and emotional response stimuli which in turn controls the individual.

Taking a step back for minute it’s obvious there are two scenarios in the battle of the mind. One scenario is the mind that is never freed into Truth of Jesus Christ and His salvation. The other scenario is the mind that comprehends of the gospel and collects God’s gift of salvation, yet is now in another form of battle of the mind.

I understand what’s happening to the lost in the battle of the mind in scenario one, but I am not sure I have any concrete answers for cracking the code of unbelief. Although scenario two very much interests me (because I have been engaged in this particular mental battleground for many years now), and to tell you the truth I have lost over and over again, but by the grace of God I stand.

It seems I have been defeated endlessly and my grief and exhaustion comes from not fully comprehending that I am personally accountable to stand my ground through Christ’s strength. It’s comparable to the battle of the Atlantic in World War II.

The German U-boats had the mid-Atlantic gap locked down and the British supply lines were being decimated, until a working magnetron twelve was put into action on the American naval fleet. This new piece of equipment called advanced radar gave the American navy men the ability to locate and destroy the German U-boats and begin the next phase in the Allied upcoming victories.

The Americans armed with the British advanced radar gave them the ability to locate the enemy. With God’s wisdom I have located the enemy myself, God’s radar has allowed me to pinpoint that the enemy has placed my mind on autopilot for years.

If the enemy has any access to the mind of a man he is going in for the kill. The enemy has the ability to just tweak our thought processes to manipulate our choice selections and overall mental health. The enemy infects and then hijacks the unsuspecting mind and then hits the self-destruct button. Oh if it wasn’t for the grace of God, we would all be sitting ducks.

The enemy is shooting fish in a barrel and so many Christians have no clue; moreover lost or saved he has an endless target rich environment. The enemy can’t stop all of us from getting to our Shepherd, so he just changes His tactics, but His hatred for the saved should be not be overlooked or disregarded.

So the idea and tactical plan to protect the mind should always be followed literally. The mind should be slowed down in a way that the person has the ability to see what the thought is saying. The mind, already well read and studied up in the Word of God must never lose its position in the defense of enemy intruders, mentally.

The mind must be in agreement with God’s Word, and during this process of screening thoughts you will begin to see the footprints of the enemy. When filtering the thought life, you begin to see endless thoughts of an anti-Christ nature for no reason at all. You begin to realize that the personal mind has been used to attack the person on an individual level endlessly. These negative thoughts of self-hatred and fear never cease if allowed to go unchecked

Then when the person who has left the door to their mind wide open and has had weeks, months and then years of self-hatred and fear, they break. The enemy is good and he can get to some people quicker. This mental deluge of attack from the enemy is draining mentally and emotionally; these people begin to start siding with the enemy in his attack in God’s goodness.

At the point the enemy has you drained and begging for mercy on an emotional and mental level the mind is ripe for his lies of hatred toward Jesus. He begins making accusations about God’s goodness; the unprotected mind agrees with the enemy and blasphemy is birthed out of our own lips.

The reality is though once you slow down and pause the autopilot mind, you begin to see a wicked hand in play, inserting death into our hearts and minds. I know many people have already received this invaluable piece of wisdom, but I felt compelled to reach out in these words to demand my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to protect their minds.

The ability to put a fortress over your thought life is possible, and this is the only valid comprehension of the Scripture (James 4:7) which I have ever witnessed for myself. Just like the German navy found out, once equipped with the ability to pinpoint location—they fled, and so does the enemy.

How can the enemy walk through the front door, if he has already been spotted. A surprise attack is the dark side’s secret weapon. Be aware as the enemy is an evil lion ready to devour. Scripture up and stand guard of your mind—it’s imperative. I know this because I have been giving my position away to the enemy so blatantly and yet never protected myself and I have suffered for it.

Remember to always literally evaluate the thoughts that manifest themselves in idle time. Thoughts produce more thoughts and then potentially a negative emotional response. The enemy attacks our hope by producing fear, while at the same time just verbally assaulting people through ourselves in our own thought lives.

Why would any person treat himself so horribly? Why would any person be so hard on himself endlessly? It’s because the enemy hates you! This act of sifting is a game changer because it acts by itself, and it agrees with the Word of God.

You want tangible proof of God on a personal level; slow down the thought life. Look at the silhouette of the enemy in your thoughts and compare it to God’s Word, it will blow your mind, and the enemies’ actions are endless proofs of God Almighty.

McReynoldsdon@ymail.com