The Battle For Your Mind

The Battle For Your Mind

The worst battle a person faces these days seem to be the battles that rage in the mind. Depression, fear, anxiety, hostility, worry, discouragement and a host of other negative forces seem bent on destroying people. While mankind has always had these things to contend with it seems to be worse in our crowded and fast-paced society. The suicides, random violence and stress-related illnesses testify to this. We ask ourselves, "What can a person do?" Thankfully there are some answers.

First we must look at several related issues. Emotions can be affected by a number of things including an imbalance in our body's chemistry. For someone who is suffering from wild emotional swings - sudden highs, terrible lows - I would urge them to get a medical opinion. A "simple" thing like our sugar being off can influence the way we feel. You need competent medical advice from an MD in this area if that is your problem. Other chemicals ( either too much or not enough) also will influence how we feel, think and act. This is an area that must not be overlooked.

And, body chemistry aside, our behavior many times influences how we feel. Often if we change our behavior our emotions will come into line. "For the that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile; " (I Pet. 3:10 KJV) Here God tells us that if we want to "see good days" we need to act in a certain manner.

In Psalm 32 verses 1 through 4, David describes a period of deep depression that he went through. He said his bones got old, he felt heaviness upon him, and he felt dried up. Why? Some time before this he had committed adultery with a married woman, gotten her pregnant, and then had her husband killed to cover it up!! The result of his sin was a deep depression that came upon him. What did he do about it. "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." (Ps.32:5 KJV) He goes on to say in verse 6 that this is precisely what everyone needs- forgiveness. So behavior can influence our emotional life, both for worse or for better.

STEPS TO BREAK DEPRESSION

Once you have settled the question of sin in your life by confessing it to the Lord and receiving forgiveness, there still may be a battle in your thought life. All of us are assaulted every day with the negative things of life. And we would not deny the negatives! We just do not want to dwell on them. "Focus" is a key. What do you "focus" on? Isaiah 26::3 says, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace who mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." (KJV) In this verse the word "mind" in the original Hebrew is also the word used for "imagination". "Imagination" is the power of the mind to create mental pictures. If the "pictures" in our mind are dark, gloomy, depressing, would you care to guess how we will feel? (This is one reason people ought to stay away from the news broadcasts most of the week.) Again, we would not deny the dark or negative things that happen. But to constantly fill our minds with them is as unhealthy as eating poison.

Philippians 4: 4 - 10 give us keys as to how we break depression and change our thinking: Please read it through several times before going on with this study.

Verse 4: "Rejoice in the Lord" means just that. We are to rejoice in the things God has done and what He has promised He will do. We do not "rejoice in our circumstances" for they may not be happy ones. But we can rejoice in the Lord in spite of them.

Note: "always". This means just that. All the time. At work. At play. At home. In your car. Wherever and whenever. Always rejoice in the Lord. God cares for you and He WILL help you! Rejoice in Him!

"and again I say.." Paul thought this truth to be important enough to re-emphasize it. So should we. It it vital to survival!

Verse 5: "moderation" means "gentleness, unselfishness, being considerate of others" . How does this apply? If you are in a battle that is affecting you strongly and instead of giving into it you yield to the Lord and minister to others, not dumping your load on them, you are "dying to self" and showing your care for others. How can you do that when fighting these awful feelings?

"the Lord is at hand" - This in the Greek language means that He is nearby, and keeps on being nearby and will always be nearby. No matter how you feel or what you feel, Jesus is there with you, ready to help you. As you learn to lean on Him you will be able to "let your gentleness be known unto all.." - for it is really His that is being shown through us.

Verse 6: "Be careful for nothing" literally means to "have no cares about anything" - "be care free". In Old English to be "careful" was to be "full of cares". Today we would say "Don't worry, fret, get anxious or uptight about anything!" God did not design you to be able to handle worry, fear, anxiety.

"everything by prayer" - first of all learn to practice praying ALL THE TIME - about EVERYTHING! Even what you consider the "little" things. The rule of life is "everything by prayer"

"and supplication" - A 'supplication' is a specific prayer for a specific thing. It means the kind of praying where we have one thing on our mind and we get detailed about it.

"with thanksgiving" - Our prayers and supplications need to be sandwiched in between layers of thanksgiving. Start you prayer by "rejoicing in the Lord" - add your request - give thanks for awhile - make supplications - praise Him and rejoice - pray - then give thanksgiving some more. Why? It keeps a person from getting bogged down by the seriousness of the situation. It helps keep your spirit free, it fosters faith. It is Scriptural.

Verse 8: The result of doing all that is "the peace of God". What a relief when we receive the peace of God!!

"shall keep your hearts and minds" This literally means "to stand guard over". When you begin to praise and thank the Lord, giving Him your requests mingled with praise and thanksgiving, the peace of God will come and guard your heart and mind against the invasions of the darkness.

Do we have to do anything? Of course.

Verse 9: THINK ON THESE THINGS!! You have to control negative thinking and force your mind to think on the good and the positive. Again - WE DO NOT DENY THE NEGATIVE! But we do refuse to focus on it alone.

THINGS TO THINK ON:

truth
honesty
justice ( righteousness)
purity
loveliness
good reports
virtue
praise

In your dealings with other people let these attitudes guide you in how you relate to them. When you find yourself thinking about the bad, the negative, STOP!! MAKE YOURSELF FIND SOMETHING GOOD TO THINK ABOUT.

Verse 9: More things to do. Find a Godly person who is living in victory and peace and LEARN FROM THEM. Do the things that Paul did and what he told the people to do. Get involved with a Church that has Peace and Victory in it. Learn from them.

The result of this is that "the God of peace will be with you."!! You can have THE PEACE OF GOD and THE GOD OF PEACE!!

Verse 10: Find someone that YOU can help. As you find someone that needs your help you will get your focus off yourself and on others. When you do you will find that many of the problems you thought you had will no longer be there.

FINALLY

Put on the garment of praise. I cannot stress this too much. Even if your problem is caused by a chemical imbalance, PUT ON THE GARMENT OF PRAISE!! Isaiah 61:3 says we are to put it on in place of the spirit of heaviness! When you are down, depressed, discouraged - IF YOU WILL BEGIN TO PRAISE THE LORD ANYHOW - you will find that you can change "garments" and that the garment of praise will replace that heaviness on you. Begin NOW! In Jesus Name.