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Part I I am confident to say that most of the time worry and self-condemnation are your worst enemies. They are two different classes of enemies, yet both use the same weapon against you — your mind! (I Thess 5:23)) You are a spiritual being , living in a body, and has a soul. The clear affirmation of my statement is written in 3 John 2. The apostle shows his concerns about your health (physical body) as well as your soul, and what is your soul? Your soul controls your senses or, in other words, your soul is your feelings, emotions and natural senses, Your soul controls your mind. Maybe right now your someone you know is going through a battle, a struggle or a conflict nowhere else but in the mind, and if that is the case I’ve got good news. I will show you a plan to defeat the conflicts inside your mind that from time to time haunt you down. Part I Worry Did you know that it is a sin to worry and that worry also will hinder your faith? Why is it a sin? Simply because you are disobeying God’s word. Jesus during his sermon on the Mount taught many things and one of his teachings was about those who let themselves be overwhelmed by the cares of this world, specifically those concerned about earthly possession , material things and tomorrow. We know how sometimes we allow ourselves to be tempted by worry, about tomorrow, about the bills we must pay whether money will be enough or not, about family, health, college and you add (to) this list. But here is the medicine against these worries that not contained, may even kill us. Matthew 6: 25-27, 31-34: V. 25: “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life — whether you have enough food, drink and clothing. Does not life consist more than food and clothing? V. 26: Look at the birds. “They don’t need plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them, and you are far more valuable to Him than they are. V. 27: Can your worry or all your worries add a single moment to your life? Of course not. V. 31: So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. V. 32: Why be like the pagans who are so deeply concerned about these things? Your heavenly Father already know your needs. V. 33 And He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern. Praise God for His word. It speaks by Itself, and very clearly we can see how God cares for us. Jesus said that we (humankind) are far more valuable to God than the birds, yet He cares for all needs of the birds. So this gives you and me a comfort that can not be taken away by any care or worry of this world. You know why? Because you are a child of God and He is watching over your life and needs. You may even say this is all good in the paper, but how different is my reality. . . . You see that is the battle of your mind. Your heart knows what the Word says, but your mind refuses the believe it beyond the feeling, the natural realm. What is the benefit of knowing that you have an almighty God if when the time to rest upon his Word and care comes, you let your heart be filled with worries and fear? Reflect on this. It is time ti change the way your feeling have been controlling your mind. How do you do that ? It’s simple. Don’t trust or rely on your strength. Don’t allow your mind to tell you anything different or contrary to what the word of God is telling you. You must fight against the negative thoughts that you have; you must refuse the thoughts of fear and defeat. You are able to battle this war by telling yourself, your soul and spirit what God’s word assures you of. Matthew 6:31 says that you can’t achieve anything through worries so we know how useless it is to worry. However, only knowing it is not enough, we must defeat worry since it is a sin and an enemy like any other. V. 32 says that God know all your needs. Isn’t that good? To know that your God, the Creator and Owner of all things, knows your needs. I don’t accept worry to control my life since I found out that God’s word is God’s voice, that everything He says, He will do. (Romans 4:21) I don’t know what’s to worry about. But something I can tell you. Jesus said: “And He (God) will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him. . . .” (Matt 6:33) As you can see, it is a promise. If you are living for God, trusting on His Word, having Jesus as the Lord over your life, and seeking to obey His Word and commandments, He assures, guarantees that He will give you all you need, every day as long as you live. That sound good to me. God, my Father, is a provider and He cares for me. He cares for me and you. To all that put their trust on Him, he cares beyond the feelings, the good sense of your mind. He cares up to the point to manifest His provision in the physical realm. Your God is real as well as His provision. Matt. 6:33)”But seek first the Kingdom of God, add these things shall be added to you.” (NKJV) In the King James version comes stronger emphasis to put God first in your life. It is worth?????, and you know why? Because this is the only key to living a worry-free life. He promised to give you all you need as long as He comes first. Think about that for a moment. Perhaps you are putting all your pearls and concerns as a priority in your life. That won’t work! Your main key is found in Matt. 6:33. Only reading it and not acting on it won’t make any good at all. Be a doer of the Word by trusting on it as God’s direct voice, real and tangible. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” God wants to let you know that regardless of what you are going through; in spite of all the worries which may be stealing your peace and sleep, He is God almighty and He is in control. Your problems, worries and concerns didn’t take Him by surprise. And not only that, your concerns are His concerns, and He’s got the answers. “Give all your worries and cares to God for He cares about what happens to you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NLT Worry can cause and will cause deep damage in someone’s life. Saved or unsaved, Satan works through worry and fear in order to attack your mind. Every time you give in worry will be an easy door for Satan to gain access to your mind. To keep this door shut, you must feed your soul (mind) and spirit with God’s word. That’s why Romans 12:1 says that we must renew our mind because when you are born again, your spirit is renewed. According to 2 Cor 5:17, “You become a new creature.” Although God gave you His Spirit and replaced your old nature, you must renew you mind, and you only achieve that by relying completely on the t ruth of God’s Word. Dealing with Wrong Thinking “And be renewed in the Spirit of your mind.”
Eph 4:23 To meditate on the Word of God means to actively read, think on, speak and dwell upon the Word. To fight against the battle that goes on inside your mind will demand a great deal of time on God’s Word because success and victory only come through the Word. When you are filled with the Word of God, automatically you will shut the door to the negative and wrong thoughts. That’s how you don’t give a place to the devil. (Eph 4:27) Once in my life I was going through a tough time in my marriage. I had been away from my wife due to a bend in the road that happened to me. I was 25 years old and she was 23, married for four years with a blessed child given by God. We loved each other. Being away from home, the fear that she would leave me haunted me day and night; I was far not by option but by need, and the worry and fear was leading me to a strong stage of depression. But thank God I refused to accept the negative thought — thoughts that were telling me that she would leave me for being tired of loneliness and many other destructive thoughts of fear. I found out in the midst of my ordeal that I had to decide whether I would trust God to keep my marriage tied up or give in to worry knowing that it would not change a things. Well! I made the right decision. I cast out my fear and stood myself on God’s Word, especially on Psalm 128. Although it is a short Psalm, it blesses your whole family. I quit once and for all worrying about my marriage. Time is going by, I am still away from home and my marriage and the love between my wife and me are stronger because I refused negative thoughts. I chose to trust in Matt 19:6 “. . . Therefore, what God has joined together let no man separate.” My dear friend and brother in Christ, if God’s Word works for me, it will also work for you. Against negative thoughts and worries that daily try to disrupt you peace, there is only one weapon: God’s Word. Every time you feel tempted to worry or think wrong thoughts, remind yourself and your mind of these two Scriptures: 1st) 2 Cor 10: 4-5: “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” (When) every negative thought, wrong thinking, evil or immoral ideas, or anything ( edit. of a negative nature) crosses your mind, remind yourself of this scripture above, especially verse five and cast down, reject, rebuke any idea or thought that is against the knowledge of God. This way, step by step, day by day, you will be able to educate your mind putting it in line with God Word and letting the peace of God dominate your thinking. 2nd) Phil 4:6-8 (NLT): V.6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. V.7 If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Jesus Christ. V.8 . . . Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right; think about things that are pure, also lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” The choice to live life worry free is up to you. God has already done His part and not only that, but He also instructs you on to receive the peace that surpasses all understanding. He said, “Don’t worry about (marriage, finance, kids, work, sickness, anything big or small). . . . Instead of being anxious, pray about all your concerns, giving thanks to God because He hears you and your answer is on the way to meet every need of yours. Don’t give in for worries, instead, surrender your mind to God’s word and care. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trust in you.” (Isa 26:3) God will give you peace at any time you trust on His strength and mighty power. Circumstances will come to any of us, and in many times, even mature believers will be trapped by worries and fear. It happens to any of us. However, you and I through the Word of God can refuse to let worry and fear have dominion in our minds by applying the solution and medicine — God’s scriptures against any rebellious idea. You shall have dominion over your mind because if you don’t, the devil will. Any empty mind is the house of the devil. Fill your mind with the knowledge of God’s word and every time any negative thought or bad idea come into your mind, tell yourself some of the scriptures that will release God’s power against your concerns. ???????????????????????? Remember that your heart knows that God’s word is true and He cares for you. Now in the second part of this study, you will learn how to defeat and leave behind self-condemnation. SECOND STEP WALKING IN VICTORY
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