In the last post, I talked about minding our minds. It is so important for our mental and emotional and even physical health to have a healthy thought life. Because of Christ, we have the greatest power within us to destroy the lies that have been ruling our lives. “You and I have been equipped with power from God to tear down the strongholds in our minds, to destroy the lies that dominate our thought patterns. We have the power and authority to do this.” Allen

The first thing to do is to recognize strongholds that you have in your life. What seems to dominate your thought life? Is it your children? Is it your marriage? Is it your job? Is it the crazy things that are happening in the world right now? Is it all of the above? Is it fear of this virus? Write down what it is.

For me, it has been all the crazy things that have been happening because of this virus. People have been scaring me by their actions and their words. Wearing a mask is a control issue for me. Someone else is controlling the way I live. I frankly don’t like that! It is disturbing to me that our lives are being controlled by the government. Because I am sensitive to evil and abuse, it has been very difficult for me to be “okay” with it. What are we allowing to happen to us? Should we be “okay” with it? Are we going to be like Nazi Germany and let someone dictate how we are supposed to live? Those are the thoughts that have been going through my mind. Those are the things that I have been writing down. (I know that I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist!)

I have to go to scripture when my mind goes to these places.

Psalm 60:11 “Give us aid against the enemy, for human help is worthless.”

Psalm 120:1-2 “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. Lord, deliver me from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.”

Psalm 121:2-3 “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber.”

Psalm 119:81 “I have put my hope in your word.”

Our minds need to be renewed daily with truth. When I go to scripture and start reading, I begin to relax and calm down. God’s word is so powerful in my life. “We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.” The Message 2 Corinthians 10:5-6

Y’all listen! God’s word is a powerful tool to smash warped philosophies!! We’ve got the best power in the world to wield! Instead of being defeated, we can beat anything that is ruling our lives. (I am speaking to myself as much as I am speaking to you.) God is so much bigger than anything that is coming at us—especially this terrible virus! We’ve got to tear down anything that goes against the truth of God! We’ve got to stand for truth!! If we don’t, then who will???

My mother has been stuck in lock down for 5 long months! I have seen her mind deteriorate before my eyes. The lack of social interaction has caused so much damage to her.  She is having trouble discerning what is true and what isn’t true in her mind. I have called the county and the state. I have called the place where she is living. I want to make a poster that says, “LET MY PEOPLE GO!” and post it out front of the building. I am fed up! But, I want to share with you something that was said during one of my many phone calls. I was apologizing for once again complaining and she said to me, “Honey, if you don’t advocate for your mom, then who will?”

If we don’t stand for truth in our lives, then who will? We certainly aren’t going to get it from the world. We aren’t going to get it from the news or social media. The only place we are going to get “truth” is from God. He only speaks truth and He doesn’t lie.

If we want truth, then we have a choice to make. “You are no longer a slave to passions, to lusts, to strongholds, to sin of any kind. You have a God-given, God-empowered, God-redeemed ability to choose what you think about. You have a choice regarding where you focus your energy. You have a choice regarding what you live for.” Allen

Those three words, “I have a choice,” are so powerful! I am not subject to my circumstances or my negative thoughts. I have a choice regarding who and what I live for. I can either let the world control me or let God control me. I don’t want fear or this virus or what may or may not happen control me. I have to choose to God.

“We are what we think. How we think shapes our lives. This is an other worldly way to live. You, as a believer, are a citizen of another reality.” Allen That philosophy explains why we are different from other people. When we believe in Christ and what the Bible teaches, it does set us apart from others. If you want to hang with the cool kids, then you’ve gotta believe that Jesus is cool. Do you get what I mean?

Look, I have spent a lot of years fighting this. When you come from an abusive home, you tend to have a victim mentality. I didn’t realize that I have a choice in the way I live. I just let things happen and thought, “I guess this is the way it is supposed to be. I guess God wants me to be like this. I will just be a good little girl and do what everyone tells me to do and be what everyone tells me to be.” I am mad as a killer hornet (just had to throw that in) that I allowed that to happen. And, I see it happening all around me. People are just giving in to all kinds of thinking.

WE HAVE TO STOP!!!! If our thinking doesn’t line up with the word of God, then it has to go away. We need to identify the lie, get rid of it and replace it with truth. Listen to this. “How often have we imagined someone’s anger toward us simply because of a sideways glance that had nothing to do with us. We build narratives that begin to take on lives of their own, based on assumptions and our overactive imaginations—all because we tend to fears, attend to distractions, attend to worst-case scenarios.” Allen

When I focus on my overactive imagination and assumptions, I forget that God is more powerful and perfectly capable of handling my life. I am fixating on something else besides Him. Right now, because I am so upset about my mom, I find myself fixating on the injustice of the situation. I go back to feeling helpless. I have to be aware that I have a choice to make. Am I going to let it eat away at me (and to be honest, I do that more than I should) or am I going to pray and trust God with it? I have made my phone calls and inserted my opinions as much as I can. The rest is up to Him. If I don’t do that, then my mind and emotions will spiral out of control.

Romans 7:14-25 explains the war that is going on within us. I am going to share a few verses. “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” verses 22-23 I would like to encourage you to read the whole passage. (There are a a lot of do’s and do not’s and it might require reading through a few times, especially for those elderly brains, like mine!) 

The battle is real but we can win! Maybe not every time, but we can grow stronger and learn and change. I don’t have to be a slave to sin or my emotions. I can choose to live for Christ. There is no other way for me because I want truth to reign in my life. Oh, how I pray for all of us to live that way!

Look, I know the struggle is real! I face it every day. I just have to let the Holy Spirit take over and get out of His way. My goal is to keep my eyes fixated on the truth that God wants in my life. I really want to be a willing servant and be helpful to others. I hope that this post has been helpful to you.

Until next time…