Joyce Meyer - Battlefield of the Mind Devotional: 100 Insights That Will Change the Way You Think (Meyer, Joyce)

Copyright 2005 by Joyce Meyer

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE: Old Testament. Copyright 1962, 1964 by Zondervan Publishing House (used by permission); and from THE AMPLIFIED NEW TESTAMENT. Copyright 1958 by the Lockman Foundation (used by permission).

All Scripture quotations noted CEV are taken from THE CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION. 1991 by the American Bible Society. Used by permission.

All Scripture quotations noted The Message are taken from The Message: The New Testament in Contemporary English. Copyright 1993 by Eugene H. Peterson.

All Scripture quotations noted NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

All Scripture quotations noted KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

The Scripture quotation on page 91 is taken from THE LIVING BIBLE. Copyright 1971, Tyndale House Publishers Inc.

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First eBook Edition: October 2005

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The Invitation

What I have forgiven... has been for your sakes... to keep Satan from getting the advantage over us; for we are not ignorant of his wiles and intentions.

2 CORINTHIANS 2:10-11

S uppose we receive a package from an overnight carrier. After we open it, we stare at a beautiful, oversized envelope, with our name written on it in exquisite calligraphy. Inside, the invitation starts with these words:

You are invited to enjoy a life filled with misery, worry, and confusion.

Which one of us would say yes to such an outrageous invitation? Dont we seek the kind of life that keeps us free from such pain and distractions? Yet many of us choose such a life. Not that we blatantly make that choice, but we sometimes surrendereven temporarilyto Satans invitation. His attack is ongoing and relentlessthe devil is persistent! Our enemy bombards our minds with every weapon at his disposal every day of our lives.

We are engaged in a warfarea warfare that rages and never stops. We can put on the whole armor of God, halt the evil ones advances, and stand fast on the Word of God, but we wont put a complete end to the war. As long as we are alive, our minds remain Satans battlefield. Most of our problems are rooted in thinking patterns that produce the problems we experience. This is where Satan triumphshe offers wrong thinking to all of us. This isnt a new trick devised for our generation; he began his deceptive ways in the Garden of Eden. The serpent asked the woman, Can it really be that God has said, You shall not eat from every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1a). That was the first attack on the human mind. Eve could have rebuked the tempter; instead, she told him God would let them eat from the trees, but not from one particular tree. They couldnt even touch that tree, because if they did, they would die.

But the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die, For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity (vs. 4-5).

This was the first attack, and it resulted in Satans first victory. What we often miss about temptation and the battle our enemy levels against us is that it comes to us deceptively. Suppose he had said to the woman, Eat of the fruit. Youll bring misery, anger, hatred, bloodshed, poverty, and injustice into the world.

Eve would have recoiled and run away. He tricked her because he lied and told her what would appeal to her.

Satan promised, You will be like God. Youll know good and evil. What a marvelous appeal to the woman. He wasnt tempting Eve to do something bador at least he phrased it in such a way that what she heard sounded good.

Thats always the appeal of sin or satanic enticement. The temptation is not to do evil or to cause harm or bring injustice. The lure is that we will gain something.

Satans temptation worked on Eve. And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave some also to her husband, and he ate (3:6).

Eve lost the first battle for the mind, and we have continued to fight for it since that time. But because we have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can winand we can keep on winning.

Victorious God, help me resist the onslaughts of Satan, who attacks my mind and makes evil seem good. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well-Laid Plans

For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

EPHESIANS 6:12

H ow could you? Helen screamed. How could you ever do such a thing?

Tom stared helplessly at his wife. He had committed adultery, faced his sinful actions, and asked his wife to forgive him.

But you knew it was wrong, she said. You knew that was the ultimate betrayal of our marriage.

I never planned for an affair to happen, Tom said with tears in his eyes.

Tom wasnt lying. He knew he was making a few bad choices, but he hadnt looked ahead at the consequences of his actions. After almost an hour of pleading, he said something that helped Helen begin to understand and eventually to forgive.

I was unfaithful to you in hundreds of ways before I ever committed adultery. He spoke of their being too busy to spend quality time together, his critical attitude, her occasional lack of emotional response, her not listening to him when he talked about problems at the office. Just little things, always little things, he said. At least in the beginning they seemed that way.

Thats exactly how Satan works in human lives. He begins by bombarding our minds with cleverly devised patterns of irritation, dissatisfaction, nagging thoughts, doubts, fears, and reasonings. He moves slowly and cautiously (after all, well-laid plans take time).

Tom said he began to doubt that Helen truly loved him. She didnt listen, and she didnt always respond to his amorous moods. He dwelt on those thoughts. Whenever she did anything he didnt like, he kept track. He kept track by remembering and adding that to his list of dissatisfactions.

One of his coworkers listened, and she offered him sympathy. One time she said, Helen doesnt deserve a warm, caring man like you. (Satan also worked in her.) Each time Tom took a tiny step off the right path, he justified his actions in his mind: If Helen wont listen to me, there are people who will. Although he said the word people to himself, he really meant the woman in the next cubicle.

The coworker listened. Weeks later, he hugged her and as he did so, he wished he could feel that caring response from his wife. It was a harmless embraceor so it seemed. Tom didnt grasp that Satan is never in a hurry. He takes time to work out his plans. He doesnt immediately overwhelm people with powerful desires. Instead, the enemy of our minds starts with little thingslittle dissatisfactions, small desiresand builds from there.