Christine Dillon - Sword Fighting: Applying Gods word to win the battle for our mind

Once upon a time there was an ordinary girl who grew up to be an ordinary woman. She had no outstanding talents but was a good all-rounder.

Her emotions went up and down based on what others thought about her, or even worse, what she thought they thought! Her day could be ruined by an insensitive person saying something like, Have you put on any weight? This meant that she constantly felt uncomfortable in public. She had no spare energy to serve others because she was too busy looking at herself.

Her mind was filled with a running commentary. How could anyone love you? Or, Youre not special or worth much.

This ordinary girl was crippled by low self-esteem and fear. Her ministry to others was limited because so much of her emotional energy was directed internally.

That very ordinary person was me. It wasnt until I was about twenty-six that I began to learn the lessons in this book. I am still a beginner in many areas and have a long way to go, as anyone who knows me well could tell you, but I wish that someone had explained these issues to me far earlier and spared me much pain.

Perhaps God knew I wasnt ready to absorb these lessons any earlier. I want to share with you some of what I have learned in the hope that you too will be spared unnecessary pain, and will become the men and women that God intends you to be. Living a life that cares more about Gods glory and concerns than your own; living a life of selfless service to others instead of trying to make yourself feel better.

If you struggle with issues like fear, doubt, worry, low self-esteem, or discouragement, then this book was written for you.

This book is being produced to accompany my fourth novel and flesh out some of the issues raised in that story.

What this book is not:

This book is not intended to be a comprehensive discussion of every issue and temptation that someone might face. Rather, it intends to explain the principles and illustrate them by applying them to some of the common problems people encounter. Even if your specific issue is not covered in this book, you should be able to understand the principles and apply them to your particular situation.

This book is not intended to be a deep theological textbook. Instead, it is intended to be a book that is accessible to the average Christian.

A word of caution

Practical books like this one can be dangerous, as it is all too easy to see them as self-help books, as though, if someone does what is suggested then theyll be a nicer person and have a better life.

It is important from the outset to emphasize that the Bible is not a self-help book. It wasnt written so that you can know how to change yourself and be a more useful human being. It doesnt work if you just dip into it and choose the bits you want for yourself and ignore the rest.

The Bible is neither a talisman to ward off evil, nor a text to be applied like a formula. The Bible is about an awesome God who is concerned with the relationship between Himself and us, His creations. It introduces the God who creates us and wants us to be His children, delighting in Him. Along with everything else that God gives us, is the freedom to choose to love Him as our Father and to serve Him as our King. Tragically, we reject Him as King, placing the crown on our own head, thereby stealing both His job and His glory.

All the problems listed in this bookfear, anger, guilt, depressioncome because weve rejected God. For without God, we cut ourselves off from the source of life. We find ourselves dead, the very way we are in fact borna situation we intrinsically find hard to accept. Unless we accept Gods diagnosis of our problem, we will continue treating the Bible as a self-help book, and will grow frustrated when it fails to work.

We are rebellious. Rebels against God and we desperately need a savior. Only God can raise the dead and we are indeed dead, spiritually dead. As we come to understand, in our limited human way, some of what God did for us in sending the Savior, Jesus, and allowing Him to die in our place and take our shame, we will beg God for His forgiveness and mercy.

Once we join Gods family, we are promised many gifts but one of them is that we will be a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). We can call on Christ to change us. It is then that the Bibles teaching will be of use to us. God changes His children, so that we become ever more what we should be.

Thus, I urge you right at the beginning, do not deceive yourself that you can be improved without the radical transformation of heart that only Jesus can bring. We cannot change without accepting Jesus as our Savior. If you arent clear on this point, you may find it helpful to look at some of the following resources before continuing with this book.

• A Fresh Start by John Chapman
• www.storyingtheScriptures.com has a set of Bible overview historical stories that will take you through from Creation to Jesus death and resurrection.

Grace in the Desert, was published in June, 2020. The plan is for there to be six novels eventually, all Australian contemporary Christian fiction. At the back of this book is a list of all the novels and their details.

John Chapman, A Fresh Start (Sydney: Matthias Media, 1997).

Rico Tice and Barry Cooper, Christianity Explored (Epsom, Surrey: The Good Book Company/CE, 2016).

https://www.christianityexplored.org/

Rebecca Manley Pippert, Uncovering the life of Jesus (Epsom: The Good Book Company, 2015).

When someone becomes a Christian, they join a battle. Not a physical battle but a spiritual one. A battle between the habits, desires, and values of our old lifestyle and the new lifestyle that comes because we are now children of God. It is a battle for our hearts and minds. A battle for our desires, emotions, and thoughts.

Ephesians 6 contains the most well-known passage in the Bible about spiritual warfare.

The passage starts,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devils schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand (Eph. 6:1013).