Part 2 (1/2)

My advice to Cheryl, and to all Christians who face those dark moments, is to listen to the words of the apostle Paul. He exhorted us not to grow weary, or as another translation says it, ”not to lose heart.” He's saying, ”Don't quit. Keep fighting.”

Life is a struggle, and the devil is determined to defeat and destroy us. We don't ever reach the place where we never have to fight. But it's not just our fight. Jesus is not only with us, but He is for us. He's at our side to strengthen us and to urge us onward.

My friend kept remembering the times she had failed, but I reminded her of the times she had succeeded. ”You think the devil is in control, but that's not true. You have failed, but you have also succeeded. You have stood your ground and you have made progress.”

”Don't quit. Don't give up.” That's the message we need to hear. I think of the words of Isaiah: ”Fear not, for I have redeemed you . . . ; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pa.s.s through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you” (Isaiah 43:1b-2).

This is G.o.d's promise. He doesn't promise to take us completely out of troubles or hards.h.i.+ps, but He does promise to be with us as we go through them. ”Fear not,” He says. That's the message we need to ponder. We don't need to fear because G.o.d is with us. And when G.o.d is with us, what is there to worry about?

G.o.d, despite my failures, You are with me, encouraging me not to give up. Please help me to remember that, with Your help, I can win. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

12.

”I Can't Help It!”

I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and the curses; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live.

-DEUTERONOMY 30:19 When G.o.d begins to deal with us about wrong behavior, it's easy enough to say, ”I can't help it,” but it takes real courage and faith to say, ”I'm ready to take responsibility and get my life straightened out.”

Avoidance, which is not facing issues, is a major problem. Wrong things don't go away just because we refuse to acknowledge them. We often stuff things. We hide from them, and as long as we do, they have power over us. Issues buried alive never die.

For many years, I refused to deal with the s.e.xual abuse in my childhood. My father had abused me, so I left home the week I turned eighteen years old. I thought I was getting away from the problem by leaving, but I didn't realize I had the problem in my soul. It was in my thoughts, att.i.tudes, and words. It affected my actions and all of my relations.h.i.+ps. I had buried my past and stuffed my stuff. We don't have to live in the past-in fact, we are encouraged by G.o.d's Word to forget it and let it go. However, that doesn't mean that we are free to ignore the results of it and pretend that we are not hurting when we are.

I had a lot of bad behavior and negative att.i.tudes. I also had lots of excuses. I wasn't dealing with anything from the past; I was merely feeling sorry for myself and saying, ”I can't help it. It's not my fault I was abused.” And it wasn't my fault. But it was my responsibility to let G.o.d help me overcome all the bondages I was experiencing as a result of that abuse.

G.o.d began setting me free by dealing with me about all the wrong thoughts I had accepted and allowed. My mind had to change before my life could change. At first, I didn't even want to take responsibility for my thoughts. I thought, I can't help what I think-things just come into my head! I eventually learned that I could choose my own thoughts, and I could think things on purpose. I learned that we don't have to accept every thought that falls into our minds. We can cast down wrong ones and replace them with right ones.

I learned that instead of feeling helpless over the thoughts that fill my mind, I can-I must-do something positive.

Much of our thinking is habitual. If we regularly think about G.o.d and good things, G.o.dly thoughts become natural. Thousands of thoughts flow through our minds every day. We may feel that we have no control, but we do. Although we don't have to use any effort to think wrong thoughts, we have to use much effort to think good thoughts. As we begin to make changes, we will have to fight a battle.

Our mind is the battlefield, and Satan's primary way of initiating his evil plan for us is through our thoughts. If we feel we have no power over our thoughts, Satan will entrap and defeat us. Instead, we can determine to think in G.o.dly ways. We constantly make choices. Where do those choices come from? They originate in our thought life. Our thoughts become our words and our actions.

G.o.d has given us the power to decide-to choose right thinking over wrong. But once we make that choice, we must continue to choose right thoughts. It's not a once-and-for-all decision, but it does get easier. The more we fill our lives with reading the Bible, prayer, praise, and fellows.h.i.+p with other believers, the easier it is for us to continue choosing right thoughts.

It may sound as if I'm saying that trying to live the Christian life is nothing but one continuous struggle. That's partly true, but that's only a piece of the story. Too many people want to live victorious Christian lives, but they don't want to fight the battles. Victory, however, means winning and overcoming obstacles. We must also remember that living a life of disobedience to G.o.d is harder than choosing to live in victory. Yes, there are struggles but they are worth it in the end.

To think in the right way takes practice, and it is not always easy, nor does it feel natural for us to focus only on the good. But if we know this is the pathway to life-both now and in eternity-it's worth the effort and the struggle to think positive thoughts.

When we're bombarded with doubts and fears, that's when we need to take our stand. We don't ever want to say again, ”I can't help it.” We want to believe and say, ”G.o.d is with me, and He strengthens me. G.o.d enables me to win.” The apostle Paul said it this way, ”But thanks be to G.o.d, Who gives us the victory [making us conquerors] through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord [always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord], knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile [it is never wasted or to no purpose]” (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).

We can choose. Not only can we choose, but we do choose. By not pus.h.i.+ng the bad thoughts from our minds, we're allowing them to invade us and take us captive.

It takes time to learn to choose good and push away evil. It won't be easy, but we're moving in the right direction every time we take responsibility and make right choices.

Powerful G.o.d, remind me that I can and do make choices every day. Please help me to monitor my thoughts, choosing only those that will help me overcome the devil and win the battle for my mind. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen.

13.

Wilderness Mentality The Lord our G.o.d said to us in h.o.r.eb, You have dwelt long enough on this mountain. Turn and take up your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites. . . . Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.

-DEUTERONOMY 1:6-8 Those of us who are parents know these words so well: ”In a minute. Just a little longer.” We call our children to leave their playing and come inside, but they want just a little more time to stay out with their friends. For now, at least, they're content playing and don't want to think about getting cleaned up or eating dinner. It's always, ”Just a little longer”-if we let them. And at times, we adults act a little like those children who cry out, ”Just a little longer.”

I've met miserable people-those who disliked their lives, hated their jobs, or were in intolerable relations.h.i.+ps with the wrong kind of people. They knew they were miserable, but they did nothing about it. ”Just a little longer.” A little longer for what? More pain? More discouragement? More unhappiness?

Those are the people who have what I call the wilderness mentality. I want to explain that. Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. If they had obeyed G.o.d, stopped their grumbling, and moved straight ahead as G.o.d originally told them, they could have made the trip in eleven days. But it took them forty years.

Why did they finally leave? Only because G.o.d said, ”You have dwelt long enough on this mountain.” If G.o.d hadn't pushed them into the Promised Land, I wonder how long they would have stayed and longed to cross the Jordan.

They were people in bondage. Although they had seen miracles in Egypt and had praised G.o.d at the defeat of the Egyptian armies at the Red Sea, they were still in bondage. The chains were no longer on their bodies, but they had never removed those chains from their minds. That is the wilderness mentally.

For forty years, they grumbled. They had no water, and then G.o.d provided it for them. They grumbled about the food. Manna was all right, but they wanted meat of some kind. No matter what the situation, they were still mental prisoners. As they had been in Egypt, so they were in the wilderness. No matter how good things became, they were never good enough. They had forgotten all the hards.h.i.+ps and slavery in Egypt, and every time they were dissatisfied with Moses' leaders.h.i.+p they moaned, ”Oh, if only we had stayed in Egypt.”

They had forgotten how bad things were; they had no vision for how good things could get. When they had the chance to move into the new land, they were afraid. ”There are giants in the land,” they cried out. They had seen G.o.d's deliverance in the past, but they weren't ready for it in the present.

Finally G.o.d said, ”Okay, it's time to move out.” The Bible doesn't tell us about their att.i.tude, but there's no reason to believe it had changed. I can imagine they cried out, ”Let's stay just a little longer. Things aren't good here, but we know how to live in the wilderness. We are afraid to leave this place-we have become used to it.”

If you don't like your life, but you won't make the effort to change, you may have a wilderness mentality. If your mind stays filled with negative thoughts, they will keep you in bondage.

However, you can do something about it. You don't have to waste any more time. You can say, ”I've dwelt long enough at this mountain. Now I'm going into the Promised Land-the land where I'll live in victory and defeat Satan's plans.”

Great G.o.d, help me cast off the wilderness mentality. Help me take on the Promised-Land mentality and live in victory, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

14.

Little by Little And the Lord your G.o.d will clear out those nations before you, little by little; you may not consume them quickly, lest the beasts of the field increase among you.

-DEUTERONOMY 7:22 Recently I thought about my life from the time I seriously began to follow Jesus Christ to the present. Had I known then-at the beginning of the journey-all the things G.o.d would take me through, I would probably have been afraid to sign up for the trip.

As I look back, however, I realize that G.o.d held my hand and let me advance in small steps. I had times of great discouragement-as we all do. I remember times of bitter tears over my personal failures. But G.o.d kept nudging me forward.

That's the secret of living the victorious Christian life-we move ahead little by little. It's an inching forward over months and years. Most of us can understand that. The same is true in the battle for the mind. We don't roust Satan in one big blow and then live in victory forever after. We win one small battle, and then we're ready to move on to the next one. We may have a few major victories that come suddenly, but not many of them. The fight to destroy Satan's strongholds comes mostly by daily, doggedly, moving ahead.