Part 5 (2/2)
I began to pray and plead with G.o.d to help me. ”If I just made up the things I have believed that You called me to do, then take the desire away. But if You've truly called me, help me. Restore the vision.”
When I paused, I heard G.o.d speak in my heart, Mind-binding spirits.
”What's a mind-binding spirit?” I asked. I had never heard the term, so I didn't think anything more about it.
The next day when I prayed, I heard the same words. In fact, every time I prayed for the next two days, I heard, Mind-binding spirits.
I had already done a lot of ministry, and I had long realized how much trouble many believers had with their minds. At first, I thought the Holy Spirit might be leading me to pray for the Body of Jesus Christ to stand against a spirit called Mind Binding.
I prayed and I rebuked that spirit-and then I realized those words were for me. A mind-binding spirit had tried to steal my vision, destroy my joy, and take away my ministry. A tremendous deliverance came over me.
The oppressiveness was gone; the questions had vanished. I was free, and the vision of the national ministry G.o.d had given me was central in my thoughts again. I read Psalm 107:20: ”He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction.” That was it!
An evil spirit was attacking my mind and preventing me from believing the promise of G.o.d. I asked G.o.d to help me, and He set me free.
That mind-binding spirit attacks many today. They know what G.o.d wants and are eager to serve. Sometimes they even announce G.o.d's plans to their friends. When nothing happens immediately, the mind-binding spirit sneaks in. It is as if a band of iron snaps around their minds and they find it hard to believe that their dreams can come to pa.s.s. Satan whispers, ”Did G.o.d really say that? Or did you just make it up?” Hold fast. If G.o.d has spoken, G.o.d will perform it. Remember that Abraham waited twenty-five years for G.o.d to give him Isaac!
True and faithful G.o.d, forgive me when I allow doubts and confusion to creep into my thinking. Those are not Your tools. Through the powerful name of Jesus, enable me to break the power of every mind-binding spirit. Amen.
31.
Decide to Believe Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be a.s.sured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
-JAMES 1:2-4 Too often people stare at me with a blank look when I urge them to decide to believe. It's as if I'm asking them to do something they can't do. Faith comes from hearing the Word of G.o.d (see Romans 10:17), but it also involves a decision.
We enter into a relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d through believing in Jesus Christ, but that's only the beginning.
Believing doesn't end there. As I understand the realm of the Spirit, if we follow the Lord, we live with a growing faith. That means we learn to believe for bigger things. We learn to trust G.o.d for things we would never have thought of in our earliest Christian days.
When we become Christians, the Bible says we are adopted into the family of G.o.d: ”. . . but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sons.h.i.+p] in . . . which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Romans 8:15b).
That's the beginning. That's also where too many Christians stop. The Spirit keeps reaching for your hands so He can pull you forward. That's when you must decide to believe-or you resist and stay exactly where you are in your Christian experience.
Read the verse at the beginning of this topic. It says your faith will be tested, but you must hold onto it and move forward. The testing may come when the devil attempts to make you doubt the promises G.o.d has given you.
There is never a stopping place in your spiritual growth-G.o.d wants to take you onward. But you have to make the choice to believe. Sometimes that takes courage, but that's how the Christian life functions. We grow by taking steps of faith.
When G.o.d speaks to your heart-to your inner being-you need to learn to say without hesitation, ”Let it be so, Lord.” You have to learn to agree with whatever the Spirit of G.o.d says or wants.
Instead, many tend to resist. They don't say no. Satan is too subtle to nudge them to do that. He puts questions in their minds, urging them to ask, ”How can that be?” They start asking G.o.d to help them understand. If your boss wants you to do a task, you can ask, ”Why?”or ask for an explanation.
But that is not how the Holy Spirit works. You say, ”Lord, if You'll help me understand, I will believe and obey.” G.o.d says, ”Just obey. If I want you to understand, I'll make it clear to you.” G.o.d doesn't have to explain anything to us.
It frequently happens that believers know something down deep in their hearts-in their inner beings-but their minds fight against it. They may consider themselves unworthy. They may ask, ”Who am I that You would use me to change lives?” They waste a lot of energy by telling G.o.d why they can't do what He wants them to do. G.o.d already knows everything that is wrong with us or ever will be wrong with us, and He is willing to work through us anyway. G.o.d requires availability not ability.
G.o.d asks you to do something quite simple: Believe. That's all. If G.o.d speaks, you need to learn to say, ”Even though I don't understand, I'll do it.” One of the best examples I can think of in Scripture is the story of Ananias of Damascus. G.o.d told him that Saul (later called Paul) was blind and in a particular house. He was to go and lay hands on him, and G.o.d would heal him (see Acts 9:10-19).
Ananias was afraid. Saul was the great persecutor of Christians, but G.o.d told him to go because the blinded man was a chosen vessel. Despite his fear and inability to understand why G.o.d would choose a great persecutor to be a chosen vessel, Ananias went and prayed for Saul, and the future apostle was healed.
That's how G.o.d wants us to behave. He wants us to choose to believe Him even if what He's asking us to do doesn't compute in our thoughts.
Holy Spirit of G.o.d, help me always to believe Your promises, even when I don't understand Your purpose. I want to learn to trust You more, as I move forward in faith to accomplish what You have for me to do. Help me always to be obedient, in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
32.
Be Careful What You Think But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of G.o.d) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly planted [and tended] by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season; its leaf also shall not fade or wither; and everything he does shall prosper [and come to maturity].
-PSALM 1:2-3 Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You . . . I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law].
-PSALM 119:11, 15 In the early days of computers, they used to say, ”Garbage in, garbage out.” That was a way of explaining that the computer only worked with the data put into the machine. If we wanted different results, we needed to put in different information.
With computers, most people have no trouble grasping that concept, but when it comes to their minds, they don't seem to get it. Or perhaps they don't want to get it. So many things demand their attention and beg for their focus. They're not just sinful things. The apostle Paul said that although everything was lawful for him, not everything was helpful (see 1 Corinthians 6:12).
If you are going to win the battle of the mind and defeat your enemy, where you focus your attention is crucial. The more you meditate on G.o.d's Word, the stronger you'll become and the more easily you'll win the victories.
Too many Christians don't realize the difference between meditating on the Bible and reading the Bible. They like to think that whenever they read G.o.d's Word, they're absorbing the deep things of G.o.d. Too often people will read a chapter of the Bible, and when they get to the last verse, they have little idea of what they've read. Those who meditate on G.o.d's Word are those who think-and think seriously-about what they're reading.
They may not put it in these words, but they are saying, ”G.o.d, speak to me. Teach me. As I ponder Your Word, reveal its depth to me.”
On the previous page, I quoted from Psalm 1. This psalm begins by defining the person who is blessed, and then points out the right actions of that person. The psalmist wrote that those who meditate-and do it day and night-are like productive trees . . . and everything they do shall prosper.
The psalmist made it quite clear that meditating on and thinking about G.o.d's Word brings results. As you ponder who G.o.d is and what He's saying to you, you'll grow. It's really that simple. Another way to put it is to say that whatever you focus on, you become. If you read about and allow your mind to focus on G.o.d's love and power, that's what operates in you.
The apostle Paul says it beautifully in Philippians 4:8: ”. . . Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].”
It's sad, but most Christians don't put much effort into their study of the Word. They go to hear others teach and preach, and they may listen to sermon tapes and read the Bible occasionally, but they're not dedicated to making G.o.d's Word a major part of their lives.
Be careful what you think about. The more you think about good things, the better your life will seem. The more you think about Jesus Christ and the principles He taught, the more you become like Jesus and the stronger you grow. And as you grow, you win the battle for your mind.
Lord G.o.d, help me think about the things that honor You. Fill my life with a hunger for more of You and Your Word so that in everything I may prosper. I ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.
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