“A Disciplined Mind” by Nancy Dufresne
No matter what arena we are being tested in, it will always be accompanied by an attack on the mind. But we aren’t to live being dominated by the mental arena, instead, we are to be dominated and led by our spirit.
We are faith people. The faith of God is in our heart, in our spirit – not in our mind. That’s why Satan seeks to draw us away from our spirit and into the mental arena, because then he has drawn us out of the faith arena – the spirit arena.
We are to be disciplined in the mental arena, not allowing any troubling thought to enter our mind. Yes, the enemy will suggest all kinds of troubling, fearful thoughts, but a disciplined mind refuses to entertain those thoughts by not turning them over and over in the mind. We can’t keep wrong thoughts from coming to our mind, but we can certainly keep them from entering our mind. When we are disciplined in our thought life, no test will trouble us.
Our greatest defense against the devil is a renewed mind. A worried, condemned, fearful, anxious, panicked mind is an unrenewed mind. Smith Wigglesworth stated, “The devil knows that if he can capture your thought life, he has won a mighty victory over you.”
It’s not just what we say in the hearing of others, but what do we say to ourselves? What are we allowing to turn over and over in our mind?
We can’t “outthink” troubling thoughts. We can’t get rid of wrong thoughts with thoughts – we overcome them with words! We must speak God’s Word – answering those troubling thoughts with what God says.
We are to face every encounter with the enemy with the consciousness that he is already a defeated foe. In every circumstance of life, we are to enforce his defeat, demonstrating our mastery over him. He is our subject – we are his master. We don’t have to hold out against him – he has to hold out against us!
Mastery in the thought life is seen in what Paul stated in Philippians 4:11, “… For I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am” (AMPC). That’s mastery! That’s a renewed mind; that’s a disciplined thought life!
The only way to live untroubled is to become skillful with the Word by renewing the mind, which is taking on the thoughts of God.
In an interview, I was asked, “What were your darkest moments?”
I answered, “My hardest moments were not tests that came, but when I was in a state of having an unrenewed mind – an undisciplined thought life.
As our knowledge of God’s Word grows and we act on it, our peace grows. Any thought that doesn’t arrive us at peace is to be resisted!
When troubling thoughts try to come, there are 3 steps to take that will cause us to overcome:
1) Answer troubling and wrong thoughts with the Word
2) Tell the spirit of fear that spoke that thought to leave
3) Worship – this holds our attention on God and His Word and off the threat
To become skillful at anything, we must practice. So we are to take the circumstances of everyday life to practice a disciplined thought life. It’s not about getting the devil to leave us alone, but it’s about learning to be untroubled right in the midst of circumstances!