Wrestling with the Mind?
by Joe M. Cherry
I. Introduction
A. No one wants to see us fail more than Satan
1. He will do anything that he can to turn us away from God.
a. Jo 8:44 – “He is the father of lies.”
b. Rev. 12:10 - … he is the accuser of the brethren
2. He has subtle ways.
3. One of his biggest weapons is turning us against ourselves.
a. He gets us so tangled up in our own minds that we lose sight of the abundant life God intends for His children.
b. When this occurs, he can leave us to our own misery and move on to another.
B. The World inside our head can be a cruel place.
1. When Julius Caesar’s wife begs him not go to the Roman Senate for fear of death, Caesar replies, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death.”
a. Where does the 1,000 deaths occur? In our minds.
b. Prov. 28:3 - A guilty conscience plays tricks on the mind. “The guilty flee when no one pursues…”
2. Sometimes fear causes us to develop thought patterns that lead to self-destruction.
3. People walk and function in this world but live only between their ears.
a. We hear people tell them to “get in the game”!
b. Sadly, many of them will live out their life that way.
C. We spend a lot of time lost in our own heads: preoccupation/perception becomes real.
1. Our inward thoughts do manifest themselves in outward actions.
a. After a very bad accident in 1979, for a long time I could close my eyes, think about the wreck, and my whole body would cringe as I relived the impact.
b. Ever argued with yourself? That’s the only way I can win an argument at my house.
c. Many a times I have been deep in thought about a potential problem at work and Tina would ask, “What’d you say” or “Why are you frowning?”
2. We can waste too much in there and miss so many opportunities to enjoy life as a Christian.
a. Don’t think Satan doesn’t take advantage of it.
b. So many fight depression and other mental illnesses.
c. Some live a lifetime of regrets, ridden with guilt and shame.
II. The Lesson – Processing Life as a Christian – Satan gets in our head and temptation turns into lust.
A. Temptation and Lust
1. Temptation usually comes from without.
a. Heb. 2:18 & 4:15 – both vss. Tell us that Christ was tempted as we are.
b. Jas. 1:2 – “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into manifold temptations…” Here the writer refers to the outward temptations which can help to strengthen our faith. Temptation is not a sin.
c. When we learn how to process information as God would have us, life becomes easier to understand and live. We will look a little closer at this in a moment.
2. Initially, lust requires cultivation of a certain thought or concept which happens in our mind
a. James 1:13-15 – “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted with evil, nor does He tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire (lust) is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when it is full grown, gives birth to death.” Death is referring to spiritual, not necessarily physical.
b. Matt. 5:27-28 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
c. Lust is a Choice and a matter of the heart.
B. When we sin
1. When we wake up from our sins, we usually do two of the following three things.
a. Blame others
• Remember Flip Wilson’s character Geraldine? She’d do something she knew was wrong and say what? “The devil made me do it!”
• Adam blamed Eve.
• Geraldine didn’t coin that phrase. It originated in the garden with Eve.
b. Continue in sin
c. Repent and move on which requires a change of mind.
• As we ask forgiveness for our actions, we should also pray that God will help us to purify our hearts and minds as well.
• Sin is really only symptom of a heart problem.
2. Breaking the Cycle of Unhealthy thoughts.
a. Phil. 4:8 – “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.”
b. Paul tells Timothy in I Tim. 6:11 – “…pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.”
c. Breaking bad thought patterns is possible but it is a process.
III. Closing
A. As Christians, we are to strive for maturity.
1. Part of maturity is learning from our mistakes.
2. This involves looking at what pushes us to do what we do.
3. The sin is the symptom of an underlying heart problem.
4. Acts 9:22 – Simon the Sorcerer was told to “Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”
5. The more we get out of our heads the more we can focus on serving God.
6. We need to value our time and use it as God intended.
B. Final Thought
1. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.
2. Thank God for Jesus Christ. He died and was raised that we might have salvation.
3. Thank God for continued forgiveness. I Jo. 1:7 - the blood of Christ continually cleanses us!
a. He’ll forgive our actions and thoughts as often as we repent.
b. We see the actions (sins) and repent but we can’t see why we struggle with the same things.
c. Repentance is not all we need to overcome sin, we must pray that God will help us with our heart.
d. Many times, getting out of our heads will help us gain clearer picture of our heart. Don’t be afraid, God can help us overcome even ourselves.
